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Watching Online Streaming Television From The U.S. And/Or U.K.


jfchandler

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Glad to hear it...

Just fyi, yesterday, I got an email back from one of the execs at USTVNow, whom I had written an email to previously about their new service...

In response to one of my questions to him, he replied that they hope to keep operating the free six networks plan "indefinitely". So that's a good sign that they're not just doing this as some kind of "grand opening" special, but rather, that it's part of their ongoing business plan.

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I have just been watching USTV now fullscreen on my 40" TV and the picture is quite good and the sound fine. I hope they don't stop their free service.

the stream is very quick to load and it seems to automatically sort out the best res.

good stuff so far.

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This morning, I watched the NFL preseason kickoff game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Cincinnati Bengals via the NBC network broadcast on USTV Now...

I could have watched the game on TrueVisions on ASN, but I wanted to see how it fared on USTV Now. Online broadcast came thru perfectly fine, although the times of quick, continuing movement on screen seemed slightly jerky...as you'd expect from an online stream. But the picture quality likewise was very good...and the sound was indistinguishable from if I was watching on regular TV in the U.S.A.

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I have used this servic, hard to get good speeds and it cost a lot!!! for an example if you want to watch discovery channel during are time zone it is all endless advertiseing for hours at a time. If ou want the DVER you willpay $159 and up. Unless you are really into sports I would suggest you just download the shows and use popcorn hour to watch on your tv. that is my set up now and I save a bunch of money. it is not worth it, $159 or more for USTV, plus 2,500 THB for a good internet connection to get the speeds you need to do it. checkout popcornhour.com I have the c-200 If you had a friend in the USA or family it would be better, but still most ISPs are only limited to 1 MB upload in the sates unless you are in an area with FIOS.

If you are into sports and have the money to spend it might be worth it. I use 3bb 4 MB and I can download HD shows, movies, etc with out issues then watch on my LCD HD TV ...

So, let's talk about one available option, for those who are willing to spend a little bit of money...

(And for the record, I have absolutely no connection or interest whatsoever with this service or any of the other ones I'll be mentioning subsequently in this thread).

Perhaps you're already spending close to 2,500 baht per month or so for a True UBC Platinum package, which includes 90 channels, many of which probably aren't of great interest to Westerners...or are versions of channels replete with boring and seemingly endless repeats.

What if you were willing to pay a bit more, say about 3200 baht per month (or $99 U.S. in this instance)?

Right now at home, I'm watching a full 180-channel cable television set-up from Los Angeles on the screen of my Bangkok PC, using a service called a2btv (http://www.a2btv.com/), which bills itself as "Real American TV Wordwide". It's not cheap, but in testing it, it's pretty cool and seems to work well for my set-up. They do offer a free short-term trial (which I'm using now) via their web site (no credit card required) where you can download and install their software on your PC that allows you to log-on to their system and receive the TV content online, sample all the channels, etc etc. Here's the full list of their channel line-up.

post-53787-062262100 1278516119_thumb.jp

In essence, they're setting up a cable TV account for you in Los Angeles where they are located (there's also a $99 one-time set charge for the basic package), and then they are using Slingbox player software to steam the TV content via your Internet connection. They have three packages for American TV content, including $99 per month for the 180 channel cable service, $139 per month for the same cable package plus an online DVR recorder, or $169 per month for the cable plus a high def video recorder set-up.

The software includes lots of controls for being able to customize and tweak both your streaming protocols, video display formats and on-screen display, which includes an included online channel guide much like the one True and other cable systems use, and even an on-screen remote control device, where you can use your mouse to click the control buttons just like you would on a physical remote control device.

I don't watch that much TV at home, and I don't subscribe or feel the need for a True Gold or Platinum TV package. So this package, as much as I'm liking it, is a bit of an overkill for me, and I'm personally not anxious to spend 3200-3300 baht a month on my television viewing. But that's me. Just recently, another TV member posted about wanting to know where/how he could find all these kinds of American TV channels online...and the price didn't much matter to him. So, to each his own.

Meanwhile, the same company also offers a trio of 136 to 138 channels of British television and radio channels for monthly prices ranging from 79 to 99 pounds per month. The full details of those packages are located here.

From talking to their customer service, I learned their packages, once you subscribe to a paying package, require a 12-month commitment with early cancellation penalties if you quit early. For some reason, their CSR also told me, they have a one-time deposit of $199 for customers without a U.S. Social Security number, which is credited back to the customer in the 12th month of service. Also, the high definition package apparently has a significantly higher one-time installation fee.

