# Best way to stream live and recorded to TV without receiver



## ProfLonghair

We are putting a TV out on our deck. I want to be able to watch, among other things, my DirecTV stuff, in addition to possibly amazon, netflix, whatever. I don't want to run any more wire than necessary, I don't want a receiver that I will have to return, then get a new one next year, and return, and so on, as the seasons change. I don't want to move a receiver out there every time I go out.

With that list of demands in mind, I am otherwise very open and flexible. I can build a small HTPC, I can use a tablet, I can get a Slingbox, whatever.

Whatever streams will be in my home network, streaming outside is a nice feature but nothing I'd use much. I plan on using Wifi, and the router will only be a few feet away, so signal quality shouldn't be an issue.

I use Directv2Pc on occasion on my main PC, but I don't think that does live tv. Not that money is no object, but this is something I plan on using for several years, so the ROi (if you will) should still bear out. I currently have 2 HR20s and two R16s.

What would be the best option to cover all this? I live in Ohio, so it's probably a 7 month of the year type deal, every year.


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## dennisj00

The iPad streaming with nomad is probably your best choice. You can mirror it to a TV if necessary. The wife uses it in the kitchen and we both use it on the deck.


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## ProfLonghair

Don't own an iPad, but I own Android devices. I could get one, but the WAF would be low, at least initially. If Nomad had an Android app, that would be different

Does Nomad work on live TV, or just recordings?


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## peds48

ProfLonghair said:


> Does Nomad work on live TV, or just recordings?


kind of both. it only works on recordings, but with the new "watch now" feature, you can set any live show to record (via the app as well) and then you can watch it on the iPad via the Nomad app by pulling the "recording"


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## ProfLonghair

With Nomad, though, my understanding was that you can't just watch somethigno n another DVR, but it has to be on the Nomad itself, meaning you have to transfer or set up series lists on it, right?


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## peds48

ProfLonghair said:


> With Nomad, though, my understanding was that you can't just watch somethigno n another DVR, but it has to be on the Nomad itself, meaning you have to transfer or set up series lists on it, right?


If you are inside your network, you can watch the playlist of any HDDVR "live". if you want to watch those shows while on the go, you fist have to download them to the mobile device first


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## dennisj00

nomad and the iPad or laptop has become my 'Picture in a Picture' (even though I have a genie). It's often that I have a game, golf, or race on the TV and iPad and watching the stats on the laptop.


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## ProfLonghair

so, buy either a HTPC or iPad (or hope that someday they actually come out with an Android version), and Nomad? Slingbox or Directv2pc are not as good?


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## FredZ

I have a slingbox and watch on my iPad -- it works great. I have access to all live and recoreded programing. There is a small lag when changing channels or ffwding that makes skipping commercials or channel surfing difficult; but if you just want to sit back and watch something it works well. The downside is that it is using one of your recievers from inside the house, so no one else would be able to watch something different on that receiver from inside the house. I think that sling has an android app so you should be able to use your current android tablet.


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## Beerstalker

Do you already have the TV for the back deck, or are you getting ready to get one? You may want to consider getting a TV with RVU functionality built in, and upgrading one of your HR20s (or both) to a Genie whole home DVR.

With an RVU TV you will be able to watch live TV or any of your recordings out on the deck. Most RVU TVs also come with some other apps like Netflix, Amazon Prime etc. You should also be able to turn off the RVU TV's service at the end of the summer when you put the TV away, so you don't have to pay the $6/month mirroring fee year round. Re-activating the RVU TV the next summer shouldn't require signing a new commitment with DirecTV either. All you would need for wiring this up would be a coax cable, or ethernet cable run to the deck, and a power outlet. If you run coax you will need a DECA adapter behind the TV to convert the coax DECA signal over to an ethernet signal the TV will understand. If you run ethernet to the back deck you would just hook it up to your TV.

Otherwise I would say maybe look for an owned HD receiver, that way you can turn it off every fall, and back on every summer, and you won't have to send it back like you would a leased receiver.


