topic Re: Cable or IPTV? in The Lounge

Please Delete My Posting

krazykatlady — Sun, 25 Oct 2020 02:49:43 GMT

Please Delete My Posting

Re: Cable or IPTV?

CFPartDeux — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 00:08:37 GMT

Care to elaborate on which was your previous cable provider, and which IPTV service you're now subscribed to, which gives you access to, "so much more for a fraction of the price"? 🤔

Re: Cable or IPTV?

Korth — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 01:45:18 GMT

The little Android boxes (or homebuilt HTPCs) running Kodi or Plex are the best way to go.

I'm a believer in buying and owning all the hardware up front. Doing whatever I want to make it better. Avoiding (even circumventing) lock-ins. Having the freedom to subscribe to (or unsubscribe from) content providers as I choose.

@krazykatlady

What "IPTV" do you mean? There are so many IPTV providers, many of them are even the same networks which provide broadcast/cable TV. I'm guessing you just cut the cord with Shaw or Rogers (or maybe even Telus) - total ripoffs compared vs streaming content options. Especially when you consider options like Netflix - basically the biggest video rental store in the world, watch anything/everything they have as many times as you want for a flat ten bucks per month.

Re: Cable or IPTV?

yanzhiqiang — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 04:18:00 GMT

I cut my cable in 2006

Re: Cable or IPTV?

Jb456 — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 07:50:22 GMT

People still pay for tv? Lol my bill has been 0 since the 90s

Re: Cable or IPTV?

Korth — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 11:17:09 GMT

@Jb456

People still pay for TV.

I think the Kodi/Plex devices have a bad rep because the cable providers (and the usual DMCA villains) used to campaign aggressively against them. They worked hard to perpetuate some dirty accusations and uncertainties in the minds of consumers.

"Too good to be true. Why would anyone pay $$/month for something they can get free?"

"Must be illegal. Or must be stealing. Somehow."

"Works for now. But they'll get shutdown within a year or two."

"These boxes steal your data and make their money by invading your privacy."

All these things are wrong. Have been wrong for over a decade. But you'll still hear them. And you'll still find people refusing to move away from paid TV subscriptions.

(That being said ... I'm assuming default/generic region-specific consumer setups. There are plenty of hacks and plug-ins which are indeed legal grey-areas or which are absolutely illegal content theft. There are also plenty of hacks and plug-ins which are fully legal and freely provided in public domain by the content producers/publishers.)

Re: Cable or IPTV?

BearFBI — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 16:01:05 GMT

IPTV all the way. Never going back to cable. Cable is a ripoff.

Re: Cable or IPTV?

CFPartDeux — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 18:46:34 GMT

@Jb456 wrote:
People still pay for tv?

We do. 😐

I don't mind the TV, but I've been tryin' to talk the wife into moving to a TPIA provider, so we could get more speed, for considerably less $$$, all while using the same cable, but she's all hung up on the annoyance of having to change her email address for all the sites/companies that she accesses using her current email. 🙄

Re: Cable or IPTV?

CFPartDeux — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 18:54:05 GMT

@Korth wrote:
@Jb456

People still pay for TV.

I think the Kodi/Plex devices have a bad rep because the cable providers (and the usual DMCA villains) used to campaign aggressively against them.

All of what you posted is true, but in our place, Kodi has a bad rep, mainly because it's a P.I.T.A. to try and watch something, and find no streams available. That, and having something set up and working just fine, and a couple months later, now it doesn't, so you have to find the new "latest & greatest" add-on that actually works(mostly), and/or have to uninstall, re-install, and/or constantly have to tweak something to get crap to work again.

OTOH, I suppose, based on other posts here, several of you folks are subscribed to one, or more, IPTV services, which is likely the difference? That, and maybe some of you should elaborate on what IPTV you're using, and why you like it.....

Please Remove My Posting

krazykatlady — Sun, 25 Oct 2020 02:48:32 GMT

Please Remove My Posting

Re: Cable or IPTV?

Jb456 — Wed, 21 Oct 2020 02:02:24 GMT

Boo forgot about looking in the lounge since notification on the forums are not working at the moment.

@krazykatlady you may want to remove the site you listed. I'm sure it goes against the terms and condition of these forums as they don't promote convos about illegal privacy. The site you listed is modified IPTV to steal channels from satellite providers.