One nice thing about this service is that you can access all their content without having to worry about (or pay for) a proxy service to get around the government's censorship activities aimed at blocking other kinds of video sites. For me, at my home, the video quality was perfectly adequate for viewing on my 19 in. PC monitor and my 24 in. tabletop TV. But I didn't test it, nor do I have, any kind of big screen TV setup, so I can't speak to that.

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Geno, you're commenting on earlier, and yes, much more expensive, versions of the plans offered by a company called NationPhone&TV thru its service called USATVAbroad.

Of the three plans listed on USATVAbroad's web site, they're very definitely NOT offering the $25 a month Essential Plan any more. I'm not absolutely sure if they're still offering the $99/65 channels and $199/200 channels a month plans. They're still listed on the web site for the service, and it appears people can still sign up for them...

But meanwhile, the same company has begun offering a new service to replace the former Essential Plan under a new name and new web site...the one we've been talking about just above in this thread, which the company now calls USTVNow. They have three different plans under that name:

--Free, which gives you access to the six major over the air U.S. TV networks: ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CW and PBS.

--a $39 a month plan that gives you those six networks plus 15 cable networks, which for sports includes U.S. ESPN.

and --a $49 a month plan that gives you those same 21 channels above with DVR service.

Re your comments, their $99 and $199 plans under USATVAbroad used Slingbox technology that, when I tested it at my home, really struggled to give a good quality picture even with my True 8 mb premium connection costing about 1,100 baht per month. Not only were those plans pretty expensive, but the video quality just wasn't worth it. But you were getting either 65 channels under the $99 plan or 200 channels under the $199 plan. Those weren't for me...

However, the same company's new service under the USTVNow name is using a different Flash-based video technology (not Slingbox) that seems to stream and show quite well. And for $39 or $49 a month, I consider it to be quite a good deal, one I'll consider signing up for... something I never would have done for their $99 and $199 a month plans.

That said, for people who are solely sports enthusiasts, their 21 channel plan really only gives you the over the air networks plus ESPN. The other included channels don't really do much in the way of sports...

ABC

CBS

CW

FOX

NBC

PBS

Animal Planet

Bravo

Cartoon Network

CNBC

CNN

Comedy Central

Discover Channel

ESPN

Food Network

FX

History

Syfy

TBS

TNT

USA

I have used this servic, hard to get good speeds and it cost a lot!!! for an example if you want to watch discovery channel during are time zone it is all endless advertiseing for hours at a time. If ou want the DVER you willpay $159 and up. Unless you are really into sports I would suggest you just download the shows and use popcorn hour to watch on your tv. that is my set up now and I save a bunch of money. it is not worth it, $159 or more for USTV, plus 2,500 THB for a good internet connection to get the speeds you need to do it. checkout popcornhour.com I have the c-200 If you had a friend in the USA or family it would be better, but still most ISPs are only limited to 1 MB upload in the sates unless you are in an area with FIOS.

If you are into sports and have the money to spend it might be worth it. I use 3bb 4 MB and I can download HD shows, movies, etc with out issues then watch on my LCD HD TV ...

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Geno, you're commenting on earlier, and yes, much more expensive, versions of the plans offered by a company called NationPhone&TV thru its service called USATVAbroad.

Of the three plans listed on USATVAbroad's web site, they're very definitely NOT offering the $25 a month Essential Plan any more. I'm not absolutely sure if they're still offering the $99/65 channels and $199/200 channels a month plans. They're still listed on the web site for the service, and it appears people can still sign up for them...

But meanwhile, the same company has begun offering a new service to replace the former Essential Plan under a new name and new web site...the one we've been talking about just above in this thread, which the company now calls USTVNow. They have three different plans under that name:

--Free, which gives you access to the six major over the air U.S. TV networks: ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CW and PBS.

--a $39 a month plan that gives you those six networks plus 15 cable networks, which for sports includes U.S. ESPN.

and --a $49 a month plan that gives you those same 21 channels above with DVR service.

Re your comments, their $99 and $199 plans under USATVAbroad used Slingbox technology that, when I tested it at my home, really struggled to give a good quality picture even with my True 8 mb premium connection costing about 1,100 baht per month. Not only were those plans pretty expensive, but the video quality just wasn't worth it. But you were getting either 65 channels under the $99 plan or 200 channels under the $199 plan. Those weren't for me...

However, the same company's new service under the USTVNow name is using a different Flash-based video technology (not Slingbox) that seems to stream and show quite well. And for $39 or $49 a month, I consider it to be quite a good deal, one I'll consider signing up for... something I never would have done for their $99 and $199 a month plans.

