I cut the cord with Sling TV — but there's one surprising flaw

I cut the cord with Sling TV — merely at that place's one surprising flaw

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I've been (mostly) happy with my choice to cut the cord with Sling TV. The end result of a months-long process, I wound up picking Sling because of its mix of affordability, the channels I wanted, good-enough quality and a decent user interface.

While ane of my colleagues wishes Sling would ringlet back to its previous app, I've had piddling in the manner of complaints. That was, though, until I traveled ... to a pocket-size town in the middle of upstate New York. And there I constitute my beginning annoying flaw in cord-cutter services.

That flaw? The lack of a local regional channel for the major networks you lot're supposed to go. Yes, this may not be a huge deal if you simply travel to large cities where there's always a local NBC or FOX, just out in the boonies you can find that all sorts of things tin fail you — even on the best cable Idiot box alternative.

All I wanted to do was lookout SNL

Last weekend, I was out of boondocks for a pair of memorial services, which put me in a item frame of mind. One where I really wanted to watch SNL, a show I mostly roll my optics at, just had a sterling combination this week.

The long-running sketch comedy show was hosted by Jonathan Majors (Loki, Lovecraft Country, The Harder They Autumn) with musical guest Taylor Swift, at that place to perform the 10 infinitesimal version of "All Besides Well" (Taylor's Version). Lately, I'd heard practiced things about SNL, and so this seemed similar a skillful fourth dimension to join in (unlike the Kim Kardashian episode).

Because fifty-fifty while on the road, I thought I could scout it. Yes, fifty-fifty though I didn't bring my trusty Apple Idiot box or any of the all-time streaming devices with me, I had my laptop, and could watch Sling at that place.

And I thought I'd be able to get it. I have Sling, and Sling has NBC. But that NBC is at that place with a big fat caveat: Sling only has Trick and NBC in select markets. And I wasn't in one of them.

What I should have done

If I had the foresight to realize the town I was staying in was in a gap of Sling and NBC's coverage, and knew I'd want to spotter this episode before I left NYC, I could have gotten things correct. That's because if you set a bear witness to record on Sling, you tin can spotter it sorta-live as the recording takes place no matter where you are

But when you're impulsive, or don't larn about the SNL hosts and guests in advance, these things don't come up up. And I was a fleck busy, packing for the trip, to consider these edge-cases.

Did I attempt a VPN? Yeah, I did, and it didn't work. I was kind of bellyaching about that. Oh, and before yous ask about Peacock, it simply live streamed the kickoff 4 episodes of this SNL season. Now, you have to wait until the next day. And speaking of which:

Information technology all (kinda) worked out, somewhen

I sit here today having found a manner to sentinel SNL, albeit not in a live way at all.

NBC, you see, posts episodes of SNL to Hulu (and Peacock). Then, when I'd made it home from the trip, I was able to pull up the episode and see that, yep, Saturday Night Live is kinda proficient once again.

One sketch mocked the weirdly named and departed streaming services of the final year, Pete Davidson'due south Joe Rogan impression had me laughing (fifty-fifty if it wasn't that authentic). Oh, and the simulated ad for Man Park (a canis familiaris park for guys in relationships) was kinda genius, peculiarly with guys shouting "Curiosity!," "Rick!," and "Morty!" at each other. Even those Please Don't Destroy guys are funny, and Taylor Swift's performance of "All Too Well" was pretty damn great (even if Studio 8H has terrible acoustics).

What I learned

I've got a few takeaways from this micro-ordeal. First: this is one surface area where I may have been better off with YouTube Television receiver (the but other cord-cutter service I liked plenty to consider). When I used YouTube TV's website to bank check the channels available for the zip code I was in, I saw that it has an NBC affiliate. Sling'due south like tool stalls out with the bulletin "Please wait some more time."

The effect is, though, this isn't a big plenty issue to become me to switch to YouTube TV any time before long. That would cost $thirty more per month, and I don't travel to that expanse almost enough to be concerned about this.

My solution is simple, make sure that whatsoever bear witness I have even a modest interest in is set to exist recorded. Fifty-fifty though this means I'll probably have to practice more work to manage the DVR (Sling only gives you l hours unless you pay more), this should keep me more or less set.

Still, this whole situation is better than cable, equally Spectrum doesn't let you lot watch most channels alive on the get.

Henry is a senior editor at Tom's Guide covering streaming media, laptops and all things Apple, reviewing devices and services for the past six-plus years. Prior to joining Tom's Guide, he reviewed software and hardware for TechRadar Pro, and interviewed artists for Patek Philippe International Magazine. He's also covered the wild world of professional wrestling for Cageside Seats, interviewing athletes and other industry veterans.