Let's Talk About MLBTV

Flunky

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Jan 3, 2009
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I think you're talking about a proxy. Others can comment about why a VPN is or is not preferred to a proxy.
 

Moviegoer

broken record
Feb 6, 2016
4,889
The whole season the stream on my PC has been at least decent, with a few isolated shitty games. Yesterday I switched the channel on router for the 2.4Ghz to 11 to fix some chromecast issues. Now for the second straight game the image is terrible and the stuttering freezing is far more regular. Not having any noticeable problems with web stuff otherwise.
So is this a channel problem, or just a string of bad luck with the stream?
 

ccsubruce

Member
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Apr 20, 2003
1,015
West Hartford, CT
I use this service on my Roku with no trouble. To stream our Red Sox, I use my Mac hooked to my 55" Sony 4K. I use hotspot shield app for my VPN and it works like a charm. No video issues at all. It's been great.
 

Moviegoer

broken record
Feb 6, 2016
4,889
The whole season the stream on my PC has been at least decent, with a few isolated shitty games. Yesterday I switched the channel on router for the 2.4Ghz to 11 to fix some chromecast issues. Now for the second straight game the image is terrible and the stuttering freezing is far more regular. Not having any noticeable problems with web stuff otherwise.
So is this a channel problem, or just a string of bad luck with the stream?
Just switched it again to another channel, one that nobody else in the vicinity is using for their router. After disconnecting and reconnecting to the wifi, the stream now is great. Maybe its just that its been bad all night, but I think its clearer right now than its ever been for me.
So maybe to fix problems with the stream changing the channel your router uses to one that is different from all the other signals in your area is the way to go.
 

Rasputin

Will outlive SeanBerry
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Oct 4, 2001
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Is MLB.tv better on a Chromecast than an Amazon Fire stick?

Here's the thing. When I try to watch a game on MLB.tv on my fire stick, which is a grand total of about six or seven feet from the router, it buffers like you wouldn't believe. Multiple buffers per pitch.

When I watch on my laptop, kindle fire, or phone, there are no problems.

Our internet service is not stupendous, but it can clearly handle MLB.tv on some devices, just not the one I want to actually use. It's annoying as hell and I'm considering getting a long as HDMI cord to go from my laptop to the TV just so I can sit and watch the damn game and use the laptop, but if a chromecast or some other device would work better, I'd look at other options.
 

normstalls

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Mar 15, 2004
4,486
I've had no luck all season on my fire stick too.... I would much prefer that so I can watch it on TV. Instead I watch on my iPhone or iPad. No issues with either of those devices
 

Catcher Block

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Mar 7, 2006
5,825
St. Louis
I've had a similar, crappy experience trying to stream via Apple TV or PS4. Sometimes I'll be able to watch several innings at a time without a hiccup, but then it either buffers or gets stuck in a 5-second rewind loop until I close and restart the stream.

Similar issues are largely absent on iPad, PC laptop, or android cell phone.
 

Cumberland Blues

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Sep 9, 2001
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I use chromecast from my PC to TV, generally w/o incident for MLBtv. It does stall/stutter on occasion - just a few seconds here or there which does add up and by the end of a game I'm often a few batters behind live (and I think this is just a function of crappy rural internet and nothing to do w/ chromecast). But I find the chromecast experience preferable to running the MLBtv app on my smart tv - which buffers like crazy (and since I'm in market - I need the VPN software on my PC to get the Sox anyhow - but the chromecast is still preferable for watching out of market games too).
 

Rasputin

Will outlive SeanBerry
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I use chromecast from my PC to TV, generally w/o incident for MLBtv. It does stall/stutter on occasion - just a few seconds here or there which does add up and by the end of a game I'm often a few batters behind live (and I think this is just a function of crappy rural internet and nothing to do w/ chromecast). But I find the chromecast experience preferable to running the MLBtv app on my smart tv - which buffers like crazy (and since I'm in market - I need the VPN software on my PC to get the Sox anyhow - but the chromecast is still preferable for watching out of market games too).
So you're getting the feed on your pc and sending that to the tv via chromecast rather than getting it directly on the chromecast?

