Naveronski said:

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htxag09 said:

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Naveronski said:

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I stopped pirating content when Netflix became mainstream, but lately I've become frustrated with all the various subscriptions required to watch anything.

What's current?
-Are torrents still the leader?
-Are newsgroups/usenet still around?
-DC++ sure was nice when we were on campus!
-Is Plex worth it?

I don't mind cost, and am fairly tech savvy, but anything I do needs to be wife friendly.

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Then just pay for the services you want?

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Already do. Don't like hopping around to different apps to find what I'm looking for.

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Google Chromecast is what you want. And they're cheap.

You can search for everything on a single interface on Android tv.

fav13andac1)c said:

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You could purchase a media server, such as a Synology NAS, or build one yourself and install Unraid.

There are apps available that integrate and can automate the entire thing. Very wife-friendly. See a list below. Keep in mind that it's a little complicated, but there are guides out there for setting it all up. This should give you an idea, and you can do more research from there.

prowlarr - Indexer manager that organizes your preferred trackers.
qBittorrent or similar - make sure to use this with a paid VPN such as Private Internet Access or NordVPN.
radarr - searches for movies using your trackers. Quality settings are organized here
sonarr - radarr, but for tv shows.
Jellyfin or Plex - serves your media to your devices. This is the "streaming service"
Jellyseerr or Overseerr - sets up requests. You can add users, such as your wife, who can search for things to watch and request them. This sends a notification to the admin to approve.

Everything is automated after that.

1. Request through Overseerr or Jellyseerr comes in. Admin approves.
2. radarr or sonarr receives that info. Starts to search for content using the preferred quality settings and trackers and starts the download through -
3. qBittorrent. Download completes and shows up in -
4. Plex or Jellyfin.

To clarify, I use this for my DVDs, Blurays, and only use qBittorrent for free stuff...

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I started using Trakt.tv to put in my requests. I add them to a list on that website and sonarr and radarr pick them up. I don't think it would work for users that are outside the family, but if you're not worried about needing to approve things it works well. I don't even differentiate between tv and movies, they both look at the same list.

https://support.plex.tv/articles/discover/

That's what I use with my Plex server.

Also, newsgroups/Usenet is still a thing. I hear it works great with sonarr/radar combo.

Movies: yts.mx
TV Shows: eztv.re
VPN: https://guardianapp.com/ (Comes with EERO Router subscription. I started having problems with NordVPN and this gave me no issues.)
Torrent Client: BitTorrent Web

NAS: https://www.amazon.com/Synology-4-Bay-DiskStation-DS923-Diskless/dp/B0BM7KDN6R/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1KCZVMSB50MO8&keywords=synology&qid=1702484810&sprefix=synology%2Caps%2C127&sr=8-3&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.17d9e15d-4e43-4581-b373-0e5c1a776d5d
Drives: https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-IronWolf-Internal-Hard-Drive/dp/B084ZV4DXB/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2A92ZHLZF8KR7&keywords=iron%2Bwolf&qid=1702484831&sprefix=iron%2Bwolf%2Caps%2C116&sr=8-3&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.17d9e15d-4e43-4581-b373-0e5c1a776d5d&th=1

Plex: https://www.plex.tv/

Aggie Football: https://thetvapp.to/ (Air Play to the best streaming box.)

The best Streaming Box: https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-tv/apple-tv-4k?fnode=2e2e3e309748bd63dce85acebad159b27c7af91e497bb1c16346ac6edbd4132dd0bc2d9d3757af72886dd10b01b3cfcb31c4d5cd407b71e47e04b9980de2347e33ee053be8e571ffc5ca7046bec2fa0880564c4087bee98a928dc0b792d3f514

If you want to try it out, start with a cheap PC as your server. If you get into it you can always upgrade. I run a $150 beelink micro PC that's about the size of a deck of cards. It works for me but I am pretty basic, just ripped all my DVDs and watch them on Plex.

JDCAG (NOT Colin) said:

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Naveronski said:

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htxag09 said:

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Naveronski said:

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I stopped pirating content when Netflix became mainstream, but lately I've become frustrated with all the various subscriptions required to watch anything.

What's current?
-Are torrents still the leader?
-Are newsgroups/usenet still around?
-DC++ sure was nice when we were on campus!
-Is Plex worth it?

I don't mind cost, and am fairly tech savvy, but anything I do needs to be wife friendly.

---

Then just pay for the services you want?

---

Already do. Don't like hopping around to different apps to find what I'm looking for.

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In general, you don't get better "ease of use" by going the piracy route.

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This is a good point, there is a lot of time investment in setup and back end upkeep of the infrastructure to run this and the automation to make it not a beat down. Further more there are a lot of upfront cost investments depending on the quality and number of simultaneous viewers you want for your movies. If you're planning on doing 4k with HDR, you're going to need a beefy system to be able to handle transcoding. The front end of it all is where you get ease of use since all the content is being consumed through one application. I don't ever recommend that route to someone who isn't a decent hobbyist in the tech world. I do it because I love messing with tech and this technology in particular is interesting to me so I built it in my home lab. And all of that is just for ripping your own movies and TV shows. Adding in automation for "borrowing" things on the internet adds another level of cost and time investment.

