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PaZel

Personal Dilemma

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For how I watch games, myp2p is the best. I'm usually studying and/or reading and not paying attention the entire time (unless I'm watching a big Wings game, I usually use the announcers voice to get me to watch big plays), so the quality doesn't need to be excellent. Most myp2p streams work for this, and the other (LGW) stream is usually excellent quality.

It's certainly a personal preference. There are myp2p streams that match hockeystreams quality, but not for every game. IMO Center Ice beats then both, but at a price. For anyone considering hockeystreams, I would suggest trying myp2p first to see if it meets your needs. If you're going to watch through sites that pirate the game, you have nothing to lose by trying the free option first.

FWIW if blackouts wouldn't make me miss so many games I watch, Center Ice would be my choice. It supports the NHL and with cable you get every game at the highest quality. Unfortunately, getting Center Ice would require me to also get cable, which I wouldn't use much outside of hockey. I don't think Center Ice is overpriced for the product, but the requirement to have cable is a deal breaker for me.

Did hockeystreams go down this year a few times? When I was a member a couple years ago, the site got overloaded a few nights. This pushed me to use myp2p, and I've become accustomed to using it since. If hockeystreams were more stable, I would consider it again.

Last year, hockeystreams was solid. A few issues with games here and there, but I watched a lot of hockey on that site and it was great. That being said, I want to cut costs this year. They are making some good advancements on the site by moving to a flash platform for viewing. They are also adding more 720p quality streams. I like what they are doing, but at the same time, saving $90 a month would be nice if myp2p.eu worked great. I am already trying them out a bit when it comes to viewing baseball games and other sporting events and they are nice. I hope they have some preseason hockey games as well. I guess we will see how it works out.

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I've never had much luck with streams. Probably related to my internet connection.

I plan on using GameCenter this season, though. Anyone have any experience - positive or negative - with it?

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I've never had much luck with streams. Probably related to my internet connection.

I plan on using GameCenter this season, though. Anyone have any experience - positive or negative - with it?

I used Gamecenter live for a full season and it was great. No problems with the streams or service. I could get every game except for my local games which were the Red Wings. I didn't have a problem with that as I could get them on local TV. At the time, they used a geolocation of some kind to block the games out. So if I was travelling, I could get the Wings games would I couldn't get other "local" games depending on where I was. The quality was excellent, but the $160 a season was a little costly.

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I used Gamecenter live for a full season and it was great. No problems with the streams or service. I could get every game except for my local games which were the Red Wings. I didn't have a problem with that as I could get them on local TV. At the time, they used a geolocation of some kind to block the games out. So if I was travelling, I could get the Wings games would I couldn't get other "local" games depending on where I was. The quality was excellent, but the $160 a season was a little costly.

Were you living in Grand Rapids at the time?

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I've never had much luck with streams. Probably related to my internet connection.

I plan on using GameCenter this season, though. Anyone have any experience - positive or negative - with it?

You could borrow mine to test it out. I buy one every season, but I rarely use it. It's just there as a backup or for someone to use on occasion.

I kind of know you since we've PM'd back and forth in the past :cool:

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For those using Gamecenter and experiencing local blackouts, has anyone tried using an anonymous proxy (or non-anonymous for that matter) to get around the blackout restrictions? I used Gamecenter for a full season, and decided not to re-up because of these restrictions...but it occurs to me now that proxying might get me around them, in which case I'd subscribe again this coming season. It's a great service otherwise.

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Guest CaliWingsNut

For those using Gamecenter and experiencing local blackouts, has anyone tried using an anonymous proxy (or non-anonymous for that matter) to get around the blackout restrictions? I used Gamecenter for a full season, and decided not to re-up because of these restrictions...but it occurs to me now that proxying might get me around them, in which case I'd subscribe again this coming season. It's a great service otherwise.

I would assume it's linked to your account info, not your IP.

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I used Gamecenter live for a full season and it was great. No problems with the streams or service. I could get every game except for my local games which were the Red Wings. I didn't have a problem with that as I could get them on local TV. At the time, they used a geolocation of some kind to block the games out. So if I was travelling, I could get the Wings games would I couldn't get other "local" games depending on where I was. The quality was excellent, but the $160 a season was a little costly.

