OT: Center Ice / game center live / nhl.tv

[BrookswasHere44]

Before I get started can I engage in a conversation about these options here? I know a thread is available on main board but you guys are my boys/and or girls

Click to read more...

 

[Night Shift]

NHL TV is nice other than the fact that it blacks out local teams. Me for example, I'm blacked out Pitt, Philly, and NYR. My cable company carries Root and CSN philly so I'm really only blacked out Rangers.

It becomes annoying if I'd prefer to watch a NYR vs CLB over say Carolina vs Buffalo. I called them once to tell them that I don't get MSG but I guess it doesn't matter if I'm in their blackout zone. So ranger fans in my area that cannot get direct TV for some reason are screwd

Hopefully this will change in the future when cable companies stream their content.

 

[BrookswasHere44]

I currently have center ice (in Florida) and I LOVE IT! I'll be cancelling my cable and losing the center ice. I'm looking for the consensus for the best most reliable replacement.

Are nhl.TV games in HD? Does anyone like something better than nhl.tv. Am I correct in my thinking that living in Florida the only games I'll be blacked out on are nbcsn, nhlnet and games against the lightning?

Thanks!

 

[Night Shift]

I currently have center ice (in Florida) and I LOVE IT! I'll be cancelling my cable and losing the center ice. I'm looking for the consensus for the best most reliable replacement.

Are nhl.TV games in HD? Does anyone like something better than nhl.tv. Am I correct in my thinking that living in Florida the only games I'll be blacked out on are nbcsn, nhlnet and games against the lightning?

Thanks!

To stream 4k or HD on your TV you need at least 25 Mbps or more on your internet. Chromcast new gen (4k quality) or apple TV works great. If you want to stream nhl network and nbcsn you'll want direct TV now or sling TV. Direct TV now I know the go big package is the one you need. The only down side is no local channels as of yet (depends where you live actually) so a game on local NBC you won't get.

Also based on my experience I know if I canceled my cable to stream only, I'd lose penguins games. Ill only get to see them if they played on nbcsn on direct TV now

 

[Sideline]

I pay 220 a month for unlimited 100 Mbps internet and cable TV with all the sports and HBO. I know it's nuts, but I don't like messing with unreliable streams or blackouts.

 

[BrookswasHere44]

nhl.tv has archived games right? How soon after a game ends is it available to watch?

Sling tv and direct tv both are monthly cable services correct? I'm getting rid of my cable to save money and time. I'm looking into nhl.tv so I can still watch penguins, I mean I'm not insane haha

I'm currently with the other poster paying over $200/month.

 

[Night Shift]

nhl.tv has archived games right? How soon after a game ends is it available to watch?

Since you live near TB you won't be able to watch a lightning archived game for 48 hours. Every other team you'll be able to watch it after the game ends

 

[BrookswasHere44]

Since you live near TB you won't be able to watch a lightning archived game for 48 hours. Every other team you'll be able to watch it after the game ends

Thanks!

Also does nhl.tv have playoff games or does service end by then?

 

[Corvidae]

I really like NHL.tv these days. I bought a VPN service (Private Internet Access) to avoid local and national blackouts. You can set those up for free but since I only get 30 Mbps (on a good day), I didn't want something with too much of a drop.

 

[Night Shift]

I really like NHL.tv these days. I bought a VPN service (Private Internet Access) to avoid local and national blackouts. You can set those up for free but since I only get 30 Mbps (on a good day), I didn't want something with too much of a drop.

I thought nhl TV made using vpn extremely hard to do because they ban hammer your account if they catch you. Don't they use a GPS to find your location or can they tell when your using a VPN somehow?

 

[BrookswasHere44]

I really like NHL.tv these days. I bought a VPN service (Private Internet Access) to avoid local and national blackouts. You can set those up for free but since I only get 30 Mbps (on a good day), I didn't want something with too much of a drop.

Wouldn't the VPN need to be a foreign one? Not that that's really an issue just curious because aren't all the national blackouts...well national so it doesn't matter your region?

Never thought of the VPN idea but I like it

 

[Shady Machine]

I really like NHL.tv these days. I bought a VPN service (Private Internet Access) to avoid local and national blackouts. You can set those up for free but since I only get 30 Mbps (on a good day), I didn't want something with too much of a drop.

Really? I had PIA for my vpn service and it worked well with Game Center but as soon as NHL.tv took over, my vpn stopped working. I tried asking PIA what happened and they wouldn't help me so I cancelled both.

 

[Clare2904]

For anyone reading in Canada I use the Centre Ice package from Bell along with subscription to TSN and Sportsnet. This gives me access to every NHL game. In total (along with unlimited internet, phone, movies and other kak) my bill is $225 per month. A little steep but worth it to get every game out there

 

[SUBdrewgANS]

I have NHL.tv and a cheap VPN, so I don't have to deal with blackouts. Even for nationally televised games.

 

[SUBdrewgANS]

I currently have center ice (in Florida) and I LOVE IT! I'll be cancelling my cable and losing the center ice. I'm looking for the consensus for the best most reliable replacement.

Are nhl.TV games in HD? Does anyone like something better than nhl.tv. Am I correct in my thinking that living in Florida the only games I'll be blacked out on are nbcsn, nhlnet and games against the lightning?

