Streaming TV to your smartphone

jlmarta

Do any of you guys do this?  I'm looking for a less expensive source for a Wi-Fi adapter that'll work with my Dish Network model VIP722K receiver. Dish wants $20 for one and old tightwad me don't want to pay that much if I can help it. 

Any info  to anyone can share will be appreciated. Thanks in advance... 

avengethis

You want to watch tv on your phone?

jgibv

A couple ideas:

1) Depending on what channel you want to watch on your phone, that channel may have an App that offers live streaming.

Off the top of my head I know that FX, NBCSports, ESPN, and FoxSports all have apps that allow you to stream live programs. 

2)  I'm not very familiar with the Dish systems, but AFAIK they're pretty much "locked down" and using Dish's equipment is your only option. 

3) There are a couple pieces of hardware that allow you to accomplish what you want, but are either limited to over-the-air channels only. 
Or require a cablecard (QAM signal) and will not work with Dish/Directv, ATT Uverse, or Verizon FiOS. 

jlmarta

avengethis said:

You want to watch tv on your phone?

Yeah, that's the plan. I only recently found out I could do that. 

jlmarta

jgibv said:

A couple ideas:

1) Depending on what channel you want to watch on your phone, that channel may have an App that offers live streaming.

Off the top of my head I know that FX, NBCSports, ESPN, and FoxSports all have apps that allow you to stream live programs. 

2)  I'm not very familiar with the Dish systems, but AFAIK they're pretty much "locked down" and using Dish's equipment is your only option. 

3) There are a couple pieces of hardware that allow you to accomplish what you want, but are either limited to over-the-air channels only. 
Or require a cablecard (QAM signal) and will not work with Dish/Directv, ATT Uverse, or Verizon FiOS. 

Other than an occasional football game, I'm not much into sports any more. My old Dish receiver went t1ts-up on me so they replaced it with a newer model. In the process, they let it be known that, with the right model receiver (which I now have) and accessories, i could watch TV anywhere on my smartphone. 

The snag is that if I buy the accessories from Dish they come to around $70. I don't watch enough TV to justify that but if I can find a way to lower the cost I might go for it. 

jgibv

Marty I'm not super familiar with Dish but I know they're pretty much a "closed system."  So if they tell you that you need a certain piece of equipment to accomplish this, there's not going to be a way around it. 

Do you know what the piece of equipment is called?
Perhaps you could find a "used" or "refurbished" unit for a lower cost.

Njbow

@jlmarta sent you a pm 

jlmarta

Njbow said:

@jlmarta sent you a pm 

Replied, sir. Many thanks. 

jlmarta

jgibv said:

Marty I'm not super familiar with Dish but I know they're pretty much a "closed system."  So if they tell you that you need a certain piece of equipment to accomplish this, there's not going to be a way around it. 

Do you know what the piece of equipment is called?
Perhaps you could find a "used" or "refurbished" unit for a lower cost.

Yeah, I've located one of the adapters and have a bid on it on eBay. It's called a Sling adapter. The other piece is only referred to by Dish as a Wi-Fi BB adapter. It plugs in via a USB port. I've searched eBay for one of these without success so far but I'll keep looking. 

jgibv

jlmarta said:

jgibv said:

Marty I'm not super familiar with Dish but I know they're pretty much a "closed system."  So if they tell you that you need a certain piece of equipment to accomplish this, there's not going to be a way around it. 

Do you know what the piece of equipment is called?
Perhaps you could find a "used" or "refurbished" unit for a lower cost.

Yeah, I've located one of the adapters and have a bid on it on eBay. It's called a Sling adapter. The other piece is only referred to by Dish as a Wi-Fi BB adapter. It plugs in via a USB port. I've searched eBay for one of these without success so far but I'll keep looking. 

Marty, a quick google search of "Dish Wi-Fi BB" reveals this thread: http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/threads/dish-wifi-bb-adapter.275506/ 

And it appears the device in question is a "Netgear WNDA3100v2". 
You can find that make & model for ~$10 used on ebay.

And it looks like the used "Sling adapters" are in the $20-40 range.  Hopefully you can win a couple bids and pick up all of the equipment for under $50 total.   Good luck!

jlmarta

Thanks, @jgibv, I appreciate the help. I found out there's a V1, a V2, and a V3. The reviews mentioned said that the V1 was crap and the V2 was a good one but I haven't found out anything about the V3. 

I'll keep looking....  might even luck out....