# A Little Assistance Please...



## aeneas1 (Dec 9, 2015)

- directv online service: if i understand it correctly, you must have a directv dish/box installed in order to be eligible to use directv's online service, and only 2 online connections (max) to directv online can be made at the same time, but these 2 connections must view the same content, the 2 connections can't view different content. is this correct?

- are there any u.s. satellite services that offer online subscriptions not requiring a physical installation of a dish/box?

- are there any cable services that offer online subscriptions not requiring a physical location installation?

- i want to receive local programming, local stations and sports, online, without the need of installing hardware at a physical location, is this possible? also, fwiw, i live in the boonies where ota is not available.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

As of now there is not one stop shop for what you seek. You will need different apps/websites and pay a la carte per channel and/or bundle 


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## aeneas1 (Dec 9, 2015)

peds48 said:


> As of now there is not one stop shop for what you seek. You will need different apps/websites and pay a la carte per channel and/or bundle
> 
> Sent from my iPad Pro using Tapatalk


thanks for your response... just got off the phone with dish and it seems their "anywhere" serivce is simply a sling setup, which i'm not interested in, as opposed to an online streaming service... to tell you the truth, i haven't visited this topic in about 5+ years, but it doesn't appear things have changed much, other than players like amazon, hulu, netflix, offering more online streaming content...

re needing different apps/websites/a la carte payments, vs one-stop shopping, i'm fine with that, i just can't seem to find a way to stream what i want online, i.e. local channels and sports... would be happy to pay a premium, but short of directv it doesn't look like i can get there....


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

Dish does have the SlingTV service that requires no dish installed at your house. DirecTV has no such service at the moment. You can get CBS streaming for a monthly fee, baseball can be subscribed without a cable subscription, not sure about NFL or basketball 


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## lparsons21 (Mar 4, 2006)

Note that SlingTV is just the name of their Internet streaming service, doesn't really have a thing to do with Sling.
A Dish installation would get you access to Dish Anywhere which is accessed via the web and gives you almost every channel that is in the package you subscribe to, including your locals I think.
Local channel access via the Internet is one of the two big problems as there is no general way to do it. Live sports, or even good sports, is the other big problem. You can get the shows from the local broadcast channels but generally not the shows that are locally produced, like the news and such.


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## aeneas1 (Dec 9, 2015)

peds48 said:


> Dish does have the SlingTV service that requires no dish installed at your house. DirecTV has no such service at the moment. You can get CBS streaming for a monthly fee, baseball can be subscribed without a cable subscription, not sure about NFL or basketball
> 
> Sent from my iPad Pro using Tapatalk


interesting, the dish network rep i spoke with this morning said a dish (actual sat dish) installation is absolutely required for their "anywhere" service... also, seems that directv does have an online "live tv" streaming service for both network stations and movies but, again, a physical dish install is required...



> Note that SlingTV is just the name of their Internet streaming service, doesn't really have a thing to do with Sling. A Dish installation would get you access to Dish Anywhere which is accessed via the web and gives you almost every channel that is in the package you subscribe to, including your locals I think.
> 
> Local channel access via the Internet is one of the two big problems as there is no general way to do it. Live sports, or even good sports, is the other big problem. You can get the shows from the local broadcast channels but generally not the shows that are locally produced, like the news and such.


gotcha, the way the dish rep explained their "slingtv" service, and how it works, it struck me as identical to sling, so i just assumed... do you have any experience with dish anywhere? i actually came across someone using directv's web service yesterday, they were on their ipad streaming an nba game (from a local station included in their package), the game appeared to stream absolutely perfectly with solid resolution (granted, it was being streamed on a small screen), which is why i thought i would revisit this topic again, to see what options are now available, vs standard cable/sat hookups...


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## mdavej (Jan 31, 2007)

SlingTV has absolutely nothing in common with Sling(box). It consists of a small number of channels streamed from the internet, similar to how Netflix works. It doesn't require any Dish services or hardware at all.

Dish Anywhere is another name for Dish's implementation of Slingbox technology. You use a web browser in a remote location to stream audio/video over the internet from your Dish DVR located in your home. This most certainly requires Dish service, a Dish DVR and a receiving dish. It also requires fast internet service on both ends. It is designed to enable you to watch your DVR when you are away from home. It doesn't not negate the need for a DVR or replace your DVR.

If you have internet service and want to avoid getting full blown satellite service, SlingTV or some similar streaming package from your cable TV service, like Charter's "Spectrum TV Stream" should work fine. Dish Anywhere is not what you're looking for.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

aeneas1 said:


> interesting, the dish network rep i spoke with this morning said a dish (actual sat dish) installation is absolutely required for their "anywhere" service... also, seems that directv does have an online "live tv" streaming service for both network stations and movies but, again, a physical dish install is required...


