OT: Cutting the Cord- Kodi on Fire Stick
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I just got a Roku stick in order to go wireless on cable (returned box and use TWC app) and would be interested in truly "cutting the cord". However, I am not sure if my 2 sticking points can be resolved. The first is access to TWC News 1 (NY1). There have been a ton of requests to have access to this channel without a cable subscription (internet only), but it hasn't happened yet. I find NY1 (and all of the other truly local news channels offered by TWC) to be the best source of information instead of the depressing CBS, NBC, ABC FOX, etc NY Metro news that just focuses on every bad thing that happened withing 150 mile radius of NYC. This I don't think there is a resolution, but if anyone knows of one please let me know.
The other is live sports. The local blackout restrictions are the issue on the season packages, but it seems like Beast does the trick?
The other is live sports. The local blackout restrictions are the issue on the season packages, but it seems like Beast does the trick?
I mentioned it because I once used an old rig as an HTPC and installed the predecessor of kodi, XMBC, and followed some instructions to get.. I think it was called Icefilms and Channel 1 and once I did and and could see what I could get.. well, I felt "dirty". Even if it was technically skirting law by never actually possessing the file of the thing I was watching.. knew it was wrong.
Someday we will pay just for the pipe.. and New Jersey will be last to allow that.. and fairly priced services like Netflix will do the rest. As it is now, there is graft and corruption preventing competition in cable services, artificially inflating prices all over the map. So, I guess the guys finding ways around this have a point on their side. But it is still "dirty" and one day, when some government agency decides to listen to the complaints of the owners of the media empires.. some of you will be made examples of... just like the RIAA did to music file downloaders.
So, when you watch something you did not pay for it, just keep in mind the source might be an agency logging that activity and tracing it back to your IP. It could be a "honey pot" you just connected to to stream that latest-greatest content. If your cable company / ISP has a email address for you that you don't really read.. start reading the emails.. you will see warnings there about stuff like this if they see you doing something shady.
ah yes the good ole doom and gloom approach. We're only watching peoples streams, technically not illegal. Its the ones broadcasting the streams that get in trouble and there's a reason they go to great lengths to disguise themselves. These media empires keep shafting us its about time we fought back. Everytime they raise their rates i wonder why the kardashians are getting paid the sums of money they get for their shitty content. If you says the advertisers pay for the eyeballs, then they should also pay to subsidize our service. I think we'll gladly watch commercials for free content.
We are getting robbed
Ah yes, stealing cable, no DVR, subpar or no HD pic, dead links...sounds like just what I need for my 65" plasma TV.
As for those that think you aren't breaking the law or won't be prosecuted, good luck with that. This is no different than torrents & PopcornTime, all of which have lead to prosecution of the "innocent" stream watchers. See: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2973...e-now-getting-sued-by-the-movie-industry.html
As for those that think you aren't breaking the law or won't be prosecuted, good luck with that. This is no different than torrents & PopcornTime, all of which have lead to prosecution of the "innocent" stream watchers. See: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2973...e-now-getting-sued-by-the-movie-industry.html
At least get it right.. theres tons of HD content, you dont need DVR when its on demand, and if you know where to go, there are rarely dead links.
Just be honest and disclose that somehow you have a tie to the entertainment or media mogul empire.
Nope. I don't. I just prefer not to steal & instead get high quality HD content, DVR & more without any effort. On Demand on cable is terrible because you're forced to watch commercials so DVR is essential.
How do people expect ESPN or other networks to pay billions of $ for B1G TV rights & other conference rights if the networks aren't getting their carriage fees from cable subscribers?
Heres an idea, stop paying 1 billion dollars for everything.... We've given them a blank check. These networks pony up ludicrous sums of money for crazy content, they then demand more money from sat and cable companies, who then force cable customers to pay more. Its an endless trap. Everybody is getting rich these days off of BS and its gotta come to an end. I'll roll the dice until then and keep spreading the word that there are options out there.
Again, i can be completely legit for 27 a month instead of 137.
