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Old 09-27-2015, 09:39 PM   #21
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VERY interesting. Thanks for the info !!
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Old 09-27-2015, 11:45 PM   #22
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For those with antenna issues... you can stream all the major US networks (live TV) with a free account at ustvnow.com. The free account is SD not HD. Also IIRC, it's not necessarily your local stations. So the "local" news at 6 might be from Philadelphia or somewhere. Definitely not a great solution, but it's free, and certainly better than nothing if you are out of range for OTA reception. Their paid subscription is HD, has 20-30 channels (similar to Sling w/ ESPN), and an online DVR service. I can't remember the cost, but I think it's similar to Sling. But unlike Sling, ustvnow offers online DVR service and the major broadcast networks.

I registered for the free account and have their add-on set up to run on Kodi. It works fine, but I don't really use it since I get OTA. Verizon FiOS offers a "double play" consisting of internet plus a broadcast TV tier, which is $5/mo cheaper than internet alone. So that was an obvious no-brainer for us. It avoids the hassle of an antenna on the roof, requires no STBs, and includes all the local broadcast and public access channels as well as the weather channel, etc. Not just the major national networks.

I'm 35-40 miles from the broadcast towers and really don't want an antenna on the roof anyway. So, were it not for the FiOS offer, I would probably be a paid subscriber at ustvnow.
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Old 09-28-2015, 03:55 AM   #23
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Originally Posted by Cobra9777 View Post
For those with antenna issues... you can stream all the major US networks (live TV) with a free account at ustvnow.com. ...
I registered and was told that "your account has been activated successfully."

However, there is an additional message: "Our service is exclusively for Americans living or traveling overseas. We have detected that you are currently inside the USA where at this time we do not offer our service. If you are getting ready to travel outside the USA, you can already begin to program your DVR to record your favorite shows now and watch later when you are outside of the USA."

Hmmmmm
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Old 09-28-2015, 11:10 AM   #24
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I registered and was told that "your account has been activated successfully."

However, there is an additional message: "Our service is exclusively for Americans living or traveling overseas. We have detected that you are currently inside the USA where at this time we do not offer our service. If you are getting ready to travel outside the USA, you can already begin to program your DVR to record your favorite shows now and watch later when you are outside of the USA."

Hmmmmm
I'm inside the US and it works fine for me. I believe the service was originally intended for US military and expats living overseas, but it's now available to anyone. Try registering with a secondary email, not Facebook. I found this on reddit's cordcutter subreddit:

Quote:
Here is the trick to this for people in the US who want to use it at home - you CANNOT sign up with your Facebook account, as it gives as an option. If you do, trying to watch from a US IP address will give you the "cannot play in this region" error. When you sign up, you must just sign up with your email address - and no, not the same one you use for Facebook, because it will link it automatically. Get a secondary email if you don't have one, and you're good to go. You don't even have to lie about the country you're in. I chose that I was watching in the US, and it's fine.
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Old 09-28-2015, 11:54 AM   #25
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I'm inside the US and it works fine for me. I believe the service was originally intended for US military and expats living overseas, but it's now available to anyone. Try registering with a secondary email, not Facebook. I found this on reddit's cordcutter subreddit:
That's okay. Although it is curious their business model would include such an "open" secret.

I was merely curious and learned all I need to know. I live in Denver and we have several dozen OTA channels to choose from and Roku gives me access to most everything else -- although I have only used it 2-3 times in the past year.
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Old 09-28-2015, 12:00 PM   #26
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With airplay and aps on appletv you can watch college football, History channel etc. Tivo alone can' t get all those channels.


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Old 10-04-2015, 01:15 PM   #27
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When we cut the cord several years ago, I connected an old laptop to the TV via HDMI. I installed Kodi (formerly XBMC) and hooked up a 3TB external drive and a cheap USB TV tuner (HDHR w/ 2 tuners). We control Kodi and the laptop with a Media Center remote control, and also use a wireless keyboard. Now, all live OTA TV is routed through the TV tuner into the laptop and is recorded on the external drive. This enables all the standard DVR functionality like pausing live TV, recording 1 channel while watching another, skipping commercials, etc. Just using free software and some hardware I already had lying around.

Kodi also provides a free EPG (electronic program guide) and scheduling GUI which works great. With 3TB of storage, we record tons of OTA HD programming (with 5.1 sound) and never come close to capacity. The external drive also contains our entire collection of about 150 movies (ripped from DVDs), our entire MP3 collection (ripped from CDs), digital photos, home movies, etc, all of which is nicely organized and played via Kodi. All our old DVDs and CDs are stored in a box somewhere.

