How to Stream Bama Games (no cable or satellite)

[BamaNation]

Google Fiber install just left. Wanted to report the specs I'm now getting with my 5gbps service with little adjustment of the two mesh extenders from where I first put them. I'll play around and try to optimize the mesh locations later but as of right now ...

• wired speed to from the main router in the living room : 5.3gbps down / 5.5 up (this was to the installer's laptop; I haven't tested what I would get yet to my own laptop which may not have a 10gb port)
• wifi speed via near the main router in LR: ~600mbps down/up (nearly triple what it was previously)
• wifi speed in back of LR 15 ft away: ~300mbps down/up (about double previous speed)
• wifi speed across the house to BN HQ: ~300mbps down/up (at least double previous speed)
• wifi speed in basement home theater below main router in LR: ~150mbps up/down in media closet (but 500+ directly below router). About same in media closet; double the previous in other spots.
• haven't yet tested wife's office b/c she's been in zoom meetings all day. BUT, if Mrs. BN ain't happy then I'm not gonna be happy ... so thumbs up from her on her experience is a must.
• May opt to do PoE in our offices and media closet. Anyone have a favorite?

The installer said the included google wifi devices are "sufficient" but gave me some google recommendations if I wanted to upgrade. One is a TPLink Deco mesh kit which I installed in my in-law's house during July 4th and it was quadruple what they were previously experiencing.

We've tested YouTube.tv previously so know we like it ok. So, next step is to cancel Xfinity once I'm confident I want to keep Google and it works 100% of the time and signup again for YT.tv.

 

[colbysullivan]

Google Fiber install just left. Wanted to report the specs I'm now getting with my 5gbps service with little adjustment of the two mesh extenders from where I first put them. I'll play around and try to optimize the mesh locations later but as of right now ...

• wired speed to from the main router in the living room : 5.3gbps down / 5.5 down (this was to the installer's laptop; I haven't tested what I would get yet to my own laptop which may not have a 10gb port)
• wifi speed via near the main router in LR: ~600mbps down/up (nearly triple what it was previously)
• wifi speed in back of LR 15 ft away: ~300mbps down/up (about double previous speed)
• wifi speed across the house to BN HQ: ~300mbps down/up (at least double previous speed)
• wifi speed in basement home theater below main router in LR: ~150mbps up/down in media closet (but 500+ directly below router). About same in media closet; double the previous in other spots.
• haven't yet tested wife's office b/c she's been in zoom meetings all day. BUT, if Mrs. BN ain't happy then I'm not gonna be happy ... so thumbs up from her on her experience is a must.
• May opt to do PoE in our offices and media closet. Anyone have a favorite?

The installer said the included google wifi devices are "sufficient" but gave me some google recommendations if I wanted to upgrade. One is a TPLink Deco mesh kit which I installed in my in-law's house during July 4th and it was quadruple what they were previously experiencing.

We've tested YouTube.tv previously so know we like it ok. So, next step is to cancel Xfinity once I'm confident I want to keep Google and it works 100% of the time and signup again for YT.tv.

The Ubiquiti Unifi series of WAPs and switches is the gold standard in the industry. They have a wide assortment of hardware options, and everything is accessed via a central controller. I can’t recommend them enough.

 

[bamaee04]

I'm definitely envious of those of you that can get Google Fiber (maybe we can one day), but I'm also very thankful that we have the 1 gig service with Spectrum. The alternatives before that were atrocious, lol. Just cranked YouTubeTV back up and it is working very well...

 

[colbysullivan]

I'm definitely envious of those of you that can get Google Fiber (maybe we can one day), but I'm also very thankful that we have the 1 gig service with Spectrum. The alternatives before that were atrocious, lol. Just cranked YouTubeTV back up and it is working very well...