If you were talking to a DISH Network representative, they will know and discuss the satellite service. The satellite service requires dish and equipment installation. The satellite service anywhere feature has some content online but also can "sling" content from a Hopper w/sling or old Hopper with a sling adapter.

For the entirely separate "SlingTV" you need to speak to one of the SlingTV reps or visit the SlingTV website.
https://www.sling.com/is the SlingTV (not DISH Network) website.

Talking to DISH representatives about SlingTV is about as useful as asking someone at Arbys about the Wendy's menu and prices. Sure, the companies are owned by the same corporation - but they are separate.


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## aeneas1 (Dec 9, 2015)

mdavej said:


> SlingTV has absolutely nothing in common with Sling(box). It consists of a small number of channels streamed from the internet, similar to how Netflix works. It doesn't require any Dish services or hardware at all.
> 
> Dish Anywhere is another name for Dish's implementation of Slingbox technology. You use a web browser in a remote location to stream audio/video over the internet from your Dish DVR located in your home. This most certainly requires Dish service, a Dish DVR and a receiving dish. It also requires fast internet service on both ends. It is designed to enable you to watch your DVR when you are away from home. It doesn't not negate the need for a DVR or replace your DVR.
> 
> If you have internet service and want to avoid getting full blown satellite service, SlingTV or some similar streaming package from your cable TV service, like Charter's "Spectrum TV Stream" should work fine. Dish Anywhere is not what you're looking for.


thanks for the explanation however i guess i wasn't clear... altho dish's slingtv doesn't require a dish to be installed in order to function, just like directv's online "start watching" web service doesn't require a dish to be installed in order to function (for example, if you sign up for directv you can immediately start streaming your package online, i.e. prior to the physical installation), both companies require that you have their dish physically installed in order to be eligible for their web streaming services, at least that is what i was told, i.e. neither company allows you to subscribe to their web streaming service without a dish installation... i guess if someone was completely adverse to having a dish installed at their location, they could simply take it down after the install and continue to use the web service....

anyway, decided to just go ahead and bite the bullet and sign up for directv, apparently the rep i "chatted" with online had different info than the live directv rep i spoke with... as it turns out you can have up to 5 simultaneous internet connections to their web service not just 2 as the chat rep said, and the different connections can be used to watch different shows, again unlike what the chat rep told me which was the same show must be viewed...

all in all i'm ok with the pricing, $54 for the first year and a "small" $37 increase the second year, ha ha, told the rep that no one on the planet would consider a 70% increase in price "small", so it works out to about $73 a month for 2 years, which is less than what i've been paying my local mom & pop cable company, a company that offers far fewer channels and far fewer hd channels, for a higher price, than what i will now be getting from directv.. and of course my local mom & pop cable co. doesn't offer an online service, moreover they require an extra charge for each additional tv/box in the house... with directv my kids can stream the online service online from college while my wife and i enjoy it at home... also, got the nfl sunday ticket free for the remainder of this year and free for next year as well plus a credit card with a $200 credit on it... sometimes you just have to take the path of least resistance...


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## mdavej (Jan 31, 2007)

Glad you found a solution in DirecTV. But your understanding of SlingTV is still completely wrong. It is a completely different service and not at all dependent on any Dish equipment or services in any way. I don't have anything remotely related to Dish, yet I could sign up for SlingTV right now and start watching it on my Roku immediately, in the same way that I could sign up for Netflix and watch immediately.

DirecTV also charges for every box in your house, same as your cable company did.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

And also DirecTV's Walk Out Watching service is only good for a few days. After that time if you haven't been installed the service will just stopped, if you have been installed then the app needs to see an HDDVR connected to the Internet to enable In Home Channels. Without an HDDVR connected to the internet you would only be able to watch out of home channels. Also, very important, you would not be able to stream every single channel you subscribe to and some channels you will have to watch via the networks app as not all channels are in the DirecTV app. Also, local channels streaming is very limited, IIRC there is only one channel.


