Netflix/hulu/internet Radio

[KMixon]

Wanting to know if you can get Netflix/Hulu or any other things like that? I hate to admit it, but I'm a bit of a TV (not thai visa ) junkie. I also have noticed that the reg programming is crap. If you can't get these services, what do you use? (if you aren't into it, then just don't post your passive aggressive comments)

Cheers.

[gotlost]

Chang Klan Road under the counter.

Edited December 16, 2009 by gotlost

[KMixon]

im confused? can you not access it normally? and if not, are there alternatives to seeing western programming?

[anonymouse]

Not sure what Netflix or hulu are, I live about a dozen km's out of town and I have trouble streaming radio from the BBC about 50% of the time, it might be better in or nearer town.

Best of luck

ps You can buy a lot of tv series from shops in Chiang Mai especially the night bazaar very cheaply.

[KMixon]

netflix and hulu are both services where you can stream movies or TV shows through your computer. Netflix is a paid site where Hulu is free. It's pretty baddass. I just don't know how US sites like that work, or don't work, in Thailand.

[BlackArtemis]

You can get them, but the internet is so slow in CM that it's not worth it. Many have even gone the slingbox route.

I think everyone has their fingers crossed about this new line they just placed on the sea floor.

I would torrent shows, and it would take like 1-7 days for a gig to download depending on how god awful Maxnet of TT&T decided to be... (this was on their max bandwidth for home use)

[KMixon]

Yes, the news of the new line from SE asia to N America is uplifting. Hopefully it will be running faster by August. Fingers crossed.

Whats the "Slingbox route"?

Edited December 16, 2009 by KMixon

[BlackArtemis]

Yes, the news of the new line from SE asia to N America is uplifting. Hopefully it will be running faster by August. Fingers crossed.

Whats the "Slingbox route"?

Slingbox is a box you can hook up stateside (can any UK or Aussie people tell me if you have this?) to a cable line and internet and then it reroutes it to your computer anywhere in the world.

I figured you are American since you mentioned netflix.

This however runs into the bandwidth problem.

I often just bought movies from 100B a piece at the secondhand street market that pops up sat and sunday morning next to Prince Royal and Payap Divinity.

[KMixon]

Yes, the news of the new line from SE asia to N America is uplifting. Hopefully it will be running faster by August. Fingers crossed.

Whats the "Slingbox route"?

Slingbox is a box you can hook up stateside (can any UK or Aussie people tell me if you have this?) to a cable line and internet and then it reroutes it to your computer anywhere in the world.

I figured you are American since you mentioned netflix.

This however runs into the bandwidth problem.

I often just bought movies from 100B a piece at the secondhand street market that pops up sat and sunday morning next to Prince Royal and Payap Divinity.

Ahh, got it. Guess i will just have to cross my fingers and toes for the new line.

And yes, I'm American.

[zippydedodah]

the issue with netflix and hulu (outside of bandwidth) is one of country.... they do not allow connection from outside USA, just as abc tv, or other major networks...

likewise... euro stations won't allow usa connections, and so on.. all around the world, pretty much.

There are several ways to go around this... i have used proxy servers successfully, but in the end, bittorrent is faster, better and more convenient.

internet radio is a non-issue... all is available, just not stuff like pandora or that fm thingy.... otherwise.. just google your favorite stations and connect and listen...

[Thakkar]

You can watch some stations like Comedy Central without going through a proxy server.

You can watch Hulu by going through a proxy server.

Netflix - haven't tried it, but you'll probably need a US address.

Radio - NPR, musicovery (like Pandora, but not as great), Jango, etc no problems at all getting those.

[Jingthing]

I use Netflix via slingbox (with a friend's help). Streaming is fine. These are physical disks. For Netflix stream, they don't allow it outside the US. You need the higher end slingbox that supports a DVD player.

Edited December 17, 2009 by Jingthing

[KMixon]

Very interesting. Thanks for the replies everyone. We'll have to make sure to have all this worked out this summer.

I know someone mentioned you cannot listen to Pandora, but what about Slacker.com? Same deal?

Thanks again!!

