Can we talk television . . . (streaming)

[IRQVET]

So I was on a really boring fire assignment with not a lot going on. On Saturday one of the tribal members I was working for was streaming live college football games with a "SuperBox" from his command trailer on small TV he had. I have Dish back home, and I'll admit I watch maybe 4 out of the 200 plus channels.

The tribal guy was explaining to me he is CHEAP, really cheap. So he went with the Superbox so he could stream television without paying a subscription fee. Box itself was like $350 bucks, but he gets 2,000 channels, all the sports, pay per view movies, and he doesn't pay a thing outside of the initial Superbox purchase.

Needless to say, I called Dish and cancelled my $167 per month subscription. Ordered my Superbox, and I'm using it as I type this with the game playing in the background.

Wanted to get the word out there, cause I had never heard of this thing before. It's super cool.

Obviously you're streaming, so you need super fast internet (100 mbps minimum). But if you have that (I have Starlink), it's a no brainer.

 

[mrb1]

Been doing the same thing for years without a box (edit: would have to count the dedicated laptop used as a HTPC as a "box")

 

[Old Man Roger]

How does it get pay per view for free?

 

[IRQVET]

How does it get pay per view for free?

Fairy dust? Honestly, I have no idea . . . but it works.

 

[Old Man Roger]

I assume you use a vpn? Although I don’t really know just how well they work.

 

[Nobody-named-Olli]

Piracy. Could be sued/ shut down anytime. Hasn’t happened yet.

SuperBOX Android TV Box Review - Is This Device a Scam?

SuperBOX has approached me multiple times to promote their Android TV Boxes. I received another request a few weeks ago for their new model which is the

troypoint.com

Lots of talk on the interwebs …

Kind regards,
Olli

 

[gleman]

My neighbor got kicked off Comcast for one of those boxes and is on slow-*** DSL until he moves or dies.

He didn't want to pay for Big Ten network and PPV so he got one of those off Ebay.

After about a year Comcast terminated his account for abuse, apparently that little box opens up a bunch of sketchy VPNs in the Philppines and Malaysia and hammers the connection with torrent traffic and other ****.

Best of Luck!

 

[jblnut]

A VPN only potentially protects your intranet from access from the outside. Your internet provider may get real cranky in a hurry with that magic voodoo box.

That being said …. I have a different flavor of the same thing with a VPN and it’s been working fine for almost 2yrs. My local ISP monitors sharing traffic more than downloading traffic.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

Never heard of it. Sounds interesting. My parents are trying to get into streaming but they are locked in a cable contract for a couple more years.

 

[IRQVET]

My neighbor got kicked off Comcast for one of those boxes and is on slow-*** DSL until he moves or dies.

He didn't want to pay for Big Ten network and PPV so he got one of those off Ebay.

After about a year Comcast terminated his account for abuse, apparently that little box opens up a bunch of sketchy VPNs in the Philppines and Malaysia and hammers the connection with torrent traffic and other ****.

Best of Luck!

Dunno about that one. Guy that had one said he'd been using it for four years without issue. Figured it was worth checking out. I'll report back if something happens and it stops working.

 

[gleman]

Dunno about that one. Guy that had one said he'd been using it for four years without issue. Figured it was worth checking out. I'll report back if something happens and it stops working.

If it works for you, enjoy!

I think Papa Elon(Starlink) is a lot more watchful than Comcast and it's going to be a short run with that box.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Dunno about that one. Guy that had one said he'd been using it for four years without issue.

who is his ISP?

 

[vwpieces]

Getting kicked off Comcast isn't a bad thing. Would take weeks of calling if you wanted to terminate on your own.

When you are watching 20min of Commercials every hour, the cable company and the networks should be Paying You to watch.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Getting kicked off Comcast isn't a bad thing. Would take weeks of calling if you wanted to terminate on your own.

When you are watching 20min of Commercials every hour, the cable company and the networks should be Paying You to watch.

It is when your only other option is slow internet.... and no it doesnt take weeks of calling

BTW this is about comcast INTERNET not cable TV service. Why would you use this box if you already have cable TV service?

 

[txvwnut]

Piracy. Could be sued/ shut down anytime. Hasn’t happened yet.

Yes and no. If the initial broadcast is sent via frequency signal across the air then it can be received as "interference" to a device and not be considered piracy. Where it starts being considered illegal is when you modify a providers equipment to receive the signal to circumvent the subscription service, like the satellite card hacking of the late 90's early 2000's.

 

[mikedodge]

It sounds like a typical Android box but with built in apps to get the channels. I had one maybe 10 years ago, all sorts of stuff on it but took a while to find things.

You don't need all that fast internet to get decent quality.