I share both of your sentiments. Out of the all the thousands that go out of my house on a monthly basis, the $157 I pay Cablevision (down from $179 I was paying Fios) is the one that pisses me off the most. I have 500+ channels of nonsense. As a family of 4, we *might* even land on 35 channels a month and regularly watch no more than 25.
On the other hand, I have no interest in walking to my mailbox and finding a Cease and Desist letter with notification that I'm now subject to an investigation for stealing Sponge Bob.
All of the legal cord cutting packages are interesting and a step in the right direction. I guess I'll wait for the market to sort out and something to get a little more streamlined. From the little bit I've read, the days of pure ala carte cable are coming. That is what I want. Total customization in a package that makes $$ sense.
On the other hand, I have no interest in walking to my mailbox and finding a Cease and Desist letter with notification that I'm now subject to an investigation for stealing Sponge Bob.
All of the legal cord cutting packages are interesting and a step in the right direction. I guess I'll wait for the market to sort out and something to get a little more streamlined. From the little bit I've read, the days of pure ala carte cable are coming. That is what I want. Total customization in a package that makes $$ sense.
Thanks for the heads up on the TWC app/Roku reminder. I just checked my FIOS mobile app with airplay on my apple TV and it's working. In the past, I've tried and it didn't have that functionality. They must have updated the app since the last time I tried. The app has most of the channels I'd want except maybe BTN but I don't need that on every tv.
My biggest complaint isn't the amount I pay for the package (FIOS extreme), I'm good with that. It's the boxes I hate paying monthly and if I can find a suitable way to get rid a couple of them I'll be happy. Does a Roku stick have a remote that allows you to flip threw channels on your TWC app just as a regular remote on a box? Flipping on a iPad screen is okay but just wondering for convenience sake.
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Pure a la carte may come but I still don't think it's going to wind up saving a lot of money in the end unless you really trim down viewing. I don't see the cable/media giants losing money. They will just find a new business model. That's what the banks did when they were restricted on fees they could charge, they started charging fees for things they didn't in the past. They just have to adapt and I suspect they will.
I see the same here. The price of each individual channel might go up quite a bit, the charge for broadband might go up a lot if not in a bundle or might be determined on a usage basis like minutes use to be on cellular. I can't tell you exactly what the "new world" will look like but I don't see significant cost savings unless you slim down a lot.
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I guess we need to get to an ala carte world before we can critique the pricing model. I suspect you're right in the short run. But some disruptive technology will emerge that wrestles pricing power away from cable companies.
I don't know. In the end, no matter the technology, you have to pay for the content the media companies provide and the pipes the cable companies provide. Don't really see away around that and they will be the one that set the pricing models even if changed from what's out there today.
Nobody sets price indefinitely.
The cable model is broken. They know it. They tried to justify it by adding hundreds of channels of basically nothing that nobody wants.
An entire generation is growing up having never watched original programming on a major network. They watch very little content on "live" TV. They are used to watching content on their phones for free. To think my 8 year old will be willing to pay $350 a month in 15 years for a cable package littered with channels he doesn't watch is a recipe for extinction. Cable companies know that. It's why HBO is developing their own apps--as one example. It's why Netflix let contracts with existing libraries to expire and is instead spending the money on developing its own content.
And if the cable companies can't find a business model in delivery, someone else will. Google is already dabbling in that space--which also has the cable companies quaking. Other companies will too.
20 years ago you had a touchtone phone anchored to your kitchen wall. We would have had this same conversation saying that Bell Atlantic would never sit idle while you made plans to eliminate the hardline from your house.
I'm with you....
BTW, if you insist on using Kodi to stream games or movies, I'd HIGHLY recommend getting a VPN service. $5 a month and your computer is virtually connected to some other location and you should be safe..Private Internet Access. check it out.
BTW, if you insist on using Kodi to stream games or movies, I'd HIGHLY recommend getting a VPN service. $5 a month and your computer is virtually connected to some other location and you should be safe..Private Internet Access. check it out.
