US SPORTS PERFECTION #5 - 10/22/2019

Am update if this review is HERE.

Updated 10/25

This is the fifth installment in my "US Sports Perfection" series of reviews. To remind everyone, my goal is NOT to have the cheapest set up. Rather, it is to be able to watch any and every US Sports or Premium event in 60fps FHD/HD when I choose to watch it. This could be NCAA Football, NFL Football, or NBA Basketball... but I want perfect feeds every time. Anyone who follows this sub knows that recent events have made this endeavor more problematic than ever. Many providers became roadkill in the recent IPTV implosion and those that remain are, in general, less consistent and reliable than they ever were. Now, more than ever, I need a collection of providers that between them ponies up a perfect feed every time without having to go through "heroic measures". Additionally, I want all of my US cable channels and premiums (for the wife mostly). And I would like a little catchup, particularly for MSNBC.

---- MY CURRENT PROVIDER MIX ----

In my last review, I had presented four providers that provided me with the coverage to achieve my stated goal. With the current instability in the IPTV world, it is very difficult to pin down any "rock solid providers". This means that for this edition, I have needed to expand the field in order to afford adequate coverage. This month finds two of the previous providers, along with several new providers. Here I present this months provider pool, ranked in order of importance to the mix:

1. Jarvis (bought from u/Jarvis912) - Jarvis is a reseller of Primestreams. Great 60fps FHD/HD feeds of pretty much every US Sports network, regional and premium feed. These guys continue to impress me with some of the best pictures coupled with outstanding stability. They, along with Smoothstreams, were never down during the XC event. Jarvis occupies the top spot on this list because their streams have been rock solid. I've had 100% uptime and virtually no buffering. After a brief scare that they would be permanently retiring their m3u feeds, they are back. Very highly recommended.

2. Hydrogen (bought from u/Jcast356) - they took a while to get things straightened out, but it appears that Hydrogen is becoming consistent again. Out of all of my providers, there is no doubt that Hydrogen (and Jarvis) have the best picture. While their offering isn't nearly as large (number of channels) as some of the competition, almost everything is in blazing 60fps FHD/HD with minimal compression artifacts. Their channel mix contains all of the major US sports channels that I need, but I wish that they could add the missing ESPN College Extra and Fox College Sports, for example. Channel surfing this monster is an absolute joy. Their EPG is coming back, as well... reasonably well populated and maintained, particularly for sports. Their latest apk adds the ability to display up to 4 streams simultaneously (NCAA Tourney, here we come!) Their catchup channels have been spotty since the event, but they are slowly rebuilding this. This service is a required component of my mix.

3. Smoothstreams (bought directly - INVITATION ONLY) - this is the one service that didn't skip a beat during the disaster. They don't use XC and therefore didn't have any problems. SS provides HD/FHD 60fps streams of virtually every televised sports event. There epg is incredible, breaking down sports into their respective categories and providing a clear and concise view of the days matches. I only have two complaints about Smoothstreams... 1) they use a little too much compression sometimes which results in video artifacting that I don't find on the best provider streams, and 2) their necessity of the use of SmoothProxy in order to get an m3u stream causes problems in using 4 way multiscreen. Also, be aware that they are not a general purpose IPTV provider... the offerings are pretty much kept to sports. But even with these shortcomings, Smoothstreams has been the most consistent performer in my stable. An absolute necessity if you can come by an invite (and I don't have any to offer).

4. Premium (bought from u/Jcast356) - Premium is a rebranding of Helix... a service that I've used for a very long time. Since the XC episode, they have been the most consistent, solid service not named Smoothstreams. The availability of multiple feeds for virtually every channel pretty much ensures that Premium has a HD/FHD stream of everything I'm looking for, although recently I have encountered too many 30fps feeds for my tastes. They have catchup on over 900 channels, though many of these have been inconsistent (or missing) as of late... but I have been reassured that they are working to rebuild this capability. By utilizing the rebranded "Premium" service I recieve many "extras" (all channels, adult, etc) for far less money than Helix charges directly. Also, you can use PayPal instead of BTC if you choose.

5. Uproar (bought from u/IPTVGOD) - A new entrant to my provider pool, this little known service is a resell of Crystal Clear and has been very reliable as of late. They have most of the games that I am looking for in HD 60fps streams with little to no buffering. Unfortunately, like Smoothstreams, they employ a little too much video compression and it can result in some minor artifact problems. However, if you are just looking for a reliable provider with very good sports coverage and better than average video streams, this is a good addition to the mix and one that you should definitely consider. Also, this resold "Uproar" version comes with all of the channels and is a better price than buying directly from CC.

6. Hive (bought from u/Jcast356) - Another mildly inconsistent performer, Hive is the old Vader platform replete with all of its warts. When they are good, they are very good. But they have definite issues with providing uniformly excellent feeds. Sometimes they are just missing games, and other times the games will cut in and out... but in general, there are feeds for most of the important matches and they are HD/FHD 60fps streams. Also, beware that I have had some issues using them with TiviMate (though they are perfect in iMPlayer).