That said, for people who are solely sports enthusiasts, their 21 channel plan really only gives you the over the air networks plus ESPN. The other included channels don't really do much in the way of sports...

ABC

CBS

CW

FOX

NBC

PBS

Animal Planet

Bravo

Cartoon Network

CNBC

CNN

Comedy Central

Discover Channel

ESPN

Food Network

FX

History

Syfy

TBS

TNT

USA

I have used this servic, hard to get good speeds and it cost a lot!!! for an example if you want to watch discovery channel during are time zone it is all endless advertiseing for hours at a time. If ou want the DVER you willpay $159 and up. Unless you are really into sports I would suggest you just download the shows and use popcorn hour to watch on your tv. that is my set up now and I save a bunch of money. it is not worth it, $159 or more for USTV, plus 2,500 THB for a good internet connection to get the speeds you need to do it. checkout popcornhour.com I have the c-200 If you had a friend in the USA or family it would be better, but still most ISPs are only limited to 1 MB upload in the sates unless you are in an area with FIOS.

If you are into sports and have the money to spend it might be worth it. I use 3bb 4 MB and I can download HD shows, movies, etc with out issues then watch on my LCD HD TV ...

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yes I was remarking about the a2btv with slingbox. I have an old slingcatcher I use to use but the slingcatcher had lots of issues. Live tv is fine but I use the popcorn hour. I just download visa vuse and it goes direct to the Hard drive on my popcorn hour c-200. I can downlaod HD shows from alll networks Most 720p TV shows download in 1 hr or so unless their is few seeders.

I have tryed the USTVnow free plan and it is not bad. I say not bad for free!!! when I tryed to watch it does stop and buffer sometimes even on the low res setting. I am on the 4MB 3bb Premire plan and my speeds test at 4 mb to most US servers. Granted it is free. I was watching the Today show last night. I just hope that since it is free when many start to use it the service will degrade. If the ad a set top box to go with it I might would pay for the pan. The popcorn hour does not work with flash so that idea is out. but they could use PS3 or something like that then you would have a remote. if they use slingbox you would need a proxy or VPN to get full speeds

I have a nece collection of shows and movies on my popcorn hours 1.5TB hard drive but it is nice to watch live tv sometimes, but still can not beat my way for getting HD content.

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yes I was remarking about the a2btv with slingbox. I have an old slingcatcher I use to use but the slingcatcher had lots of issues. Live tv is fine but I use the popcorn hour. I just download visa vuse and it goes direct to the Hard drive on my popcorn hour c-200. I can downlaod HD shows from alll networks Most 720p TV shows download in 1 hr or so unless their is few seeders.

I have tryed the USTVnow free plan and it is not bad. I say not bad for free!!! when I tryed to watch it does stop and buffer sometimes even on the low res setting. I am on the 4MB 3bb Premire plan and my speeds test at 4 mb to most US servers. Granted it is free. I was watching the Today show last night. I just hope that since it is free when many start to use it the service will degrade. If the ad a set top box to go with it I might would pay for the pan. The popcorn hour does not work with flash so that idea is out. but they could use PS3 or something like that then you would have a remote. if they use slingbox you would need a proxy or VPN to get full speeds

I have a nece collection of shows and movies on my popcorn hours 1.5TB hard drive but it is nice to watch live tv sometimes, but still can not beat my way for getting HD content.

Hi , this i have found very interesting, I thank everyone for there knowledge and help. I now have a VPN and able and many other TV channels, the problem i get is the streaming, buffering comes up a lot and is very frustrating, is there any way i can improve this.

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Galow, it really depends on a lot of different factors...

--How close your residence is to the local DSL connection.

--What's the quality of wiring into your home.

--How much you're willing to pay for your Internet connection

--What choice of ISPs provide service where you live...

--and how you've set up your own PC.

I found when I upgraded from True's 4 mbit plan to their 8 mbit plan, the issues of buffering and stalling on streaming declined markedly to the point now that its usually a non-issue for me at home. Because prices on Internet service have been generally coming down as faster speeds slowly become available, I was able to upgrade a few months ago by paying not much more per month than I had been paying under my prior plan selected maybe two years before. Because I also use True mobile, I'm paying a discounted rate of 1,199 baht for True's 8 mb ADSL premium plan.

I believe others here have reported getting perfectly good streaming video performance with 4 Mbit plans from other providers. True's service seems to jump around a lot in terms of realtime speeds, looking like a very spikey roller coaster ride of ups and downs, when you monitor it. Ideally, your ISP would provide a more steady stream...

