Streaming US TV Lakeside

Asking for a friend...

What is your experience streaming 'commercial US TV service' Lakeside.... things like Hulu or YouTubeTV or SlingTV? Not interested in knowing about 'technical' ways to get TV programs 'clandestinely' by programming say an Amazon Fire TV stick  UNLESS it is rock solid and pretty easy to use by a non-technical person and provides most of the TV capabilities as listed below.

Interested in getting things like CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS, BBC, CNN, FOX, MSNBC, Nature, Discovery, maybe some movies, etc etc  along with some sports (ESPN?). I am assuming one must have either a smart TV or a 'dongle' to attach with HDMI to an older TV, no?  
And is not a VPN required?  

Roughly, what is the monthly cost?

I know that a good Internet download speed is required... probably someone's fiber being best. Is the lowest Telmex fiber speed acceptable... personal experience with that appreciated.

Thanks for considering sharing your experiences with me.

You may want to research Superbox S4 Pro,
https://superboxhome.com/products/superbox-s4-pro
10mb minimum required. No monthly fees. See their channel guide for available channels.

It is on Amazon..... US at least. Also would be interested in any first hand knowledge/use of this box.

Superbox S4 Pro. Tons of free channels. Easy setup. Some buffering. I think I need to clear cache in tools and I plan to move my router closer in direct line of sight. I've only had it a few days. Mated to TotalPlay wifi with 100 mb down and 30 mbs up.

Thanks.  After some 'research' it is obvious to me that one must know something about these kind of boxes to even proceed. Out of the box one will get no TV access as one must 'set it up'. In order to set it up one must have some knowledge of these kinds of tv box offerings... like 'what is Blue TV'. Apps must be installed; Video quality must be changed to 4k rather than 720k etc etc

I'm not knocking it, just saying that a neophyte or non-techie might be lost. There are, of course, some Internet tutorials but most of them also require some technical smarts to comprehend.

Basically setup is:
1) connect a HDMI cable to your TV,
2) put two batteries in the remote control,
3) plug in the power cable to the Superbox.  It has a hard drive built in, so it will whir around a bit and then poof the setup menu appears.  
4) Select network settings to connect to your wifi router with your password.  Poof it loads up and you are done.  That is basically it unless you want to add channels which I did not need.

It works better on wifi than cable, according to Superbox.  After connected to wifi, the menu pops up and you will see the Blue TV option I think with the home button.  It is preloaded along with hundreds of channels within Blue TV.  Use the VOD, Voice on Demand, feature to call out any channel you want to view so you do not have to scroll thru hundreds of included free channels, i.e., speak "TLC", and then 4 TLC options will appear on the screen.  Scroll to the one you want to view and select enter. VOD is the microphone button on the remote control.

It comes with very little setup instructions mostly because they are not needed.  In my case after recent eye surgery I could not see the face of the remote control clearly and so I missed the "cursor" button.  You have to select that for the cursor to appear on the screen to navigate thru some setup features or to add apps if desired.  After my son found the cursor button, the rest was intuitive.  I think I can improve the buffering aspect if I clear the cache and I have not done that yet.  Also, Superbox recommends that you select a 5G network but I have not chosen that yet although TotalPlay comes with both a 4G and 5G option.  I am working on the buffering issue and I think I can improve it.  I find it simpler than Roku or Amazon Firestick and I have both of those in addition to Shaw.  Time will tell,

Thanks Kiko.... all the 'demo installation videos' that I watched (done this year on the newest model) are showing that setup is required... some knowledge about how to do this to get Blue and about 5 other apps needed are required. The device is initially set up with 720p.... fairly low resolution.... and one must go into 'settings' to change it to 1080p  etc etc

This is probably NOT a big hurdle for one who has already been using this kind a TV service or is comfortable navigating a device's capabilities and settings. But for someone who just wants to turn on the tv and have it work it might be a challenge.  I am trying to help a person who probably fits into this category. I'm not there to help.

P.S. Hooking it up to wifi as a preference rather than with an ethernet connection is not a common recommendation in the Internet world. Just the opposite is usually the best.

Thanks again for your bringing this box to my attention.

Yes I agree that it will be a challenge if someone wants to turn on the TV and make the majic work. Someone local will probably pop up on FB who will provide service to users of Superbox the same as Rich did with Firestick.

We use YouTube TV via an Amazon Firestick, ExpressVPN, and TelMex "fiber optic" internet. Cost is $55 a month, roughly. We get all the stations you mentioned, as well as unlimited online DVR and multiview for sports (watch four games at once).

Haven't had any problem with access or streaming. We tried to access Hulu and some other services, but all refused to work if we used a VPN. The catch is, to use YouTube TV, you have to have a base station in the states. You get five or six account accesses, one of which is your base station. As long as someone at that base accesses YTTV every once in awhile (vague), they don't care where the rest of the accounts are accessed from.

