Location Shifting Live TV

AngryJason

Shared on Fri, 05/09/2014 - 08:11

I have decided to get myself a cabin on the lake.  I thought about a cabin in the woods, but I saw Joss Whedon's documentary and now I'm scared some evil corporation would have creatures waiting to devour me.

Anyway, I'm getting a place on the lake.  It's meant to be a place to get away from it all and learn how to relax.  As such, I want to be somewhat minimalist in terms of technology.  My first thought was simple:  no tv, no internet.  However, this isn't feasible for 2 reasons.  First, there may be times when I need to work.  Crises can arise, or I may decide to work from home on a Friday to get a jump on the weekend.  Second, in the fall, college football season will be upon us and there is absolutely no way I can live in a house where I cannot watch my games.  

The way I figure it, I will need at least internet.  I've gone ahead and made the order to have internet service established at the place.  I've not pulled the trigger on tv for 2 reasons.  First, Charter, the only game in town at this location for internet, has not yet signed up to carry the SEC Network in the fall.  Second, I wonder if I can legitimately "cut the cord" and not have any cable tv service.

My plan is to get a PS3 for the cabin.  This would allow for streaming of netflix and amazon and the ability to play blu-ray discs.  I could elect to get hulu, but that's not a big deal.  However, I couldn't find a Watch ESPN app on my main PS3 last night.  I've thought about putting a slingbox at home, and then using the PS3 browser to hook into that and catch the games, but there is still the problem of Watch ESPN.  See, once or twice a year, there is a pay per view game.  It's typically against the Little Sisters of the Poor, and thus, isn't a compelling game, but it is still required viewing.  These are usually shown for free on ESPN3/Watch ESPN.  However, with the slingbox, I wouldnt have access to those apps.  I'm not sure how watch ESPN works, and maybe someone can shed some light.  Am I allowed to watch it anywhere, regardless of ISP since I have a login under my current ISP that does provide the service, or do I have to be on their pipe to watch it?  If I can just log in and watch regardless of ISP, then I can just hook my laptop up for those games.  I just don't think that's the way it works.

Another option would be to put a VPN gateway at the cabin and one at the house, so everything I do online at the cabin would be routed to my house and thus, carry my AT&T IP address, qualifying me for that service.  This comes out a bit cheaper than the PS3/Slingbox idea, but then I'm kind of SOL on the CBS games, unless I can pick up the signal OTA.  With that, I would probably need a FireTV or Apple TV to get the ESPN app and netflix/amazon as I think the laptop connected to the tv may not work as well I hope.

It just seems wasteful to buy cable tv service at nearly $100/month after adding the packages to get the right sports channels.

Also, on the subject of a cabin on the lake, I'm considering a jet ski.  I used to hate jet skis, but then I played Kinect Sports Rivals, and thought, gee, this could be fun.  Since I'm quite the neophyte, I was looking at a SeaDoo Spark, which is quite an entry level pwc.  I don't need anything too fancy, and not trying to break the bank.  Wondering if anyone with more experience in personal watercraft may have an opinion.

<shrug>first world problems, I guess</shrug>

Comments

YEM's picture
Submitted by YEM on Fri, 05/09/2014 - 18:58

What about satelite? A basic plan or something just to watch games and what not.

 

Also, had a Seadoo XP growing up. Lowed that thing. Fun as hell

AngryJason's picture
Submitted by AngryJason on Mon, 05/12/2014 - 10:53

Thought about satellite.  Dish already has committed to carrying the SEC Network.  However, when you factor in the packages you'll need, it starts to get to be the same price as cable.

Biznass's picture
Submitted by Biznass on Sat, 05/10/2014 - 23:36

Seems weird to hate ski's. What happened?

AngryJason's picture
Submitted by AngryJason on Mon, 05/12/2014 - 11:09

My aversion to jet skis has been totally OCD on my part.  I don't like the big plume of water that shoots out the back almost vertically.  This is completely my hang up, but to me, it looks pretentious.  I know, I'm overthinking it. 

Biznass's picture
Submitted by Biznass on Mon, 05/12/2014 - 13:14

lol

Well that was unexpected.

I guess you'll never set foot close to one of those jet ski hover pack things then. The water jets out of the backpack sending you floating into the sky.

AngryJason's picture
Submitted by AngryJason on Mon, 05/12/2014 - 13:25

the jet pack things don't bother me, they're kind of a novelty, and you won't see them all over the lake.  It's a quirk with me.  When I was a little kid, I wouldn't ride bumper cars because I hated the look of the pole that sat on the back of the car to conduct electricity from the roof down to the car.  I can't quantify what about these things qualifies as pretentious (that's just the word that comes to mind), or what is necessarily annoying, but they give me the heebie jeebies.

This may illustrate my insanity.

Jetski water plume

 

 

 

Annoying pole on bumper car

 

YEM's picture
Submitted by YEM on Fri, 05/16/2014 - 10:01

No worries, they don't all shoot out a rooster tail. The ones I rode never did

AngryJason's picture
Submitted by AngryJason on Thu, 05/22/2014 - 09:49

Small update - 

Location shifting strategy is to use a PS3 for Blu-Ray and streaming.  Got a Hulu Plus subscription, and am already a netflix subscriber, and have Amazon Prime.  Will also take my Apple TV to use for slingbox which should solve all those problems.

As far as the jet ski - the SeaDoo Spark is not readily available in my area.  The nearest dealer has one in stock, but it's pink.  Sure, I'm secure in my manhood, but a pink jet ski will not cut it.  They suggested a used 2011 SeaDoo GTI SE 130 with 60 hours on it.  The price, excluding trailer, seems a bit high, $6300, but we can negotiate I guess.

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