Another thing I did recently, which seems also to have helped quite a bit, was install and use a piece of freeware software that is designed to optimize your PC's Internet and streaming connections. The software is called TCP Optimizer and is available from the SpeedGuide.net web site. I checked on it before trying, and it's safe and very well regarded. It allows geek users to change their own detailed settings in many ways... But also has an "Optimize" function to allow the program to choose the best settings for your set-up. It also allows you to backup your existing settings before making any changes.

Likewise, make sure you have installed the lastest version of Adobe Flash 10.1, I believe. The prior versions had a major security flaw.

And lastly, don't use SpeedTest.net to make any kind of speedtest comparisons, since its values in Thailand are often totally false. But do use a reliable speedtest from outside Thailand that allows you to measure your connection speeds between here and LA and/or NY.... Then, make those measurements both with and without your VPN to see how much using your VPN may be taking off your speed performance. Some VPNs are going to do better for video streaming, while others won't.

One of the VPN's I'm familiar with also has a private, password protected proxy server available only to its members. You can use their proxy instead of their VPN... and in many cases, the proxy server will work just fine, and generally might be expected to provide better speeds than the VPN.. You might check with your VPN provider to see if they offer something comparable.

Good luck.

Hi , this i have found very interesting, I thank everyone for there knowledge and help. I now have a VPN and able and many other TV channels, the problem i get is the streaming, buffering comes up a lot and is very frustrating, is there any way i can improve this.

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chandler, that's a great write-up you are doing here!

To avoid waisting time because of text being lost in cyberspace I recommend Firefox and this addon: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5761/

Auto-saves any text input in text fields in the browser in multiple revisions. No matter why the text input is lost (browser/system crash, tab closed accidentally, content deleted/overwritten), this addon allows you to restore your precious work with 2 mouse clicks! For more ideas check this topic.

welo

Oooh! That is nice! That is very nice! That is now my extension number 87.

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It's a bit off-thread topic...but.... also on Welo's recommendation, I previously installed a similar Firefox add-on called Lazarus, and it's seemed to work great on my Win 7 desktop...

Operates invisibly behind the scenes, and many times already saved my bacon when, in the middle of writing a post, I accidentally have hit the wrong button or gone backward. And found my draft post text had disappeared. But now, happy to see every time that happens that Lazarus has saved a copy and easily restores it in two mouse clicks... A definite must have for any/every TV poster...

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I'm not sure about the current status, but I found a very interesting article. The main focus was on utilizing a technology to "skip" commercials. But the interesting part to me was WHERE the video was stored -- on MAIN SERVERS; the customer did not have to possess a "physical" dvr. I'm not sure exactly how it fits in to what we have been discussing on this thread, but I thought it merited a mention.

Cablevision, a Bethpage, New York-based company, is now clear to begin rolling out to its customers its newly developed remote storage DVR systems. The devices store recorded content on Cablevision’s servers, allowing the user to have a DVR with their existing cable equipment (without having to have a physical DVR device installed).

source: http://www.geek.com/articles/news/hollywood-loses-out-commercial-free-remote-storage-dvrs-coming-soon-20090630/

The article does reference that it is for their customer's "existing cable equipment" which would mean a direct connection to these servers; but it is an interesting change in method when a customer can store video on a centralized "server". The case already argued that this is not "video on demand".

It will be interesting to see if this moves forward with any related new technology. I have written before about the concept of LEGAL store and forward technology. IMO, we are making inroads to it now.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Regarding the free USTVNow television service mentioned above, I got this email from them today, regarding their original requirement that people signing up for the free service provide either a SSN or credit card number to verify they have U.S. residency...

Here's the follow-up e-mail I received...

We see that you started the signup process but did not complete the activation process.

You should have received an email with a link to click on. The authorization page that you would have seen asks for information



that you may consider sensitive but we need some way to validate that you are an American citizen or resident

in order to receive US programming.

We would like to offer you an alternative authorization method.

If you scan and email back a copy of your US driver's license, residency card, phone, or utility bill linked to a US address,

we will validate you so you can begin watching. If you have any other comments or questions,

please let me know and I will see how I can help.

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Regarding the free USTVNow television service mentioned above, I got this email from them today, regarding their original requirement that people signing up for the free service provide either a SSN or credit card number to verify they have U.S. residency...

Here's the follow-up e-mail I received...

We see that you started the signup process but did not complete the activation process.

