Bypassing Cable; or, FU Rogers

SeawaySensFan wrote:

wprager wrote:Oh, finally, there is a Samsung Smart TV app for HockeyStreams.  
http://www5.hockeystreams.com/assist/categories/9/general+homebrew/7349/Samsung+Smart+TV+HockeyStreams+App

Too bad my Smart TV is an LG.

A real shame.

I am not tech savy. I'm not even sure what is my TV. Might be a Samsung maybe a Panasonic, maybe an LG. But I'll have a look at it tonight.

I'm just 0syched that I can now watch nhl and AHL without having to try 20 different streams that are pixel ates for less than 100$ per year.
Love it.

I can watch the games on ipad from school too when I'm supposed to study. Amazing how much the distractions keep piling on.

Flo The Action wrote:I can watch the games on ipad from school too when I'm supposed to study. Amazing how much the distractions keep piling on.

What are you studying at the tender age of 39?

wprager wrote:

Flo The Action wrote:I can watch the games on ipad from school too when I'm supposed to study. Amazing how much the distractions keep piling on.

What are you studying at the tender age of 39?

I'm tender at all ages buddy.
I'm doing a major in international business and a minor in sustainability studies.
Just a little under a couple more years left. I can almost smell the money...

Sustainability as in resources/energy or what?

Flo The Action wrote:I can watch the games on ipad from school too when I'm supposed to study. Amazing how much the distractions keep piling on.

That was always my downfall. I am so incredibly easily distracted...it's a miracle I graduated from anything.

wprager wrote:Sustainability as in resources/energy or what?

Yes. Everything englobent of the ethical and environmental.

So, largely loving HockeyStreams so far. I load up the game on my iPad and then AirPlay it on my TV through my Apple TV box. I spent $99 on the Apple TV thing and bought 1 month of HockeyStreams for $20, and will be buying another 6 months for $70~.

I find I always have some issues at start up -- i.e., disconnections -- but once it gets going, it almost always stays fine. Rarely ever choppy. Full HD slows things down too much, but 'medium quality' looks quite good and mostly plays smoothly.

If you're already set up for something like AirPlay, this is like $120 a year for all the hockey. My guess, too, is that the newer your hardware is and the better your internet provider, the better experience you'll have. Pretty sweet deal, I have to say. I was very happy to call up Rogers and dump them this week.

rooneypoo wrote:So, largely loving HockeyStreams so far. I load up the game on my iPad and then AirPlay it on my TV through my Apple TV box. I spent $99 on the Apple TV thing and bought 1 month of HockeyStreams for $20, and will be buying another 6 months for $70~.

I find I always have some issues at start up -- i.e., disconnections -- but once it gets going, it almost always stays fine. Rarely ever choppy. Full HD slows things down too much, but 'medium quality' looks quite good and mostly plays smoothly.

If you're already set up for something like AirPlay, this is like $120 a year for all the hockey. My guess, too, is that the newer your hardware is and the better your internet provider, the better experience you'll have. Pretty sweet deal, I have to say. I was very happy to call up Rogers and dump them this week.

I personally don't think HD through cable or satellite is all that impressive anyhow, having experienced over-the-air (antenna) HD. I'm not surprised medium quality looks decent in comparison.

I envy you for having had the opportunity to dump Rogers.

rooneypoo wrote:So, largely loving HockeyStreams so far. I load up the game on my iPad and then AirPlay it on my TV through my Apple TV box. I spent $99 on the Apple TV thing and bought 1 month of HockeyStreams for $20, and will be buying another 6 months for $70~.

I find I always have some issues at start up -- i.e., disconnections -- but once it gets going, it almost always stays fine. Rarely ever choppy. Full HD slows things down too much, but 'medium quality' looks quite good and mostly plays smoothly.

If you're already set up for something like AirPlay, this is like $120 a year for all the hockey. My guess, too, is that the newer your hardware is and the better your internet provider, the better experience you'll have. Pretty sweet deal, I have to say. I was very happy to call up Rogers and dump them this week.

Ha my medium quality got a little choppy last night even though I linked my computer to my router via cable. Personally I think it's my internet connection as it is only operating at 5 Mbps I will have to call my provider for an upgrade.
But yes, very happy with them as a whole. Plus you can watch the gMe from anywhere! Which is good when you have to travel but have access to an Internet connection.

rooneypoo wrote: I was very happy to call up Rogers and dump them this week.

