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Thwomp
Apr 10, 2003

BA-DUHHH

Grimey Drawer

Don Lapre posted:

Isn't Monday Night Football shown on local stations for your local team?

Yes, the local ABC affiliate should show it (may end up on another very local channel if ABC decides not to air it).

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LeeMajors
Jan 20, 2005

I've gotta stop fantasizing about Lee Majors...
Ah, one more!


For me, the frustration is due to Comcast blocking streaming content that I could get on other isps alone. My sport is college football. At least I have high quality network games.

Don Lapre
Mar 28, 2001

If you're having problems you're either holding the phone wrong or you have tiny girl hands.

LeeMajors posted:

For me, the frustration is due to Comcast blocking streaming content that I could get on other isps alone. My sport is college football. At least I have high quality network games.

What streaming content is comcast blocking?

LeeMajors
Jan 20, 2005

I've gotta stop fantasizing about Lee Majors...
Ah, one more!


Don Lapre posted:

What streaming content is comcast blocking?

Espn3/Espnu. I had knology and time warner in other residences, and they didn't require tv subscription to view the streaming content. Comcast requires a login and blocks streaming without a cable subscription.

lousy hat
Jul 17, 2004

bone appetit
Clapping Larry

TheScott2K posted:

:eng101: With the exception of Monday Night Football (ESPN) and the later-season Thursday night game (NFL Network), the only NFL games you get on TV come through channels you can get with an antenna. This only changes if you have DirecTV and NFL Sunday Ticket. This odd bit of pay-tv exclusivity makes me think the NFL is more likely than people think to come out with a streaming option for boxes. The NFL would really like to be making ALL the money off of broadcasts of their games.

The trick is that some people (including me) either a) want to watch their hometown team instead of the local team, which may or may not be shown in that market, or b) can't get certain channels OTA. For me, if I only want to watch whatever the local Fox affiliate is showing on Sunday, then I'm all good. If it's on CBS, I can't get it. If it's not OTA, I can't get it.

Honestly they could charge whatever they want, and if it's less than the cost of going to a sports bar 10 weeks out of the season, I'm sold.

spaztaz
Jan 28, 2009

BrotherFish posted:

Would any of these solutions get me cartoon network and comedy central content? Those are probably the two stations that get the most play at my home. Would love to ditch cable/satelite.

Hulu and Netflix both carry shows from Comedy Central. Hulu has new episodes and Netflix has entire seasons a year or so after they air. Roku has a private channel called NowhereTV which will stream Adult Swim episodes from the Cartoon Network webpage. The quality is poor though.

WhyteRyce
Dec 30, 2001

Thwomp posted:

If you can get the major networks OTA/through cable leaking from your internet connection, you'll get all your local sports.


:sigh: No you won't, I don't get why this keeps getting brought up unless people are talking only about football or their specific region/sport. There are effectively 0 Sacramento Kings games shown on any of the major networks. The Comcast sports channel has exclusive broadcast rights. I can't even stream via NBA League Pass broandband because of black-out rules.

I could always deal with proxies but the LP broadband app sucks anyway

I think it's the same deal with the San Jose Sharks (cable channel). I could catch the most of the Niners and Raiders game though, hooray for that I guess.

WhyteRyce fucked around with this message at 03:27 on Aug 4, 2012

tk
Dec 10, 2003

Nap Ghost

LeeMajors posted:

Espn3/Espnu. I had knology and time warner in other residences, and they didn't require tv subscription to view the streaming content. Comcast requires a login and blocks streaming without a cable subscription.

I have Comcast internet without a cable subscription and for two seasons now I've watched most of my football through ESPN3. Aside from the local ABC games, you get all of the ESPN / ESPN2 games on nationally. ESPN U is indeed blocked, but I don't think it was even available streaming as of last year.

Unless they changed the ESPN / ESPN2 thing recently, which I would be pissed about.

LeeMajors
Jan 20, 2005

I've gotta stop fantasizing about Lee Majors...
Ah, one more!


tk posted:

I have Comcast internet without a cable subscription and for two seasons now I've watched most of my football through ESPN3. Aside from the local ABC games, you get all of the ESPN / ESPN2 games on nationally. ESPN U is indeed blocked, but I don't think it was even available streaming as of last year.

Unless they changed the ESPN / ESPN2 thing recently, which I would be pissed about.

