KODI help . . . ?

Discussion in 'BS Forum' started by jetophile, Feb 7, 2020.

  1. jetophile

    jetophile Bruce Coslet's Daughter

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    OK, let me preface this by saying every time I ask for techno help, what do I get? Bupkis, that's what. I'll ask, anyway. So, my friend gave me a brand new Fire TV stick with a voice activated remote. You can guess what I did what that remote. I gave it back to her, and ordered the older version, CV98LM, without the mic, off of ebay, brand new, for $7. I read up on it to see to my red flag suspicions confirmed. So many people complained and are actively complaining about the recording capabilities of the voice remote with Amazon going full liar: "We don't record your conversations." LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL, seeeeeeeeee yaaaaaa lattterrrrrrr byyyyeeee. I'm perfectly willing to make my life a touch more annoying by pressing a few extra buttons for more assumed privacy.

    The Firestick, now "escaped from Alcatraz" (hint, hint), was all ready to go. I successfully managed to get KODI on there (believe that?; me, neither) from videos between some Russian guy who talked a mile a minute and some TROYPOINT guy who is the cure for insomnia. I also put get.linked something something on it to get a bunch of other add-ons recommended by the Russian spy, I mean guy, but I'm on the fence about some of those. We'll get to later if anyone answers me in here.

    What I seriously want to know is, is there any feasible way to get LIVE REGULAR TV CHANNELS WITHOUT HAVING BASIC CABLE? I can get TV SHOWS, sure; but can I get let's say ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, etc. IN REAL TIME somehow? What about channels like A&E, ID Discovery (I watch all the murder shows), AMC, et al? I'm sure if there was a way to do it everyone would be doing it, but does anyone have a legitimate, informed, definitive answer on this? I want to completely kick Spectrum in the ass, but this is where the real science - as in the billing science - comes in.

    I have to see what I am willing to live without and a bunch of bells and whistles that I really never watch. So far I'm pretty astounded at the plethora of shit I can get. I don't have internet through Spectrum, and I have no reason to switch. There are a few free channels on the Firestick that ask me to sign in to my Spectrum account or some crap like that by going to some link or other, but my ISP isn't them. I also have a VPN thing on the Firestick that I have to turn off for specific channels when prompted. So, is there any way to rip off the Communications Industry like they deserve? Right now I'm paying $13.50 a month for some bullshit 'Broadcast TV Surcharge' right off the top that I can't get rid of. I can get in to exactly what I'm paying line by line if anyone needs to know for comparison measures. Thanks a lot.

    -jeto
     
  2. Jonathan_Vilma

    Jonathan_Vilma Well-Known Member

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    Look for things like this and so your research on free TV antennas

    https://www.walmart.com/ip/Cable-TV...t-Local-Reception-Range-120-Miles-2/461878640

    That one has shitty reviews but here's a good guide to them at varying price ranges: https://www.techradar.com/news/best-indoor-tv-antennas

    I don't know much about them other than that they exist and once you set them up they are free. If you read through some comments experiences vary a lot. Some people get 50 channels, some people get zero. The positioning of your TV, infrastructure of your house, where it's located, etc. Are all factors. I wouldn't spend more than $10-$20 on one before you know whether it'll be conducive to your environment.

    I know people who have used them with success and people who said they didn't work at all. I'm a cable snob because of all the college football I watch so I haven't considered these routes yet. But it's coming.

    If you're looking at keeping internet and going to a streaming service, I've heard good things about YouTube TV and HuluTV. Depending on the resolution of your TV, the best suggestion I've heard from a colleague that did it is; beef your router up by investing in a 5G router ($100-$150 - one time purchase) and buy fire sticks or rokus for the rooms. I like Roku more but Fire stick works as well.

    How many devices do you use at a time on your internet?
     
  3. Jonathan_Vilma

    Jonathan_Vilma Well-Known Member

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  4. jetophile

    jetophile Bruce Coslet's Daughter

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    @Jonathan_Vilma, ah, an antenna! Like the tin foil we used to stick on the rabbit ears on our old Zenith TV in Queens in 1970! I forgot that I had a conversation about this (live TV/antenna) with @Royal Tee about 5 years ago. he's very techno-minded and was always rigging something to beat the system. The problem is two-fold here: I live in a mountainous area and I also live on a body of water. Both are reception killers. We have to have a signal booster or we get zero reception on our cell phones. Meaning completely dead air. We get it for free, though, because years ago Sprint swore up and down that we have service here but their coverage map was wrong.

    I remember now that I was looking into antennas but I dropped it because if I recall correctly nothing sounded strong enough to work here, a bunch of reviews said this thing sucks, that things sucks. I'll look into it further, though. Much appreciated.

    I also managed to install Xana x Build somehow. I'm probably gonna die tomorrow. I'll explain that. It's like when someone says, "Oh, poor Stanley, he never took out the garbage, always an argument. The day before he died, he took it out to the curb without his wife asking him." So yeah, I managed to do something that required less intelligence than a chimp, and I am the world's worst. I mean it, the world's worst. I better not shake that Magic 8 Ball, because if I ask it if I'm going to die tomorrow it will probably say 'SIGNS POINT TO YES'.

    Any other responses welcome.
     
  5. Jonathan_Vilma

    Jonathan_Vilma Well-Known Member

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    I'm sorry, jeto. I don't have an options for someone who lives in the Afghanistan Mountains.

