Best way to catch the games from abroad?
What is the best reliable way to watch the Michigan games over the internet from abroad in good quality? I used to subscribe to ESPN Player which showed most games in a pretty good quality (nothing compared to the NFL's Gamepass though). In the past ESPN Player did not show games that were shown on BTN and NBC. That already leaves out the games against UMass, ND and Purdue. I don't want to mess around with semi-legal streams in shitty quality. I'm equiped with VPN and can get IPs from 50 different countries in case a certain country-IP is needed (like I need a US-IP to watch the NBC stream for the ND-game). How do you get your weekly Michigan fix over the Internet?
Thanks
Mick
August 29th, 2012 at 7:30 AM ^
I am in the same boat as you and will be curious to the responses you receive. The main problem I am having is that sites do not recognize my UMICH VPN client. I am using an alumni profile, but when the VPN is connected, websites will still see that I am accessing the site from abroad. I've had this problem for a long time, even when I was a student and using the student profile from abroad. Anyone have suggesitons on how I can diagnose the problem?
August 29th, 2012 at 7:41 AM ^
Other option is find a bar...depends on where you live though.
August 29th, 2012 at 9:09 AM ^
I'm overseas as well and downloaded Hotspot Shield, which gives you an IP from the U.S. when you connect to the internet. Works well and is only $30 for the year.
August 29th, 2012 at 2:00 PM ^
I had an issue with acessing ESPN Player over here in Germany. I'm on a military installation as well. I just e-mailed the support team and let them know my situaion and IP address and they allowed acess for me.
August 29th, 2012 at 7:43 AM ^
...maybe not the right solution for everyone, but works well for me.
August 29th, 2012 at 7:48 AM ^
I watch the game from behind her facing the TV. Wait, maybe I didn't read the question right....
Sorry, I couldn't resist.
August 29th, 2012 at 8:18 AM ^
I've been abroad for three years and in that time the only thing that worked reliably was Slingbox. There are sites like Justin.tv where you can sometimes get the games, but the quality is terrible and unreliable. Invest in a Slingbox - you will not regret it.
August 29th, 2012 at 10:29 AM ^
I used this site to watch The Game last year and it worked out well. I recommend it... it's also free.
August 29th, 2012 at 3:04 PM ^
When I lived in Belgium last year I used justin.tv as well. It's free, and if for some reason it isn't streaming on justin.tv there are links that will take you to free streams. For radio broadcast, iheartradio app on iphone works great.
August 29th, 2012 at 8:34 AM ^
Can I ask about more of a short-term version of this question?
Does anyone know if the Air Force and/or UMass games will be streamed somehow so I can watch them during my business trip to China? I have tried Justin.tv but it has been unreliable. I heard there are some websites the sort of piggy back on the Armed Forces website that streams any and all sports, but I haven't confirmed that.
August 29th, 2012 at 8:44 AM ^
August 29th, 2012 at 8:50 AM ^
vipbox.tv or thefirstrow.eu
Both will have all the games, but I go back and forth on which I use regularly, because the quality is not reliable on either. And streams do sometimes get taken down mid-game, though there's almost always another alternative.
This is not in any way a perfect solution (I was watching the Lions preseason game last weekend, and the chatbox was 2 plays ahead of my stream), but it works.
August 29th, 2012 at 9:07 AM ^
Doesn't that show BTN games for people abroad (although you could mask your ip and watch in the US).
August 29th, 2012 at 12:12 PM ^
but only if M is on the Big Ten Network. It won't work for games (like Saturday night) that are on ESPN or ABC.
August 29th, 2012 at 9:25 AM ^
I watched almost every game on here last year, use this
August 29th, 2012 at 10:32 AM ^
I use ESPN player which is not expensive (20 euros per month) and has good quality for most of the important games. I back it up the the site above- "First Row" which is the best of the free online sources and as julesh said above vipbox.tv is an alternative. No overseas help from BTN so far...
August 29th, 2012 at 10:07 AM ^
VPN is definitely the way to go. I have good service through Astrill VPN (recently voted best VPN service by Lifehacker.com readers). And then I'd log into BTN2GO or WatchESPN / ESPN3. The catch is that you'd still need a stateside cable provider account. I'd ask a family member or friend to share their login/password for this purpose.
August 29th, 2012 at 11:18 AM ^
This is probably the best way to go. The streams through these sites are pretty good quality and you can see a lot of games. I made my login pretty generic so that people could use my DirectTV logins for HBOgo and BTN2go
I also have a slingbox. That works really well because if you get the premium you can even control and watch the DVR. Although as mentioned above you need to have a cable line that it transmits from. I have one at my parents house, but it means I can get all of their channels whenever.
Good Luck.
August 29th, 2012 at 11:22 AM ^
I'm flying to Europe on Friday night and Saturday night I'm going to be jetlag tired so I won't be able to sit up at 2AM to see the game even if I could get it. I figure my best bet's going to be to wait until I can watch an Every Snap edit. (Please, ABC, leave them alone!). That way I can watch it without taking too much time out of my vacation.
November 28th, 2015 at 3:34 PM ^
Hey! I know your post was super long ago, but I've been using EverSport.tv to stream games overseas, since I'm working in Birmingham now...it's amazing.
It looks like they're offering free basketball passes too which I just signed up for: http://eversport.instapage.com
June