Seeking opinions on streaming services.

[mac5155]

Streamed some with my Roku last night that I bought with the HD antenna. I think I can really get used to this. Tried the free trial of Hulu+.

[IanMoran]

Streamed some with my Roku last night that I bought with the HD antenna. I think I can really get used to this. Tried the free trial of Hulu+.

Isn't it also just a great feeling to give less money to ____ cable company?

[pittsoccer33]

Isn't it also just a great feeling to give less money to ____ cable company?

This is where I don't totally buy the cord cutting argument.

Unless you are getting a really good price on your internet (under $50) you aren't saving that much money getting internet only. Eddy said they wanted to jack his "internet only" rate up to $80+. Thats all I pay for internet and a ton of channels.

I've never had a problem negotiating for internet+some package of channels for $60-90 total.

[eddysnake]

what is the general consensus on hulu plus?

[MWB]

3mbps is no bueno for streaming well.

you figure thats 3mbps maximum, and could likely be lower than that. is anyone in the house going to watching a youtube recipe guide or downloading at all during the movie?

i think at this point everything uses adaptive technology, meaning they detect your current bandwidth and send you something you can handle. on a PC Netflix maxes at 3mbps now (unless youre using the Windows 8 app, but Siliverlight and HTML5 in a browser is 3mbps). but the "1080p" versions of things from Netflix, Vudu, etc start now around 6mbps and go up beyond 15.

I have TWC's lowest speed,l for $15, which I believe is 3mbps, and haven't had problems streaming netflix yet.

[pittsoccer33]

you can do it, but you cant get a 1080p video from it. thats the adaptive stream setting I was talking about.



My mom uses it on DSL and then over wifi, which works out ok because shes feeding my old Trinitron tube with it.

[MWB]

I guess I just haven't really noticed a difference in quality of picture, but my bar is pretty low.

[dodint]

what is the general consensus on hulu plus?

Too many forced commercials for a pay service. But if that doesn't bother you it's a solution for current TV streaming. I'm willing to wait.

[Hockeynut!]

I hate Hulu. Pretty much every time I check it for a show it's not available to stream via my PS3.

[mac5155]

Isn't it also just a great feeling to give less money to ____ cable company?

This is where I don't totally buy the cord cutting argument.

Unless you are getting a really good price on your internet (under $50) you aren't saving that much money getting internet only. Eddy said they wanted to jack his "internet only" rate up to $80+. Thats all I pay for internet and a ton of channels.

I've never had a problem negotiating for internet+some package of channels for $60-90 total.

Yeah. I am going to see how I like this, but if not, I think I'll call, get cable for a month or two, then try and lower the price. I pay $44.95 for cable internet and was paying $88 for DirecTV. So it's nice to get rid of the $88, even though they offered me a year of service at $40/month. My cable co. is running a special of $59.95 for internet a tier above mine, plus basic cable. If Roku doesn't work out, I can go to that for a net increase of $15 a month.

[pittsoccer33]

For people with an antenna and an array of devices (tablets, game consoles, Rokus, etc) this might be useful:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6815345014" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[DelPen]

It's that time of year again to plug unblock-us. I saved a lot off the subscription to NHL Gamecenter last year for some reason after I switched my DNS over and I think there were only a few games blacked out because they weren't on centerice to begin with. I was able to get all the nhl network games with the Pens feed.

Netflix is also much better, tons more selection after switching regions. Finland has a really good lineup that's very different from US.

[eddysnake]

now that I've cut cable, what is the best way to get the pens feeds? Will Gamecenter work on the Roku for pens feeds if I"m in the pittsburgh market?

[pittsoccer33]

You'd need to do exactly what Delpen is suggesting. Your IP will be picked up as being part of the Pittsburgh market and you will not get Penguin games. Penguin games are also not shown anywhere in the US when the game is on NBCSN, NBC, or the random games picked up by the NHL Network. Ditto any playoff games on CNBC, USA, etc.

Not to be the morality police, but when I wanted to do this back in 2010 when I first tried going without cable this scared me off too much. From NHL.com:

IF YOU CIRCUMVENT OR ATTEMPT TO CIRCUMVENT ANY BLACKOUT RESTRICTION OR OTHER USE RESTRICTION: YOUR SUBSCRIPTION WILL BE SUBJECT TO IMMEDIATE TERMINATION AND A CHARGE OF ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100.00) FOR EARLY TERMINATION WILL BE APPLIED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD; YOU MAY BE SUBJECT TO LEGAL ACTION; AND THE NHL RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REPORT SUCH MISCONDUCT TO APPROPRIATE LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES.

[DelPen]

You'd need to do exactly what Delpen is suggesting. Your IP will be picked up as being part of the Pittsburgh market and you will not get Penguin games. Penguin games are also not shown anywhere in the US when the game is on NBCSN, NBC, or the random games picked up by the NHL Network. Ditto any playoff games on CNBC, USA, etc.

