Cord Cutters

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Covert Rain

Covert Rain

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For those that have cut the cord already and miss channel surfing or passive tv watching, check out pluto.tv app. You can get it on roku or firetv. There is a handy channel guide and some decent content.

I ran across that the first day of my Fire TV. Thought it was more "nostalgic" in terms of how they organized content. Still pretty limited but I thought it was cool.
 

JS22

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Just a heads up to T-Mobile customers, and I guess friends of T-Mobile customers, you can get MLB.tv for FREE if you register through a T-Mobile phone. (You have to turn wifi off and register via T-Mobile's network.)

http://www.t-mobile.com/mlb.html

I did this and had MLB.tv Premium within 5 minutes. Your account works on any device after that. I just got done streaming last nights game to my Chromecast. Live games are blacked out in your region, so if you're in AZ you'll need to either wait an hour after it ends OR use something like this: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/...ber-se/fdcgdnkidjaadafnichfpabhfomcebme?hl=en

I tried it yesterday. Loaded up Chrome, enabled the VPN through the addon, started the Dbacks game, and turned the VPN back off. Worked fine. You can alternatively get a paid VPN service and set it up on your router. That way all of your traffic and devices goes through the VPN. So you can live stream on a Roku, Chomecast, Fire TV, game console, etc.

Edit: Forgot to mention that it streams at 60 FPS on most devices which makes a huge difference for sports. Oddly enough it does NOT stream at 60fps through the browser on a computer.
 
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Covert Rain

Covert Rain

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Just FYI for those chord cutters. So, I "borrowed" my mother's DirecTV sign in (with permission) to get some of those online channels on FireTV . It hasn't worked out so well. What was weird is I was NEVER prompted for a DirecTV sign in. I entered the activation code and it appears to work at first. However, then it just shows "not authorized".

So, that got me thinking. How are they doing authentication if they are not asking me for a DirecTV sign in? It has to be by IP address. How else would they know if I am a customer if not asking me for a sign in?

My guess is they capture the IP address of your receiver then if you use one of the applications from a different IP? No go. I think I am going to try to activate the app on my phone for example via my mothers WiFi as an experiment next time I go over there to see if it makes a difference.

I might try what JS22 posted above and setup a VPN to see if that solves it but running over the other house seems to be a quicker test.
 
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BigRedRage

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Just FYI for those chord cutters. So, I "borrowed" my mother's DirecTV sign in (with permission) to get some of those online channels on FireTV . It hasn't worked out so well. What was weird is I was NEVER prompted for a DirecTV sign in. I entered the activation code and it appears to work at first. However, then it just shows "not authorized".

So, that got me thinking. How are they doing authentication if they are not asking me for a DirecTV sign in? It has to be by IP address. How else would they know if I am a customer if not asking me for a sign in?

My guess is they capture the IP address of your receiver then if you use one of the applications from a different IP? No go. I think I am going to try to activate the app on my phone for example via my mothers WiFi as an experiment next time I go over there to see if it makes a difference.

I might try what JS22 posted above and setup a VPN to see if that solves it but running over the other house seems to be a quicker test.

I use my moms direct TV for hbo. When I try to sign in it asks for my provider and then my username and password. This works on HBO GO but i think HBO NOW it might not.

I also do this for ESPN.
 
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Covert Rain

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I use my moms direct TV for hbo. When I try to sign in it asks for my provider and then my username and password. This works on HBO GO but i think HBO NOW it might not.

I also do this for ESPN.

I noticed that not all apps are created equal. I think the Authentication method might vary by app. They decide the method and in the details it says that DirecTV actually does the authentication. So, I wonder if some apps do it by sign in and the others IP?

There is just no other explanation how they could determine if I am a customer without asking me for a sign-in. For example, I tried adding DISNEY-XD and Disney Junior for my daughter.

Both say go to site XXXXX and the apps say here is your code. At no point does it ask me to sign in. I put the authentication code on the site and it says your authorized. However, on both channels it later says...you are not. Without a sign in they have to be using IP or something. It happened to me on a couple other channels apps as well. Why else wouldn't I get the prompt for sign in? I can't test HBO NOW because I am a subscriber and my mother doesn't have it anyway.

Here is where it gets interesting. DirecTV has a new app for online channels called "DirecTV for kids". I can download that on my phone or tablet, it asks me for a sign in...works no problem. On those same devices, download the apps above...no prompt for sign in...same result.
 
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JS22

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^

I just logged into the DirecTV website using my parents account and about 50% of the channels required that I be on the same home network. Not sure if its the same issue, but it sounds similar.
 

