Orby TV. Is it Worth It?

If you have been doing your research on cord cutting, then you have probably run across Orby TV. Orby TV is a satellite service that gets you a selection of cable, but not broadcast, networks. It is basically Philo TV but more twice the cost every month and NOT open source, plus it uses an ugly Satellite dish instead of internet. It’s also important to note that you only have 1 Orby owned option for Cable channels and you can NOT get news or sports channels.

Orby TV Alternative that’s less expensive

Orby has some good things going for it if you are in a remote location and can’t get high speed internet where you live. However, if you can get high speed internet, I see no reason to be stuck with only 1 option of Orby TV.

You can get 60+ Cable Channels with Philo TV for only $20 per mo. and free channels via a TV Antenna. If Cable News and Sports channels like Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, ESPN, FS1, NBC SN, etc. are important to you then Sling TV is the best way to get those channels.

Thats right…in order to watch ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, Orby needs to install an outdoor TV Antenna. Just like StreamWise Solutions, formerly freeTVee, Orby brings two sources of TV together to get you a complete channel package of broadcast and cable networks. There is no reason to have both a Satellite dish and a TV Antenna on your house.

Isn’t the whole idea of Cutting The Cord to get rid of Satellite, save the most money every month and be free to change services if you like?

Orby TV Review

From a money saving perspective, Orby might seem like a good idea initially, but keep the following in mind:

• Just like Cable & Satellite you are stuck with Orby. If Orby’s decides to raise prices, it will be very difficult to switch to a different supplier. With a StreamWise Solutions open source set up, it is easy to switch between less expensive Live Cable TV services like Sling TV ($30/mo), Philo ($20/mo) and others.
• Orby TV has only 1 Orby owned Cable Channel option and it has NO News and NO sports channels.
• Cable channels received through the satellite will still be prone to weather problems (clouds, snow, ice etc)
• Since they install their over the air antenna on the dish mount itself, you may run into signal problems with the antenna.
  • Most dishes face to the south to get antenna signals so if your dish is on the south side of the house and the antenna broadcast towers are north, you might run into some serious antenna reception issues.
• One of the things customers like the most about StreamWise Solutions is that ugly satellite dishes are no longer required.
• Orby is designed for more rural areas where broadband is harder to get. Unfortunately, rural areas often have issues getting traditional antenna signals.

So if you live in a rural area with limited high speed internet access, then Orby might be right for you. Of course, you still need to make sure you are within reach of antenna broadcast towers. Other wise there are less expensive and more reliable options to Cut The Cord.