So, to do the TLDR version of everything, if you're setting all of this up, it can have significant up front costs and time investment, there will be also additional ongoing time and money requirements (that can be significant) to keep everything running smoothly with a simple to use interface on the front end..

But, if someone else is setting it up and you're piggybacking on them, then it's ridiculously easy to use and far better than any streaming service, which is usually what people have in mind when they think about this type of setup.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Naveronski said:

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htxag09 said:

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Naveronski said:

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I stopped pirating content when Netflix became mainstream, but lately I've become frustrated with all the various subscriptions required to watch anything.

What's current?
-Are torrents still the leader?
-Are newsgroups/usenet still around?
-DC++ sure was nice when we were on campus!
-Is Plex worth it?

I don't mind cost, and am fairly tech savvy, but anything I do needs to be wife friendly.

---

Then just pay for the services you want?

---

Already do. Don't like hopping around to different apps to find what I'm looking for.

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Google Chromecast is what you want. And they're cheap.

You can search for everything on a single interface on Android tv.

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I want to second this. I use to love Roku, but I eventually got frustrated with having to jump between apps to see what everything had. Last year I bought a Chromecast. I think it was like $20 or $30. It has been a great investment. For the most part, I can get to everything via the main interface. The exception is Netflix. For their own business reasons, they won't supply an API for external services to use. For every other app (YouTube, Hulu, Max, etc.), though, I can just use the main Chromecast interface.

I'm not an Apple guy, but I understand their interface is similar.

The streaming devices have gotten so much better that it's really a bigger hassle to pirate.

Average Joe said:

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https://support.plex.tv/articles/discover/

That's what I use with my Plex server.

Also, newsgroups/Usenet is still a thing. I hear it works great with sonarr/radar combo.

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They are still there, but with far less activity than there used to be. There one saving grace these days is that many of the services have retention going back ten years or more. You can still find a good selection of music and audio books to download.

That said, there is more garbage than ever. People are obscuring the names of what they upload to it to try to keep content owners from identifying it and requesting that it be removed.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Naveronski said:

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htxag09 said:

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Naveronski said:

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I stopped pirating content when Netflix became mainstream, but lately I've become frustrated with all the various subscriptions required to watch anything.

What's current?
-Are torrents still the leader?
-Are newsgroups/usenet still around?
-DC++ sure was nice when we were on campus!
-Is Plex worth it?

I don't mind cost, and am fairly tech savvy, but anything I do needs to be wife friendly.

---

Then just pay for the services you want?

---

Already do. Don't like hopping around to different apps to find what I'm looking for.

---

Google Chromecast is what you want. And they're cheap.

You can search for everything on a single interface on Android tv.

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I've had Chromecast years ago, but haven't messed with it in quite a while. I'll give it another try.

IrishAg said:

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JDCAG (NOT Colin) said:

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Naveronski said:

---

htxag09 said:

---

Naveronski said:

---

I stopped pirating content when Netflix became mainstream, but lately I've become frustrated with all the various subscriptions required to watch anything.

What's current?
-Are torrents still the leader?
-Are newsgroups/usenet still around?
-DC++ sure was nice when we were on campus!
-Is Plex worth it?

I don't mind cost, and am fairly tech savvy, but anything I do needs to be wife friendly.

---

Then just pay for the services you want?

---

Already do. Don't like hopping around to different apps to find what I'm looking for.

---

In general, you don't get better "ease of use" by going the piracy route.

---

This is a good point, there is a lot of time investment in setup and back end upkeep of the infrastructure to run this and the automation to make it not a beat down. Further more there are a lot of upfront cost investments depending on the quality and number of simultaneous viewers you want for your movies. If you're planning on doing 4k with HDR, you're going to need a beefy system to be able to handle transcoding. The front end of it all is where you get ease of use since all the content is being consumed through one application. I don't ever recommend that route to someone who isn't a decent hobbyist in the tech world. I do it because I love messing with tech and this technology in particular is interesting to me so I built it in my home lab. And all of that is just for ripping your own movies and TV shows. Adding in automation for "borrowing" things on the internet adds another level of cost and time investment.

So, to do the TLDR version of everything, if you're setting all of this up, it can have significant up front costs and time investment, there will be also additional ongoing time and money requirements (that can be significant) to keep everything running smoothly with a simple to use interface on the front end..

But, if someone else is setting it up and you're piggybacking on them, then it's ridiculously easy to use and far better than any streaming service, which is usually what people have in mind when they think about this type of setup.

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Very well said. Getting everything set up on my end was a task, and I like to think I'm tech-savvy. If you don't want to do the work to set this up, your best bet is to find a friend who has a media server and is willing to set you up as a user on their services. At that point it is every bit as easy as using a traditional streaming service.