I’m on AT&T Fiber in the Florida panhandle. I previously had Mediacom 1Gbps down and a measly 50 Mbps (seriously pathetic ratio). I almost always had issues with Mediacom when I tried to do a livestream or anything that involved uploading. ATT Fiber was finally available in my area after 10 years of living in this house, and it was way cheaper than Mediocrecom, so I jumped on it. I haven’t had a single issue since. Having 1Gbps up is incredible. I’m in IT so I’m always messing with stuff and having that much upload speed is great.

And yes, YTTV is by far the best live TV streaming service.

 

[Tidelines]

They have installed fiber here in south central Al. A bunch called Buzzband did it in conjunction with the local electric coop. We live in a rural area now and it’s so much better than what we had before. Still pricey though.

 

[BamaNation]

So I did a couple of things with my new google fiber/ wifi speed optimization

1) changed dns to manual settings for opendns family shield
2) moved the mesh extenders just a few feet (1 at a time) to try and improve the speed & connection.

I’m now at 550 up/down in the room where the router is and 400/250 in my office on opposite side of house through 4 rooms.

My daughter is getting 200+ on an old chromebook upstairs across the house. Theater is about the same as previous.

I got some nice netgear 2gb PoE injectors but the speed is half the above in my office so it may just be too far with too many interferences. I will try it in the theater later but am ok with the current speeds via wifi.

I’m calling it a success and a day

On a side note google fiber had an outage this morning here from 6-10am. Not sure the cause but once it came back no issues. Im keeping my xfinity until Im comfortable with the stability of gfiber.

 

[BamaNation]

For those with YT.tv, any pitfalls or frustrations I need to be aware of?

 

[colbysullivan]

For those with YT.tv, any pitfalls or frustrations I need to be aware of?

It’s the best live streaming service, hands down. That being said, if your network is crap, it doesn’t matter what service you use. Given your recent upgrades, I think you are good to go. The only problem is when the provider, in this case YouTube, chooses to have a contract dispute with the broadcasters RIGHT BEFORE BOWL SEASON. This happened recently, and they resolved it fairly quickly. But again, that’s not a YouTube specific problem, that could happen with any provider.

One thing that is really cool with YTTV is you don’t have to schedule specific recordings on specific channels at specific times like traditional DVRs. You just add a movie, show, or more importantly “Alabama football” to your library and it automatically records/saves every future instance of that program, regardless of the channel or time. For example, if you love “The Office” (and if you don’t, seriously what are you even doing with your life?), just add the show to your library and it will save every episode every time it airs, no matter when or where it’s broadcast. Give it a few months and you’ll have the entire series saved. I think it saves the recordings for 9 months maybe?

 

[BamaNation]

Just wanted to update with something I did this week.

Went to Costco and bought the TP-Link Deco XE5300 3-pack (also on sale today at Amazon as the XE5400 model).

So far, I've installed 2 of them (one in the LR where the Google Fiber router is and one in my office on opposite side of house thorough 3 rooms.

I am now getting double to triple the speed I was via wifi previously with the included Google mesh access points:

Download - about 750mbps; Upload - about 900mbps. AMAZING. We'll see how it responds when I get all the devices connected to it but hopefully not much different.

Speedtest by Ookla - The Global Broadband Speed Test

Use Speedtest on all your devices with our free desktop and mobile apps.

www.speedtest.net

Now I have to figure out exactly where to put the other one. Most likely in basement but maybe upstairs. I also have some TP-Link P9's from a couple years ago that will work with this mesh seetup and might be good options for upstairs.

Anyway, for those of you who are experiencing bad wifi ... you might want to get some TP-Link Wifi 6 Decos. !!! There are variouos models for different speeds and homes (and WiFi 5, 6, or 7) ... just remember, you might need to upgrade your wifi card in your computer if it can't handle the newer 6 or 7 standards.

 

[CrimsonNagus]

I think it saves the recordings for 9 months maybe?

Yep, recordings are saved for 9 months from the last time it aired. So, even if it is a different channel than the original recording, any re-air starts that 9 month clock over again.