[NancyL]

I start my day by visiting NPR and news websites and downloading programs from the previous day on my MP3 player. Then I can listen as I do housework, exercise etc. Hubby likes some news TV shows and watches those on line, but I've never seen much point in watching talking heads when you can get 95% of the content just by listening. No problems in downloading MP3s free from the previous day. After one day, most sites refer you to paid download services. No need for a proxy server for most news programming.

We do use a proxy server to watch entertainment shows like those from ABC and AMC. It's great to still continue to watch Desperate Housewives on Sunday nights -- it's just we watch the show from the previous week. The ABC website has improved during the past year and can handle our limited bandwidth pretty well.

[Thakkar]

Very interesting. Thanks for the replies everyone. We'll have to make sure to have all this worked out this summer.

I know someone mentioned you cannot listen to Pandora, but what about Slacker.com? Same deal?

Thanks again!!

Slacker, same as pandora.

[MrNeilThai]

One thing you can use is rapid org You have to spend some time to learn how to use it and you can improve the download speed by paying $7.99 monthly. It is a bit slow but has a tremendous amount of content.

[StevieH]

Very interesting. Thanks for the replies everyone. We'll have to make sure to have all this worked out this summer.

I know someone mentioned you cannot listen to Pandora, but what about Slacker.com? Same deal?

Thanks again!!

Slacker, same as pandora.

check out grooveshark.com. it's great.

[kudroz]

I stream Netflix (using a US proxy) from my PS3 no problem from Chiang Mai. I buy shows/movies on AppleTV every day in HD (720p) and it start streaming after 5 to 10 minutes of buffering and SD shows/movies are streaming instant.

I got rid of my cheap ass satellite last year and couldn't be happier

[wynzlo]

I stream Netflix (using a US proxy) from my PS3 no problem from Chiang Mai. I buy shows/movies on AppleTV every day in HD (720p) and it start streaming after 5 to 10 minutes of buffering and SD shows/movies are streaming instant.

I got rid of my cheap ass satellite last year and couldn't be happier

What proxy do you use? Something free or do you pay little bit monthly for it? Never been able to get a free one to work consistently.

[kudroz]

I stream Netflix (using a US proxy) from my PS3 no problem from Chiang Mai. I buy shows/movies on AppleTV every day in HD (720p) and it start streaming after 5 to 10 minutes of buffering and SD shows/movies are streaming instant.

I got rid of my cheap ass satellite last year and couldn't be happier

What proxy do you use? Something free or do you pay little bit monthly for it? Never been able to get a free one to work consistently.

The free ones are slow and not reliable. There are plenty of VPS providers in the states where you can rent a server for under $20 a month that will do the trick.

[zippydedodah]

I stream Netflix (using a US proxy) from my PS3 no problem from Chiang Mai. I buy shows/movies on AppleTV every day in HD (720p) and it start streaming after 5 to 10 minutes of buffering and SD shows/movies are streaming instant.

I got rid of my cheap ass satellite last year and couldn't be happier

how much bandwidth are you paying for and what are your actual speeds? I pay for a 3 mg line and get it, most of the time, but for the last few weeks, the internet goes away and comes back, randomly..... sometimes in 10 sec, sometimes 10 min, sometimes 10 hours... or until i call the office and complain. I am on TOT in Sankamphaeng and they officially tell us that this area and Mae On and other points east are all having intermittent problems and they are "working on it".

anyways... even before the "troubles", with 3 mb line, if i wanted to stream anything, i had to stop all my torrents... i have torrent sites i hit that give me all 3 mb so my plate is full, so to speak and there goes the streaming. So i guess my real question is: are you using a 6 or 10 mg line and really getting those speeds? Is anyone?

[BlackArtemis]

icefilms.info for all your American TV needs.

[jfchandler]

I'm using Netflix, Hulu, NFL MLB and NBA, Pandora and others here... And yes, Grooveshark too is great... never heard of it before until recently...

Internet radio is easy, even with a relatively slower connection. And for audio only things like Pandora and Grooveshark, they are not really streaming, but rather, they appear to download basically an entire soft in one shot just before it plays... So the bandwith/speed consistency issue is not as critical as with traditional streaming.