Can you still do other stuff or does just mirror whole screen?
 

Rasputin

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There was an update to the app I applied yesterday. SSS warning, but it has been better since... I've tried a couple games in short spurts and they've streamed a lot better than before.
Yeah, the almost half an inning of today's game I was able to stomach was vastly superior in quality.
 

Broda

New Member
Sep 12, 2016
86
MLB tonight is a phenomenal show.

Just phenomenal.

I need to find a way to work from home just so I can catch it more often.
 

jungleboy

New Member
Mar 1, 2016
153
MLB.tv is fabulous and I usually have no complaints at all. But I have a big one today after trying to watch the AL Wild Card on delay (I live in Europe).

But this is what the Mac app screen shows today with hide scores ENABLED:



I am used to the big score in the middle of the screen now because it burned me last year. Even with hide scores enabled, for reasons unknown they loudly show the score of one of the day's games - and of course, during the postseason, there might only be one game, so you get the score loud and clear even with hide scores enabled. I wrote to complain about this last year but they haven't changed it. Anyway, to combat this I just hold something up against the screen and select my game from the drop down menu. But today they wrote Final/11 for no good reason there, making every half-inning except the top of the 11th essentially pointless for me to watch from a game outcome perspective.

Is it too much to ask that 'hide scores' should actually hide the scores or other details about the game? What do they think the point of hide scores is in the first place?
 

djhb20

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This thread needs to be flagged NSFW. The part where it says L: Jimenez (0-1, -.--) is just horrifying.

It should be safe to come into a thread not marked NSFW, but I click here and see that. Not cool.
 

ThePrideofShiner

Crests prematurely
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
10,687
Washington
I'm still confused by the postseason package that they are selling. You can pay $9.99 for all postseason games, but then you can only watch said games if you have some of the approved cable providers.

There is an option to watch camera feeds with the broadcast audio overlaid, but no replays, etc. That was free for me on my phone last night using my At Bat app.

Anyway, I find it interesting that can't watch the postseason unless you have cable. That's a big shift away from what they've offered in years past.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/subscriptions/index.jsp?c_id=mlb&affiliateId=MLBTVTAB
 

reggiecleveland

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Mar 5, 2004
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My small quibble is playing the commercials over and over. At times they play the same ad up to ten times in a row. I swear after Jon Snow in the Lexus, I wish he had stayed dead.
 

DJnVa

Dorito Dawg
SoSH Member
Dec 16, 2010
53,850
I'm still confused by the postseason package that they are selling. You can pay $9.99 for all postseason games, but then you can only watch said games if you have some of the approved cable providers.
Also, does the $9.99 package not allow you to watch on the app on the Firestick. I purchased this for my girlfriend's son (they cut the cord on cable), but I assumed he could watch on the Firestick, but last night he said he couldn't, he could only watch on the iPad or lap, etc.

And the mlb.com page says that Firestick only has games 90 minutes after they end. Not live. WTF?

U.S. and Canada users watch every Postseason game on demand 90 minutes after each game ends. International users watch every Postseason game LIVE.
 

JohntheBaptist

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Jul 13, 2005
11,399
Yoknapatawpha County
I kinda remember the $9.99 thing not making sense last year--in any event, I've found emailing customer service for a refund to be absurdly easy. I got charged for the month of October today ($24.99) which seemed excessive for a month with 2 games, so I emailed them and said so, got a full refund in 90 minutes. Just fyi if you've decided that $9.99 was basically lit on fire...
 

DJnVa

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Dec 16, 2010
53,850
Okay, new season.

Question--thinking of doing MLB EI this year, and that apparently comes with MLB.TV. I've had MLB.TV in the past, so how difficult will it be to sync up my new EI package through Verizon, with my existing MLB.TV account?