That obviously comes with caveats, such as server downtime and maintenance that the admin is going to be doing. But at that rate, you shouldn't be complaining either, as it's literally free. I digress.

I pay around $130 per year of IPTV service. 20000 channels plus ppv and every single streaming service available. I installed an IPTV streaming app on my Nvidia shield, all I have to do is login using IPTV streaming username and password. That's the only app I use besides YouTube. I also have have an IPTV streaming app on my phone and I can access everything there too.

To add to that, I have access to every single live sports event. NFL RedZone also included.

I use an IPTV service too. I do a 6 month subscription since these types of services tend to get shut down. I think I pay $90 every 6 months. You've got access to basically every streaming service, pretty much any movie or TV show you could ever want to watch, and live TV. It's about as close as you can get to a single solution for the super fragmented streaming industry. I'm happy with it, but it's definitely not a viable solution for everybody. Theres a bit of a learning curve, I have to pay in bitcoin (lol), and it's strongly advised that you use a VPN.

If you search for what you're wanting to watch in the Roku app (ie the home screen) it will show you which apps it is available on and the cost.

BrazosDog02 said:

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I'm exhausted just reading this thread. Whatever the cost for services, it's worth it.

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This. Don't understand the desire to set up a whole system just so you can steal content.

How about not being a thief and just paying for content that you want.

YouBet said:

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BrazosDog02 said:

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I'm exhausted just reading this thread. Whatever the cost for services, it's worth it.

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This. Don't understand the desire to set up a whole system just so you can steal content.

How about not being a thief and just paying for content that you want.

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It's not my fault the streaming landscape is so screwed. Why should i have to suffer? The NFL is putting a freaking playoff game exclusively on a paid streaming site this weekend. What are we even doing??

boy09 said:

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YouBet said:

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BrazosDog02 said:

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I'm exhausted just reading this thread. Whatever the cost for services, it's worth it.

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This. Don't understand the desire to set up a whole system just so you can steal content.

How about not being a thief and just paying for content that you want.

---

It's not my fault the streaming landscape is so screwed. Why should i have to suffer? The NFL is putting a freaking playoff game exclusively on a paid streaming site this weekend. What are we even doing??

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The streaming landscape is so screwed...because different things are on different services?

Back in the day you didn't subscribe to every movie channel.

fig96 said:

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The streaming landscape is so screwed...because different things are on different services?

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Every media company is creating their own service. Then slowly jacking up the price and axing content. It's a very blatant money grab.

fig96 said:

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boy09 said:

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YouBet said:

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BrazosDog02 said:

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I'm exhausted just reading this thread. Whatever the cost for services, it's worth it.

---

This. Don't understand the desire to set up a whole system just so you can steal content.

How about not being a thief and just paying for content that you want.

---

It's not my fault the streaming landscape is so screwed. Why should i have to suffer? The NFL is putting a freaking playoff game exclusively on a paid streaming site this weekend. What are we even doing??

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The streaming landscape is so screwed...because different things are on different services?

Back in the day you didn't subscribe to every movie channel.

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But the other point of view is you at least have options now.

Yes, I think a lot of the way it's trending is getting out of hand. But, back in the day you couldn't rent or just subscribe to a service for a month to watch a movie without leaving your couch. You had to go to blockbuster or a theater.

If I wanted to watch an A&M baseball game I'd have to drive an hour and a half to College Station. Otherwise I'd have to find it on the radio.

boy09 said:

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fig96 said:

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The streaming landscape is so screwed...because different things are on different services?

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Every media company is creating their own service. Then slowly jacking up the price and axing content. It's a very blatant money grab.

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I guess I don't think you should be surprised that for profit corporations are trying to make as much money as they can......

boy09 said:

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fig96 said:

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The streaming landscape is so screwed...because different things are on different services?

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Every media company is creating their own service. Then slowly jacking up the price and axing content. It's a very blatant money grab.

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So subscribe to one, watch the stuff you want, unsub and subscribe to another. Rinse and repeat.

boy09 said:

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htxag09 said:

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boy09 said:

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fig96 said:

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The streaming landscape is so screwed...because different things are on different services?

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Every media company is creating their own service. Then slowly jacking up the price and axing content. It's a very blatant money grab.

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I guess I don't think you should be surprised that for profit corporations are trying to make as much money as they can......

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And i don't think the for profit corporations should be surprised when they try to squeeze every possible cent out of their users, some of their users are going to find alternatives.

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For sure, and that's a valid option for you. Personally, I use the flexibility offered to me and cancel streaming services when not using them.

And I'm sure their business models account and expect some of that. But who knows what that breakeven point is. People are generally notoriously bad about assuming everyone thinks or does the same as them. I mean this site thinks NFL is about to die and nobody watches anymore, yet their viewership is seemingly up. They also think bowl season is irrelevant and nobody has interest. Again, ratings don't back this up.

"If buying isn't owning, piracy isn't stealing"

Applies to digital content

ag_derp said:

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"If buying isn't owning, piracy isn't stealing"

Applies to digital content

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That is some justify-y BS.

You have to pay to rent things.