You should have received an email with a link to click on. The authorization page that you would have seen asks for information



that you may consider sensitive but we need some way to validate that you are an American citizen or resident

in order to receive US programming.

We would like to offer you an alternative authorization method.

If you scan and email back a copy of your US driver's license, residency card, phone, or utility bill linked to a US address,

we will validate you so you can begin watching. If you have any other comments or questions,

please let me know and I will see how I can help.

Easy fix on this.....PM me

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Does anyone know if you can use a foreign credit card or Paypal to sign up for the pay services? I no longer have a US based CC.

They now have a web site that explains the details of all this.. It says credit card with a U.S. billing address... Didn't see any mention of Paypal. But you could always email them via their web site to inquire. They've been very helpful and responsive in my dealings with them thus far... I presume, because they're trying to build their business and customer base...if for nothing else.

Here's the web site with registration info:

http://www.ustvnow.com/oc/faq.php?q=23

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Actually I believe that refers to the registration process. I am registered with my SSN. My question is payment for upgrade. I posted that question on the link you mentioned about 3 weeks ago and never got a response. I have just sent a message with this question to the Help Desk form.

Edited by CDNinKS
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Does anyone know if you can use a foreign credit card or Paypal to sign up for the pay services? I no longer have a US based CC.

They now have a web site that explains the details of all this.. It says credit card with a U.S. billing address... Didn't see any mention of Paypal. But you could always email them via their web site to inquire. They've been very helpful and responsive in my dealings with them thus far... I presume, because they're trying to build their business and customer base...if for nothing else.

Here's the web site with registration info:

http://www.ustvnow.com/oc/faq.php?q=23

You can use Paypal to set up an Entropay account which is an online US based credit Card, then just use any contact address out of the USA white pages. This may or may not be how I did it :ph34r:

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You can use Paypal to set up an Entropay account which is an online US based credit Card, then just use any contact address out of the USA white pages. This may or may not be how I did it :ph34r:

Thanks very much for that info, this would solve a lot of problems when a US registered card is required such as at Amazon. I've said it before and I'll say it again, there is NOTHING you can't find on the net ;)

Edited by CDNinKS
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You can use Paypal to set up an Entropay account which is an online US based credit Card, then just use any contact address out of the USA white pages. This may or may not be how I did it :ph34r:

Thanks very much for that info, this would solve a lot of problems when a US registered card is required such as at Amazon. I've said it before and I'll say it again, there is NOTHING you can't find on the net ;)

You still need to utilise an IP address work around and some sites are clever and a proxy will not do.

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I'm not sure if you're talking about setting up the finances, or the actual viewing of USTVNow.

But, as far as viewing the streaming video content via USTVNow, no proxy or VPN is required.

That's one nice feature of their particular package.

You still need to utilise an IP address work around and some sites are clever and a proxy will not do.

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I'm not sure if you're talking about setting up the finances, or the actual viewing of USTVNow.

But, as far as viewing the streaming video content via USTVNow, no proxy or VPN is required.

That's one nice feature of their particular package.

You still need to utilise an IP address work around and some sites are clever and a proxy will not do.

mine was in reply to the Amazon question.... the same would apply to Itunes(pretty region specific). Hulu have introduced a pay service now I believe so you would also need VPN for that

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I got an invite for the Hulu premium service the other day...unfortunately, no free trial on offer...

But in my experience, regular Hulu only works with a VPN, and not even all VPNs, and doesn't seem to accept proxies at all.

Hulu have introduced a pay service now I believe so you would also need VPN for that

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I got an invite for the Hulu premium service the other day...unfortunately, no free trial on offer...

But in my experience, regular Hulu only works with a VPN, and not even all VPNs, and doesn't seem to accept proxies at all.

Hulu have introduced a pay service now I believe so you would also need VPN for that

Can I PM you details of the VPN I use. it may help in the future

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Just received this email from USTVNOW......

yes, you can pay for upgrade with a foreign card but we don't accept paypal.

----

Best Regards,

USTVNow ([email protected])

USTVNow

so that solves that problem.....

As to Amazon, Itunes etc. I do have a VPN to get around the IP problem, it is the CC with a US address that is the stickler sometimes...

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As to Amazon, Itunes etc. I do have a VPN to get around the IP problem, it is the CC with a US address that is the stickler sometimes...

Try Entropay.com mastercard plastic or virtual visa. Does not work with apple itunes store but a lot of retailers it will.

itunes is easy just buy itunes cards using paypal from the resellers online such as jessica etc.

Edited by negreanu
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