Yes the channels that are extraneous will disappear but the things that people want to see will still be out there and they will charge a premium for it. HBO has that app but how much are they charging for it? It's like 15 bucks/month isn't . Add a some channels like that but not as expensive, your broadband and your netflix/hulu/prime and where do you end up on your bill? I think it'll be about the same area as now.
Netflix/Hulu etc.. are developing their own content and as they do what are they going to end up doing? Probably charging more for their services. Netflix has already raised the price once in the last few years. Amazon Prime did too. It's not like content is being created for free and if popular it's not like the talent won't want more money and in the end it'll as usual flow back to the consumer.
I mean look at movies in theater. You'd think with big screen HD tvs and Netflix and such the movie producers and theater chains would go out of business. They're still alive and kicking. The "minutiae" type movies probably bomb more now than before but the big blockbusters still do well. As long as you have content people want, you'll be fine.
Yes the hardlines may have been taken out of your house but what did some of those companies do? They became part of the cellular business. Now you see they've also moved into the cable provider business with FIOS and ATT U-verse and their takeover of DirectTV. Look at cellular too, they went from charging for texts/minutes to charging based on data. The pricing model changed but have you saved a ton on your cell bill? T-Mobile is really being an "agitator" in that area but they're all figuring their way through. The ones who survive will find a way to adapt and I think most of the big guys will.
So to me the various parts of a total household "media bill" may change in how much is being charged from each service provider but if you add it all up I think it's going to be about the same as now. I don't see a huge cost savings in the future unless you really slim down viewing.
Yes, I absolutely save a ton on my cell bill. You don't?
I'm not arguing that you won't pay an equal amount in the future if you don't change your viewing habits. I'm arguing that currently, it's difficult to change your viewing habits, without being more than average tech savvy, willing the at least skirt the spirit of the law and/or have a half dozen devices cobbled together.
To think "someone" isn't going to bundle all of these cobbled together devices, into a single streamlined easy to use device AND offer you total ala carte viewing is silly. And traditional cable will have nothing to say about it.
Once traditional tech decides on their perceived best way to provide a conduit for content, it's lights out for traditional cable companies. They can't win that war, either in terms of available financial resources or human capital.
Really, I don't. I pay about the same on my cell bill because the data usage of my family is probably making up for any of the savings of not charging minutes/texts. Actually I have a friend awhile back who's still on one of those old plans (texts/minutes) with data added to it. He thought about switching to an exclusive data plan and he said he'd actually pay a little more per month for buying a plan with the same amount of data. With T Mobile pressuring ATT/Verizon I don't know if that's still the case.
As far as the new technology, maybe but who's to say the cable companies won't be the ones to do it or join along. We saw the move into cellular and now service provider, heck Comcast even took over NBC and became both content and service provider. I can't tell you exactly what the future is going to look like all I'm saying is these huge companies likely are going to adapt to it eventually and be part of or helping shape whatever "revolution" comes and in the end I don't know much cost savings will actually be realized.
Even if you think these big media/cable companies will be in trouble in the future (I don't but even if you do), does it matter as a consumer? In the end, all you care about is how much money am I saving. Whether it's going to Netflix or Cablevision or whomever, how much is being saved on your household media spending in the future? I don't expect my wallet to be much thicker in the future than it is now because I don't expect my household viewing habits to be trimmed sharply. We may disagree on how we think these companies will fare but the bottom line to us is are we saving significant money? I tend to think not.
There's nothing to say that cable companies won't join along. But additional entrants push the price down. Do you think traditional cable companies that operate in Raleigh are worried that it is on Google Fiber's short list of cities? Or Charlotte? Phoenix?
What you're suggesting is that companies that have entire cultures built around effing customers at every turn are all of a sudden going to get religion in a competitive environment with one of the best run companies on planet earth. I don't share that position. If you are a traditional cable company you are now being attacked at every turn. Content providers are developing their own delivery. Customers are demanding ala carte (and this thread is evidence that some of you are willing to at least straddle gray areas in the law to do it). And now, one of the biggest, best funded and smartest companies in the world is building network infrastructure in some of the hottest emerging metro areas in the country.
