Viewing Games Without Cable or satellite Subscriptions

#1
WoodsmanVol

WoodsmanVol

It takes wisdom to understand wisdom.
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May 12, 2010
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#1
Would appreciate advice about having access to Vols games while cutting my cable umbilical cord. I'm seriously thinking of going with ROKU + TWC Turbo Internet. I explored several private, free, and paid channels, including one the claims to allow local news channels (NoWhereTV).

Anyone has experience with ROKU or advice on it even if you don't? I do know I could access ESPN Watch and I think I saw something about free access to U-verse even if you're not an ATT customer, which I am right now. So Vols games could still be accessible. Not sure about SEC network games but saw a few private channels (free) like Justin.TV and others that imply access to SEC games via live stream.

Was seriously thinking of switching to DISH until they lied to me about one thing so I knew they'd like about other things too. Originally told me I could subscribe for 12 months, no contract. Then when I was proceeding to make the move, was advised I had to sign a 24 month agreement. I stopped right there and started looking elsewhere. So now am seeking to cut myself free of cable/satellite TV.

ROKU seems to be my best bet for now. Had a great talk with Rabbit TV people but they don't seem to be ready nor answer my questions with a straight answer on some topics. ROKU just gave flat to the point answers plus directed me to URLs for further information. And they did this via email thus on written record. This made me feel comfortable with them. But I still prefer to know what fellow Vols fans have to say about them before I take the step. Especially about access to Vols games.
 
#3
#3
In the past it has been decent to be able to watch the games through online means.. with games on CBS and espn.. there are pretty easy to get access to.

With the SEC network on its way in.. no one really knows what it is going to end up looking like.

At this point the only guaranteed way is to pay for the SEC network. I have no doubt that eventually, it will be a non-issue. But directly after launch, when we are playing our season opener????
 
#4
#4
you cant view 'watchespn' without first being verified through a cable or sattelite provider.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
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#6
#6
erwinjrvol88 said:
you cant view 'watchespn' without first being verified through a cable or sattelite provider.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
Click to expand...

I know, because you can't use ROKU without having an Internet provider. If you mean having a TV provider, I apologize but you're incorrect. I have roamed the WWW for info and saw right away that ROKU has channels and also someof theprivate channels I mentioned, have access to WatchESPN in their free selections. ROKU users aren't limited to just what is on ROKU's channel selection lists. There are several 'private channels', they claim to be legal, I guess they are to so blatantly reveal themselves on the WWW for all to see. What I really need to know is for Vols fans who are ROKU customers to tell me their experiences and advice.
 
#7
#7
BlueHalo said:
Go to the home games, go to away games at a sports bar.
Click to expand...

Yes, I could and do when possible. But the point is is, I'm fed up with cable service and want to cut the cord. Thus the reason for the thread.
 
#8
#8
I watched every game last year on vipboxus.co if its on tv anywhere it will be on that site. LOL they carry everything and its free.:dance2:
 
#9
#9
WoodsmanVol said:
Yes, I could and do when possible. But the point is is, I'm fed up with cable service and want to cut the cord. Thus the reason for the thread.
Click to expand...

Don't blame you for wanting to cut the cable cord. I wish we could just boycott all of them but I know that will never work. We need a good free market alternative. Never used ROKU but I do use Xbox Gold at times but it does require a cable provider for ESPN games, Never knew that was not the case for ROKU. A lady called into the EA Show a few weeks ago and said she has gotten every game on vipbox.tv and firstrowsportsus.eu. She said the .eu for first row did not screen out any games. TIFWIW.
 
#11
#11
I do wonder if there may be a security risk with some of these free on demand sites. What is the incentive? Are they hacking you as you watch or are they just doing some clever data mining to sell to marketers and businesses. The latter, I do not mind since every site is doing this. I guess they do have ads as well.
 
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#13
#13
BigOrangeD said:
Don't blame you for wanting to cut the cable cord. I wish we could just boycott all of them but I know that will never work. We need a good free market alternative. Never used ROKU but I do use Xbox Gold at times but it does require a cable provider for ESPN games, Never knew that was not the case for ROKU. A lady called into the EA Show a few weeks ago and said she has gotten every game on vipbox.tv and firstrowsportsus.eu. She said the .eu for first row did not screen out any games. TIFWIW.
Click to expand...