 

[Aileron]

They'll kick you off Comcast but not off their mailing list and bombard you with discount offers to return every other day in snail mail. Don't get me wrong I'm not condoning it but who made them the privacy police by the way, what is it any of their business if your breaking a law or not? Does Ford or GM come take your car back because you may be speeding?

 

[mrb1]

A "jailbroke" Firestick is essentially the same thing as this SuperBox.

 

[Old Man Roger]

Dunno about that one. Guy that had one said he'd been using it for four years without issue. Figured it was worth checking out. I'll report back if something happens and it stops working.

You mentioned he was on a reservation, maybe not being held to the same federal laws as the rest?

 

[IRQVET]

who is his ISP?

I didn't ask who he uses at home, so I have no idea. I know in fire camp he was using Starlink.

Been using it all week without issue. Well one issue, I added my VPN to the Superbox and it began experiencing slower speeds and began freezing up (54 Mbps). Removed the VPN from the Superbox and now my VPN is running on everything else. Seemed to solve the issue. Did a speed check on my StarLink without the VPN, I was at 110 Mbps. Having no issues thus far.

Called Dish and cancelled my cable service. Saving me $168 per month.

 

[niget2002]

Legality is a grey area depending on what's being streamed.

You can set up a network tuner and an ota antenna to stream local channels for free with a little work.

 

[alfredeneuman]

I've got a Roku. It cost me about $30, and hooks up via my wireless connection.
I've got well in excess of 2000 channels.

 

[dave*99]

I've got a Roku. It cost me about $30, and hooks up via my wireless connection.
I've got well in excess of 2000 channels.

I have several Roku units. My friend has a Superbox equivalent. He watches lots of live sports from out of his local broadcast area on the Superbox. I can't do that on the Roku, but I do like the old westerns.......

 

[alfredeneuman]

, but I do like the old westerns.......

Pluto TV has a whole section devoted to old westerns...8 channels that plays them 24/7.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Pluto TV has a whole section devoted to old westerns...8 channels that plays them 24/7.

and the best part is its FREE!!!!

 

[mrb1]

With it being Amazon prime days, the Firesticks are running 50% off currently ($25 for a 4K stick).

 

[dave*99]

Ultimately, there are tons of free programming options available. But a super box or jailbroken firestick user is often seeking pirated pay service TV. Ultimately that is illegal in some form or other. Some users invoke a VPN to hide their IP address. Some ISPs send warning letters to users etc. There are IPTV apps you can load directly on some smart TV's. There are legitimate pay services you can license on an IPTV device as well as pirated content.

I don't know a lot about the legalities - but I found this article interesting.

Four arrested for selling illegal Amazon Fire TV Sticks

Here you'll find news releases and Crime Stoppers bulletins about unsolved crimes, disseminated by our public information officers.

www.polksheriff.org

YMMV

 

[Sumboodie]

100 mbps?! I get around 5! Sometimes 0.5
It's been fast enough for the Youtube or Netflics.

 

[dcg9381]

A VPN only potentially protects your intranet from access from the outside. Your internet provider may get real cranky in a hurry with that magic voodoo box.

Not exactly (protection from the outside), although it's true you can't ingress a VPN unless you are at the endpoint. A VPN is like running a wire inside of a conduit. If you're monitoring the conduit, you can't see what's going down that single wire, they just know there is a wire (a tunnel). All the ISP can see is "encrypted traffic" and cannot see it's contents, they can just see the connection.. Not what's going on with that connection.

This is piracy, there has always been piracy (I remember the days of sat cards). People are "encouraging" the use of VPN because it disguises the internet egress point.. Basically it hides "where" you are and makes it so your ISP cannot respond to an subeona to identify you. Many VPN providers are "off shore", so they are not exactly responsive.

Eventually that device will get bricked.. It may take a while. The services and sub-services it uses are constantly being searched for by content providers.

 

[mrb1]

This is piracy, there has always been piracy (I remember the days of sat cards).

Ahh, the good ol' days. Used to be called a "hobby", or "testing". These dang pirate kids today have it too easy

 

[theoldwizard1]

I don't know a lot about the legalities - but I found this article interesting.

Four arrested for selling illegal Amazon Fire TV Sticks

Here you'll find news releases and Crime Stoppers bulletins about unsolved crimes, disseminated by our public information officers.

www.polksheriff.org

“Jail broken” refers to modifying an electronic device with added software and plugins in such a way that it allows the user to view movies and TV shows (internet-based digital content) they would have had to pay for. Essentially, the devises allow people to steal internet communications services.​

I don't understand how simply adding some"non-standard software allows you to "steal" a service ?

If it has an IP address and uses "standard" ports, the service still should have a password. Unless the software is using a "back door" hard coded password !