Ding Dong the witch is dead...
I don't know about the Roku but Tivo recently had refurb boxes on sale for $50 and then $250 for lifetime service. It has 4 tuners. Not sure if still running the sale but could pick one up on ebay for slightly more and then just 'rent' the cable card from FIOS.
Well how quickly have ATT/Verizon gotten religion with the threat of TMobile and their pricing models. Mind you TMobile is losing money to gain market share but nonetheless ATT/Verizon have responded and adapted as necessary and even moved into new businesses as cable providers. These cable giants are just getting bigger not smaller and if anything I'd be worried about more influence not less. Cablevision was just bought by a European cable/telcom company Altice and they have 70% control of some small midwestern cable system. Charter bought Time Warner. I wouldn't be surprised if Altice makes future acquisitions in cable and maybe even telcom, frankly I'd expect it.
Google is building out some services in metropolitan areas but I think it's going to be a long time and and a lot of money before they come close to reaching as many people as these huge companies do. I mean Verizon even had to stop it's build out of FIOS because it was so expensive. Yes Google has a ton of money but it's not unlimited. I don't know the answer to this but how much do they charge for Google Fiber? In the future if hypothetically Google did gain market share is their pricing model going to be that much better than the cable providers of today? I mean they have to get some return on that huge costly build out of their fiber network right?
To me you need pipes and content. Now content can be a little more disjointed whether it be traditional Disney/Viacom or Netflix/Hulu/Prime but you need pipes no matter what technology or content and I don't see how you get around that and subsequently how you get out of the clutches of these cable providers and whatever pricing models they come up with in the future.
Google Fiber pricing varies, but at any price point it is cheaper than the comparable cable service.
For what Google calls "basic internet" it is FREE for 7 years from the date the address signs up + a one time $300 "construction fee."
Gigabit Internet varies based on whether you get it "with TV" or "without." With averages $120 a month and the construction fee is waived. Without averages $70 a month and the construction fee is also waived.
That is game changing pricing, based on information on cord cutting provided in this thread. And it's better service. And they are constantly innovating, so you can expect more things to come online that none of us expect as we have this conversation.
Cable companies have lived in a world where challenges have only come from other traditional cable companies. I can get crap customer service and a slightly above average product here or there. Only difference is a few bucks a month. Those days are over.
Not bad pricing and I'm sure the speeds are higher but will that continue in the future if they ever do gain market share. It's sort of like TMobile now. They are trying to gain market share so they lose money or operate on thin margins. How sustainable is that and eventually do you have to increase prices if you gain market share? Amazon is the only one who seems to slip by on that metric, lol. Just as I predict eventually Netflix/Prime/Hulu will continue to increase prices in the future, as some have already done, I wouldn't be surprised if Google wouldn't have to do the same especially with the huge capital expenditure. Forget about how much market share they'll actually ever gain. That to me is still questionable how big they can become in this space.
To me the way these cable companies will be threatened is if we actually have a time when there are actually more than 2-3 at most providers across the country not just select markets. Most of the time it's either satellite and the cable provider like Comcast/Time Warner/Cablevision etc.. I happen to be lucky in that there's a 3rd in Verizon FIOS but a lot of markets don't even have that 3rd option. Suppose we have even more than the 3.
I'm not the most informed on this topic but I believe in some of these Asian countries like Korea/Japan their wireless speeds are as good or better than hardline broadband here. We know the wireline broadband there is much faster but I'm just talking wireless. Masa son the CEO of Softbank, a Japanese company, had the vision to bring that kind of speed/tech here with his takeover of Sprint. He wanted to merge with TMobile because he said he wanted the scale to make it feasible to bring those kind of speeds here. The gov't rejected the merger so not sure if he's still on track to execute that vision.