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## aeneas1 (Dec 9, 2015)

> Glad you found a solution in DirecTV. But your understanding of SlingTV is still completely wrong. It is a completely different service and not at all dependent on any Dish equipment or services in any way. I don't have anything remotely related to Dish, yet I could sign up for SlingTV right now and start watching it on my Roku immediately, in the same way that I could sign up for Netflix and watch immediately.


yes, i meant to write "sling", as i did in my first couple of posts, not "slingtv", which i worte in my last post, the prior (sling) being required by dish's streaming service, as part of the equipment installation, the latter being the separate company that offers it's own subscription-based content...

re diectv, what a circus it has become... after signing up i tried to stream but couldn't, called directv and they said it was because my cookies were disabled, which they weren't, next call i was told it was because they were updating their streaming service, it would be ready shortly... after a few more hours and still unable to stream, i was told it was because my sales rep incorrectly sold me the hd receiver and that i needed at least the dvr model, for $15 more a month, or preferably the genie model, in order to stream online... when i asked why, i was told it was because the dvr models "sent out stronger internet signals which would allow me to stream away from my home, while the hd receiver only had an internet signal strong enough to just cover the house and yard area..." as an example the supe said the dvr models would allow me receive an internet signal from the west coast to possibly new york, and the genie definitely would, because their signals were so strong....i kid you not, and this from the supervisor on duty!!!! oh my..

when i told him that what he said made absolutely no sense, he said that's what he was told but would connect me to tech support for further clarification... tech support simply laughed when i told him what the supe had said, apologized, and said the hd receiver was all i needed, and reconnected me with the supe who, in the interim, had cancelled my order in order to re-do it with the dvr (genie) receiver instead (apparently you have to start from scratch as opposed to simply swapping out the equipment in the system).... i told him that the tech guy said that the hd receiver was all i needed to stream, the supe said that made sense, and proceeded to cancel the second order which he had just set up and began to set up yet another new order, one with my original equipment and package.... i told him to forget it, that i needed time to rethink my options, and to just cancel the second agreement he had put together.... and folks complain about companies that outsource sales and tech support, directv is in the u.s....



> And also DirecTV's Walk Out Watching service is only good for a few days. After that time if you haven't been installed the service will just stopped, if you have been installed then the app needs to see an HDDVR connected to the Internet to enable In Home Channels. Without an HDDVR connected to the internet you would only be able to watch out of home channels. Also, very important, you would not be able to stream every single channel you subscribe to and some channels you will have to watch via the networks app as not all channels are in the DirecTV app. Also, local channels streaming is very limited, IIRC there is only one channel.


to be clear tho, a directv's hd receiver works the same way, no? i mean it doesn;t have to be a directv dvr does it? not unless you also intend to watch your recorded programming away from home, right? re what i will and will not be able to stream, it's becomming clear that their online streaming service isn't going to come close to what i was hoping for, due to most of the reasons you mentioned, especially for out of home streaming, alas.... i was actually, finally, able to log-on and stream, before the supe switched me to the dvr, apparently their online service was just down, and i wasn't particularly impressed with the offering...

consequently i'm now leaning towards a slingbox (not slingtv, not dish's sling add-on!!! ) for my needs but have no experience with them.... do you happen to know if they work very well, for hd streaming, assuming a fast internet connection? they seem simple enough from what i can tell, they just intercept the signal from the sat or cable box and relay it to the web (and your tv), but is the connection and stream quality reliable? also, does the tv dictate what can be seen remotely, or can two different stations be watched simultaneously? thanks again for your input and assistance....


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## mdavej (Jan 31, 2007)

Sling is for you watching your box away from home, not for sharing. Problem is you have to watch the same thing the remote user is watching. And they control your box. So it really only works for one person. And your internet upload rate has to be pretty high. Most ISPs aren't adequate. 

Are you sure your cable co has no streaming? Have you gone to any of the network sites and tried to log in?


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

aeneas1 said:


> to be clear tho, a directv's hd receiver works the same way, no? i mean it doesn;t have to be a directv dvr does it? not unless you also intend to watch your recorded programming away from home, right? re what i will and will not be able to stream, it's becomming clear that their online streaming service isn't going to come close to what i was hoping for, due to most of the reasons you mentioned, especially for out of home streaming, alas.... i was actually, finally, able to log-on and stream, before the supe switched me to the dvr, apparently their online service was just down, and i wasn't particularly impressed with the offering...


some networks can only be watched in home, for those you must have an HDDVR connected to the Internet. The list is below

