OT - need some streaming tech guidance

[NYCorange]

First of all, WatchEspn is just flakey. I have 150 mb download and the stream is still choppy for me sometimes. However, there are other limiting factors to your stream quality, namely your computer. Streaming video takes a lot of ram and processing power, so you might want to open your activity monitor (or whatever it's called on pcs) and close down any programs that are using a lot of resources. If your computer is getting hot or sounds like it's working harder than normal, that would be a key sign.

Second, you can often find good college bb streams on reddit. Much better than firstrowsports or the other sites. NCAA Basketball Streams • r/ncaaBBallStreams

 

[DonLightfoot]

You can often find good college bb streams on reddit. Much better than firstrowsports or the other sites. NCAA Basketball Streams • r/ncaaBBallStreams

I bookmarked that link, thanks.

 

[manleyzoo]

Excellent work. Do you work in IT?

I'm a business and technology journalist. Been in and around IT since the beginning of time.

 

[44doubledees]

Don I am up here in Canada too and had to bite the bullet and go with a IP unlocator, I use "Unlocator" and then subscribe to Sling TV to get access to the Watch ESPN app. The feeds seem to work very well for me most of the time but I have a very good supply with Bell Fibe TV. It is about 30 bucks a month and can be a bit of a pain to set it up but it is worth it. Busy with the kids alot so I watch most of the feeds on replay which I find helps the Watch ESPN quality as most of the time it is off peak. Let me know if you choose to go this route and I can help with the setup.

 

[HakAttack]

Don I am up here in Canada too and had to bite the bullet and go with a IP unlocator, I use "Unlocator" and then subscribe to Sling TV to get access to the Watch ESPN app. The feeds seem to work very well for me most of the time but I have a very good supply with Bell Fibe TV. It is about 30 bucks a month and can be a bit of a pain to set it up but it is worth it. Busy with the kids alot so I watch most of the feeds on replay which I find helps the Watch ESPN quality as most of the time it is off peak. Let me know if you choose to go this route and I can help with the setup.

I've also used Unlocator as well. I can testify to its effectiveness.

 

[DonLightfoot]

Don I am up here in Canada too and had to bite the bullet and go with a IP unlocator, I use "Unlocator" and then subscribe to Sling TV to get access to the Watch ESPN app. The feeds seem to work very well for me most of the time but I have a very good supply with Bell Fibe TV. It is about 30 bucks a month and can be a bit of a pain to set it up but it is worth it. Busy with the kids alot so I watch most of the feeds on replay which I find helps the Watch ESPN quality as most of the time it is off peak. Let me know if you choose to go this route and I can help with the setup.

Thanks for the input. I have checked into this a couple of times, but the cost and setup is holding me back right now. I may follow up with you in the future.

The first game my stream was not so good. Game two was actually very good. Game three not so good again. I couldn't get the Oakland game at all which was very frustrating. Tried at least eight different streaming sites which all had the game on their list, but all I ever got was a Black box, no audio or video. So I listened to the game with on-line radio and followed the game thread which wasn't all that bad I guess.

 

[44doubledees]

Thanks for the input. I have checked into this a couple of times, but the cost and setup is holding me back right now. I may follow up with you in the future.

The first game my stream was not so good. Game two was actually very good. Game three not so good again. I couldn't get the Oakland game at all which was very frustrating. Tried at least eight different streaming sites which all had the game on their list, but all I ever got was a Black box, no audio or video. So I listened to the game with on-line radio and followed the game thread which wasn't all that bad I guess.

No problem Don, I feel your pain, I did the streaming feeds for a long time and it can be very frustrating. If you have Bell in Ontario they do have a US College Sports Pack which carries alot of games but not all Cuse games. I can't get the Sports Pack in New Brunswick unless I switch to Satellite, long story.

 

[manleyzoo]

Thanks for the input. I have checked into this a couple of times, but the cost and setup is holding me back right now. I may follow up with you in the future.

The first game my stream was not so good. Game two was actually very good. Game three not so good again. I couldn't get the Oakland game at all which was very frustrating. Tried at least eight different streaming sites which all had the game on their list, but all I ever got was a Black box, no audio or video. So I listened to the game with on-line radio and followed the game thread which wasn't all that bad I guess.

Here's the thing: Streaming demands a load of data sent per second to actually show up as a picture. It's a big ask no matter where you live. (e.g., I live 30 mins from Silicon Valley, you know, the cradle of IT, and the best I can get is 12mbs. Weird but true. I know what I'm doing so I can make it work even in rush hour but still, it's not even close to passable). But I digress...data transmission to and from your ISP is likely jammed by network congestion downstream. It can get clogged anywhere along the line. In other words, there's too many cars trying to get over the bridge at the end of rush hour. Some days it's okay, some days not. Actually, most days not, especially at your 20mbs speed. ESPN is a high trafficked site, making it all the more problematic. No set top box or paid steaming service or magic wand will fix the problem until high fibre broadband (100+ mbs) shows up at your front door. That will put you in the fast lane over the bridge while everyone else (at 20mbs) is in the commuter lanes. Your best bet is to wait until non-commuter times to watch the games on ESPN3 replay.

 

[DonLightfoot]

manleyzoo - Thank you for the excellent explanation. Kind of what my mind has been thinking for a couple of years now, but I am always hopeful for a solution. My ISP/Cable Company does have the modems with a 100 mbps router built in. However, it is not available in my rural location.

 

[manleyzoo]

Alas, it's not the modem it's the motion (sorry, couldn't resist). It takes about 3 mbps to stream a movie, TV show, etc. About 7 to download a movie, maybe 1.5 to view a website. You get the point...you have an abundance of speed at 20mbps to pretty much do want you want when you want. I'm maxed out at 13 on a good day, live 2-3 miles from town where there's 60 - 100mbps. Kinda pathetic, too. The culprits are the telecoms...most of the data lines are copper which drastically limits transmission speed no matter what the capacity. AT&T and that crowd will only lay fibre where they can turn a serious profit by doing so. Will be years until we all have high speed broadband.

 

[DonLightfoot]

Last night was the second game in a row that I could not get a stream anywhere. Never happened before. Something is going on somewhere. At least I will have TV for 4 of the next 5 games. Not what I really want to do, but I may have to revisit that VPN thing. You actually learn to appreciate radio.

 

[manleyzoo]

Last night was the second game in a row that I could not get a stream anywhere. Never happened before. Something is going on somewhere. At least I will have TV for 4 of the next 5 games. Not what I really want to do, but I may have to revisit that VPN thing. You actually learn to appreciate radio.

I'm on the old side so I still like to listen to hoop and baseball on the radio while I'm hanging out doing something else. You get to use your imagination without all the noise that you get hit with on TV.