Hold on, whoever told you that you don't need a cable provider for ROKU has misled you. You must have a high speed Internet provider. However, you don't need a TV provider in the traditional sense. Maybe that's what you really meant by cable provider? Anyway, the free stream services that I have used on a regular computer in the past while grateful to them, there are some issues. As follows:

1. Despite assurance by an air force guy here last year and his experience contradicting what I say. Make sure you have a STRONG Internet Security Suite. Some sites do, intended or not, harbor malware that will infiltrate your computer. They may be innocent but hackers can hack anybody.

2. Speaking for myself, I don't allow THEIR player on my computer so don't click on the link for it. The down side is popups randomly show up saying you lack the player or driver. Ignore them. In the past, I even saw a few porn ads show up.

3. After each game, I tell Windows to restore to the day before settings. Sure enough I have periodically seen that some program or file I didn't install found its way on my HDD after some games. Despite my Internet Security.

I will assume with ROKU, I'd still have to take these precautions. So my advice is despite anyone's assurance, presume the worse and take action to protect yourself. Now for those who say they've never had a problem, virus etc, bless them!!! But take protective action all the same.
 
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#17
#17
WoodsmanVol said:
Hold on, whoever told you that you don't need a cable provider for ROKU has misled you. You must have a high speed Internet provider. However, you don't need a TV provider in the traditional sense. Maybe that's what you really meant by cable provider? Anyway, the free stream services that I have used on a regular computer in the past while grateful to them, there are some issues. As follows:

1. Despite assurance by an air force guy here last year and his experience contradicting what I say. Make sure you have a STRONG Internet Security Suite. Some sites do, intended or not, harbor malware that will infiltrate your computer. They may be innocent but hackers can hack anybody.

2. Speaking for myself, I don't allow THEIR player on my computer so don't click on the link for it. The down side is popups randomly show up saying you lack the player or driver. Ignore them. In the past, I even saw a few porn ads show up.

3. After each game, I tell Windows to restore to the day before settings. Sure enough I have periodically seen that some program or file I didn't install found its way on my HDD after some games. Despite my Internet Security.

I will assume with ROKU, I'd still have to take these precautions. So my advice is despite anyone's assurance, presume the worse and take action to protect yourself. Now for those who say they've never had a problem, virus etc, bless them!!! But take protective action all the same.
Click to expand...

Those are some good suggestions Woodsman. I know with my XBox Gold, for ESPN to work, I have to provide my cable provider. Some of the games are blacked out also if on Directv until after the game is over then I could watch it if I wanted. Never used Roku so if no cable provider is needed then that is great.

This is what they say on their FAQ:
Is there a cost to download the WatchESPN app?

WatchESPN is free. However, you must be a subscriber of a participating TV service provider in order to have access to the full range of networks.
 
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#18
#18
BigOrangeD said:
Those are some good suggestions Woodsman. I know with my XBox Gold, for ESPN to work, I have to provide my cable provider. Some of the games are blacked out also if on Directv until after the game is over then I could watch it if I wanted. Never used Roku so if no cable provider is needed then that is great.

This is what they say on their FAQ:
Is there a cost to download the WatchESPN app?

WatchESPN is free. However, you must be a subscriber of a participating TV service provider in order to have access to the full range of networks.
Click to expand...

You're required to give your participating TV provider service. If I recall right, I had to ask that provider to include me for WatchESPN. Obviously this was a verifying tactic.

OK, now, as for ROKU, I don't have it yet so what I tell you know is hearsay. Based on what I saw in some free private channel, you log into their service via ROKU and request a channel. At least two, I saw had WatchESPN free. Now, how they do this exactly, I have no idea but saw disclaimers saying it was legal and blah blah blah. Saw one that claimed the same thing with U-verse.

I was just skimming through stuff to see what ROKU allowed. Now, the basis for this was that ROKU's rep emailed me and implied via how he worded it that ROKU was a sure fire replacement for cable TV. When I insisted he explain exactly how I'd have access to local news broadcasts and live broadcasts of weather stations, I got a different answer. Said the programs were from their library which means pre-recorded. That's OK, but for live stuff? Severe weather reports are a life and death matter. It was then I found they did have SOME live programs. But if I wanted more, I had to join private channels. He gave me URLs to explore so I did. I ran through a lot of them but different ones offered different access. Some had free offerings but if you wanted more thorough offerings you had to pay. Highest pay I saw was 39.00/month. BUT! BUT! BUT! You could quit anytime you pleased as there is no contract. So I've made a list with Shirley's input of what we tend to watch.Turns out it is only 14 channels. It seems we could get those channels completely free by careful selection of private and ROKU channels. Or so it seems. Which is once again, why I wanted input from fellow Vols fans here.
 
