Recommended replacement for Spectrum TVE

Channels DVR Server TV Everywhere
#1

Starting off first. My wife and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Channels interface. We would like to use that as a single app for our TV. We currently have Spectrum cloud DVR (sucks) and no Provider-STBs here at the house. AppleTV is our platform of choice for client hardware. The Spectrum app sucks too. And Spectrum TV gold package with DVR is pretty expensive so we are not afraid to spend money if we could get what we want.

I've searched here quite a bit and understand how many providers don't have TVE available for every channel and some providers don't have all the channels I might want. The typical question I see people asking is "what channels do you really want?". I'll try to provide what I can here.

I'm 67 year old. so go easy on me :\ :face_with_head_bandage: I hate the lack of old-fashioned prem based DVR these days. However I don't mind paying for an on-line service. I always buy the BIG package with as many channels as I can get. Had uVerse and liked it. Had Sat-DTV and liked it. Had Xfinity with prem DVR and liked it.

But there are so many options it's confusing.
So I'll try to explain what I'm looking for and I'm sorry if this is not precise enough.
Priorities.

  1. We want pretty much all the channels except the "Premium" like Disney or HBO. We can skip those.
  2. We want to use Channels to watch both live and recorded TV. WE LOVE CHANNELS COMMERCIAL SKIP. That single feature is worth what you charge annually. :slight_smile:
  3. Have I mentioned commercial skip? Maybe that should have been #1
  4. Want a similar channel list as the spectrum top-shelf package.

Have channels setup with 1 source - Spectrum. Today anyway.
Want to dump spectrum and pay someone for a service that will deliver live and let us record on our spectrum server. We must be able to create a pass to have channels record the series we watch and any shows we want to watch later (meaning skipping commercials).
Example: Oak Island airs Tuesday night. We wait until Wednesday and Channels has it there ready for us with auto commercial skip all setup. It's beautiful!

For locals I'd be willing to buy a STB and put up an arial if I have to. Something that would feed into Channels and integrate with the guide.

Bonus would be any NFL or Boxing channels but not a deal breaker
Another bonus would be ability to download PPV or OnDemand shows to watch later.

Am I expecting too much? Go ahead and tell me. I can take it :slight_smile:

Any help for this old schooler would be appreciated. I'm very good at networking and cybersecurity. Not so good at streaming media capabilities or processes.

Thanks in advanced for any advice.

#2

Hi, I'm in a similar situation. My wife and I in our mid 60's and have had Spectrum for a number of years, cable, internet and cell phones. However, the cable cost is getting to be outrageous. It goes up almost every month even though we had negotiated a "deal". This month, our bill went up $27, but they believe we saved $43?

I've looked at most of the other service providers that have TVE and DirecTV Stream seems to be the most comparable. I might give them a 7 day test to see how it works, but it will be hard to get my wife to change. My wife does not want to give up her STB/DVR even though I've have CHDVR set up with 30 time more recording capacity,. I do have several virtual channels set up that have many of her favorite programs that stream full seasons and she does like that.

If I make a change, I'll reply. Please let us know if you find a good alternative.

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#3

Can I use Channels with sources such as Hulu, Fubo, SlingTV, DirectTV Streaming.
Example. Hulu offers both live and on demand content. Can I bring both types into my channels library from Hulu? I don't get how that works really.

#4

Does Xfinity still offer cable cards? If Spectrum near me still supported cable cards, and I was on the old Charter system before it became Spectrum (where everything but the Premium channels were non-DRM), I would pay their crazy bill and not even think twice. Grab a couple used HDHR Primes on Ebay ...

If you thought Channels DVR has been a smooth experience up until now, the cable card experience, when not DRM'd to hell, is as good as it gets.

#5

Streaming services offer TVE support, but not all networks offer TVE stream.

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#6

I would go to suppose.tv to figure what channels I want and what is the cheapest to get it. I mean no human being is watching ALL those channels :smiley:
If you just want everything bar the premiums (and the local channels), then get Sling + Total TV Package (That'll come up to 71 bucks)

Need more TVE channels? Then get Fubo Elite for 90 bucks. You can even pipe in more channels in using the Fubo Bridge

Need Turner channels? Then either sub to MAX (to get most of CNN programming and Turner Sports programming and shows on-demand) and use streamlinks to watch stuff or sub to DTVStream's Ultimate package for 134 bucks.