    In all seriousness, SlingTV's basic package looks like your best bet. You're moving towards streaming anyways, assuming your internet coverage is ok and supports it and your ok with being a bit behind as far as live events are concerned. Picture shouldn't suffer too much. What kind of TV's? How many TV's? What channels are a must?

    You can see Sling,. YouTube, Hulu, etc. channel packages on their website.
     
  6. 101GangGreen101

    101GangGreen101 2018 Thread of the Year Award Winner

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    If you love NFL Network (during and after the season) then get Sling TV, SLING TV however does not include CBS for your Jets games, but you can get All Access for like 5 bucks. YoutubeTV I think includes CBS ...

    I have SlingTV and I have the CBS all access (disable during off-season), its about 60 bucks total a month.
     
  7. Brook!

    Brook! Soft Admin...2018 Friendliest Member Award Winner

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  8. Jonathan_Vilma

    Jonathan_Vilma Well-Known Member

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    What's the delay like? I have the Sunday ticket app running on a Microsoft surface and the delay drives me insane being a full play+ behind.
     
  9. 101GangGreen101

    101GangGreen101 2018 Thread of the Year Award Winner

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    Delays are natural when it comes to streaming its something that you cannot overcome without the risk of network buffering. However on Sling I'm usually not a play behind perhaps 15 to 30 seconds behind live TV, but it's not horrible. Over time it's improved. I'll be on Twitter while watching the game, I tend to not get spoiled.
     
  10. jetophile

    jetophile Bruce Coslet's Daughter

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    I was wondering if SlingTV required a modem like Roku but I looked it up and I see that it does not. Also, ir can be downloaded onto the Fire Stick. All Access, what is that about?
     
  11. 101GangGreen101

    101GangGreen101 2018 Thread of the Year Award Winner

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    All Access is a CBS app so you can watch the Jet games live. Sling TV doesn't have CBS which sucks, but Sling does have NFL Network, and you can get a package with Redzone as well.

    YoutubeTV I believe has CBS.
     
  12. CBG

    CBG Well-Known Member

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    All I know is that Epstein did not kill himself and I try to occasionally get a weather forecast correct as far as this tech stuff I go to my tech peeps
     
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  13. Jonathan_Vilma

    Jonathan_Vilma Well-Known Member

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    You need a delivery method for all of these. I.e. a Roku or a Fire stick. Unless you want to go old school and HDMI into your laptop.
     
  14. CBG

    CBG Well-Known Member

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    "Roku " or "Firestick " ?????? Are these the names of your carrier pigeons who deliver such things ?
     
  15. Jonathan_Vilma

    Jonathan_Vilma Well-Known Member

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    Roku is actually my lead carrier pigeon. The day I name any pet I have "Firestick," is the day that I hope you, @CBG call the Humane Society to question what's going on.
     
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  16. Ralebird

    Ralebird Well-Known Member

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    After having super deluxe, way too many channels supplied by my landlord I am now limited to basic, make that very basic cable so I've been looking at my options. A guy I know has been using Hotbox tv from Canada. You can bring your own box or get one from them for about a hundred bucks. The advantage of using theirs is that they do the complete setup, otherwise it looks like you need to get your own box and load each channel individually.

    For thirty bucks a month you can watch 2000 channels including NFL network and local channels from all over the US, Canada and the UK (all four?). My only problem is they say you need 25 Mbps and I'm only getting about half that. I'm not sure if it will cause buffering and pixilation all over the spectrum or only on 4K programming. Once you set it up it's supposed to work all over the world anywhere you can get internet so you can even take your box with you when you travel if that's our thing.

    Why doesn't somebody try it out and get back to me? What the guy I know says sounds too good to be true.

    Here they are: hotboxtv.info
     
    #16 Ralebird, Feb 12, 2020
    Last edited: Feb 12, 2020
  17. Royal Tee

    Royal Tee Girls juss wanna have fun
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    Yep, still have my antenna in the attic, going on 17+ years cablessssss.
    We switched our ISP though, finally got fios.

    But antenna still works and they will be updating the ATSC signal soon too.
    For a last ditch lo tech alternative you have:
    https://www.locast.org/
     
  18. thedonger

    thedonger Active Member

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    this has me intrigued.
     
  19. jetophile

    jetophile Bruce Coslet's Daughter

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    What was getting me stuck was live TV. Looks like I'll be ditching Spectrum for Hulu. Details later, dog is bugging me. Thanks for the input in the meanwhile, everyone.
     
  20. jetophile

    jetophile Bruce Coslet's Daughter

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    OK, I officially kicked Spectrum in the ass. As far as live TV goes, YouTube TV was a couple of bucks cheaper than Hulu Live TV, but fuck Google and their relentless fucking spying. You can't get away from it, but why should I help them along.

    The only two drawbacks for me with Hulu Live TV is that I don't get AMC and I don't get PBS. Well, KODI solved that one for me lickety-split! I just got another firestick off of eBay (new), and I took it apart and broke the microphone so I'm all set to go!

    EDIT & P.S.: In case anyone is interested:

    https://www.instructables.com/id/Disable-Alexa-Microphone-on-Amazon-Fire-Stick-TV-R/
     
    #20 jetophile, Feb 25, 2020
    Last edited: Feb 25, 2020

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