I think they changed it. They only recently came around my area forcing people with basic cable to go through the digital box as well. Before I plugged in the coax directly and got all my channels. Now, there's nothing.

Then I switched the cable over to my name when my roommate moved out, and got internet only--noticed espn/espn2 were unavailable. I had to go through a sign-in screen just to get on watchespn, and it blocked all the content.

Wiggly
Aug 26, 2000

Number one on the ice, number one in my heart
Fun Shoe

WhyteRyce posted:

:sigh: No you won't, I don't get why this keeps getting brought up unless people are talking only about football or their specific region/sport. There are effectively 0 Sacramento Kings games shown on any of the major networks. The Comcast sports channel has exclusive broadcast rights. I can't even stream via NBA League Pass broandband because of black-out rules.

I could always deal with proxies but the LP broadband app sucks anyway

I think it's the same deal with the San Jose Sharks (cable channel). I could catch the most of the Niners and Raiders game though, hooray for that I guess.

Same thing in LA. A few Dodgers, Lakers and Ducks away games are on some OTA channels, but all Angels, Kings, and Clippers (I think?) games are on FOX Sports channels almost exclusively.

Pillowpants
Aug 5, 2006
If I were to cancel cable, is there any way I can watch The Walking Dead? Is it available after a few days on Amazon or Hulu or Itunes? This is important to convincing my wife to go along with me on this.

Parlett316
Dec 6, 2002

Jon Snow is viciously stabbed by his friends in the night's watch for wanting to rescue Mance Rayder from Ramsay Bolton
I haven't watched the show yet but I'm 99% sure it's on Netflix.

Thwomp
Apr 10, 2003

BA-DUHHH

Grimey Drawer

Pillowpants posted:

If I were to cancel cable, is there any way I can watch The Walking Dead? Is it available after a few days on Amazon or Hulu or Itunes? This is important to convincing my wife to go along with me on this.

You'd have to check but I want to say that you can buy an iTunes season pass and get the episodes a day or so after they air. This, of course, depends on the channel but AMC did this with Mad Men on the most recent season.

Fanhattan for iOS can figure this out for you (but maybe not until the season begins).

Panty Saluter
Jan 17, 2004

Making learning fun!
Netflix has the Walking Dead but it's only season 1 so I assume that's pretty behind.

OldSenileGuy
Mar 13, 2001
Is this the place to talk about Antenna chat?

Recently I discovered that I wouldn't be able to use my Tivo with the free cable coming into the house, so antenna is the way to go. I live in Queens, so distance from the transmitter isn't a problem, but I'm still getting an unstable signal. Admittedly, my apartment faces East while the signal is coming from the West, but I was still hoping for a more stable broadcast.

Right now I'm just using a cheap rabbit ears + loop antenna of a similar style to this one:

http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT121-Indoor-Antenna/dp/B00009W3E2/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1344566912&sr=1-3&keywords=rabbit+ears

According to AntennaWeb, I should be using a small multi-directional antenna. Does anyone have any experience with these to be able to recommend one? Or even enough information or knowledge to know if using a different type of antenna will help me get a better signal?

Additionally, are those signal boosting devices they sell at Radio Shack worth a drat, or are they snake oil? I actually read something somewhere that being in the city area, my problem isn't low signal, but crowded airwaves, and using a signal booster could make it even worse. Any truth to this?

Panty Saluter
Jan 17, 2004

Making learning fun!
A signal booster is only useful on certain types of problems - say if you have a borderline but usable signal at the antenna but it loses just enough strength on the wire then an amp can offset that loss and make the signal usable. If the signal is already crap when it hits the antenna, you're SOL. If the signal is plenty hot already an amp can overdrive it and turn it into crap.

Why can't you use your Tivo with the freebie cable? It should work with plain-jane analog cable just fine.

e: if multipath is a problem then an amp will not help. you could try a small directional antenna since an omnidirectional will not help a multipath problem.

Cold Old
Jan 6, 2005

Two what?

OldSenileGuy posted:

Is this the place to talk about Antenna chat?

Recently I discovered that I wouldn't be able to use my Tivo with the free cable coming into the house, so antenna is the way to go. I live in Queens, so distance from the transmitter isn't a problem, but I'm still getting an unstable signal. Admittedly, my apartment faces East while the signal is coming from the West, but I was still hoping for a more stable broadcast.

