So, I posted on Facebook that I had dropped DirecTV and that I was exploring streaming services. I left DirecTV because we were only watching a few channels and paying almost $70.00 for it. Truthfully, the main reason I got DirecTV was to watch the Dallas Cowboys whose games were not always broadcast locally here in Bowling Green, KY.
I had considered using a VPN to subscribe to the international package of NFL Game Pass as a work-around, but then I found out that I could watch their games much more easily (and cheaply) with Sling.
Sling is a streaming service like HULU, Prime, or Netflix. But unlike those services, Sling offers live streaming of many "cable" channels, and in some markets, you can even get local channels. (You can visit their site to see their offerings.) And so, I'm going to subscribe to a VPN service and use a 7-day trial to see if I can get the Dallas market channels. If I'm successful, then I will be able to watch all the Dallas Cowboys' games for much less than I would have paid for DirecTV plus NFL Sunday Ticket or for NFL Game Pass. Plus, I get the added benefit of getting some of the channels that I would have watched.
Since that Facebook posting, I have had few questions about VPN. So here goes my brief explanation of what it is.
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network and is used by corporations and by travelers for security by showing that a machine is located somewhere else. In short, a VPN masks the location of the device being used by making your machine appear to be anywhere that the VPN server is located.
There are various VPN services and all are subscription-based. Some are more expensive than others and their interface and capabilities vary, but they all accomplish the same thing. Right now, I'm considering using Private Internet Access VPN because I have a friend who currently uses it, and it will provide me with a low cost trial in the event that I don't like Sling's service or the VPN client.
This weekend I'm going to use Sling's free trial and a month's subscription of the VPN client to see if I can get the Dallas game. If this works, you could do the same if you live out of the market of a team you wish to see. So, let's say you're a New York Giants fan (gross) living in Dallas and you want to watch one of their games that is not being broadcast locally, you could make it seem like you are in New York and get the local broadcast of the game.
But if you live in a local broadcast area, you don't need a VPN or Sling to watch those games. Just get some basic $8.00 rabbit ears. As long as you have a digital TV, it should work just fine. If you live in a holler (as they say around here) or farther away from a local broadcast, you may need a powered antenna, which is more costly. Start with the less expensive antenna and work your way up. I currently use rabbit ears to watch our local channels: ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS, and a few others.
It's all perfectly legal.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy? I'll let you know and post an update on this once I've tried the VPN service with Sling.
I had considered using a VPN to subscribe to the international package of NFL Game Pass as a work-around, but then I found out that I could watch their games much more easily (and cheaply) with Sling.
Sling is a streaming service like HULU, Prime, or Netflix. But unlike those services, Sling offers live streaming of many "cable" channels, and in some markets, you can even get local channels. (You can visit their site to see their offerings.) And so, I'm going to subscribe to a VPN service and use a 7-day trial to see if I can get the Dallas market channels. If I'm successful, then I will be able to watch all the Dallas Cowboys' games for much less than I would have paid for DirecTV plus NFL Sunday Ticket or for NFL Game Pass. Plus, I get the added benefit of getting some of the channels that I would have watched.
Since that Facebook posting, I have had few questions about VPN. So here goes my brief explanation of what it is.
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network and is used by corporations and by travelers for security by showing that a machine is located somewhere else. In short, a VPN masks the location of the device being used by making your machine appear to be anywhere that the VPN server is located.
There are various VPN services and all are subscription-based. Some are more expensive than others and their interface and capabilities vary, but they all accomplish the same thing. Right now, I'm considering using Private Internet Access VPN because I have a friend who currently uses it, and it will provide me with a low cost trial in the event that I don't like Sling's service or the VPN client.
This weekend I'm going to use Sling's free trial and a month's subscription of the VPN client to see if I can get the Dallas game. If this works, you could do the same if you live out of the market of a team you wish to see. So, let's say you're a New York Giants fan (gross) living in Dallas and you want to watch one of their games that is not being broadcast locally, you could make it seem like you are in New York and get the local broadcast of the game.
But if you live in a local broadcast area, you don't need a VPN or Sling to watch those games. Just get some basic $8.00 rabbit ears. As long as you have a digital TV, it should work just fine. If you live in a holler (as they say around here) or farther away from a local broadcast, you may need a powered antenna, which is more costly. Start with the less expensive antenna and work your way up. I currently use rabbit ears to watch our local channels: ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS, and a few others.
It's all perfectly legal.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy? I'll let you know and post an update on this once I've tried the VPN service with Sling.
This is interesting, but how are you connecting to the internet? Through your phone (ATT?), Cable??
ReplyDeleteI simply connect via my regular service provider (Time Warner). The VPN client operates on the individual machine.
DeleteThanks. So, you aren't dumping TimeWarner completely. You use them only as an ISP and use your Sling/VPN for the channels that TimeWarner would provide.
DeleteWe have only used TWC for internet for the past 3 years, and we are continuing to use them. I stopped using them for phone about 7 years ago and I stopped using them for cable about 4 years ago (when I switched to DirectTV). The channels that we would watch from Time Warner were the channels that we got from DirectTV, which at the time came in higher quality (more HD channels) and for much less money. For any local channels, we continue to use rabbit ears.
DeleteBut yes, essentially Sling/VPN + HULU replaces what we were watching with DirectTV / TimeWarner.
The total cost per month will be about $51.00 for those three services and we get all the channels we would normally watch in our household.
Thank you very much for writing such an interesting article on this topic. This has really made me think and I hope to read more. surfshark free trial
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ReplyDelete