---- HOW TO ASSEMBLE YOUR MIX ----

I am not suggesting that anyone needs all 6 of these providers, although the current situation is certainly far from being stable enough to rely upon one. I would approach it this way.

For those who have access to a Smoothstreams invite, SS plus Jarvis and Hydrogen is probably all that you would ever need. This should give you solid access to most everything at a fairly reasonable price (~$30).

For everyone else, I would suggest Jarvis, Hydrogen, Premium and at least 1 of the other services (Uproar and Hive). Cost will be a bit higher than last time, but the instability of the current IPTV world really dictates this if, like me, your goal is to have absolutely unfettered access to high quality US Sports.

---- PRICING ----

The current monthly price for these providers, depending upon term length and which of the above strategies you employ, is anywhere from $30-$50USD. I run them through TiViMate ($5USD/year), iMPlayer ($10USD one time) and OTT Navigator ($10USD one time). These are apps that I feel are easily the best IPTV players available anywhere. All feature catchup functionality. iMPlayer and OTTN feature multiscreen. You certainly don't need all three, but I like to keep up with everything IPTV.

Your pricing may vary depending upon term lengths, promotions, etc. For this outlay, I get everything (and I do mean EVERYTHING) that I could possibly want out of "Live TV". This is certainly overkill for some of you, but it suits me very well.

I am not currently using XEEV (Xtream-Editor), since it takes some work to set up and I am currently in a huge state of flux finalizing my provider pool. I will probably return to using XEEV in a future edition of this newsletter.

---- NOTES ----

1. People ask me why I use 4-6 providers instead of subscribing to mainstream services. The answer is simple, I cannot attain my objective of being able to watch any US Sports event by using nothing but mainstream providers. The need for ALL of the US Sports regional channels means that I need to use IPTV to provide the necessary exposure. After the XC event, I actually tried to find a way to watch using nothing but conventional streaming services... I was completely unsuccessful.

2. I often see posts in this sub along the lines of "are resellers as reliable as providers?". The answer is that it entirely depends upon the reseller. I far prefer using an honest, reputable and dedicated reseller... but believe me... that's far from a given thing. As recent events have reinforced, many resellers are only in it for a quick cash hit, and they have absolutely no intention of doing any more work than they absolutely have to! All of the resellers that I've listed above have gone out of their way to "work with me" in ensuring that their product suits my needs. YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY!

3. YOU CAN HELP ME. Look at my desirements above. Look at what I have. Look at who I've liked (and why). Look at the "Not For Me" list below. Have I missed someone who provides a unique or wildly solid service? Have I completely missed the mark with my synopsis reviews? Is there just someone else that I really, really need to check out? Please help me figure out who belongs in my provider mix above! I would really love some ideas. BUT... if you are going to suggest a provider, please be certain to tell me WHY THEY WOULD IMPROVE MY IPTV WATCHING EXPERIENCE as it relates to my stated objective above.

4. A word about "trials". I really don't believe that a 24-48 hour trial does much of anything to help you evaluate their suitability or stability. Most of these trials aren't available for weekends or PPV events, making it very difficult to glean much useful data from the experience. In my opinion, you should do your research first (read reviews, gather channel lists, ask questions on Reddit), and then you should bite the bullet and subscribe for a full month. Take the time to integrate them into your watching environment (TiViMate favorites, iMPlayer multiscreen, etc). Live with them... and then (and only then), make your decision as to their suitability. If they are close, but not quite there... perhaps contact with the reseller or provider can get it sorted.

---- NOT FOR ME ----

Providers that have not worked out for me along with reasons why...

Eternal, Area51, TNT, GE - all cheap services that work, and in some cases offer reasonable stability... but the picture isn't good (terrible frame rates) to the point that they give me a headache.

Twisted - I had a bad experience with these guys. Your mileage may vary.

Beams, ResoluteD - After last time's writeup, I tried them again since so many people (who I really respect) speak highly of Beams/ResoluteD... but I remain unimpressed. It isn't cheap, doesn't have great USA channel selection and has mostly 30fps feeds... but it is stable. Not good enough to remain viable in my provider pool.

Gears, Epicstreams - These are high priced providers with terrible video quality. I don't understand the crack that y'all are smoking!

Nitro, Beast, Inferno, Dark Media - Expensive providers with great lineups that just lack in the stability department. I can't watch a solid hour without some sort of glitch.

CoolAsIce - A previous USSP constituent, they have just been way too unstable for me to keep them. If they get it together again, I will be more than happy to reevaluate them for future inclusion. 10/25 they now appear to be completely offline.

FAB, Flawless, ACE, Vader - R.I.P.

---- RESELLER NOTICE ----

A note to resellers/providers - I would absolutely love to evaluate your service... but please take the time to really read my post and then explain what makes your product a great fit for "US Sports Perfection". Please PM me with your details.

Added 10/23/19: Jarvis is back with m3u feeds!!! See the note in the provider mix

Added 10/25/19: removing Dark Media from the mix due to too many problems / too much downtime