#19
#19
WoodsmanVol said:
You're required to give your participating TV provider service. If I recall right, I had to ask that provider to include me for WatchESPN. Obviously this was a verifying tactic.

OK, now, as for ROKU, I don't have it yet so what I tell you know is hearsay. Based on what I saw in some free private channel, you log into their service via ROKU and request a channel. At least two, I saw had WatchESPN free. Now, how they do this exactly, I have no idea but saw disclaimers saying it was legal and blah blah blah. Saw one that claimed the same thing with U-verse.

I was just skimming through stuff to see what ROKU allowed. Now, the basis for this was that ROKU's rep emailed me and implied via how he worded it that ROKU was a sure fire replacement for cable TV. When I insisted he explain exactly how I'd have access to local news broadcasts and live broadcasts of weather stations, I got a different answer. Said the programs were from their library which means pre-recorded. That's OK, but for live stuff? Severe weather reports are a life and death matter. It was then I found they did have SOME live programs. But if I wanted more, I had to join private channels. He gave me URLs to explore so I did. I ran through a lot of them but different ones offered different access. Some had free offerings but if you wanted more thorough offerings you had to pay. Highest pay I saw was 39.00/month. BUT! BUT! BUT! You could quit anytime you pleased as there is no contract. So I've made a list with Shirley's input of what we tend to watch.Turns out it is only 14 channels. It seems we could get those channels completely free by careful selection of private and ROKU channels. Or so it seems. Which is once again, why I wanted input from fellow Vols fans here.
Click to expand...

Looks like you are doing some solid research. I would be very interested in knowing what you decide to do and how it works for you. Can you get a good signal for Network TV with OTA Antenna?
 
#20
#20
You won't be able to view anything worth viewing on espn networks without a cable provider.
Before I cut the cord last year I had a nice long talk with charter in which I specifically asked if I would keep full access to the ESPN app on Xbox live as long as I kept a charter service (internet). I was told yes but this was not the case. I called and *****ed several several times with no luck just being told that it's only available with a cable subscription (actually I did get a one time $10 discount lol).
Internet gives you watchespn...big difference.
 
#21
#21
s_wall98 said:
You won't be able to view anything worth viewing on espn networks without a cable provider.
Before I cut the cord last year I had a nice long talk with charter in which I specifically asked if I would keep full access to the ESPN app on Xbox live as long as I kept a charter service (internet). I was told yes but this was not the case. I called and *****ed several several times with no luck just being told that it's only available with a cable subscription (actually I did get a one time $10 discount lol).
Internet gives you watchespn...big difference.
Click to expand...


s wall98, thanks for the info. It certainly seems that you're 100% correct. See link: https://www.rokuchannels.tv/watchespn/

I'm going to see if any private channels explicitly contradict this, though I'm sure I saw at least two that did while exploring sites previously.
 
#22
#22
FirstRowSports shows Pac-12 Network games, so they'll probably have the SEC too.
 
#23
#23
Accidentally posted twice from my phone. May as well say something relevant.

I hope the WWE Network succeeds.
It would be great if other sports adopted that model. NFL version of that for a similar price would be incredible. An online SEC Network with on-demand content would be sweet as well.
 
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#24
#24
I ended up buying a $70 tablet with hdmi out and plugged it up to the tv to watch some games. This way I didn't have to worry about viewing through questionable sites.
Wasn't quite ideal but gets the job done
 
#25
#25
ukvols said:
Accidentally posted twice from my phone. May as well say something relevant.

I hope the WWE Network succeeds.
It would be great if other sports adopted that model. NFL version of that for a similar price would be incredible. An online SEC Network with on-demand content would be sweet as well.
Click to expand...

I hear you ukvols. It my tendency to explore every possible option that I know, think I know, or am curious to know about. But I hear you loud and clear.
 
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