We tried pirate streamers for several months, but got tired of the loss of channels and services at regular intervals (when the cable/system providers caught the pirates). We then tried Dish, which worked fine until they lost some of their station sites in the States.

We're willing to pay for steady, reliable access, which is what we now have.

There all all kinds of cheaper ways to stream if you want to use a jail-broke device or pirate software. We just wanted stateside TV.

Thanks a bunch for that info!

Can you get that TV reception on more than one TV in your casa... assuming that it too has a Firestick?

Can you 'pick' what location to use for your 'local NBC, PBS, etc' stations... like can I pick Denver?

I just spent about 2 hours with a reset of the Superbox S4 Pro in an effort minimize and/or eliminate buffering. The Blue TV and Blue VOD software that came installed with the product was defective and I had to do a reset to download the newer versions. Somewhat complicated for me and most likely others who are tech challenged. YMMV

but I have accessed YTTV with both a TV and a chromebook at the same time in the same place. I think I used two different accesses from my account (you get five or six)

Yes, you sign up from wherever you want your base to be. We needed an address, that was all. Then you get your local stations (network affiliates) based in that. When using your VPN, you'll get some commercials based on what city you choose for that, too.

Kiko, did you resolve your problems with the box?

Anyone streaming Hulu + Live TV Lakeside?

Never mind.... I see that Hulu + Live TV cannot be watched outside the 'home network' and the home network must be in the US.  One can watch on a mobile device but....

NOTE: This site won't let one delete a Post after just a few minutes....

RickS wrote:Kiko, did you resolve your problems with the box?

After the reset and download of the superbox along with Blue TV and Blue VOD it is working. I left it on for about 6 hours yesterday and it froze up once for about 5 seconds. Today I moved it back to the room where it will be used and I relocated the router to a better location. So time will tell.

Kiko, is the new box working as you had hoped it would?  Any buffering?
Satisfied with 'local' channels available?  Any PBS?  VOD worthwhile content?  Tried Reload yet?  Easy to use or geeky?

100 questions guy.....

RickS wrote:  Tried Reload yet?  

I meant 'playback' of course.....

RickS wrote:Kiko, is the new box working as you had hoped it would?  Any buffering?
Satisfied with 'local' channels available?  Any PBS?  VOD worthwhile content?  Tried playback yet?  Easy to use or geeky?

Kiko, could you address these question now that you are a few weeks into ownership/usage?

Gracias!

@RickS  
The Superbox does buffer occasionally but not much of a problem for us.  We have Roku that my wife uses for Netflix because she prefers the Roku Netflix format more than the Superbox Netflix version.  We do not watch Shaw anymore. We have a Firestick that is not used because programs are dropped frequently and I got tired of dealing with Rich to reprogram it.  So the Superbox works best for our needs.  

The VOD, Video on Demand, is their version of a movie platform like Netflix.  Plenty to see.  I have not tried playback.  I do not see the Superbox platform as geeky, I found it simpler than a hacked Firestick or a Roku. PBS is available along with 1377 other channels all set up for you so no techno geek black magic to download more programs. The Voice Command is great so you do not have to search thru the many channels.

Superbox pretty much is plug and play once you setup your wifi network.  One problem is the documentation with the remote control is non existent so there is a learning curve but for the most part it is intuitive.  I went to the Superbox website chat line to seek info on the remote control.  They asked for my location and I told them we purchased the S4 on Amazon in the states.  They said that they only provided assistance if the unit was purchased direct from Superbox.  I have not needed any other assistance since then and it has been about a month.  I think Superbox can access the box and tweak with updates whenever they want.  It has been working better as time goes by.
We have the S4 Pro.    Hope that helps,

NOTE: Sorry, but I missed reading your 2nd paragraph so these questions are maybe invalid. Sorry.

Thanks so much for that update Kiko. I may be in the minority on this, but much of my use would be with 'local' station access as opposed to streaming movies, etc.  To include a PBS station.  It looks like the box can access local stations all over the US (I think that I saw Denver) so am wondering if you have used that capability and if so how did that go?  

Thanks again for being a 'source' on this particular box....

RickS

@RickS, mine has 3 PBS channels.  I also watch 4 local news stations in central Texas. I see CBS and ABC Denver local news nut not NBC Denver

https://super-box.co/pages/channels-list

Thanks Kiko! Is this with or without a VPN... although I suspect that if the wife is watching Netflix via Roku one would need a VPN for that.

We do not use a VPN. Actually I do not watch much TV, but my wife does and when she is home the TV is on. With the Superbox I have started watching some channels because there are so many choices available without subscriptions. Probably 25 or 30 Cinemax, Showtime, HBO for example. The minor buffering issue is far less of a frustration than the downside issues with Shaw, Firestick, and Roku IMO. Fingers crossed.