But his vision of bringing that kind of wireless speed here to me is what could scare the traditional cable companies. Then it's possible to have more than 2-3 players providing you those pipes. Up above I said I don't know how you get around the pipes and you don't. But if you can bring that kind of speed to wireless then you're still not getting around those pipes but you're creating much more competition for them and not just in a few select markets but around the whole country. So it's not the Netflix/Hulus/Primes that would be bringing down consumer prices it would be the "real" competition for those pipes between the hardline providers and wireless providers. I have no idea if it's possible or a "pipe" dream (excuse the pun) but that to me would be a threat to the traditional cable companies not the move to a la carte.
Nope. Internet fees shot up as people cut-out their landline phones. In the future people will ultimately be paying the same costs for their 12 channels as they are paying for the 30. I recall when cable was new and the draw was "commercial free". The a la carte stuff will look good at first but wont stay that way. Sports is the only thing a lot of people still want so dont expect that to get cheap (especially with fans feeling less interested in live games).
VPNs are good for getting around blackouts. A VPN service will create a pipe for encrypted data that not even your provider can unencrypt. You can logon to your VPN from dozens of locations. If you want to see a blackout game in NYC logon to VPN from LA access point. I got VPN to get blocked BBC and UK television. It worked to get around blackouts on ESPN3. Another advantage is that your Netflix and other services can speed up
How to improve your Netflix performance with a VPN
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/...formance-even-if-youre-not-a-verizon-customer
Yes, by using the directional pad on the Roku remote. It isn't so intuitive and the channel sorting is not in # order like on the cable box. The best thing to do is designate your most used channels as favorites and then select channels off of the favorites side bar. The loading of channels could be faster, but I am working with a dated modem (DOCSIS 2.0, 38 Mbps max) and router. I plan on upgrading both soon.
My one gripe is the Roku Stick doesn't have an off button. You have to unplug it to turn it off.
Ok thanks for the info. I'll do a little research and see if it's worthwhile to switch or just stick with the iPad and Apple Tv.
the Sportsdevil Addon within the Beast gives you nearly every college football every week. every game is available.
example if why Kodi not for everybody - my wife watches Showtime series called The Affair. she watches on Kodi when she has time, we dont have Showtime. when you select your show there are few different HD streams. if you encounter a buffering issue , its when watching something HD. halfway through the show it buffered. she paused , waited few mins, but buffered again. so she exited , selected a 'hq' version (which looked HD to me) and jumped to part of show where she was watching before. all of this took few mins tops. however probably would make some people nuts and I get it. it's more exception for show to buffer midway, but occasionally does happen. that's why not for everyone.
example if why Kodi not for everybody - my wife watches Showtime series called The Affair. she watches on Kodi when she has time, we dont have Showtime. when you select your show there are few different HD streams. if you encounter a buffering issue , its when watching something HD. halfway through the show it buffered. she paused , waited few mins, but buffered again. so she exited , selected a 'hq' version (which looked HD to me) and jumped to part of show where she was watching before. all of this took few mins tops. however probably would make some people nuts and I get it. it's more exception for show to buffer midway, but occasionally does happen. that's why not for everyone.
I've never used BTN2Go (domestic or international) but VPN services do provide international servers. I have about 50 to chose from around the world. With ESPN3 you just needed an account to sign in, and then a server to logon to from wherever you wanted to get out of the blackout. I imagine if you have a BTN2Go account, and then sign in from London, Bejing, Zurich etc., that you might have same situation. If you want to try it there are a lot of VPN services now and they are fast. They aren't like those funky proxies from 10 yrs ago.
If anybody interested I can dig up the current updated Beast loading instruction, I might still have somewhere. Still requires maintenance and new add ons (apps) come and go, but still works great. Currently using a newer movie/tv show add on that is awesome, clean downloads, will post name later when home.
Sportsdevil has been horrible, I am going to do some research on NFL feeds (and college foots) since didn't pay direct tv for their package this year.
Sportsdevil has been horrible, I am going to do some research on NFL feeds (and college foots) since didn't pay direct tv for their package this year.
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