For video streaming services, bandwith and reasonably stable speeds are obviously more important. Each of the video services are a bit different, and some are more bandwidth intensive than others. I was getting by before on a 4 mb True ADSL connection... The sports streams ran OK, since often I was replaying a previously saved game from their service. But things like Netflix and Hulu were very choppy. Lately upgraded to 8 mb, and Netflix and Hulu run much better now.

Another issue about this is time of the day... In the morning...and say after midnight here, the connection speeds to the U.S. seem to run much better, and stalling is rarely a problem. But in the evening... say 8 pm to midnight, the connection speeds to the U.S. seem to really slowdown (presumably because that would be the peak useage time here locally)... So I've sort of adjusted my viewing habits to let the Thai wife watch local stuff until her bedtime, and then I'll watch stuff from the U.S. after midnight while she's sleeping. It works out pretty well.

Some of the professional sports paid services actually have packages that are specifically marketed for people outside the U.S., because presumably those markets are not pulling viewers away from the traditional TV networks in the U.S. (that are paying to show the pro games live). NBA has a special international video package that doesn't require a VPN. In fact, you're not eligible for it if your Internet connection shows a U.S. IP address.

Of course, in order to access the services like Netflix and Hulu, you need a U.S. IP address. Of all the video streaming services, Hulu appears to be the most fussy about what kind of connections it will accept. People involved in this told me Hulu folks are pretty aggressive about trying to block connections thru most VPNs.... The others, I've never had any of them balk at any regular VPN connection.

I'd never try or rely on any of the free proxies for streaming video, because of both security, reliability and speed issues... There are a couple of services I've used that work well, are very reasonably priced and play well with the services mentioned above.

One is the personalVPN™ – SSL (openVPN) at $59.99 a year from www witopia net (periods left out of the address)

Another is strongvpn com -- which offers several different kind of packages, the basic normal one starting at $55 per year.

Put one of those together with Netflix streaming for $8.99 per month and you've got one of the best entertainment deals going... -- if you can get a decent speed and stable connection from your local ISP.

[getgoin]

The best spot for getting television shows is www.Eztv.it. They have everything at about the same time as it comes out. It's a torrent site so it will take anywhere from 1 hour to 4 hours to download a new program. I usually download a couple a day and watch them at night. The quality is good and there are no commercials. You need a bit torrent application such as Vuze.

Streaming does not work well. With Slingbox you have to buffer the stream for 1/2 to 1 hour because of the unreliability of the internet and the up and down speeds. Lat time I checked Hulu was not available in Thailand but that was a while ago.

For internet radio get itunes.

[jfchandler]

Getgoin, you obviously didn't read my post just above yours or others earlier on...

Streaming can work perfectly fine here, provided the person gets a reasonably fast and stable Internet connection, and obtains an appropriate U.S. IP address... At least in Bangkok, both can be done relatively easily...for a reasonable price.

Bit Torrents are fine for people who can't get both of the above. But when I want to watch something, I want to watch it then....not 3 or 4 hours later. I also don't want to download files that may or may not be secure/safe from some web site/sites I know nothing about. I also don't want to use up a bunch of disk space on my PCs downloading large video files...

If you like that approach, more power to you... But don't tell others here that video streaming can't be done, because it most certainly can be.

PS - And I watch something on Hulu pretty much every day.... So it's time you caught up a bit...

PPS - And I've never used Slingbox to accomplish any of this, mainly because, I don't want to hassle friends/family back home with having to set up that kind of system and then maintain it...

Edited May 8, 2010 by jfchandler

[zippydedodah]

so in the end.... is the OP willing to pay some amount of money (one for a fairly fast connection and two for a reliable proxy server) or not?

How much computer knowledge does the OP have? Might they be comfortable running BT client?

for me, i have been using BT for years, mostly from private sites that i am a member of, and combined with up to date malware and anti-virus software,no nasty bugs have penetrated my systems in years. Plenty have been caught (well, maybe average one a month, or less), but BT is free and sites work fine for me. I watch TV series and movies at my leisure and am very used to delayed gratification (2 previous wives taught me that!)