AMC (Ch.254)
Animal Planet (Ch.282)
Bravo (Ch.237)
CNBC (Ch.355)
Crime & Investigation (Ch.571)
Destination America (Ch.286)
Discovery Channel (Ch.278)
E! (Ch.236)
Esquire (Ch.235)
Golf Channel (Ch.218)
IFC (Ch.564)
Investigation Discovery (Ch.285)
ION East (Ch.305)
MGM (Ch.567)
MLB Network (Ch.213)
MSNBC (Ch.356)
NBC Sports (Ch.220)
NBC Universo (Ch.410)
NFL Network (Ch.212)
NHL Network (Ch.215)
Ovation (Ch.274)
Oxygen (Ch.251)
Science Channel (Ch.284)
Sprout (Ch.295)
SundanceTV (Ch.557)
SyFy (Ch.244)
TLC (Ch.280)
Universal (Ch.569)
USA (Ch.242)
Velocity (Ch.281)
WE tv (Ch.260)

Other channels can be stream OOH but DVR services on yoru account is required. The list is below

5 Star Max (Ch.520)
A&E (Ch.265)
Action Max (Ch.519)
Al Jazeera (Ch.347)
Audience Network (Ch.239)
axsTV (formerly HDNet) (Ch.340)
BBC America (Ch.264)
BBC World News (Ch.346)
beIN SPORTS HD (Ch.620)
beIN SPORTS Espanol HD (Ch.426)
BET HD (Ch.329)
Big Ten Network (Ch.610)
Bloomberg HD (Ch.353)
Cartoon Network HD(Ch.296)
Cinemax HD East (Ch.515)
CMT HD (Ch.327)
CNN HD (Ch.202)
Comedy Central HD (Ch.249)
Cooking Channel HD (Ch.232)
DIY Network HD (Ch.230)
Encore Action (Ch.541)
Encore HD East (Ch.535)
ESPN HD (Ch.206)
ESPN2 HD (Ch.209)
ESPN Deportes (Ch.432)
ESPN News HD (Ch.207)
ESPNU HD (Ch.208)
Food Network (Ch.231)
Fox Business (Ch.359)
Fox Deportes (Ch.425)
Fox News (Ch.360)
Fox Sports 1 (Ch.219)
Fox Sports 2 (Ch.618)
Fuse (Ch.339)
FX (Ch.248)
FXX (Ch.259)
FYI (Ch.266)
Galavision (Ch.404)
H2 (Ch.271)
Hallmark (Ch.312)
Hallmark Movies & Mysteries (Ch.565)
HBO Comedy East (Ch.506)
HBO East (Ch.501)
HBO Family East (Ch.507)
HBO Latino East (Ch.511)
HBO Signature East (Ch.503)
HBO West (Ch.504)
HBO Zone (Ch.509)
HBO2 East (Ch.502)
HBO2 West (Ch.505)
HDNet Movie (Ch.566)
HGTV (Ch.229)
History (Ch.269)
HLN HD (Ch.204)
Lifetime (Ch.252)
Lifetime Movie Network (Ch253)
Longhorn (Ch.667)*
Max Latino (Ch.523)
Max West (Ch.516)
MegaTV (Ch.405)
More Max (Ch.517)
Movie Max (Ch.515)
MTV HD (Ch.331)
MTV2 HD (Ch.333)
Nat Geographic (Ch.276)
Nat Geo Wild (Ch.283)
NBA.TV (Ch.216)
NBC (Ch.4)**
Nick Jr. (Ch.301)
Nickelodeon East HD (Ch.299)
OWN (Ch.279)
Palladia (Ch.572)
QVC (Ch.275)
Reelz (Ch.238)
SEC Network (Ch.611)
Shorts (Ch.573)
Showtime 2 (Ch.547)
Showtime Beyond (Ch.550)
Showtime Extreme (Ch.549)
Showtime HD (Ch.545)
Showtime Next (Ch.551)
Showtime Showcase (Ch.548)
Showtime West (Ch.546)
Showtime Women (Ch.552)
Smithsonian Channel HD (Ch.570)
Sony Movie Channel (Ch.568)
Spike HD (Ch.241)
Starz Cinema (Ch.531)
Starz Comedy (Ch.528)
Starz Edge (Ch.529)
Starz HD East (Ch.525)
Starz In Black (Ch.530)
Starz Kids & Family (Ch.527)
Starz West (Ch.526)
TBS (Ch.247)
TCM HD (Ch.256)
Tennis Channel (Ch.217)
Thriller Max (Ch.522)
TMC HD (Ch.553)
TMC Xtra (Ch.555)
TNT HD (Ch.245)
Travel Channel (Ch.277)
TruTV (Ch.246)
TV Land HD (Ch.304)
TWC Deportes (Ch.458)
TWC SportsNet (Ch.691)
VH1 HD (Ch.335)
Weather Channel (Ch.362)
WeatherNation (Ch.361)
UniMas (Ch.408)
Univision East (Ch.402)
Univision Deportes (Ch.455)

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