Roku

[Getpaddled]

I got Ruko for Christmas and I have ran into a problem.... My wife can watch any show or movie and not have any interruptions. With me and live sports its a different story... At the Beginning of the NBA season, You could watch the first weeks worth (of the NBA package) for free. - A free trial - The problem I had was the NBA live games would pause numerous times, reload, then replay the last 10 seconds that I have already seen and so on.... Not only that, when I would compare the score of the game I was watching live, it was about 2 minuets slower then what I was updating on the internet. Is the fact that I am doing this wireless this problem? Any advice? I want to get the MLB package on ruko but not if its a half inning behind and reloading every 8 min....

[brettac1]

I haven't watched any live sports on my Roku, just Netflix. I love it for that, though.

[Godspeed]

Yeah I love my Roku box too. Best Netflix interface on the 6 streaming devices I'm familiar with. Don't use it for anything paid except for Netflix though.

[CheezWizHed]

Is the fact that I am doing this wireless this problem?

 

Best I could give you is maybe. I'm not familiar with Roku, but I have a few streaming devices that I use. I tend to prefer them to be hardwired as you tend to have less interference from outside sources. But here are some ideas that might be part of it:

1) What wireless router do you have? Some older ones won't have a very high connection. I would recommend an "N" or "N+", but "G" should be fine also. It should be able to match your internet connection at least. But a wired connection is more consistent if you can do it.

2) What is your internet connection speed? I can't always stream HD content at 3Mbs speed (as I only "get" 2.1Mbs out). Also, if anyone else is using a computer or other internet device, that may steal from your bandwidth.

3) Amount of data streaming may vary. Your wife's movies maybe at SD, while the games you are watching might be in HD. Movie viewers (Netflix) also tend to throttle back the quality to match your speed. Last time I watched sports, it didn't do the same. You will want a 4-5Mbs connection to watch HD safely (a bit of a guess, since I only have a 3Mbs connection and sometimes can watch HD).

4) The streaming source. If the NBA was giving a free preview, they might have been overloaded with customers.

5) Watching at high volume internet times may limit your bandwidth also. Most providers offer speeds "up to" the advertised speed. More users normally means less speed.

 

Hope that helps.

 

BTW, what does it matter if you watch a MLB game that is behind 1/2 of an inning (unless you are on BF.net at the same time). I record various sporting events (like Packer games) and wait an hour before watching. By the time I've skipped commercials and half time, I've caught up to live TV at the end of the day and saved myself an extra hour. If you don't know its 1/2 inning behind, its as live to you as if you were at the game.

[1992casey]

2) What is your internet connection speed? I can't always stream HD content at 3Mbs speed (as I only "get" 2.1Mbs out). Also, if anyone else is using a computer or other internet device, that may steal from your bandwidth.

 

I have 5Mbs, and that frequently isn't enough to do Netflix in HD.

 

I've watched Netflix both via my computer and via the Netflix app built into my Samsung TV. The computer is connected to the router wirelessly while the TV itself is connected by an Ethernet cable. I don't think wired vs. wireless makes a difference for me as the wireless speed is significantly faster than my Internet connection.

 

What seems to make a difference is that the app in the Samsung TV sucks. I get better results from a plain old web browser on the computer.

[CheezWizHed]

I have 5Mbs, and that frequently isn't enough to do Netflix in HD.

 

Yeah, I need to retract my prior statement. My Netflix App on TIVO shows a "picture quality" bar. I normally get one step down from the max and its plenty good for normal TV watching (not the greatest for epic movies or IMAX).

 

But my mistake was thinking that when the bar was maxed out it was HD. Its just max SD. They add a little "HD" symbol" when you get that.

[CheezWizHed]

SWEET! CenturyTel just upgraded me to 10Mbps today. So I should be seeing max picture clarity even when someone else is on the computer.

 

I also found an official Netflix statement that said their max HD streams require 4.8 Mbps (http://techblog.netflix.com/2011/01/netflix-performance-on-top-isp-networks.html). So if you have 5.0 (max), I'm sure it dips down too low on occasion.

[brettac1]

Just a bump to say that I bought MLB.TV for my Roku and am currently watching the White Sox and Astros in crystal clear HD. Looks great.

[1992casey]

Brett, what's your internet speed?

[CheezWizHed]

Is MLB.TV for Roku the same price ($20/month?) as the online version? I'm assuming it has the same black-out issues, too, right?

 

I live 4+ hours from Milwaukee and I'm always blacked out. That is pretty silly.

[brettac1]

Brett, what's your internet speed?

About 15.5 MB download and 3.25 MB upload, according to speedtest.net.

 

Is MLB.TV for Roku the same price ($20/month?) as the online version? I'm assuming it has the same black-out issues, too, right?

 

I live 4+ hours from Milwaukee and I'm always blacked out. That is pretty silly.

Yes, same package. It's all one price and the Roku is one of the devices that you can use the MLB.TV package with. I plan to use it on my laptop, my Roku, and my Android with the At Bat '12 app. I live about three hours away, but I also have FSN, so I'm not buying it for the Brewers. I like to watch the rest of the league, mainly the A's and Rays.

[brettac1]

I bought a PS3 last week as well and the MLB.tv experience with it is just fantastic. You're able to do a lot more stuff that you can't on the Roku, like different audio feeds. Right now I am watching the Braves using their radio feed so that I can listen to Jim Powell. He's still fantastic as ever.