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## BAHitman

You can just get an HD receiver, and at the end of the summer put it on seasonal disconnect... you won't have to send it back...


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## Beerstalker

BAHitman said:


> You can just get an HD receiver, and at the end of the summer put it on seasonal disconnect... you won't have to send it back...


Do they still allow that? I didn't think they did. I thought you could only suspend entire accounts now, not just receivers. I have an H21 that only gets used a few months a year (Oct-Jan) I would love to be able to "seasonal disconnect".


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## peds48

BAHitman said:


> You can just get an HD receiver, and at the end of the summer put it on seasonal disconnect... you won't have to send it back...


Are you sure this can still be done?


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## texasbrit

You can do it if the receiver is "owned", if it is leased it has to go back to DirecTV.


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## ProfLonghair

In summary:

Option 1 is Nomad and a client (iPad or HTPC) or an RVU compatible Smart TV & Genie. Getting an additional receiver doesn't solve my situation because it only gets TV signal, and I still have to get something additional to watch all other online content. Additionally, it would be more holes in the outside of the house. Slingbox is also still an option, but it sounds like the implementation on Nomad might work a tad better.

If I can do wireless with the Smart TV, that's an interesting option, as my one HR20 is from when it first came out, when you had to play CSR Roulette to find one to get in the first place, so IDK how much longer it would last. Genie and the Smart TV are probably more expensive than Nomad/Client, but I can also see that I might have to replace at least one HR20 soon anyway. Replacing an HR20, however, means I lose everything that I have recorded on it.

NOmad is $150, and an iPad mini on the cheap end it $350 or so. I think I saw Genie is $300, and I'm not sure the price difference between a regular and Smart/RVU TV, plus that would cost an extra $6 per month that the TV is active as a client.

Good ideas so


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## peds48

texasbrit said:


> You can do it if the receiver is "owned", if it is leased it has to go back to DirecTV.


That is what I thought.


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## peds48

ProfLonghair said:


> If I can do wireless with the Smart TV, that's an interesting option,


RVU is NOT wireless yet. perhaps in the feature with the introduction of 801.11ac wireless protocol this might become "doable"


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## Rtm

Well I mean you could switch to cable and plug directly into the TV then buy a MoCA adapter for internet to the Netflix playing box. Great solution and you don't have to deal with the complexity of DirecTV and the princely fee of ~$72 a year for another tv. /s


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## Diana C

Simplest solution is still a Slingbox. Connect the Slingbox to a receiver (depending on the size of the TV, you might want the HD capable Slingbox, but for a 19" or 20" TV the SD Slingbox should be sufficient) and use the Slingplayer app for your tablet with a HDMI cable between it and the TV. The only "catch" is that to watch some premium channels, and if you have a TV attached to the HDMI port of the receiver where the Slingbox is attached, that TV would have to be on. The workaround is to not use HDMI and connect both the TV and the Slingbox via component.

With a Sling/tablet solution, the only wired connection required is power for the TV (and maybe for the tablet if you are going to watch for many hours). You would have no recurring costs, just the initial purchase price of the Slingbox and the player for your tablet.


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## RobInMN

Don't know if this will work for you, but in part of my house, I wanted to have DTV on 4 TV's and realized that 98% of the time, no one was ever watching different channels on them, most of the time, not even having more than one on at a time. So I bought a 1x4 HDMI splitter and CL-2 rated HDMI cable from monoprice.com and pulled runs from the master bedroom to the other 3 locations. Changed the remote to RF mode and it works perfect, no problems.