Right now I'm just using a cheap rabbit ears + loop antenna of a similar style to this one:

http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT121-Indoor-Antenna/dp/B00009W3E2/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1344566912&sr=1-3&keywords=rabbit+ears

According to AntennaWeb, I should be using a small multi-directional antenna. Does anyone have any experience with these to be able to recommend one? Or even enough information or knowledge to know if using a different type of antenna will help me get a better signal?

Additionally, are those signal boosting devices they sell at Radio Shack worth a drat, or are they snake oil? I actually read something somewhere that being in the city area, my problem isn't low signal, but crowded airwaves, and using a signal booster could make it even worse. Any truth to this?

I built this antenna for my garage and I'm 50+ miles from the transmitters in the far western suburbs of Chicago. I get 90% of the local channels with it. It took about an hour to put together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWQhlmJTMzw

duodenum
Sep 18, 2005

We cut the cable a while ago and have had a Roku for a long time. We decided on Roku because it was the only box with a Hulu app, but the UI was painful. The Hulu app was especially bad, it's like they sacrificed usability for aesthetics. Pretty, but every click felt like it had to be bounced off some laggy server in Tibet. God forbid you wanted to pause video or ffwd/rwd, it would choke and crash (freeze for minutes at a time) if you didn't just let it play.

So with Apple TV getting Hulu, I squealed with joy. The UI is 100 times more responsive, and having a YouTube app and AirPlay is pretty fun for entertaining the toddlers.

Big drawback to the Apple TV is that we got pretty used to the BBC World Service video stream on the Roku, I can't find ANY way to get it on the Apple TV, even via AirPlay, because the video stream doesn't seem to be available in the US ... outside of that Roku app.

I miss it! Maybe using a proxy will help, I haven't tried that yet. Or I could buy an HDMI y-splitter/switch thing at monoprice and plug the Roku back in. :/

TUS
Feb 19, 2003

I'm going to stab you. Offline. With a real knife.


How strong is that leaf antenna? I've read the reviews here and on amazon... but between them and what I'm looking at on AntennaWeb and TV Fool is a contrast from what looking for. I live on the first floor of an apt building where most my windows face north and west in a town that's in a valley. Antennaweb says I can get a PBS station based on my address and nothing else. But there's a few network stations within 50 miles in the opposite direction. Is that leaf antenna worth a shot?

edit - I plugged in the coax cable directly into the tv and got... something resembling a picture on a couple channels (quality was like 4 or 5 of 10). I don't know if that'd matter.

TUS fucked around with this message at 16:50 on Aug 23, 2012

SunknLiner
Jan 19, 2005

We've recently "cut the cable" too, but the one show we're worried about missing is The Walking Dead. Are there any legal options for watching this show live, or close to live without having to wait for the season to be released on DVD?

Thwomp
Apr 10, 2003

BA-DUHHH

Grimey Drawer

SunknLiner posted:

We've recently "cut the cable" too, but the one show we're worried about missing is The Walking Dead. Are there any legal options for watching this show live, or close to live without having to wait for the season to be released on DVD?

Not 10 posts above you.

Pillowpants posted:

If I were to cancel cable, is there any way I can watch The Walking Dead? Is it available after a few days on Amazon or Hulu or Itunes? This is important to convincing my wife to go along with me on this.

Thwomp posted:

You'd have to check but I want to say that you can buy an iTunes season pass and get the episodes a day or so after they air. This, of course, depends on the channel but AMC did this with Mad Men on the most recent season.

Fanhattan for iOS can figure this out for you (but maybe not until the season begins).

Tantalus
Feb 11, 2004

TUS posted:

How strong is that leaf antenna?

I would give it a shot. I just purchased one for our master bedroom and easily doubled the quality and number of channels I was receiving.

NewcastleBrown
Mar 15, 2004
The One and Only
Not sure if this is the right place for this question, but as it pertains to Roku it seems like it might belong here.

I have a Roku waiting at home in my mailbox and just learned that it doesn't have native support for streaming content directly from your computer. I'm seeing stuff on Google about a bunch of different programs that set up a media server your Roku can access.

Do any of you do this? If so, what program are you using for it?

WithoutTheFezOn
Aug 28, 2005
Oh no

NewcastleBrown posted:

Do any of you do this? If so, what program are you using for it?
Yes, Plex. Kind of sucks for streaming music, but it works well for video.