What about the quality of the games? (audio, video, audio/video lag, etc.) Honestly I don't want to watch "Pong" sized blocks floating around. I want to be able to watch them with the best quality.

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I would assume it's linked to your account info, not your IP.

That's what I thought until I read this here :)

At the time, they used a geolocation of some kind to block the games out. So if I was travelling, I could get the Wings games would I couldn't get other "local" games depending on where I was.

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You could borrow mine to test it out. I buy one every season, but I rarely use it. It's just there as a backup or for someone to use on occasion.

I kind of know you since we've PM'd back and forth in the past :cool:

That would be awesome! I'd love to give it a shot before I commit since it would really suck to buy it and find out all home games were blacked out.

Were you able to find someone? Hopefully. I don't have the service at all at this point (hence the need for Game Center).

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Guest Shoreline

I would assume it's linked to your account info, not your IP.

It would be likely a combination of account info and IP, as most ISP's that aren't mobile give a relative location depending on the subnet locale. For small cities it's usually a city nearby that deals with ARIN registries. For large cities they sometimes have several so for a populous of 500,000+ it would likely tell the city lived in unless it was a single national ISP like the old AOL. (this concerns mainly DSL/Cable/fiber/T-lines/DS-lines)

In most cases IP gives away relative location so it's easy to block off, and it's easy to lie in your account info.

As Uncle Danny suggests, use a proxy if you can find one that can sustain the speed/quality of the GameCenter stream, which I find may be hundreds of times more difficult than finding a good stream by itself.

Edited by Shoreline

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Were you living in Grand Rapids at the time?

Yes. I got gamecenter because I am a hockey nut. I like watching a lot of different teams during the hockey season. Red Wings are my favorite team, but hockey is my favorite sport.

What about the quality of the games? (audio, video, audio/video lag, etc.) Honestly I don't want to watch "Pong" sized blocks floating around. I want to be able to watch them with the best quality.

There is usually a free preview when the season starts. Give it a try. Its better than pong sized blocks. To be honest, its better than any of the illegal streams I have seen.

It would be likely a combination of account info and IP, as most ISP's that aren't mobile give a relative location depending on the subnet locale. For small cities it's usually a city nearby that deals with ARIN registries. For large cities they sometimes have several so for a populous of 500,000+ it would likely tell the city lived in unless it was a single national ISP like the old AOL. (this concerns mainly DSL/Cable/fiber/T-lines/DS-lines)

In most cases IP gives away relative location so it's easy to block off, and it's easy to lie in your account info.

As Uncle Danny suggests, use a proxy if you can find one that can sustain the speed/quality of the GameCenter stream, which I find may be hundreds of times more difficult than finding a good stream by itself.

Its based off of IP. I was able to get Red Wings games when I was traveling to other regions like Florida and Dallas. I couldn't get the local games at those areas when I was there. Just keep that in mind. I remember when I was in Columbus on business and I wanted to watch some hockey, but I couldn't get the Columbus game on the TV and I couldn't stream it either. I went to a bar instead. :)

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Yes. I got gamecenter because I am a hockey nut. I like watching a lot of different teams during the hockey season. Red Wings are my favorite team, but hockey is my favorite sport.

That was my fear. I don't have cable of any sort and was hoping to get GameCenter to watch the Wings - but was afraid they'd fall under blackout restrictions.

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GameCenter sucks. Center Ice sucks. I talked to Directv recently and they did confirm to me that for Center Ice, they don't have dedicated channels they pipe feeds to, but instead they unlock (or un-blackout) the regional channels the game is shown on. I currently have TWC and buy Center Ice every year, but I only get the feeds they choose to pipe through the the NHL/MLB pay channels. Directv would unblock FSD in both SD and HD. Hence, Directv will soon be getting my business.

I can for one say that a certain feed I get for free is better than the SD crap I pay $200/yr for. Any kind of video you are streaming on the Internet is going to be susceptible to lag or glitching, but sure beats looking behind the net for a puck after a shot since you can't see the damn thing to begin with in SD.