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## lincolnnellie

Diana C said:


> Simplest solution is still a Slingbox. Connect the Slingbox to a receiver (depending on the size of the TV, you might want the HD capable Slingbox, but for a 19" or 20" TV the SD Slingbox should be sufficient) and use the Slingplayer app for your tablet with a HDMI cable between it and the TV. The only "catch" is that to watch some premium channels, and if you have a TV attached to the HDMI port of the receiver where the Slingbox is attached, that TV would have to be on. The workaround is to not use HDMI and connect both the TV and the Slingbox via component.
> 
> With a Sling/tablet solution, the only wired connection required is power for the TV (and maybe for the tablet if you are going to watch for many hours). You would have no recurring costs, just the initial purchase price of the Slingbox and the player for your tablet.


I have the new slingbox 500 and I love it, great picture quality. I agree that a slingbox is the way to go, but you do not need to have a TV on. You connect both the HDMI and a component cable to the slingbox and it chooses one or the other based on the programming. The nice thing about the slingbox is you can use the android app, web based application or any number of alternatives (google tv, WD TV, netgear neotv, etc). I use it on the road and use it to watch tv on my projector outside.


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## Diana C

No, you don't NEED to have a TV, but if you do, then the satellite receiver will look for a HDCP handshake on that port. If the TV is off, it won't respond to handshake request, and so the receiver will refuse to display any copy protected content (basically HBO/Cinemax and Starz/Encore).

If you can dedicate a receiver to the Slingbox, then you have no issues.


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## lincolnnellie

Diana C said:


> No, you don't NEED to have a TV, but if you do, then the satellite receiver will look for a HDCP handshake on that port. If the TV is off, it won't respond to handshake request, and so the receiver will refuse to display any copy protected content (basically HBO/Cinemax and Starz/Encore).
> 
> If you can dedicate a receiver to the Slingbox, then you have no issues.


Hmmm, I don't have that problem. Maybe it is because I go through an AV receiver.


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## ProfLonghair

Epilogue: Got everything set up. Live-ish TV on the iPad is mediocre, at best. The lack of time shifting and overall delays in the app (it can be 30 seconds or more to start up, and I have to give it a few minutes to notice the live recording for live-ish TV) and not so great video quality, which, to be fair, is partly CrApple's fault (lightning to HDMI, google it's epic shortcomings), coupled with Amazon disabling HDMI out on Prime videos with the iPad, are why I will be returning it tomorrow and getting a Slingbox.

I will be streaming to my Nexus 10 instead.and using Boat and Flash to watch Prime videos, and the sling player for android.

It would have been nice if they actually had a Nomad app for Android, but it's clearly vaporware, and given the subpar-at-bests implementation on the iPad, it's probably irrelevant anyway.


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## goinsleeper

Don't know if it helps at this point but, you could always look into grabbing an owned D10, D11 or H21. If you have an HR20 and are looking to upgrade it, you could put it on the deck. The HR20 is no longer recoverable by D* so you could turn it off whenever you want and you won't be required to send it back.


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## ProfLonghair

goinsleeper said:


> Don't know if it helps at this point but, you could always look into grabbing an owned D10, D11 or H21. If you have an HR20 and are looking to upgrade it, you could put it on the deck. The HR20 is no longer recoverable by D* so you could turn it off whenever you want and you won't be required to send it back.


Streaming to a new nsz-gs7, not my Nexus, and it's great so far.

Interesting about the HR20, I have two that I'd like to eventually get around to upgrading, but didn't want to lose what I had on them. Not having to send back makes that a bit easier.


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## mis3

ProfLonghair said:


> It would have been nice if they actually had a Nomad app for Android, but it's clearly vaporware, and given the subpar-at-bests implementation on the iPad, it's probably irrelevant anyway.


I assume you saw that the Nomad app has just come out for Android?


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## ProfLonghair

mis3 said:


> I assume you saw that the Nomad app has just come out for Android?


The one that doesn't work on rooted devices, so I had to fool it I had to temporarily unroot, and it still looked stuttery and mid quality at best? To say I'm disappointed that in a year, that was the best they could do, is putting it nicely.

I admit, I don't exactly come around here as much, but when exactly did DirecTV fall so far behind in tech? I don't want to rant or anything, but literally the only thing keeping me with them now is Sunday Ticket.


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