NewcastleBrown
Mar 15, 2004
The One and Only

WithoutTheFezOn posted:

Yes, Plex. Kind of sucks for streaming music, but it works well for video.

Thanks, I'll give Plex a shot.

Gibbons
Dec 8, 2005

life's little hurdles
Been without cable for a while. For me the big thing was getting a Smart TV, wi-fi enabled. Netflix is native, as is MLB.tv, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime. So I don't need a roku or apple tv, which leaves my setup almost completely wireless/box-less, except for blu-ray.

And the best part is the DLNA compatibility. I have a computer running Twonky and feeding videos and music directly to the TV over wi-fi. It even streams high-def video, AVI's, MKV's, etc.. I've been very impressed with what it can handle. 720p with ease and 1080p usually without issue.

My only hiccup is if I want ESPN3, I have to connect my Mac to the TV via HDMI. I've tried PLEX for that since there's a plug-in but it sure sucks, IMO.

GhostOfTomNook
Aug 17, 2003

El gallo Pinto no pinta,
el que pinta es el pintor.


smackfu posted:

Another option for sports and other live events is OTA HDTV.

This antenna is $35, very small, and has great reviews.
http://www.amazon.com/Paper-Thin-Leaf-Indoor-Antenna/dp/B004QK7HI8

Your mileage will vary of course. If you live in a state with smaller cities that don't have their own TV transmitters, you may only be able to pick up a channel or two. But if you can pick up some channels, you may be pleasantly surprised at how good the quality is compared to cable or DTV.

Piling on to say this antenna is awesome. I don't know if the antenna technology is much more impressive than a $10 antenna from Wal-Mart, but the design means you can put it in harder to reach areas and potentially pick up more channels.

Rick Rickshaw
Feb 21, 2007

I am not disappointed I lost the PGA Championship. Nope, I am not.
I want to stream the US Open from usopen.org. I live in Canada. This is a problem.

I tried unblock-us.com, but all it does is change my DNS settings to point to a different DNS server. How is that supposed to accomplish anything?

Of course I am presented with this when I attempt to stream live video:



Does this service only work with Netflix? Or what's the deal?

vanilla slimfast
Dec 6, 2006

If anyone needs me, I'll be in the Angry Dome



Rick Rickshaw posted:

I want to stream the US Open from usopen.org. I live in Canada. This is a problem.

I tried unblock-us.com, but all it does is change my DNS settings to point to a different DNS server. How is that supposed to accomplish anything?

Of course I am presented with this when I attempt to stream live video:



Does this service only work with Netflix? Or what's the deal?

Sounds like you need to use a US-based proxy or VPN service

mediaphage
Mar 22, 2007

Excuse me, pardon me, sheer perfection coming through

vanilla slimfast posted:

Sounds like you need to use a US-based proxy or VPN service

Unblock-us worked fine for me to access it, for what it's worth. I'm in Ontario.

Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 10 years!
So we cut cable back in February and I've been keeping a laptop handy for watching video from itunes and other sources. We use the 360 for Netflix and Amazon Prime but as everyone knows it sucks a dick for streaming from your own network unless the files are in very specific formats.
I'm sick of the laptop being on the coffee table, i'm sick of the cables running around the room, so what's my best bet for network streaming? A Boxee? Roku? I've never had much skill for building PCs so I don't think an HTPC is the right thing for me. In the Boxee thread the popular opinion these days is that the device sucks and from reading here I gather that the Roku doesn't natively stream from a local network.
Are any of the other box options suitable for my needs? Does anyone make a pre made HTPC?

Don Lapre
Mar 28, 2001

If you're having problems you're either holding the phone wrong or you have tiny girl hands.

Rhyno posted:

So we cut cable back in February and I've been keeping a laptop handy for watching video from itunes and other sources. We use the 360 for Netflix and Amazon Prime but as everyone knows it sucks a dick for streaming from your own network unless the files are in very specific formats.
I'm sick of the laptop being on the coffee table, i'm sick of the cables running around the room, so what's my best bet for network streaming? A Boxee? Roku? I've never had much skill for building PCs so I don't think an HTPC is the right thing for me. In the Boxee thread the popular opinion these days is that the device sucks and from reading here I gather that the Roku doesn't natively stream from a local network.
Are any of the other box options suitable for my needs? Does anyone make a pre made HTPC?
The zotac ad10 is only $200. Add your own 2.5" hard drive and ddr3 ram. It has hdmi out and built in ir for a remote (one is included). It's also super small.