My girlfriend's kid loves baseball and I let him use the log-in for MLB.TV. This shouldn't be an issue right?
 

callstrike

New Member
Jan 22, 2013
1
How I miss those superstations on cable back in the day: watching so many Braves and Mets games in addition to the Red Sox.
 

Snodgrass'Muff

oppresses WARmongers
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Mar 11, 2008
27,644
Roanoke, VA
Okay, new season.

Question--thinking of doing MLB EI this year, and that apparently comes with MLB.TV. I've had MLB.TV in the past, so how difficult will it be to sync up my new EI package through Verizon, with my existing MLB.TV account?

My girlfriend's kid loves baseball and I let him use the log-in for MLB.TV. This shouldn't be an issue right?
I've been trying to dig up information on EI through my local provider (Cox) but they have nothing about pricing or how the service works. It's "out of season" and no one can tell me when that will change or how the service will work in conjunction with MLB.TV.

That said, even if you can't merge your existing MLB.TV account with your cable account, you should be able to let your girlfriend's kid log in with it. It's the same service, even if you're using a new login, and each account can be used by a number of people at the same time.
 

Back Bay

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Dec 9, 2008
15,701
Not sure if I will even get MLBTV this year, it was hot mess last season. The video player keep stuttering and crapping out for the default player. The classic is on a 90 second delay.

The spring training broadcast games still have the same results.
 

drbretto

Member
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Apr 10, 2009
12,075
Concord, NH
I'm still confused about this blackout stuff. I keep reading that 2017 is the year that you can watch local games, but I'm also seeing the opposite.

I have a subscription to NESN through my cable provider. But I would like to watch baseball games with one of my streaming devices just for convenience sake. Can I do this without a VPN and all that junk?
 

scottyno

late Bloomer
SoSH Member
Dec 7, 2008
11,305
Not sure if I will even get MLBTV this year, it was hot mess last season. The video player keep stuttering and crapping out for the default player. The classic is on a 90 second delay.

The spring training broadcast games still have the same results.
Assuming you're watching on pc you can get rid of the delay on any of the 3 players by turning off the dvr in the settings. If you're watching on any other device you're stuck with the delay as far as I know.
 

Flunky

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Jan 3, 2009
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I'm still confused about this blackout stuff. I keep reading that 2017 is the year that you can watch local games, but I'm also seeing the opposite.

I have a subscription to NESN through my cable provider. But I would like to watch baseball games with one of my streaming devices just for convenience sake. Can I do this without a VPN and all that junk?
This is the Follow Your Team feature which they haven't outlined. However, I think it will function like any of the streaming channels that requires proof of your regular TV subscription.
 

LogansDad

Member
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Nov 15, 2006
29,067
Alamogordo
As far as syncing the accounts up, IIRC it was pretty easy in the past, just go to the MLB.tv page, and there should be an option in the settings to link your account. I will take a look at it in a little bit and see if I can figure out exactly what it is I needed to do, but I don't remember it being difficult.

The EI package, IMO, is far superior to the MLB.tv, but it was pretty nice to have it available on mobile as well.
 

DominicJD

New Member
Jul 23, 2005
23
Vienna, VA
Just signed up for the single team option, and since I'm working on master's degree online / night school I used my "student discount" as well -- total came out to about $55! I figure I'll upgrade to the full option if I feel like it later. But if you can, try to take advantage of the student or military discount!
 

dbn

Member
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Feb 10, 2007
7,785
La Mancha.
I've gone with the expensive MLB.TV package (the one that lets you get either audio broadcast) for years, but now my finances have changed. I'm staying at my parents (in DE) to save rent, and my folks have XFinity/Comcast. I plan on doing the $87.50 single-team package on MLB.TV, which breaks down to $12.50/mo. over 7 months. When I was around last baseball season we output the signal to their large flat-screen TV which worked well. For a few reasons, it'd be nicer to have it directly on the TV, so we just called Comcast to get info about MLB extra innings. The sales agent didn't have any information whatsoever other than it costs $164.12 for the season. She said check on-line starting the 24th (when the EI package starts) and there might be more options/info.

