Cancelling NHL GC after 5 years

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by Thor

Well, clearly I've pissed off someone at tech support, I can no longer stream on NHL GC on my PC Chrome, still ok on apps, but considering nothing has changed since the last game I watched they took the criticism professionally.

Gamecenter on browsers has always been pretty crappy in the US too. I don't think it's ever 60fps, and connection issues are common every time I try. Every other platform is far and away better.

[Thor]

wow, I tweeted to nhl GC support and now the stream is working, weird.

[Thor]

Still banned from Support forums loool

[greentree]

Game Centre Live is tweaked every year and seems to lose more features than it gains, but the streaming quality (on my apple TV and iPad) keeps improving, which keeps me happy. I travel a fair bit, and it has never let me down...US, Europe, Asia, all good the past two years. But I do miss the commercials, they were better than the dead air I get now and they reminded me of good ol Cowtown, where I seldom get to anymore.

[rd_aaron]

Been using GC for a few years but this is my last. Streaming on a TV via Xbox app, Chromecast over wifi, or Android TV via plugged-in Ethernet (Shaw 150Mbps) and all have had the same issue which is buffering/poor quality/jittery image.

I have used MLB.TV in the past and it was awesome. Perfect quality, no buffering, and that was through wifi Chromecast with Shaw 25Mbps. NHL GC or NHL.TV have always been a disappointment. I was excited when MLBAM took over as I thought they'd put out a good product but it was another disappointment. Will try Centre Ice next year which sucks because that means I'm paying for cable.

[Da_Chief]

Does anyone know how to turn off closed captioning on GC?? So Annoying.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

I used to be a reliable subscriber to GCL since pretty much its inception, but when it transferred over to Rogers, I had nothing but problems. When I could get the thing to work (it consistently had login problems which was apparently a known issue, because the system assumes that you're a Rogers customer other than just buying GCL from them) it worked worse than it had before. So this year I didn't renew, for the first time in a long time. Last week I figured, what the hell - I have a new place, a new giant TV, I'll buy the playoff package. Maybe Rogers has worked out the kinks by now.

It's actually worse. Somehow, they've made it worse.

I should have expected that from Rogers, which as far as I'm concerned belongs on the mount Rushmore of awful companies that actively behave as if they hate their customers. But trying to watch a game was just awful. When they weren't stuttering and lagging, the feeds' quality varied between 360p and 480p for the most part, only occasionally going to something that looked like the worst attempt at 720p compression ever, and that usually lasting only 30 seconds before reverting to lower resolutions. Even if you were willing to watch a game at 360p for the money (I'm not), the constant shifting between qualities makes the thing totally unwatchable, and there's no way on PS4 to set the quality. This fact seemed lost on their tech support, who ultimately gave up and told me I should just "watch the game on a laptop". I mean, talk about telling your customer effectively to go screw themselves.

My e-mail to their customer service person was as follows:

Yes, I contacted tech support who were unable to help me. At the end of the call the only suggestion they had was to try to watch the game on my laptop, which is not why I bought the service. If you advertise the service as supporting a PS4 app, it should at least be watchable via that platform, rather than a mess of stuttering and constantly changing resolution that ranges from bad to worse. Particularly given how reliable things like MLB.TV are.

They've refunded my payment. Hopefully enough people do this and they actually fix it, but I honestly think they took over the service to intentionally make it a worse option than buying cable from them. #### that company and anyone who works for them.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by calgaryboy

Yeah, you´re absolutely right, Eracknaphobia addon for me. You need your official nhl.tv sub for that. But as I said, that is treat to watch!

Calgaryboy, I'm using the addon now and I'm loving the quality. But it seems it doesn't let you start the game from the beginning? I'm forced to watch it live. I didn't see anything in the options. Do you know of a way to watch from the start?

[calgaryboy]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

Calgaryboy, I'm using the addon now and I'm loving the quality. But it seems it doesn't let you start the game from the beginning? I'm forced to watch it live. I didn't see anything in the options. Do you know of a way to watch from the start?

No. Just live online stream. Whole game after the end.

[Cactus Jack]

Is this add-on possible on a ps3?

[calgaryboy]

Originally Posted by Cactus Jack

Is this add-on possible on a ps3?

It is Kodi addon, so no, it is not possible.

[FlamingHomer]

Are replays of the games available (referring to Gamecenter) and if so how soon after the game is played?

[icarus]

Originally Posted by FlamingHomer

Are replays of the games available (referring to Gamecenter) and if so how soon after the game is played?

Yes, and within a couple hours.

[DJones]

My biggest problem is the commercial break.

Just show me anything. Commercials, live feed of the arena, link it to the jumbotron.

Anything!

[Cactus Jack]

When you watch the game after the fact, they still leave the black screen in for all commercials. Even if you watch it a few days later. I don´t know why they don´t get rid of them when you watch a replay

[fotiou22]

Will CBC stream playoff games?

[cannon7]

I'm not one to defend GC as I've had my fair share of gripes with it. But this sounds like an ISP throttling you more than a GC issue. It would be consistent with most throttling schemes, where a stream degrades over time. This is a very common practice by ISPs, Netflix for example has a website to help you detect if you're being throttled (www.fast.com). Not sure out that will work outside of the U.S. though.

My best advice is to use a VPN. They're a little tricky to set up, but there are services out there that can make it relatively easy. You'll want to pick a VPN between you and GC, most likely one operating in your location. What a VPN will do is block an ISP from doing packet sniffing on your traffic. A lot of ISPs will packet sniff and throttle traffic differently. You may still get throttled, but it will prevent a packet sniffer from specifically throttling your video stream. Most ISPs aren't too sophisticated with their throttling rules, so sometimes a VPN solves all throttling issues.

If you're more technical I would recommend configuring a VPN into your router. Most routers these days will let you configure a VPN and this will allow all the devices in your home to benefit from the VPN.

[icarus]

Can anyone confirm that my Gamecenter monthly subscription includes playoff games? I assume it does but would hate to try to tune into Game 1 only to discover I have to resubscribe or something. Had a look on the website for information but it's a mess.

[savemedrzaius]

Originally Posted by icarus

Can anyone confirm that my Gamecenter monthly subscription includes playoff games? I assume it does but would hate to try to tune into Game 1 only to discover I have to resubscribe or something. Had a look on the website for information but it's a mess.

If you have the international subscription and you are using it outside of North America you're fine. No blackouts.

Oh, just saw you said monthly subscription. So you pay month by month? I'm not sure how that works.

[PugnaciousIntern]

Are playoffs not available on Gamecenter? Can only see regular season games right now. How do you watch playoffs online?

Clarify : I'm a Rogers customer so this comes complimentary with my phone bill. Also I'm a Canadian customer.