Please point me to documentation where "Comcast openly welcomes (non-resident) family use". I would love to not be paying Fubo a large monthly fee.
No idea where they say that exactly..I had seen it at one point but did not save it. They have instructions on their site somewhere to create sub family accounts....I am not going to take the time to go find for you.
I and others were told this via the phone with them. I was even walked through how to set up the sub account. U can use the search on here and maybe find the posts by others about that. I recall some user being told so via email from Comcast. Either way, search the forms here. Either way that is more a comcast topic than a channels topic. Maybe ask on their customer forms for that documentations. But I do specifically recall seeing them says they " are more than welcome to create sub account for friends family and kids to use for streaming out of home ".
Either way, u are using legal comcast credentials to login to network sites to stream from them, not xfinity. U can leagaly do so for any of those networks in or out of home...like abc, etc...makes no difference if I are using channels or going direct to networks website to stream
I think its fair to say, leave it up to the user to decide how they want to interpret terms of use, family plans, etc. It doesn't have anything to do with the solution or the justification to charge a subscription fee.
Every time I try and talk about Channels DVR on reddit, the crazy moderators on the cord cutting sub want to shut it down because they claim there is some way that someone can possibly violate a TOS with it. I rebut that you can violate a TOS with any technology to deaf ears. They have things like Plex in their cord cutting guide, but somehow Channels is a problem??? Seriously.
I'd love it if we can stay out of that stuff here and just discuss the products. How people use them is up to them.
I have posted and argued about it before in another thread. I was told directly by comcast it's fine. Others also on here same thing.
On what someone's else opinion on how one use a family members cable login info for tve and how it's is " wrong" against some tos, or not really paying for it...does not concern me. It's none of their business how I pay for things in the end.
But for me...being the only techy person in the family...I have and currently pay way more to them than needed in time and resources to my folks just for tech support and such. Also, all thier computers, networking things, all bought and setup by myself. They have no problem of me using my own sub account to stream certain networks that I can not get via philo..just as long as I help them when they call " it won't print" or " I can't find my Google".....any one in my position knows Exactly what I mean....there is no amount of $ that can truly pay for being the tech person in a tech illerate family.
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You are 100% right that it is none of our business how you get your TV feed. However, you should be honest with yourself and others when you talk about it, by only posting 100% accurate information.
At your suggestion, I did search the Internet for a statement from Comcast. Here is what I found:
See: https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/adding-new-user-names-or-email-addresses
If people have accurate information, they are free to make their own informed decisions.
I must admit that I am tempted to save $73/month by doing what you are doing.
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Yes, everyone needs to make their own decision, but I think it has a great deal to do with subscription fees. You choose to pay the subscription fee because, in your mind, it is worth it compared to the cost of other options. Getting services through your own account or someone else's can be a big factor in the economic equation.
Well like I said me and others here have been told via phone email chat..etc that they welcome out of home use. obviously you're not going to be living in the same premises with friends and all your family members. If it bothers you so much then don't do it simple as that. maybe the support reps from Comcast have no idea what they're talking about or just reading from a script. but either way nobody really cares. there are many people here that use family members Xfinity or other cable TV accounts for TVE. If you feel like you're more politically correct or something by finding documentation then good for you.
also not entirely sure if that specific link is particularly valid for Xfinity stream and TVE use there's specifically designed for out-of-home streaming use and our advertised as such. I do not believe they have direct documentation that states the terms of service for TVE use. Like I said you can use your own credentials from to log into network sites I know those sites support that so maybe there's documentation stipulating terms for that use not their Xfinity x1 service.
and technically speaking you could argue that since you are not actually connecting to their streaming services and streaming from Xfinity you are directly connecting to each individual's networks using valid credentials that their term of you must be on the premises doesn't really apply. I'm not sharing their root account I have my own sub account that I can access remotely for email and other services.
Anyway..this all beside the point and getting off topic . channels DVR makes no stipulation whether or not you can use TVE one way or another. I'm tired of discussing or arguing this pointless discussion... It always degrades into which person's opinion is correct.
The question that's in the OP about channels offering a animal subscription has been answered multiple times The answer is no they're not going to offer one.
Mods please lock this thread.
Can't speak for Plex because I actually hate the way the program works is designed and won't use it
But Emby support is absolutely excellent and probably one of the best software supports I've gotten. Certainly on par with channels DVR support, in my experience. I've had multiple direct back-to-back communications with a couple of the developers of Emby on their forms. Send them diagnostics logs and had direct support for issues I've had in the past. They respond quite fast. I've been using their program for several years.
Emby has only Basic passes that is why I use it mostly for Remote Viewing and Movie Viewing ... They do not Support Actor Recording Genre Recording etc ... I am a lifetime member of Emby and the DVR functionality is very limited. I like the DVR to do the work for me, Set it and forget it.
I use EMBY for remote viewing and not Channels because I can control the bandwidth.
Well...Emby was Media Browser before it was Emby. That's how I started using it.
Emby is a very good local media server for tv shows movies...they added in live tv/DVR ability some time in the development process. I never used passes or series record with it. But it's search is far better than Channels since it searches the show content description and episode name not just title of show. I currently use Emby for iptv use and use that to search the Guide for shows etc instead of Channels.
