XFinity Stream Problem
 

I am in the process of cutting the Cable cord. I have Xfinity Cable and have three TVs connected. Each TV is a different make. Samsung, LG and SONY.

One of the features I am trying to retain is commonality of remotes which will cease once I cut the cord. I have chosen to use firesticks to cure that.

I have successfully downloaded Xfinity Stream to all TVs and can successfully operate with the individual Firesticks. However, when I stream to Xfinity Stream, one TV (The LG) operates all the XFINITY Stream Channels with closed Captioning. That is the only APP that shows closed captioning on that TV. Even went to the LG control and insured that closed captioning was off.

Seems like a long telephone to Xfinity to resolve.

Just wondering if one of our senior experts has a simple solution?

Try this:

Open Xfinity Stream, click on live TV, click on the personal icon in the upper left corner, click on accessibility, and then closed caption options. But, are you sure you will still be able to use the Xfinity Stream app when you cancel the Xfinity cable TV?

I believe once he cancels Xfinity cable TV, Xfinity stream will be gone.

When cutting the cord, you really need to determine which channels you watch and see if Roku TV or other free streaming services have the channels you normally watch. If you can live with Roku TV and or some free apps to get your content vs going with YouTube TV or Hulu for example, then you can really cut your monthy costs.

I know many like Xfinity because of the voice remote but Roku has the same thing if you get the device with voice.

OP, if you want to continue watching the Xfinity channels, the most likely replacement would be to subscribe to YouTubeTV, which will cost you about $93 per month, including the taxes. You may want to use the YouTubeTV free introductory offer to see if you like it before cancelling Xfinity cable. You should be able to access the YouTubeTV app on your Firesticks. Note that, if you like the Lifetime channels, YouTubeTV does not offer those channels.

YouTubeTV definitely works on fire sticks - watched it last night.

HuluLive is another option for network channels.
EDIT: HuluLive may not work with some internet providers, particularly T-Mobile 5G Home Internet. Check for any reports of compatibility problems before going this route (a free trial period should also let you find out)

suppose.tv is a great site for selecting the channels you want to have and learning which streaming services need in order to get them.

I never got the whole Xfinity stream App thing. When we had Xfinity cable TV at our northern home I downloaded the App so we could watch TV through our Xfinity account via streaming at our Villages home, but it wouldn’t allow us to stream anywhere but our northern home. We already had cable hooked up on multiple TV’s at our northern home, so what good is an app that only lets us stream where we don’t need to?

We ended up cutting the cable with Xfinity (except for internet) and now subscribe to YouTube TV and use Roku devices on all TV’s and can stream at both locations. After carefully analyzing the pros and cons between HuLu and YouTube TV, it was a close call. We have been very happy with YouTube TV as their channel lineup fits our needs and the cloud based DVR is an excellent feature. Last winter we got locked out from streaming YouTube TV after three months at our Villages home and learned that you need to log in from your primary location every three months. A friend stopped by the house and logged in at our northern home and that reset the account so we could stream in the Villages again.
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Xfinity Stream does have some limitations on channels, especially out-of-town. But, it is definitely better than having no app. For one thing, you only need one cable box in your house if you are OK with streaming on the other TVs. And, you can use it on any Internet device. Xfinity Stream is not intended to make Xfinity totally available everywhere.

I understand that if you cancel XFINITY you cannot use XFINITY Stream. I am limited by location to use XFinity for internet at a speed that allows streaming. That cost is around $90, I am currently around $195. If I go to Xfinity Stream, by dropping the 3 Cable Boxes at $12/ea, I am at about $161. I know that there are other options such as SLING, UTUBE TV etc. In time I might go further.

My current problem is with one TV having Closed captioning on Xfinity stream. The other TV's no problem. This is only a problem when I stream on Xfinity stream. I have entered XFINITY Stream and gone to settings / Accessability/ SAP Turned OFF and still get Closed Captioning. Perhaps I should reinstall the Xfinity APP on this TV.

That may work. Uninstall the app and then reinstall it.

You should have the Xfinity Stream app installed on the Firesticks. It sounds like you have 3 Firesticks? If so, try switching two of the Firesticks and see if that resolves the caption issue on the one TV. If it doesn't, the problem is not with the Firestick. Another thing you can try is to install the Xfinity Stream app onto the TV smart hub, assuming the TV is a smart TV. Still, another thing to try is to reset the TV by unplugging it and plugging it back in, and reset the Firesticks by unplugging the modem/router.

Good though swapping fire sticks to see if the problem moves.

Couple of things:

- In the post above the OP mentioned SAP being off. SAP has nothing to do with closed captioning. The OP should skip the SAP setting and look for "CC" or "captioning" or "English with subtitles" or maybe just "subtitles." The label seems to change by streaming service and I don't have the Xfinity service to check.

- It's at least possible that CC is active on the TV itself and not the firestick. If that is the case then no amount of messing with the firestick remote will fix the issue. The OP should look for a CC option using the TV remote and see if it is turned on.

Post No. 2 explains how to turn off the Closed Captioning option directly from the Xfinity Stream app.

$90 dollars is too much for internet only with adequate speed for streaming. Xfinity plays games, and makes you jump through hoops, to get a deal when they know you live in an area where they have a monopoly, but it can be done. They won’t give you a new customer rate for internet when you cut the cable cord with them, hoping to make you give up and keep your current service. When they pulled that with us, I told them I was moving and to cancel everything. A couple days later, we signed up for internet service only under my wife’s name and got the new customer rate at 1/3 the price they were offering me as an existing customer. Also, when your new customer rate period expires, you won’t get another new customer deal online, you need to make an appointment and go to the nearest Xfinity store in person and they will give you the deal. By making things more difficult for existing customers, the must get many folks to simply give up and pay their inflated rates. There are absolutely no rewards, but rather penalties in place, for being a loyal customer who pays their monthly bills promptly. Good luck dealing with them, takes patience.

“Seems like a long telephone to Xfinity to resolve.”

I wish you good luck with that.

One solution is to run all your TVs through a Firesticks or Roku boxes. Their remotes can control your TVs’ basic functions. To respond to some other comments, they are correct that with Xfinity Stream a cable account is required. However, Xfinity has a pure streaming service called Xfinity Now. I don’t know it’s cost or if it is available in our area.

It looks like the OP is already running everything through Firesticks, but he does have an Xfiniy cable service which allows him to use the Xfinity Stream app on the Firesticks. Also, it looks like Xfinity Now is an Internet service only, not a streaming service.