Edited by rrasco

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GameCenter sucks. Center Ice sucks. I talked to Directv recently and they did confirm to me that for Center Ice, they don't have dedicated channels they pipe feeds to, but instead they unlock (or un-blackout) the regional channels the game is shown on. I currently have TWC and buy Center Ice every year, but I only get the feeds they choose to pipe through the the NHL/MLB pay channels. Directv would unblock FSD in both SD and HD. Hence, Directv will soon be getting my business.

I can for one say that a certain feed I get for free is better than the SD crap I pay $200/yr for. Any kind of video you are streaming on the Internet is going to be susceptible to lag or glitching, but sure beats looking behind the net for a puck after a shot since you can't see the damn thing to begin with in SD.

Directv is the best service to get Center Ice on. If you have Uverse, all the games will be in SD. Comcast has a mix of HD and SD. At least with Directv almost all the games are in HD, but not all of them though. When I moved to Comcast, I stopped getting NHL Center Ice entirely because of the lack of HD options on Center Ice with them. I went with Gamecenter Live, and I was happy with the service. Wish the price was lower though.

That was my fear. I don't have cable of any sort and was hoping to get GameCenter to watch the Wings - but was afraid they'd fall under blackout restrictions.

My advice is that you look at Hockeystreams or Myp2p.eu for streaming. I think Hockeystreams is worth it at $90 a year plus all the extras you get and how easy it is. At the same time though, I am going to try Myp2p.eu this year instead of paying. Its not as intuitive, but the streams of Baseball and other sporting events are very nice. I will be interested to see the quality of the hockey games.

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My advice is that you look at Hockeystreams or Myp2p.eu for streaming. I think Hockeystreams is worth it at $90 a year plus all the extras you get and how easy it is. At the same time though, I am going to try Myp2p.eu this year instead of paying. Its not as intuitive, but the streams of Baseball and other sporting events are very nice. I will be interested to see the quality of the hockey games.

I think I touched on this in my other post, but I'll reiterate here. For the first week(s) I suggest trying all/most of the available streams for a game and make a note of the better ones. Most of the streamers do games every day (or multiple games a day), and it's really helpful to have a list of the better streams on hand. Therefore, you rarely have to go through all the available streams to find the highest quality. I think a lot of people who try myp2p just use the first link they see, not knowing the quality varies between streams.

It sounds really simple, but the idea didn't strike me for a while and searching through streams at game-time can be frustrating.

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GameCenter sucks. Center Ice sucks. I talked to Directv recently and they did confirm to me that for Center Ice, they don't have dedicated channels they pipe feeds to, but instead they unlock (or un-blackout) the regional channels the game is shown on. I currently have TWC and buy Center Ice every year, but I only get the feeds they choose to pipe through the the NHL/MLB pay channels. Directv would unblock FSD in both SD and HD. Hence, Directv will soon be getting my business.

I can for one say that a certain feed I get for free is better than the SD crap I pay $200/yr for. Any kind of video you are streaming on the Internet is going to be susceptible to lag or glitching, but sure beats looking behind the net for a puck after a shot since you can't see the damn thing to begin with in SD.

Center Ice is awesome. It sounds like the problem is with your local carrier. I have Directv and have gotten the center ice package several times. It's been great.

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Center Ice is awesome. It sounds like the problem is with your local carrier. I have Directv and have gotten the center ice package several times. It's been great.

Yeah, I'd always tune in when they offered the free pass and never had a problem on DirecTV.

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I should have been more specific. My experience with Center Ice through Time Warner and InDemand sucks. As stated, I will soon be moving to Directv so I can see what they have to offer. I hope it's what I expect.

For the price of GameCenter Live, I was not impressed. That was two years ago and I don't know if the quality has improved, but I would choose CI over GCL, as I have the last two seasons. No DVR is a big kicker there too. Live Internet streams are never as good as a provider, they are subject to too many variables.

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I should have been more specific. My experience with Center Ice through Time Warner and InDemand sucks. As stated, I will soon be moving to Directv so I can see what they have to offer. I hope it's what I expect.

For the price of GameCenter Live, I was not impressed. That was two years ago and I don't know if the quality has improved, but I would choose CI over GCL, as I have the last two seasons. No DVR is a big kicker there too. Live Internet streams are never as good as a provider, they are subject to too many variables.

Gamecenter Live is much better than it was back then. Still, check out the free preview at the beginning of the season. I think its worth it if you have the coin.

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