US SPORTS PERFECTION #6 - 11/18/2019

This is the sixth 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/NBA Basketball, NFL/NCAA Football, or Boxing... but I want perfect feeds every time. 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.

Anyone who follows this sub knows that events in September 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. But the great news is that this event seems to have shaken a lot of the poorer providers loose enabling the strong streamers to really shine! Unlike the October edition, this time around I have great comfort in providing my review and endorsing my approach.

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

In my last review, I had presented six providers that, to some degree, enabled me to achieve my stated goal. This time around, I have two stellar providers and four reasonable supplemental services detailed below. Here I present this month's provider pool, grouped in order of importance to the mix:

PRIMARY PROVIDERS

1. Jarvis - 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, just keep on working to provide rock solid streams of outstanding US Sports action. I've had near 100% uptime and virtually no buffering. After a brief scare that they would be permanently retiring their m3u feeds, they are back. My only gripe is that some of their non-sports channels (looking at you MSNBC) are not in HD/FHD, and this drives me to keep another service around for when I don't want to watch sports. Also, I get a few notes from readers complaining that the Soccer broadcasts aren't up to snuff... but remember, this is a US Sports write up. Also, please note that they have no VOD, catchup, or any other extras, but they are the best thing out there... I just can't praise them enough!

2. Smoothstreams (INVITATION ONLY) - this is the other service that didn't skip a beat during or since 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. Their 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... A) they use a little too much compression sometimes which results in video artifacting that I don't find on the best provider streams, and B) 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 a super consistent performer in my stable. An absolute necessity if you can come by an invite (and I don't have any to offer).

SUPPLEMENTAL PROVIDERS

3. Premium - Premium is a rebranding of Helix... a service that I've used for a very long time. Since the XC episode, they have been a very consistent, solid service. 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, and they seem to be replacing the many 30fps feeds that I complained about last month. They have catchup on over 900 channels, though without a reliable EPG, several of my apps have been unable to take advantage of it. I have been told by others that using XEEV to straighten out the guide fixes their catchup issues (they really just need to fix the EPG). 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.

4. XstreamZ - A new entrant to my provider pool, this 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 "XstreamZ" version comes with all of the channels and comes at a better price than buying directly from CC.

5. Beams - I've written about this service in the "not for me" section of this column since the beginning, and no... they have not made any real changes. But circumstances dictate that an extremely solid and reliable service is useful these days, even if some of the channels are at 30fps. You have been warned, you will see flickering channels that drive me up a wall. However, there is some joy in knowing that when you turn this puppy on, you will get a solid buffer free service. Additionally, they have a good EPG and catchup service. I've reintroduced them into my mix mostly to solve the lack of non-sports HD channels (see Jarvis) that I mentioned above. Also, and don't quote me on this because I really don't care, I've heard that they do a nice job of Euro sports. If I keep this provider going forward, I may switch to their BBTV reseller version.

6. Hydrogen - every time I think that they have straightened everything out, Hydro manages to find a way to mess up again. Too frequent buffering and channel/service outages have caused them to move down the charts, but when they are working they can be quite enjoyable. Out of all of my providers, there is no doubt that Hydrogen can have the best picture... problem is that recently, even when they are working the picture is not always consistent. While their offering isn't nearly as large (number of channels) as some of the competition, much of it 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. Their catchup channels have been spotty since the event, but they are slowly rebuilding this.

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

I am not suggesting that anyone needs all 6 of these providers, and while the best two have really been amazing, I do not believe that anyone could rely upon only one. I would approach it this way:

For those who have access to a Smoothstreams invite, Jarvis plus SS is probably all that you would ever need to effectively cover US Sports. This should give you solid access to most everything at a fairly reasonable price (~$25). If you need a good general purpose provider to supplement your channels, adding Premium or Beams should be the ticket.

For everyone else, I would suggest Jarvis and Premium, and [maybe] 1 of the other services (probably Beams). Cost is lower than last time, due to the incredible performance of Jarvis (~$25-35).

Personally, I find myself watching Jarvis, SS and Premium the most often... though Beams may overtake Premium simply because they are providing solid catchup at the moment and Premium isn't.

---- PRICING ----

The current monthly price for these providers, depending upon term length and which of the above strategies you employ, is anywhere from $25-35USD.

I run them through TiViMate ($5USD/year or $19USD one time), 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. OTT features beautiful VOD. You certainly don't need all three, but I like to keep up with everything IPTV. Every time that I think one of these players has won the race, the others do something cool to surpass it.

Currently, I'm finding myself using iMPlayer the most due to its outstanding multiscreen capability and great Discord support channel (unlike TiviMate that uses a less reliable third party for Discord support).

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 most of the ability to properly configure your EPG has now been baked into all 3 of the apps above. Yes, it takes a fair amount of work to get things just right in the apps, but once it is done you can just sit back and profit!

---- NOTES ----

1. People ask me why I use 2-3 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 groups, 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...

Hive - I want to like Hive... I really do. And when it works, it's just fine. But, unfortunately, every time that I try to count on it, I find that the streams are down. Also, beware that I have had some issues using them with TiviMate (though they are perfect in iMPlayer).

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.

Gears - A 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, Epicstreams - 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.