bone
5-14-6-1
Those recommending Game Centre, the problem for locals is that GameCentre blacks out regional broadcasts if you live in Alberta, which is about half the games.
OT: Best (legal) way to stream oilers
- Thread starter McGoMcD
- Start date
McSpecial DraiBlend
Registered User
Luckily I live in BC and don't get blackouts from center ice. Me and two buddies share the subscription.
I also used SN Now last season and it was flawless in terms of reliability. Never had any issues watching games. I probably watched 60+ games on it, every one I didn't go to in person. Video quality is solid, but not great. I heard a rumour they would be increasing (maybe 1080p?) the quality this year which would be nice.
I'd echo the other comments - if you were having problems I'd verify your internet connection, Wifi if that's what you're using, etc.
I'd echo the other comments - if you were having problems I'd verify your internet connection, Wifi if that's what you're using, etc.
I got around the blackout restriction with a Chromecast. If I try to play it on my device, I'll get a black out message but if I cast it to the TV via Chromecast, the feed would work.
I stop using game center though as the quality wasn't up to par last year with buffering and sometimes only giving me Standard definition. I'm on a IPTV alternative now and it's working great.
I stop using game center though as the quality wasn't up to par last year with buffering and sometimes only giving me Standard definition. I'm on a IPTV alternative now and it's working great.
I am the Liquor
ABK
- Oct 15, 2008
- 40,538
- 5,820
This actually isn't fully true. Games are blacked out if they are being carried on any of the Sportsnet channels. So the cable companies force you to not only pay the $240 for center ice, but also pay for the full cable package which includes Sportsnet One, 360, etc.
It is for this reason I have no remorse about looking for free alternatives, which BTW, happen to work as good or better than spending hundreds of dollars on the cable packages. Much like everything else related to the NHL these days, greed has ruined what was once a great game and experience. Fact of the matter is I know longer really care whether I have secured access for the season or not.
VainGretzky
Registered User
- Jun 4, 2015
- 14,029
- 12,732
Who pays for TV sporting events or movies these days . The greed of theses companies is catching up to them they are losing subscribers by the boat load. The free stuff is commercial free let alone paying tons for a cable package. Watch for internet fees to skyrocket though.
bone
5-14-6-1
True, but that is probably a more fair method anyway. Right now we pay a crapton for cable which gets us about 100 channels, when I currently use about 10 of them. I'd much rather pay more per channel directly to the source of entertainment plus internet rather than pay for all the ones I couldn't care less about.
Never have had an issue paying directly for what I enjoy. Just frustrated to have to pay for all the crap I don't care about to enjoy.
It's like paying for a buffet, when you only wanted a salad.
VainGretzky
Registered User
- Jun 4, 2015
- 14,029
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I get every known channel free with 0 commercials I also get every show ever made commercial free plus any movie every made screw cable and it's all legal unless you download it to disc and re-distribute it.
oilfansixtynine
ɹǝsn pǝɹǝʇsᴉƃǝɹ
Stud Muffin
Registered User
Internet is very unreliable compared to cable/satellite imo it was a dumb move, the simplicity of just turning the tv on and putting the channel is even faster than messsing with streams.
VainGretzky
Registered User
- Jun 4, 2015
- 14,029
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No kidding. Not to mention that year after year after year I kept having cable just for the Oilers, with the slim hope of watching a good hockey season. After a decade of futility and wasted cable bills, I am not going to cancel now!
nafrelio
Registered User
Can you record any of the streaming services? I have no use for my cable package, but really enjoy watching a game in about an hour and a half or less with my PVR. Don't you have to watch the streams live or wait for 48 hours to watch it?
NHL doesn't understand how the internet economy works.
We can take anything we want for free. We simply pay for better services they can provide.
I get gamecentre because it's a better service than finding a stream on reddit.
But I will happily pay them no money at all to enjoy their product if they black out games for me (I live in Mtl).
They need to see what happened to the music industry and what's currently happening with cable TV.
I refuse to pay for cable to watch the few blacked out games a year. I'd hope the NHL must realise how obtuse they're being.
We can take anything we want for free. We simply pay for better services they can provide.
I get gamecentre because it's a better service than finding a stream on reddit.
But I will happily pay them no money at all to enjoy their product if they black out games for me (I live in Mtl).
They need to see what happened to the music industry and what's currently happening with cable TV.
I refuse to pay for cable to watch the few blacked out games a year. I'd hope the NHL must realise how obtuse they're being.
Oil Gauge
5+14+6+1=97
- Apr 9, 2009
- 5,670
- 266
Possibly your wifi giving you problems? try moving your router. unless you're hardwired.
dssource
5-14-6-1=97
- Jun 29, 2012
- 5,606
- 8,495
I've had NHL.TV for at least 5 years, likely more. I live in Toronto so blackouts aren't much of an issue for me but you can get around these easily with a VPN. I don't even think you need to keep the VPN on, it just needs to be present when you start the broadcast.
I will say though that NHL.TV (GCL) is also device specific. I watch on my PS4, Roku and Android. PS4 is hands down the best. Most options and usually best quality. I would say that Android is the worst quality of the 3. Almost no options either. Also, when the NHL changed providers about a year and half ago (this was when they re-branded from GCL to NHL.TV) the quality took a hit.
I will say though that NHL.TV (GCL) is also device specific. I watch on my PS4, Roku and Android. PS4 is hands down the best. Most options and usually best quality. I would say that Android is the worst quality of the 3. Almost no options either. Also, when the NHL changed providers about a year and half ago (this was when they re-branded from GCL to NHL.TV) the quality took a hit.
McGoMcD
Registered User
I don't know what it is, but it is a issue with SN Now recently. Last night I streamed the free MLB game of the day off Yahoo, and it worked perfectly. I don't know what is up with my SN Now, it keeps freezing, some times I get this annoying thing where it ask to drag and drop the channel but it just don't work.
Really annoying lately, but I will give it time and assume it is just temporary bugs. But it is definitely something wrong with my SN Now.
Random thought: Try a different browser. If you're in Chrome, I'd recommend Waterfox or Edge.
If that doesn't work, try a clean install of Flash.
GoldenTicket
Registered User
I pay for Rogers Game Center and use a service called YonderTV to bypass the regional blackout. YonderTV is the first service i've tried that is 100% reliable for bypassing the blackouts.
BTW
Sports are all rapidly losing fans.
Hockey is losing a LOT of fans. Millenials aren't watching sports at all.
The NHL's short term greed over blocking everything behind paywalls AND forcing ads on us is killing the growth of their fanbase.
This should be alarming for them:
http://m.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Jo.../Research-and-Ratings/Viewership-trends.aspx?
Sports are all rapidly losing fans.
Hockey is losing a LOT of fans. Millenials aren't watching sports at all.
The NHL's short term greed over blocking everything behind paywalls AND forcing ads on us is killing the growth of their fanbase.
This should be alarming for them:
http://m.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Jo.../Research-and-Ratings/Viewership-trends.aspx?
McGoMcD
Registered User
Agree 100%. plans like these never work in the long run. You have to make it easy for fans to watch, don't do that you will lose fans in the long run for short term profit. Really dumb.
Completely agree with this article, especially regarding less time watching.
PVR has to be a huge issue I would think. Unless it's a playoff game I never watch a game live on TV. I always record it and even just start it an hour later so I can skip commercials/boring parts. Sometimes I will just get my updates on the go via Snapchat or Instagram.