There are also thousands of 3rd-party add-ons for Kodi that open up the entire universe of internet streaming. Some of these are quite obviously accessing illegal content, so we stick to the official Kodi add-ons that only access legitimate and reliable streaming sources. Still tons of great free content, including traditional cable programming, much of which is not available via Netflix and Amazon.

If you have an old PC or laptop lying around, and you're a tech-savvy DIYer, this is a great and fun alternative to collecting a bunch of new hardware (Roku, TiVo, etc). The USB tuner was around $35 and the MCE remote was $15. We already had everything else (laptop and external drive); plus there's no ongoing subscription costs. IMHO, Kodi is a must-have for serious cable-cutters.
I downloaded Koki, in what I think is a basic installation. I am not interested in downloading illegal content either, but since it does not appear to come with instructions, I am not sure what is legal and what is not. YouTube has people showing you how to install content, but I know most of it is not legal.

Where did you get your information from and how do you know which is legal content and what isn't? (other than the obvious)
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Old 10-04-2015, 08:55 PM   #28
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I downloaded Koki, in what I think is a basic installation. I am not interested in downloading illegal content either, but since it does not appear to come with instructions, I am not sure what is legal and what is not. YouTube has people showing you how to install content, but I know most of it is not legal.

Where did you get your information from and how do you know which is legal content and what isn't? (other than the obvious)
The streaming content comes via video add-ons. As I said, if you stick with the official Kodi add-ons, I believe it is all legal sources of online streaming content. Some of it may require that you set up a free account at the source website. The official add-ons come with the software. You just have to install the ones you are interested in. There are quite a few, so some experimentation is required.

Stay away from 3rd-party video add-ons and repositories unless you know it is accessing legal content. Typically, these 3rd party add-ons are the ones with how-to videos you've seen on YouTube. Many of them are specifically built to enable easy access to illegal streaming sources, like PrimeWire. It's not all illegal, but as you mentioned, it can be difficult to tell the difference since Kodi makes the actual source transparent.

Just stick to the official add-on's and use good judgment. If you find yourself watching a movie that's still in theaters, and with Russian subtitles, you've obviously crossed the line.

Yes, there are no instructions with Kodi. It is open source software, mainly intended for tech-savvy DIYers. I got most of my configuration information directly from the Kodi website and specifically the discussion forum. Any problem you encounter has been discussed there many times. There are lots of other good websites with helpful configuration advice as well.

We use it mainly as a free DVR for OTA content and to neatly organize all of our other media like photos, movies, and music that we own. We also use Netflix and Amazon for 90% of our streaming. But it's been fun to discover the whole universe of other free online streaming which is easily accessible via Kodi.
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Old 10-05-2015, 09:09 AM   #29
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I'm biased (because I wrote the software), but I use CW_EPG. You need a Windows PC with a decent sized hard-drive, HD Homerun connect device ($130, dual tuner), and a subscription to schedules direct ($25/yr). You can record two things at once. Of course there's dozens of other software options (SageTV, MythTV, etc). https://www.silicondust.com/products...un-connect-na/
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Old 10-24-2015, 02:39 PM   #30
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I got my cable Bill reduced yesterday thanks to this thread. But I only managed to save $50 per month. Next year when my husband has more bandwidth, as he will be retired for good, then I will look for more ways to cut the cord.


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Old 11-19-2015, 08:06 PM   #31
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I see that Channel Master will be running the Black Friday deal again this year on their OTA DVRs. Wouldn't be surprised if TiVo does likewise with their Roamio and Minis. We got in on this last year with the CM but it was a tough choice between the two systems. After multiple days of deliberation, the prospect of zero subscription fees going forward won us over.
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Old 11-19-2015, 09:17 PM   #32
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We used to have a dedicated laptop connected to the living room TV with an HDMI cable and a wireless mouse and keyboard downstairs, so we could watch anything on the web plus we have Netflix and Amazon Prime. Then I bought an Amazon Firestick. It is easier than the laptop and has Netflix, Prime and Youtube plus a bunch of other channels I doubt anyone in the house watches. The laptop is still there but no one bothers with it anymore as the stick is easier. Upstairs we have a Roku streaming stick. In the family room there is an xBox plus basic cable that came at no extra charge with Internet. We don't record anything as we usually just watch Netflix and Prime.