@Korth I get what you're saying about Kodi, I don't use it but have played around with it. Pretty nifty how you can modify it to your liking. Most use it for well you know "grey area / piracy". Lol.

@CFPartDeux the only ones that like IPTV are the ones that are using IPTV servers that get all the channels like @krazykatlady is talking about.

I'm sure some are not even aware of it. Hear from a friend "Hey cut your cable bill" get this "pay $15 a month and get everything thing free". While others are completely aware of what they are doing.

I won't even mention what I use as it's also in the "grey area".

Happy Viewing everyone 👍

Re: Cable or IPTV?

Bullet77 — Wed, 21 Oct 2020 06:12:14 GMT

I cut my cable 9 years ago. IPTV all the way and a HD antenna for local TV.

I will never go back to Shaw cable

Re: Cable or IPTV?

CFPartDeux — Wed, 21 Oct 2020 18:05:56 GMT

@Bullet77 wrote:
I cut my cable 9 years ago. IPTV all the way and a HD antenna for local TV.
I will never go back to Shaw cable

Ok, so what are you using for internet, to access that IPTV...... since you said you'd "never go back to Shaw cable", can we assume you're using Telus? 🤔

Re: Cable or IPTV?

Bullet77 — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 06:36:25 GMT

I switched over to Tek Savvy, I am still on Shaw's backbone at 35% of the price of Shaw for the same internet only. I went from $149.95 on Shaw to $49.95 on Tek Savvy for the Same speed 75 mb down and 7.5 up. Shaw is now offering way faster speeds and I can go to 150mb with Tek Savvy for $10.00 a month more . I don't need it. IPTV works fine even on a 30mb account.

Re: Cable or IPTV?

darlicious — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 08:11:14 GMT

@CFPartDeux .

I've had to pay for "cable" since that dang digital revolution took over tv in 2012. There was a brief stint in 2006 of 6 months of fraudulent billing by shaw that culminated with the billing department calling me on the same day that I lost my husband. There were expletives involved and something to the effect of I'll sue your @$$**&#$ off if you ever bother me again! That was the end of that they never did try to contact me again.

So I've been with telus ever since and with roommates and some hard negotiating every year ( thx to @LurganIeUk this year) i have a reasonable enough internet/optik tv package. But i did pick up a digital antenna just in case i actually have tell them to get all of their crap out of my house,

Re: Cable or IPTV?

LurganIeUk — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 17:10:42 GMT

I did the cut years ago but only for a very short time. I tried Kodi and found a “build”, it was an immense huge PITA. So I moved to a legal paid IPTV and was a “4 out of 10”, stable for months, then up, down and sideways. Then they expanded to the east and got worse. I would call regularly and got the regular BS every time and rarely improved. So I do NOT recommend Surf Internet....and they do call themselves other names as well like Surfnet. I bought one android box from them and a few on Craigslist. I wanted all the same and tried to buy on eBay at not one showed up. Although I was refunded.....not shipped.....stopped at border.....I will never know. The art of buying one...memory, dual band, HDMI, Ethernet, correct spdif port, remote with keyboard.......you need to know what you are doing before you start and if it will connect to your current amp etc. It was so unreliable we often watched the news from Global from iPad to TV using an Apple TV box. I have never bought 3 rd party internet.....as it appears none have good reviews except one out of Kamloops BC. Cheap resellers product is usually Shaw. I did a stint with Shaw for TV, internet and phone......bad product and horrible customer service as is Bell ExpressVu. I have sold all but one android box and need to drop price to see the last one gone! I went back to Telus for TV and Internet. Home phone is with VoIP.ms. And I would move it back to Telus and pay less...but.....there is so much more you can do with VoIP,ms that you can’t with Telus. So I will stay with VoIP.ms. Bottom line Android boxes with legal or illegal TV is a PITA, and if you are running illegal, you are taking a risk of fines that will cost you more in the long run.

Be your TV be from Shaw, Bell or Telus. By no fault of them, TV is crappy....less programming.....more commercials....competitive pricing......buy one package just for one channel and some fluff....and reruns. Viewing TV is likely based on your age and preferences thus my opinion of crappy. If I could say the last time I watched something that I enjoyed.....as that is what it should be....it was on Netflix. I am not pointing my finger at the providers....but more so at the networks.

Edit. Was I fined...no. I had a friend that was fined $500 for watching a movie. I believe Warner Bros obtained his name and address from his internet provider.