Kodi...I have tried to use but it is just trash to me. Over complicated and needs too much work and configure to be functional,imo.
With Covid pushing back shows and not actually knowing what new shows were going to be aired .. I needed an advance pass to record new shows during Prime Time without having to search everyday .. I accomplished this with Channels DVR.
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The cost of the subscription is easily justified either way, so that's why I suggested not bring something like that into this. I think that for most people its going to save money in the long run, but if it doesn't then they probably shouldn't spend their money on it.
For those that do have multiple users sharing a service that caps the number of screens, then Channels DVR will give you additional value right there and avoid buying cable boxes and such.
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Iām ok with the recurring Annual Channels Plus, but I do wish a Lifetime plan option were available. I donāt think itās in the cards and thought they posted about this previously, but I wish the team might consider the Proton team raffle and auction for top-tier āLifetimeā membership. For the first time this year, raffle tickets were sold for $10 each. During the promotion, all proceeds go to meaningful not-for-profits like EFF and others; they even had users suggest not-for-profits they should consider. They raised $300K last year, and I think Channels could do a great thing each year that also drives further engagement with its loyal users. @tmm1
I would rather see a price garentee. Knowing that you will be grandfathered into a certain price for being an early supporter of a product would eliminate the anxiety of dealing with the constant price increase of content providers. Just my thoughts.
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Locked in pricing is not a bad idea. Although in my opinion, which really doesn't matter for anything, channels is still undervalued. I would've been happy if they wouldn't have given us a discount for paying for a year. It's a great product with excellent support. Hard to find those 2 things together in today's day.
I also agree the current price is more then reasonable. Which is why I worry about future increases. It is a young product in development and improving by leaps and bounds. It would not be the first product to go from more then reasonable to you've got to be kidding.
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If you want development to continue, you need to pay a subscription fee. The lifetime service options aren't a viable business model. I have two lifetime Tivos that are in the shed because the developers stopped caring about those whom they no longer received money from. Every piece of software these days is based on an annual subsciption service, Office, Adobe, Salesforce, etc. What you're really saying is you don't want to pay what the software is worth and they should continue to support it for life without receiving pay for it. The business model doesn't work.
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Are you saying you canāt buy Office without subscription?
When you buy subscription, you are paying for a bunch of services along with office itself. You are also getting a free upgrade to the next major version. But you can buy Office as an application that will continue to function for years to come for a one-time lifelong license fee, and MS will provide bug and security fixes for years.
Frankly, all I want from Channels Plus is the ability to aggregate SlingTV with OTA (that utilizes HDHR) and the ability to record onto my own hardware. I personally donāt care about any other additional services that are part of Channels Plus.
Channels is SAAS, plain and simple. I too bought the expensive apps right before they made them free and that was frustrating for me, but I like the product. I know I'm paying for continued development and new features, plus guide data which they pass on to the provider. As soon as they stop improving and developing, I'll cancel. They know that and will stay competitive because of it. I literally don't have any software on my PC that is not a subscription model, that's just the business model these days. The developers have to continue to be employed or the product dies. Tivo, Plex, etc.
"Frankly, all I want from Channels Plus is the ability to aggregate SlingTV with OTA (that utilizes HDHR) and the ability to record onto my own hardware"
There is nothing else on the market that does this because it's complex and APIs and hardware are constantly changing. Frankly, they are charging that because they can and you are still paying. If you walk with your wallet, they might start paying attention.
Iāve had the opposite experience.Iāve had Lifetime OTA TiVos since the Series 1 in 1999. My S1 is long gone, but I still have (and occasionally use) a Series 2 Humax DVD TiVo. I use it to transfer home movie VHS tapes to MP4 files for my Plex server. I have two Lifetime Premieres, one of which is has been semi-retired and is āin the boxā as a backup for the other one, which is in daily use. My main DVR is a Lifetime TiVo Roamio which is also in daily use. The lifetime subscription on all of these paid off years and years ago. I paid for a lifetime Plex Pass years ago too when they were offering it at some good deal like $70. I have Channels running on an old 2009 iMac that is also my Plex server. I donāt mind the $80/year because the commercial skip on the Channels DVR is the best Iāve experienced...Iād say it skips correctly about 90% of the time. I appreciate that it skips automatically and I donāt even have to reach for the remote to hit the green āskipā button (like TiVo) and that it is present on every recording (unlike TiVo). I also appreciate that Channels will let me record, and skip commercials automatically, from either streaming channels (Sling, YouTubeTV, Philo, AT&T TV Now) or from my OTA HDHR Extend.
I have Channels in place and running in anticipation of someday having to retire my TiVos. Iād gladly pay a lifetime fee for Channels if they would offer it, but for now, I just consider the $80 as a ācommercial skipā fee that Iām grateful for.
So in my case, all my Lifetime subs have paid back many times over because Iāve been in it for the long haul. Everyoneās situation is different and everyone has to decide which is the wisest course for their own situation. In the meantime, I appreciate Channels for its continued development, its stability, its ease of use. Channels is everything that TiVo could have been if TiVo would have kept their original vision.