Not to be the morality police, but when I wanted to do this back in 2010 when I first tried going without cable this scared me off too much. From NHL.com:

IF YOU CIRCUMVENT OR ATTEMPT TO CIRCUMVENT ANY BLACKOUT RESTRICTION OR OTHER USE RESTRICTION: YOUR SUBSCRIPTION WILL BE SUBJECT TO IMMEDIATE TERMINATION AND A CHARGE OF ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100.00) FOR EARLY TERMINATION WILL BE APPLIED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD; YOU MAY BE SUBJECT TO LEGAL ACTION; AND THE NHL RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REPORT SUCH MISCONDUCT TO APPROPRIATE LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES.

Morally I'm paying for the service so my conscious is clear. If they want to try to go after me with a lame technicality then so be it. I don't think any laws are broken, just maybe an unreasonable terms of service.

[dodint]

You're in danger of becoming a tort. Wish to hell I knew what that meant.

[pittsoccer33]

Oh I don't care what you do - I think the lack of options to pay for pro sports is stupid and frustrating too.

And while I can't imagine the NHL suing their fans (Metallica/Dre redux), there have been bogus arrests of people using someone elses wifi (unauthorized computer access). I'm just not technically versed on proxies enough to consider one.

[knives of ice]

It's that time of year again to plug unblock-us. I saved a lot off the subscription to NHL Gamecenter last year for some reason after I switched my DNS over and I think there were only a few games blacked out because they weren't on centerice to begin with. I was able to get all the nhl network games with the Pens feed.

Netflix is also much better, tons more selection after switching regions. Finland has a really good lineup that's very different from US.

i started originally with unblock us, but in my opinion you are better off just getting a full VPN which can be had at a cheaper price and also gives you more options while accomplishing the same thing. currently using https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/pages/buy-vpn/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for $40 a year its been great.

[DelPen]

can you change netflix regions?

[knives of ice]

can you change netflix regions?

you can choose pretty much any country you want to appear so, yes.

that being said it isn't as user friendly as unblock-us but it depends on the device you are using

https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/p ... her_guides" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; provides guides. if you are just using a PC it is really easy.

[mac5155]

I have not missed having cable but fear once pens season starts ill have to get it back

[PensFanInDC]

can you change netflix regions?

I use Hola in Chrome to do this.

[columbia]

It's that time of year again to plug unblock-us. I saved a lot off the subscription to NHL Gamecenter last year for some reason after I switched my DNS over and I think there were only a few games blacked out because they weren't on centerice to begin with. I was able to get all the nhl network games with the Pens feed.

Netflix is also much better, tons more selection after switching regions. Finland has a really good lineup that's very different from US.

i started originally with unblock us, but in my opinion you are better off just getting a full VPN which can be had at a cheaper price and also gives you more options while accomplishing the same thing. currently using https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/pages/buy-vpn/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for $40 a year its been great.

I had a trial - on Del Pen's recommendation - of unblock us and it worked perfectly for any blacked out game, which would otherwise be available through Game Center Live.
I don't think it worked for games which were on Versus.

Does a full VPN work well for that?

[knives of ice]

It's that time of year again to plug unblock-us. I saved a lot off the subscription to NHL Gamecenter last year for some reason after I switched my DNS over and I think there were only a few games blacked out because they weren't on centerice to begin with. I was able to get all the nhl network games with the Pens feed.

Netflix is also much better, tons more selection after switching regions. Finland has a really good lineup that's very different from US.

i started originally with unblock us, but in my opinion you are better off just getting a full VPN which can be had at a cheaper price and also gives you more options while accomplishing the same thing. currently using https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/pages/buy-vpn/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for $40 a year its been great.

I had a trial - on Del Pen's recommendation - of unblock us and it worked perfectly for any blacked out game, which would otherwise be available through Game Center Live.
I don't think it worked for games which were on Versus.

Does a full VPN work well for that?

a vpn or ulblock-us is going to work for every game regardless of where it airs or the network as long as you put your location in the right place.

a vpn also covers you for torrents, anonymity, security, it can even get you around netflix throttling if your isp does that.

http://lifehacker.com/use-a-vpn-to-bypa ... 1608538080" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

unblock-us basically only changes your location for streaming it doesn't do the other things a vpn accomplishes.

[pittsoccer33]

a vpn also covers you for torrents, anonymity, security, it can even get you around netflix throttling if your isp does that.

Can you explain how that works? I think of myself as being kind of computer savvy and I don't get it.

If you subscribe to a VPN I assume you're paying with a credit card. So how is anything you're doing anonymous? There has to be a trail of data back to your VPN account.