It's what we use and has no problems with 1080p video.

Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 10 years!

Don Lapre posted:

The zotac ad10 is only $200. Add your own 2.5" hard drive and ddr3 ram. It has hdmi out and built in ir for a remote (one is included). It's also super small.

It's what we use and has no problems with 1080p video.

I'll look into it, thanks! I'm also looking at the RasberryPi since it's so cheap.

Modus Man
Jun 8, 2004



Soiled Meat
I would just like to pimp the antenna that I am currently using. When I built my house 4 years ago out in the middle of nowhere, I decided I wasn't paying for satellite (no cable/dsl/anything even available) so I went with an in-attic antenna setup. I am in lower Michigan, about 40 miles from the nearest city that broadcasts OTA channels, so I knew I would need something more than an antenna that could sit on the tv stand. I went with Antennas Direct DB8 which I got for $80 at the time. I also had to pair it with a ~$60 Channel Master amplifier, so I was at $140. I get channels in HD with strong signal from Flint, Lansing, and Saginaw. Strangely, I am closer to Detroit than Saginaw but I get no channels from Detroit. So I have about 30 channels, most of those are duplicates so figure 15 channels to watch. FOX, CBS, ABC, NBC, CW, PBS, and others (religious/spanish, etc) all in HD. My favorite channel I got was ION but about a month ago it just dissapeared and I can't pick it up anymore, now I'm on a Psych withdrawl.

Jose Oquendo
Jun 20, 2004

Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a boring movie

Rhyno posted:

We use the 360 for Netflix and Amazon Prime but as everyone knows it sucks a dick for streaming from your own network unless the files are in very specific formats.

There's several applications to fix this. I like using PS3 Media Server. Just tell it what folders to access and if your computer can play the file, it can transcode it on the fly.

CFox
Nov 9, 2005

Rhyno posted:

So we cut cable back in February and I've been keeping a laptop handy for watching video from itunes and other sources. We use the 360 for Netflix and Amazon Prime but as everyone knows it sucks a dick for streaming from your own network unless the files are in very specific formats.
I'm sick of the laptop being on the coffee table, i'm sick of the cables running around the room, so what's my best bet for network streaming? A Boxee? Roku? I've never had much skill for building PCs so I don't think an HTPC is the right thing for me. In the Boxee thread the popular opinion these days is that the device sucks and from reading here I gather that the Roku doesn't natively stream from a local network.
Are any of the other box options suitable for my needs? Does anyone make a pre made HTPC?

I use a Roku for this along with watching Netflix and Prime. Just had to download a program called Plex on my PC which works like Windows Media Center and then download a Plex app on the Roku to be able to see the files. Really simple and Plex automatically tags movies and series so it's all nice and organized. I splurged on the $99 Roku for the USB connection but I'm 90% positive you can just do everything wirelessly.

Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 10 years!

CFox posted:

I use a Roku for this along with watching Netflix and Prime. Just had to download a program called Plex on my PC which works like Windows Media Center and then download a Plex app on the Roku to be able to see the files. Really simple and Plex automatically tags movies and series so it's all nice and organized. I splurged on the $99 Roku for the USB connection but I'm 90% positive you can just do everything wirelessly.

I ordered a RaspberryPi but wince it might take 6 weeks to get here I might bite the bullet and go get a Roku at Best Buy on my lunch.

Pillowpants
Aug 5, 2006
I think what I've decided to do is to cut down on cable to basic cable to get the network channels ($10), buy HBO and Showtime ($20) and then use my roku/xbox 360 to watch Netflix and Hulu. IT's a lot cheaper than the $200 a month I'm used to.

mediaphage
Mar 22, 2007

Excuse me, pardon me, sheer perfection coming through

Pillowpants posted:

I think what I've decided to do is to cut down on cable to basic cable to get the network channels ($10), buy HBO and Showtime ($20) and then use my roku/xbox 360 to watch Netflix and Hulu. IT's a lot cheaper than the $200 a month I'm used to.

You pay $200 a month for tv shows? :psyduck:

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Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 10 years!
This Plex Media server kind of sucks. My laptop is less than a year old and this thing bogs down and locks up every time I try to add folders.

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