So: what the hell, EI? You provide no way for me to get information about your services and pricing options.
 

CarolinaBeerGuy

Don't know him from Adam
SoSH Member
Mar 14, 2006
9,421
Kernersville, NC
For the second year in a row, I've had to spend nearly an hour on the phone because they screwed up my blackout location. I'm in NC, so I should be blacked out of WAS and BAL. I couldn't watch PHI and CIN on Monday. It's very frustrating. Last year it was Braves games that were blocked.

Also, anyone noticing the usual stuttering and jumping back 15 seconds? This was happening to me during the Sox game. I don't understand how this keeps happening when MLB Advaced Media is so good at what they do.
 

Back Bay

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Dec 9, 2008
15,701
For the second year in a row, I've had to spend nearly an hour on the phone because they screwed up my blackout location. I'm in NC, so I should be blacked out of WAS and BAL. I couldn't watch PHI and CIN on Monday. It's very frustrating. Last year it was Braves games that were blocked.

Also, anyone noticing the usual stuttering and jumping back 15 seconds? This was happening to me during the Sox game. I don't understand how this keeps happening when MLB Advaced Media is so good at what they do.
Yes it's also giving me hell too, the constants stutter and looping back. I got that last year as well. They need to revamp the entire streaming system, no other streaming service gives me this much issues.
 

cromulence

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Aug 25, 2009
6,706
I had no issues at all watching Yankees-Rays last night on my PS4. I do have a good FIOS connection, though.
 

Flunky

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For the second year in a row, I've had to spend nearly an hour on the phone because they screwed up my blackout location. I'm in NC, so I should be blacked out of WAS and BAL. I couldn't watch PHI and CIN on Monday. It's very frustrating. Last year it was Braves games that were blocked.
This is probably not their fault. They're just using the location information your ISP is providing.
 

CarolinaBeerGuy

Don't know him from Adam
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Mar 14, 2006
9,421
Kernersville, NC
This is probably not their fault. They're just using the location information your ISP is providing.
No, it's their issue. Both years they've confirmed that my IP was giving my location in NC, but for some reason I was blocked from BAL/WAS along with additional teams for some reason.
 

cleanturtle

New Member
Feb 2, 2007
32
It started stuttering for me pretty badly the last month or two of the season last year. I've been waiting to hear that they've fixed the issue before re-subscribing.
 

justbored

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Jul 14, 2012
2
Looking to throw down some money to money to split on someone's account. Ready to pay now. PM with how much you want. Thanks!
 

locknload

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Jul 14, 2005
3,773
Haverhill MA
It's absolutely their fault. Using IP addresses to attempt to discern physical location is moronic and inherently broken.

Use Opera and their built in free VPN. As far as MLB knows I am in Toronto right now! Watched the opener from the Netherlands. Quality was crystal clear.
 

CarolinaBeerGuy

Don't know him from Adam
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Mar 14, 2006
9,421
Kernersville, NC
Watched the first 4 innings on Roku before continuing on my Nexus tablet. Horrible experience, especially on the tablet. Buffered multiple times on Roku. Constantly froze and jumped back multiple batters on Nexus. I probably had to close and re-open the Sox game 10 times from the 4th in on. This shit is getting old. My connection is fast and never buffers on any other apps.
 

JoePoulson

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Feb 28, 2006
2,755
Orlando, FL
Watched the first 4 innings on Roku before continuing on my Nexus tablet. Horrible experience, especially on the tablet. Buffered multiple times on Roku. Constantly froze and jumped back multiple batters on Nexus. I probably had to close and re-open the Sox game 10 times from the 4th in on. This shit is getting old. My connection is fast and never buffers on any other apps.
Same shit for me on my Roku from home. I have a blazing fast connection, yet MLB.tv is the only thing that sucks. Yet again. I love it SO much but I cannot understand how it doesn't work worth a shit half the time.