Man, that must've felt goooooood. Between hockey, baseball, kids shows, and football, I think I'm pretty much attached to cable/satellite at this point. I'm sure it would make more economic sense to pay for those things individually (and kids shows you can pretty much get through Netflix/whatever), but it's kind of a ease-of-use thing at this point (i.e. I'm lazy).

tim1_2 wrote:

rooneypoo wrote: I was very happy to call up Rogers and dump them this week.

Man, that must've felt goooooood.  Between hockey, baseball, kids shows, and football, I think I'm pretty much attached to cable/satellite at this point.  I'm sure it would make more economic sense to pay for those things individually (and kids shows you can pretty much get through Netflix/whatever), but it's kind of a ease-of-use thing at this point (i.e. I'm lazy).

Netflix and hockey streams is the way to go. I haven't had cable in years now and the only thing I'm actually missing is the food network. Because I like to stuff my face while watching people prepare food that I want to stuff my face with....

If you have a PS4 you can use HockeyStreams on it directly (they have instructions on their website). Assuming your PS4 is wired and not wireless then you shouldn't have any issues playing HD.

Using the iPad and AirPlay means you are receiving the stream from the internet over wifi, and then streaming it to your tv using wifi again. Does the iPad have HDMI out capability? (my Nexus 7 supports a micro-USB to HDMI cable)

wprager wrote:If you have a PS4 you can use HockeyStreams on it directly (they have instructions on their website).  Assuming your PS4 is wired and not wireless then you shouldn't have any issues playing HD.

Using the iPad and AirPlay means you are receiving the stream from the internet over wifi, and then streaming it to your tv using wifi again.  Does the iPad have HDMI out capability? (my Nexus 7 supports a micro-USB to HDMI cable)

I haven't had much luck with the 'alternate arrangement' set ups HockeyStream supposedly offers. For instance: there is supposedly a way to play directly from your Samsung smart tv (which I own) and/or to from XBMC / Kodi (a streaming platform I have long used). But when you follow the threads that proclaim those capabilities, all you get is a bunch of comments from users who weren't able to make it work, with no corrective interventions from anyone on the website. The AirPlay option has been the absolute easiest so far.

As for HDMI, I'll have to exam the iPad when I get home. I've had it in a case thing since I bought it so I haven't really been looking for something like that.

Looks like there is a way:
http://www.theipadguide.com/faq/does-ipad-have-hdmi-out-port

UPDATE: The iPad gets HDMI out with an accessory from Apple, the Digital AV Adapter.

For the Samsung SmartTV there was an app to download, I believe.

In any case, when I originally started streaming from my tablet to my TV (TV supports DLNA) I was using wifi on both ends and streaming downloaded HD content was nearly impossible. Since hooking up my TV directly to the router I've had no issues (at least not with video).

Hockeystreams is starting to sound interesting with this terrible loonie (I pay 100$ US per year on NHL GCL)

However, I'd like to know if we can re-watch the games or rewind/forward them like in NHL GCL?

LeCaptain wrote:Hockeystreams is starting to sound interesting with this terrible loonie (I pay 100$ US per year on NHL GCL)

However, I'd like to know if we can re-watch the games or rewind/forward them like in NHL GCL?

At that price, I'd stick with GCL, honestly. You'll pay $100 US or thereabouts for HockeyStreams anyway. I would pay the $200 CAN for GCL if they didn't black out the local market games (i.e., all Ottawa games), no questions asked.

I haven't tried them yet, but, yes, I think HockeyStreams offers DVR and archive capabilities. When you load up a stream, you have an option just below the screen to play in "DVR" or "non-DVR" mode, which presumably means pause and resume capabilities. For archives, you click on 'on demand streams' and then choose by date or by team, etc.

wprager wrote:Looks like there is a way:
http://www.theipadguide.com/faq/does-ipad-have-hdmi-out-port

UPDATE: The iPad gets HDMI out with an accessory from Apple, the Digital AV Adapter.

For the Samsung SmartTV there was an app to download, I believe.

In any case, when I originally started streaming from my tablet to my TV (TV supports DLNA) I was using wifi on both ends and streaming downloaded HD content was nearly impossible.  Since hooking up my TV directly to the router I've had no issues (at least not with video).

Out of curiosity, what would be the advantage of streaming the game directly from the iPad to the TV via an HDMI cable rather than via AirPlay? Better quality, more stable, less bandwidth used?