So theres a few avenues there to think about but I would consider curbing your programming desires if companies are already stretching your wallet thin :grin:
I watch 5 channels at the time and most of them is free so I'm in the clear and I'm not paying too much for stuff

#7

I recommend
Fubo for the Fubo Bridge and EsPN.
FRNDLY for Life style stuff like lifetime etc.
Philo for the rest.

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#8

This is SUPER helpful. suppose.tv sys youtube.TV is the best for my channel list.
Then looking at Channels Support - TV Everywhere Availability it seems much of the channels available through youtube.tv can be used by Channels.

Is anyone using that combination? If yes are there any pros or cons I might not be thinking about?

It's not a small task to completely convert your household to a new TV system.

#9

I’m using YouTube TV’s TVEverywhere with Channels. The one drawback is that NBC Channels (NBC, NBC Sports Philadelphia, SyFy, the Golf Channel, and several others) are encrypted and don’t work with Channels. And Fox doesn’t work in most markets.

For those, I’m using both an antenna with an HD Homerun, and ADBTuner.

So YouTube TV will get you about 85% of the way there, but to get all the channels, you’ll need to get a bit nerdy.

#10

Thanks all for the pointer to suppose. I left them feedback suggesting that their "Devices" filter be expanded to include a TVE choice so that we could see in the list for each offer whether or not TVE is supported for each channel.

Regarding the remarks about some channels being encrypted and not working with Channels, I have these questions: 1) Does the encryption stop both viewing and recording, or just recording? 2) Do any encrypted channels support TVE? If so, does accessing that channel through TVE result in an unencrypted stream?

#11

There is a difference between encrypted and DRM.
Some TVE channels are DRM. Like PBS and NBC.
If it's DRM, it's not supported by Channels DVR and won't even show up in your TVE source channel list.
You can still watch it live at the network website using a browser, since the browser will load a player designated by the network capable of handling the DRM. So it's still TVE (authenticate with your provider) but not compatible with Channels DVR.

#12

OK, thanks. On my own I've learned that DRM is a key management approach for the DRM encryption keys and DRM licensing information. What if the stream is not using DRM, but is encrypted? Is it supported by Channels? Will it show up in the TVE source channel list? Do my TVE credentials play a role in getting the (non-DRM) keys for decrypting the AES (but non-DRM) encrypted stream?

#13

There is no simple yes or no answer. It depends.
If the stream and encryption are compatible with Channels DVR, it will work.
As far as what channels show up in the channel list, it depends on your provider. If they have paid the network for TVE access and it's one of the networks supported by Channels DVR, you will get it.

Pick a provider here to see what TVE channels are available in Channels DVR

If the network changes the stream or encryption to something not compatible with Channels DVR then nobody will get it. If the provider stops paying the network for TVE access, then nobody with that provider will get it (just happened recently with Fubo).

#14

My understanding is that the encryption is always AES, which is a well defined encryption standard with standardized key exchange protocols. Specifically, AES is a block cipher that encrypts data in blocks of 128 bits each and the key size can be 128, 192, or 256 bits. Keys are exchanged using key exchange protocols such as Diffie-Hellman and RSA. Are you saying that Channels supports only selected parts of the AES protocols? Can you say which parts are / are not supported?

#15

Channels DVR is a closed source, commercial product.
I doubt the developers will be discussing those specifics with you.

#16

Of course it all depends on what you watch. I use DirecTV Stream and I piggy back on someone else's Spectrum TV account and use both with TV Everywhere. I also use an antenna for my ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC and PBS stations. All work together nicely. With TV everywhere you will need a always on computer and set to never sleep. The only time I use DirecTV Stream app is to watch Bally Sports Midwest for Cardinal or Blues games and if I want to watch the NBC universal stations like MSNBC or Golf Channel. But I do that less and less

#17

Thanks to all. I want to test Hulu and Sling Blue this weekend to see if either could replace Spectrum via TVE. Does anyone know if the Hulu authentication issues are resolved? How about Sling? Hoping for some good news.

My wife tried negotiating with Spectrum for a better rate with no success. She is very frustrated because in the past they would offer some type of deal, but no more.

#18

I had to drop Hulu Live because the two factor authentication for TV Everywhere channels was impossible to set up. I spent over 90 minutes scanning channels and inputting emailed authentication codes just a few days ago. No luck.

#19

Sling has extremely poor support in TVE. Make sure the channels you want are available. Hulu is currently hit or miss. Some people have no problems and some can’t authorize. My guess is a new customer won’t have any issues authenticating TVE.

Did I mention sling has terrible TVE support.

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#21

Similar experience here. Just not worth the trouble.

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