I bought our streaming sticks plus two Chromecasts for Christmas gifts for under $20 each when they went on sale and used deal stacking.
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Old 08-27-2018, 06:35 AM   #33
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updating an old thread on cord cutting - The various live streaming service are nearing 7 million:

https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/slin...n-subscribers/

Here are the current subscriber counts according to Strategy Analytics:
Sling TV: 2.34 Million
DIRECTV NOW: 1.8 Million
Hulu: 995K
PlayStation Vue: 745K
YouTube TV: 410K
fuboTV: 325K
Philo: 150K
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Old 08-28-2018, 12:53 AM   #34
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The one I think that has missed the boat is Playstation Vue. It has a very attractive offering. But, many people overlook it thinking that it requires you to have a Playstation.
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Old 08-28-2018, 06:11 AM   #35
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Yes, two stations about 50 miles away. TV Fool identified more stations that could work with a roof mounted antenna, but that is not allowed in the subdivision.

Do they also disallow satellite dishes? That would require you to use cable to use your TV. Is someone in the subdivision getting a kickback?


Cheers!
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Old 09-05-2018, 09:25 PM   #36
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We decided to try HULU Live before cutting our cable. 80 - 90% of the time everything is just as good as our cable service. But we’ve found 2 annoying things, one of which may force us to stay with cable if we can’t resolve it. I’ll start with the deal breaker issue first.

1) we’ve noticed that when we watch live tv shows in the evening, parts of the picture briefly gets pixelated. The pixelation only lasts for a few seconds, but it happens so frequently throughout the show that we will sometimes switch back to cable to watch the show. Also sometimes the picture will freeze for a few seconds then catch up to the sound. The freezing is not as frequent as the pixelating, but it happens enough to be annoying.

2) sometimes the sound is just about 1 second behind the picture. We can tell it is because we can see the person who is talking in the picture start to pronounce a word before we hear him/her say it.

Does anyone else have HULU Live? Do you see this same behavior?
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Old 09-06-2018, 07:41 AM   #37
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you might give one of the other services a try. I tried Hulu Live, Direct TV Now, and Youtube TV. I seem to get the best picture from Youtube TV. This industry is growing fast, and what works or does not work today might work tomorrow. I like the fact that you can start and stop a service in one month increments.
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Old 09-06-2018, 07:52 AM   #38
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I tried Hulu Live and didn't have any issues with pixellation or sound synchronization (the latter I have with my cable at times but is usually fixed by pausing and restarting, or switching channels and back). I have 50 Mbps service which tests at around 45 at the Apple TV via wifi.

The killer for me was the program guide. You either have a choice of seeing all channels or the last ten (or so) watched, in the order they were viewed. No "favorites." I really don't want to have to plod through the crap I don't watch or hunt for my more favorite channels in random order.

[edit to add] I also didn't like the fact that Hulu Live via Apple TV isn't in Dolby 5.1. I think they're working on that and have brought it out on other platforms, including the PS4, Xbox1, and later LG TVs.
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Old 09-06-2018, 09:39 AM   #39
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We decided to try HULU Live before cutting our cable. 80 - 90% of the time everything is just as good as our cable service. But we’ve found 2 annoying things, one of which may force us to stay with cable if we can’t resolve it. I’ll start with the deal breaker issue first.

1) we’ve noticed that when we watch live tv shows in the evening, parts of the picture briefly gets pixelated. The pixelation only lasts for a few seconds, but it happens so frequently throughout the show that we will sometimes switch back to cable to watch the show. Also sometimes the picture will freeze for a few seconds then catch up to the sound. The freezing is not as frequent as the pixelating, but it happens enough to be annoying.

2) sometimes the sound is just about 1 second behind the picture. We can tell it is because we can see the person who is talking in the picture start to pronounce a word before we hear him/her say it.

Does anyone else have HULU Live? Do you see this same behavior?
What device are you using to stream? Is it old? Try a different device. Also test your network speed.


Netflix used to stutter and reload all the time for us a few years ago. We updated our Roku and the problems went away.
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Old 09-06-2018, 11:03 AM   #40
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Do they also disallow satellite dishes? That would require you to use cable to use your TV. Is someone in the subdivision getting a kickback?

Cheers!
Both satellite dishes and roof mounted antennas are allowed under federal regs, assuming you own your roof.

So a SFR or townhouse qualifies, but a condominium probably would not (though they could be mounted on a balcony that is private to the unit)
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