Thanks!

All playoff games are blacked out.

 

[Shady Machine]

I have NHL.tv and a cheap VPN, so I don't have to deal with blackouts. Even for nationally televised games.

What VPN and where do you access your VPN (Phone, computer, etc)? As I said above, I had Private Internet Access for vpn and it worked great with gamecenter live both on my laptop and iphone. I have a google chromecast that I would stream the game to my tv. Then last year around the all star game, NHL.tv launched or upgraded and my vpn stopped working. I read others were having issues with vpn's working with NHL.tv. I talked to the PIA people but they wouldn't help me since it was regarding blackouts (which is weird since their website basically promotes getting around blackouts). Anyway, I cancelled both for this year as I was wasting money.

The whole situation is frustrating for me since I shouldn't even need a VPN to watch Pens games. I live in Cleveland, which is outside of Root Sports local market, but the NHL still has Cleveland as a local Pittsburgh market. So the NHL blacks out the games but Root won't let me get their channel because cable companies won't carry it.

 

[pistolpete11]

I have and love NHL.tv, but I also pay for PlayStation Vue so that I can get NBCSN (which will come in handy for the playoffs). PlayStation Vue is an extra $30/month. Maybe a little steep if all you want is hockey games, but I watch a few other channels as well, so it’s a good compromise between paying $100+ for cable and cutting the cord all together. I don’t get NHL Network (yet), but I think you can get it on SlingTV which starts at $25/month if you get the sports package.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

I had Centre Ice for 9 years and loved it however due to $ being tight I had to make due with Game Centre Live this year through my PS3.

I ****ing hate it. I can watch 99% of games but the games either freeze constantly, are lagging, or it hiccups and shows the same play twice. Or, it'll lock up my PS3 completely to the point where I need to reset it and turn the Game Centre thingie back on to keep watching the game. And I do have good internet as I'm getting Game Centre Live free from Rogers because of what I pay monthly for my Internet IIRC.

Which is good because I would never pay for this POS service. Next season I hope to have my Centre Ice again.

 

[SUBdrewgANS]

What VPN and where do you access your VPN (Phone, computer, etc)? As I said above, I had Private Internet Access for vpn and it worked great with gamecenter live both on my laptop and iphone. I have a google chromecast that I would stream the game to my tv. Then last year around the all star game, NHL.tv launched or upgraded and my vpn stopped working. I read others were having issues with vpn's working with NHL.tv. I talked to the PIA people but they wouldn't help me since it was regarding blackouts (which is weird since their website basically promotes getting around blackouts). Anyway, I cancelled both for this year as I was wasting money.

The whole situation is frustrating for me since I shouldn't even need a VPN to watch Pens games. I live in Cleveland, which is outside of Root Sports local market, but the NHL still has Cleveland as a local Pittsburgh market. So the NHL blacks out the games but Root won't let me get their channel because cable companies won't carry it.

I use unblock.us and set my location to Germany.. I've never had any issues. When I face blackout issues I will watch it on my laptop. When blackouts aren't an issue I watch it on my xbox. I used my VPN all through the playoffs last year as well.

 

[BrookswasHere44]

All playoff games are blacked out.

That's what I figured. So what would my options for the playoffs be? VPN? or sling/vue? or have cable service? Am I missing any other options?

 

[Shady Machine]

I use unblock.us and set my location to Germany.. I've never had any issues. When I face blackout issues I will watch it on my laptop. When blackouts aren't an issue I watch it on my xbox. I used my VPN all through the playoffs last year as well.

Interesting. Thanks!

 

[pistolpete11]

That's what I figured. So what would my options for the playoffs be? VPN? or sling/vue? or have cable service? Am I missing any other options?

You could also find someone who has cable and would let you hook up a SlingBox to their cable box. The downsides are you have to know someone with cable willing to let you do it and you can't watch different channels at the same time. The benefit is that it is a 1-time purchase. Unless you know someone who is as big of a hockey fan as you, it's probably not the best option, though.

Edit: Also, I don't think Apple TV, Roku, PlayStation, etc. have apps for SlingBox. You can only stream it to a computer. You could always get an HDMI hookup for your laptop, but it's another hassle.

 

[Tweed]

What is the difference between GCL and NHL.tv?

 

[Clare2904]

What is the difference between GCL and NHL.tv?

GCL is what we have in Canada, run by Rogers and by all accounts utter ****ing bollocks. I cannot get NHL.tv, that is for the US only. It is also a streaming service only, not a channel on your tv. For that (here in Canada) you need NHL Centre Ice (which rocks)

 

[Tweed]

GCL is what we have in Canada, run by Rogers and by all accounts utter ****ing bollocks. I cannot get NHL.tv, that is for the US only. It is also a streaming service only, not a channel on your tv. For that (here in Canada) you need NHL Centre Ice (which rocks)

Oh okay, thanks, I wondered.

I've got GCL. I was 15+ years of CI with Rogers, and then made the switch to GCL last year. I'm now on year 2 of GCL. I'm really happy with it. I love being able to watch whatever game I want, whenever I want, on any type of device I want.

I have a couple minor complaints, but all said and told, I find the service steadily improving since installation early last year.