Re: Cable or IPTV?

Anonymous — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 17:30:01 GMT

So I'm pleased to see other folks also question the online delivery method. Or have had unpleasant experiences with it. I have been dabbling a bit with Android boxes and branded boxes like Shield and Roku. The branded ones work mostly alright. A couple Android boxes I've played with were indeed a PITA. The Roku was an easy install. The Shield was a bit of fiddling and still doesn't know how to do volume on my 12 year old tv. The Roku had no problem with it. I kept the Shield though. Just a slicker product.

I was with Shaw Direct satellite for many years. Couldn't've been happier. Any problems and questions were always dealt with just fine. Using a pvr was the game changer. I hate ads. To be able to FF through them is great. Can't have satellite dishes where I am now.

Streaming from actual channels like Global or CTV you get these irritating ad breaks that you can't escape. I might subscribe to try out some other services like CBS All Access or Amazon Prime Video. I don't know about ads with them. We'll see. Of course there's spouse acceptance factor too. Streaming is a lot more hands on and kinda techy.

But yes I may just go back to standard paid tv service like Telus and get that pvr and all of those familiar conveniences. That'll be when I finally settle in with a tv watching area. I haven't watched much tv at all since early June. A few odd streaming bits here and there.

Re: Cable or IPTV?

Korth — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 17:53:04 GMT

@LurganIeUk

Your friend evidently had his IP observed while streaming content from a pirated source - intentionally or not (because who knows how his client device was set up for him). Then got "notice with notice" from his ISP. Then unwisely acknowledged it. Then the gavel slammed down, guilty, pay the penalty.

Sometimes ... often ... the guys selling these units helpfully install "extras" (to access more channels and shows and stuff) which aren't strictly legal. Without informing their customer, without advising their customer of the risks, without recommending a decent VPN.

If you set it up yourself then you can ensure it's clean and legit, that it won't download any semi-legal or illegal content, that it won't break region-control boundaries, and that it won't do any unauthorized logins to leech off somebody else's paid subscriptions. (Or at least that it won't do these things in obvious ways, lol.) The boxes themselves are not at all illegal, nor is the majority of the content available to watch online. They're also fairly idiot-proofed and self-maintaining, much like Windows or Android (or even linux these days), only becoming finicky technical rabbit holes if power users start tinkering and tweaking around the software.

Re: Cable or IPTV?

CFPartDeux — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 18:04:04 GMT

@Bullet77 wrote:
I switched over to Tek Savvy, I am still on Shaw's backbone at 35% of the price of Shaw for the same internet only. I went from $149.95 on Shaw to $49.95 on Tek Savvy for the Same speed 75 mb down and 7.5 up. Shaw is now offering way faster speeds and I can go to 150mb with Tek Savvy for $10.00 a month more . I don't need it. IPTV works fine even on a 30mb account.

That's what I'd like to do, but with Lightspeed, instead of TekSavvy, since it's even cheaper(at least when I last looked).

Re: Cable or IPTV?

CFPartDeux — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 18:18:38 GMT

@LurganIeUk wrote:
I have never bought 3 rd party internet.....as it appears none have good reviews except one out of Kamloops BC. Cheap resellers product is usually Shaw.

TekSavvy is pretty well regarded. Personally, I would go with Lightspeed, since they're a bit cheaper, and they're located in the Lower Mainland. TBH, I don't know how good their operation is now, but back in dialup days, they were excellent, but once Shaw FINALLY got broadband in this neighbourhood, I jumped on that. Both TekSavvy & Lightspeed offer various packages that use either Shaw's or Telus' infrastructure.

I did a stint with Shaw for TV, internet and phone......bad product and horrible customer service as is Bell ExpressVu. I have sold all but one android box and need to drop price to see the last one gone!

Yeah, we have an Android box, and at first it was ok, but once the main add-on we used was no longer supported, I had to update the thing(more than once), and unfortunately it was underpowered, and was SOOOO slow that I cobbled together a real computer instead...... much better, but still somewhat of a P.I.T.A.

Edit. Was I fined...no. I had a friend that was fined $500 for watching a movie. I believe Warner Bros obtained his name and address from his internet provider.

Unless something has changed in the last couple of years, which I'm unaware of, ISTR that the ISP were only obligated to pass along emails(in Canada) from companies like WB, rather than providing their customers' names & addresses. Was that friend in Canada, or the U.S.? 🤔