I too thought of slingbox, but given that it requires a fair bit of upload bandwidth coming from USA, all my friends use their BW and i would be required to have a separate line installed just for the slingbox needs...so that was out.

Someone once told me that "there is NO reliable internet in CM" and even though i am "happy" with my service, to a certain degree, that statement has a lot of validity. THings crap out all the time here, either cuz of rain, or heat, or cold, or just plain human error combined with less than perfect telecom equipment....

mileage may vary with any provider and chose your own poison...

[Thakkar]

check out grooveshark.com. it's great.

It is. Thanks, Stevie.

[kudroz]

I stream Netflix (using a US proxy) from my PS3 no problem from Chiang Mai. I buy shows/movies on AppleTV every day in HD (720p) and it start streaming after 5 to 10 minutes of buffering and SD shows/movies are streaming instant.

I got rid of my cheap ass satellite last year and couldn't be happier

how much bandwidth are you paying for and what are your actual speeds? I pay for a 3 mg line and get it, most of the time, but for the last few weeks, the internet goes away and comes back, randomly..... sometimes in 10 sec, sometimes 10 min, sometimes 10 hours... or until i call the office and complain. I am on TOT in Sankamphaeng and they officially tell us that this area and Mae On and other points east are all having intermittent problems and they are "working on it".

anyways... even before the "troubles", with 3 mb line, if i wanted to stream anything, i had to stop all my torrents... i have torrent sites i hit that give me all 3 mb so my plate is full, so to speak and there goes the streaming. So i guess my real question is: are you using a 6 or 10 mg line and really getting those speeds? Is anyone?

I have a 5mbps line at home with 3BB. All of the AppleTV (iTunes) movies and shows are distributed by a CDN (Content Delivery Network) that has servers in Bangkok so speed isn't a problem. Netflix through a US proxy does a decent 3mbps which is plenty.

[jfchandler]

Kudroz, as pointed out above, Internet connections are different everywhere, based on which provider you can use, what speed you're paying for, what time of day, and even what VPN a person maybe using.

Having a 12 mb local connection in Thailand, for example, means nothing if your IP can't support those kinds of sustained speeds internationally to the U.S. And the same thing applies if one's VPN provider is running at slower or inconsistent speeds due to usage there. etc etc etc...

When I run Netflix, sometimes, I watch the download speeds incoming to my PC using a program like Bitmeter. And at least with True, the speeds jump around a lot... from plenty fast enough to slowing to almost nothing all within minutes of each other -- my supposed 8 mb connection notwithstanding.

I don't know where the jamups are occurring... with my VPN provider... with True's international connection, or here locally in BKK (though I doubt the latter is a problem). Fortunately, buffering helps even out those kinds of kinks... But there still are times when the movie or show will have to re-buffer midway thru...usually...involving only a brief interruption.

A lot of people use the speed test download sites to see what kind of "real" speeds they're getting from their internet connection. But those only show a momentary glimpse at your speed. With video streaming, of course, it becomes more important to be able to maintain a consistent, sufficient speed to support the video stream. Programs like Bitmeter will show you in real time the speeds for incoming content.

As I said above, right now, with my current setup, I'm fine for viewing most things.... But if I could change or fix anything, it would be trying to figure out how to get a more consistent, sustained rate of speed and avoid the buffering timeouts... But given the number of different routes involved between my PC and the content providers, I think it's really hard to know just where to look.

[zippydedodah]

well, as someone commented... they can set their slingbox to 1/2 hr or 1 hr buffer.... that should just about do it. Too bad you can't do that with just about any streaming program.... i can set my buffer on some programs to say 50 mgs.... but that is nothing of high quality video... all it takes is a couple of minutes of internet konk-out and the 50 mgs is gone and nothing has come in to fill up the cache and continue streaming....

I have tried veetle tv channels, and as noted, depending on time of day, popularity of event and whatever the internet gods will.... i may or may not be able to watch something.

When stuff is coming in clean, for sure i have to cut all my torrents and that in itself is enuf to keep me solidly out of live streaming...... i refuse to pay for larger pipes - mainly cuz i am on a budget.... but also cuz i have heard that in my area, they are not much faster than the smaller ones.