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You guys better hope your parents don't ever cut the cord. :D
 
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Covert Rain

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^

I just logged into the DirecTV website using my parents account and about 50% of the channels required that I be on the same home network. Not sure if its the same issue, but it sounds similar.

I think it's one in the same. I wonder if it's an every instance authentication or if it's a one time thing? I am going to test it out.
 

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I did it as a test for Covert. Talk to him, not me. :p

:)

NSFW language.

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media
 
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I just ditched Sling for Playstation Vue, using my Fire Stick. $35 bucks a month, no contract, for 70 channels, including my regional sports network so I can watch the Sharks and Giants. Fifteen bucks more than Sling's base price, but I get more channels. I was paying $35 a month with Sling anyways, as I added Live HBO but I found a buddy who's going to let me use his login info so it will be a wash.
 
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Covert Rain

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I just ditched Sling for Playstation Vue, using my Fire Stick. $35 bucks a month, no contract, for 70 channels, including my regional sports network so I can watch the Sharks and Giants. Fifteen bucks more than Sling's base price, but I get more channels. I was paying $35 a month with Sling anyways, as I added Live HBO but I found a buddy who's going to let me use his login info so it will be a wash.

I thought about Vue but my biggest problem is the higher price for 70 channels. I would probably watch maybe 15 of those channels. So with Vue you're paying about .50 per channel. I would get about $7.50 worth and throwing away the other $27.50. That's the reason I cut the cord to begin with.

I thought it was a good idea but the price point came in way too high. If they had been competitive with Sling ($20) I know several other people would have jumped. Plus, there is no web options and you must own a PS4.
 
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I thought about Vue but my biggest problem is the higher price for 70 channels. I would probably watch maybe 15 of those channels. So with Vue you're paying about .50 per channel. I would get about $7.50 worth and throwing away the other $27.50. That's the reason I cut the chord to begin with.

I thought it was a good idea but the price point came in way too high. If they had been competitive with Sling ($20) I know several other people would have jumped. Plus, there is no web options and you must own a PS4.

Does the Vue have on demand or just live TV like sling?
 

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I dropped sling with the quickness because it had no on demand and I am rarely in front of the tube at the time you are supposed to be for shows.

I do not have a playstation tho. Reading that FAW it seems solid compared to sling, I think they will do well but looks like I couldnt use it even if I wanted to.

I probably wouldnt at $35 monthly anyway, the only show I want immediately is TWD and FTWD, other shows I can wait just fine. Maybe Better call saul too but to a lesser extent.
 

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I thought about Vue but my biggest problem is the higher price for 70 channels. I would probably watch maybe 15 of those channels. So with Vue you're paying about .50 per channel. I would get about $7.50 worth and throwing away the other $27.50. That's the reason I cut the chord to begin with.

I thought it was a good idea but the price point came in way too high. If they had been competitive with Sling ($20) I know several other people would have jumped. Plus, there is no web options and you must own a PS4.

You can get Vue over your Amazon Fire stick now, no need for a PlayStation. They've opened it up. I would have stayed with Sling if they had regional sports networks. That was the selling point for me. With baseball season starting and playoff hockey around the corner, this is worth the 35 a month in my mind.
 
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Covert Rain

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You can get Vue over your Amazon Fire stick now, no need for a PlayStation. They've opened it up. I would have stayed with Sling if they had regional sports networks. That was the selling point for me. With baseball season starting and playoff hockey around the corner, this is worth the 35 a month in my mind.

Still not interested at that price point. Maybe it comes down at some point to be more competitive with SlingTV. The other thing to keep in mind, Cox, Time Warner and another company (I forgot) are going to be rolling out similar services nationwide. Sooner or later DirecTV will have to respond to Dish as well. It's really not going to be competitive when that happens at that price point but if it's worth it to you....hey it's worth it.
 

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Still not interested at that price point. Maybe it comes down at some point to be more competitive with SlingTV. The other thing to keep in mind, Cox, Time Warner and another company (I forgot) are going to be rolling out similar services nationwide. Sooner or later DirecTV will have to respond to Dish as well. It's really not going to be competitive when that happens at that price point but if it's worth it to you....hey it's worth it.

DirecTV already announced a similar service coming later this year. It's definitely the hot market right now. I'm always shopping around. If a new service offers the sports channels at a cheaper price, I'll be sure to jump.
 

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Covert--do you play a musical instrument of any kind?
 
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Covert Rain

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Covert--do you play a musical instrument of any kind?

Play is a very very lose term. I dabble with the guitar. It's more like I am muddling through learning right now but I have to get my acoustic repaired. How is this related to cord cutting?

:)
 
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