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watching Comcast Xfinity on my computer in Sicily

watching Comcast Xfinity on my computer in Sicily

Old Aug 31st, 2015, 03:21 PM
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watching Comcast Xfinity on my computer in Sicily

Hi

Can anyone tell me how I can access my Comcast programs live while traveling in Sicily? I have been told that once I attempt to connect, my IP address will be recognized as being from the USA and in turn I will not be able to connect. Does anyone have any real experience in connecting through Wi-Fi to live Comcast programing>

Thanks

John
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Old Aug 31st, 2015, 03:50 PM
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Sign up for or setup a VPN service, which will give you an IP address in the US so that Comcast will think you are in the US, not in Sicily. I do this whenever I travel to Europe for a variety of reasons. I have my own VPN service setup at home, so when I connect to it, Comcast, Google, etc. think I'm connecting from home.

You will have to setup the VPN on each device you want to use with the Comcast programs.
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Old Aug 31st, 2015, 04:57 PM
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The VPN addresses the connectivity issue but not the performance part. You tend to get double whammy with VPN in Italy. Depending on the location all you very is minimum DSL speed. On top of this, VPN adds to the transit delay. You might end up with choppy connections.
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Old Sep 1st, 2015, 03:09 PM
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Thanks Greg and Andrew for your input on this.

Actually, my goal is to view the Notre Dame football games broadcast on NBC so if somehow I could find a sports bar, or ?? that receives NBC it would be ideal. We are traveling in Sicily for three weeks and I am a fanatic ND fan.

John
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Old Sep 2nd, 2015, 09:03 AM
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It is highly doubtful you will find a sports bar in Sicily that will be playing American college football.

Why not just tape the games and home and enjoy the beauties of Italy while you are there? You watch football all day when you are home. You only have 3 weeks to see Sicily.
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Old Sep 2nd, 2015, 09:42 AM
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Perhaps as a substitute you can find an audio stream of a radio station that is broadcasting the game? You can try something like the Tunein Radio app but I'm not sure if that will work overseas, either.

If this is really that important to you to see them, set up VPN. Most video streaming devices will detect a slow connection and reduce the video quality to compensate.

Here are a few suggestions (though I am not familiar with any of the five they recommend - I have my own VPN at home):

https://www.bestvpn.com/blog/5309/5-...s-for-openvpn/

Note that this is something you can test at home before you get to Europe. Setup the VPN, connect to it, then try to view NBC content. Use a website like "whatsmyip" to check your IP address before you connect to the VPN, then connect, then check whatsmyip again to make sure it really changed.
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Old Sep 2nd, 2015, 09:55 AM
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Even if there is a fast enough connection to allow streaming sucessfully you could make yourself very unpopular with others trying to use the same WiFi.

TuneIn radio will work.

I would record the games and watch them when you get home. The time difference means you will be up half the night, which won't be conducive to enjoying your holiday daytime, which is surely the point of the trip.
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Old Sep 2nd, 2015, 10:00 AM
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Agree with all of the above. My SO uses a VPN overseas pretty regularly and hasn't reported slow connection, but YMMV. There are several VPN apps out there, and they all offer at least a free trial, so you might download a few and see if any of them work for you.

Europeans don't get the version of NBC we see in the US, so even if the game is being broadcast, you won't be able to catch it live in a bar unless that bar is paying for a special American football subscription. I know those exist for the NFL, but have no idea if they cover American college football. I doubt it.
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Old Sep 2nd, 2015, 10:03 AM
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< you could make yourself very unpopular with others trying to use the same WiFi.>
OK, I don't agree with ALL of the above
Unless you are pirating someone's wifi, why should you concern yourself with how much bandwidth you're eating up? How would you even know how much, relative to capacity??
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