 

[OccupantRJ]

Ahh, the good ol' days. Used to be called a "hobby", or "testing". These dang pirate kids today have it too easy

“Someone” I know ran ads for and bought sat receivers that had been shut down for non payment or zapped for illegal software for $30-$40 each, reset the card to factory specs with a smart card reader/writer using glitching software, then sold only the resulting legal cards for $250 each to an interested buyer. Receivers got tossed. That gravy train ended in 2001 after the big electronic countermeasures strike.

 

[kbuhagiar]

All this talk of piracy takes me back to the days of phone phreaking, 'blue boxes' and a guy nicknamed Captain Crunch who used a toy whistle to make free phone calls. Long distance, that is.

Dang, I'm old.

Kids, ask your parents about telephones and long distance.

 

[mrb1]

That gravy train ended in 2001 after the big electronic countermeasures strike.

Yep. Nagravision. I ended up with two Viewsat boxes sitting atop the closet for twenty years. Just sold them on the bay during the 2020 shutdown

 

[u2slow]

Obviously you're streaming, so you need super fast internet (100 mbps minimum). But if you have that (I have Starlink), it's a no brainer.

All my streaming happens fine at 3MB/s aka 24Mbp/s (broadband cable). Not sure why this gadget needs more?

 

[dave*99]

All my streaming happens fine at 3MB/s aka 24Mbp/s (broadband cable). Not sure why this gadget needs more?

The typical streaming path does not need 100 mbps service.

It’s possible the added delays from using a distant VPN cause a slow down and folks think it’s an internet speed issue. Just a thought. YMMV

 

[IRQVET]

Not exactly (protection from the outside), although it's true you can't ingress a VPN unless you are at the endpoint. A VPN is like running a wire inside of a conduit. If you're monitoring the conduit, you can't see what's going down that single wire, they just know there is a wire (a tunnel). All the ISP can see is "encrypted traffic" and cannot see it's contents, they can just see the connection.. Not what's going on with that connection.

This is piracy, there has always been piracy (I remember the days of sat cards). People are "encouraging" the use of VPN because it disguises the internet egress point.. Basically it hides "where" you are and makes it so your ISP cannot respond to an subeona to identify you. Many VPN providers are "off shore", so they are not exactly responsive.

Eventually that device will get bricked.. It may take a while. The services and sub-services it uses are constantly being searched for by content providers.

I understand the opposing argument. But I grew up during the Limewire days of the early inter webs, so I'm not concerned by this at all . . .

Did a speed test today, I'm at 372mbps with Starlink on wifi without an ethernet connection.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

I understand the opposing argument. But I grew up during the Limewire days of the early inter webs, so I'm not concerned by this at all . . .

Did a speed test today, I'm at 372mbps with Starlink on wifi without an ethernet connection.

music sharing was small potatoes compared to pirating and bootlegging cable tv channels.... bigger more powerful corps behind broadcast TV than record labels...

 

[niget2002]

I understand the opposing argument. But I grew up during the Limewire days of the early inter webs, so I'm not concerned by this at all . . .

Did a speed test today, I'm at 372mbps with Starlink on wifi without an ethernet connection.

My first foray into pirating was the pastor's sons copying windows 3.1 from their computer onto mine using floppy disks.

Followed a few years later copying software off a bbs after midnight when I knew no one would pick up a phone. This was all before graduating high school.

I knew then that it wasn't legal. I've also grew out of it.

Piracy is illegal and is a choice. The only thing that bothers me about it is people not admitting when they're doing it. Whether their ignorant of the fact, or choose to ignore it.

I have relatives that used to side load apps into their phones that allowed them to stream pirated content. They would tell you "if it's illegal, the phone wouldn't let you do it." um... If it was legal, you wouldn't have to side load the app.

I'm not saying don't do it. I'm just saying be aware of what you're doing.

I, personally, place piracy really close to the same level as speeding.

 

[dcg9381]

I don't understand how simply adding some"non-standard software allows you to "steal" a service ?​

So these devices are essentially mini-PCs. OEMs make it hard to overwrite the software, so people are offering to sell these devices and "other hardware" already broken in. You "jail brake" them by allowing by loading software from "unapproved sources"... You can do this "for free" but the side load software may charge you something for access.

IE, apple has an "app store". But if you try hard, you can side-load non-app store software. As you can imagine, this software can allow you to do things not authorized by the OS provider.

If it has an IP address and uses "standard" ports, the service still should have a password. Unless the software is using a "back door" hard coded password !

It's a mini-PC. The outgoing port is essentially chosen at random from a bunch of available ports. Once it's jail broke, it can configure to connect to any port and IP address you want.