DirectTVStream, Xfinity Internet, and Dynamic IP Addresses

If you're just taking the box with you to an RV Park you really don't need to make that a "home" location. 

Litzdog911 -

I was thinking that IF AND WHEN your IP address changes that Direct considers that you have moved and would consider the new location and therefore count as 1 of 4 location changes.  

If that is incorrect please help me to understand.

I'm looking to see if this IP address changes is really a problem or not.

Moving a device doesn't change what DTV thinks is your home network.  Only your ISP changing your address does.   So in this case, if Xfiniti changes your address (for whatever reasons, then DTV will think all the devices on your home network are now away from home and will be subject to the away from home device limits.  That persists until you tell them that the new address is now "home".  That change is the one that is limited to 4 per year.  I can't picture Xfiniti changing addresses just to cause problems for DTV, but some ISP technologies apparently tend to require more frequent changes.  I have no idea whether that applies to Xfini, but if they don't need to I would tend to think they wouldn't change addresses (often) - there are other applications that would break if they did so, and that would upset customers.

BTW - YouTube TV works more like you thought.  They look at the device addresses and if they see 3 or more concurrently at the same (new) address , they mark that as your new home address.  That causes different problems than the DTV approach, but still problems.

From what I've read online from Xfinity customers----IP addresses usually last about a year before they change them. I have Mediacom and my current IP has been the same for 8 months. 

I have Spectrum internet and have consumed my 4 address changes because of new ip addresses when my router or modem reboots or restarts. Tech support advised that the only fix was to get a static IP address, but spectrum only offers those to business accounts. Is there another fix?

Jrandomuser  

I'm just trying to get a handle on this.  So if I take 1 of my 2 DTV Stream boxes with me to Texas, the IP address is gonna change when I plug that box into the network down there.  But DTV won't consider that moving to a new home because not ALL of my boxes have new IP addresses?  

taylo -

I'm in the same situation.  Xfinity will only give static IP addresses to business customers.  And of course business Internet service is more costly because Comcast figures your going to use it a lot more than a residential customer.

And not only that they charge $25 per month extra to have a static IP address. 

Taylo - what did you end up doing to solve your problem?  Buy another DTV Streaming box?

Bill 

Jrandomuser

OK I think the fog is beginning to lift LOL 

Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to help me understand.  

In talking to my wife about this (wives seem to have a way to cut to the chase) - she said we are not pouring concrete - it's not a long term contract and we can always go back to Xfinity TV.

Thanks again,

Bill

I have had Spectrum for years and years. Never had an issue with the IP address changing. More about your location (metro or rural) for the change to take place and impact you.

I have spoken to customer support at DirectTV Streaming, Spectrum (the only service available in my area), and my router manufacturer. The only solution offered was to convert my Spectrum account to a business account at an additional $19.99 per month. I really like my DTV Streaming, but it is not the cheapest. Adding the additional cost of a static ip address is not very appealing. So I am still in research mode.  ??

@HotWaterJoe - we have Xfinity internet but not DTV Stream.  We do stream content from other providers.  My IP Address hasn't changed in a couple years.  I check it all the time (I'm an IT geek) and it doesn't change, even between modem reboot/resets.  I even swapped my modem for a new one (totally different brand of modem too) a few months ago (I own the modem, I don't rent) and the IP address did not change (I expected it to change but it didn't).  I DO NOT have a static IP.  I have normal home internet with a dynamic IP address.  It has changed in the past.  I can think of about maybe 3 different IP addresses I've had since I started using Xfinity in 2009 (yes, 14 years).

I don't think Xfinity is going to zero in on DTV Stream customers and try to screw them.

When you go to TX you will be considered "out of home".  I'm not sure exactly what this means, but I suspect some stations won't be available when you're "out of home."  However, when you get to TX you can "change your home IP address" in the DTV system.  Please read this page for instructions on how to do this:  https://www.directv.com/support/stream/article/KM1433086/

Any I agree with your wife's thinking.  ;) 

@John5 

Thanks for the report on IP addresses. 

We are gonna keep the DTV Stream and cancel our Xfinity TV and phone.  If we find that DTV Stream is more expensive in the long run, then we can always go back.

We are going to change our Xfinity Internet to 400Mbps with unlimited data.  We'll monitor our data usage and adjust as needed.  

We also have our own cable modem but rent the TV boxes from Xfinity.  It's one of the things I don't like about Xfinity in that you have to rent THEIR boxes to get full functionality.  For us that's $18 per month.  

Thanks again for reporting your experiences.

Bill

The IP address we've been talking about (the one assigned by your ISP to the network your initial streaming is on) defines that network as your "home network",  DTV allows you to have a large number of streaming devices (20) that are on that network concurrently using the service.  Any device that is not on that network (showing a different external IP address) is considered away from home.  DTV limits you to having at most 3 devices concurrently using the service that are away from home, and at most 2 of those can be TV streamers (their Osprey device, Roku, FireTV, etc. - basically anything other than a mobile device).  There is no need to change your "home" location if the away from home device limit is OK for you (that is, if you will only use a couple of devices when away, don't change anything).

All of that is unrelated to where you physically are - if you use the service at your next door neighbor's (using their internet service) or on a mobile device using cell data rather than your home WiFi (even if your are physically at home), those devices are considered away from home.

Physical location does (or at least can) impact what local stations and RSNs you get.  Mobile devices (with GPS or potentially other "reliable" location services) will get the locals that match your physical location.  That is less certain with TV streamers, which don't have good location services.  At one point they used IP geolocation to try to determine the physical location, but that often isn't accurate and I don't know if they still do that.  There have been reports of people getting their home locals when away (implying they don't know your physical location and are just using your home/billing location) and reports of getting the physical location locals.  It may depend on the type of device and other unknown factors.  RSNs are similarly iffy - if they don't know your location, you will probably get your home RSNs.  However, if they can use your physical location, you (again probably) won't get any RSNs due to licensing issues.  However, I haven't tested this much, especially since the world ended, so I can't say for sure.

As far as needed bandwidth is concerned, 8Mbps per stream should be fine for DTV Stream, which offers at most HD - they have been many reports that people are OK at 5Mbps, though I'd suggest a bit more.  That scales with the number of streams.  (I have "only" 45Mbps service because no one wants to run fiber where I am - I've run 3 or 4 concurrent video streams with no problem.)  However, for services (like Netflix or Prime) that offer 4k content, you'll need much more - generally 25Mbps per 4k stream (to allow for some headspace) is recommended.  So 100Mbps should be able to support 4 4k streams, albeit without anything else going on.  I agree that 1Gbps seems silly - I can't picture a residential user having activities that would use a significant fraction of that - 20 concurrent 4k stream would "only" be 500Mbps.  Of course, once they run fiber to you (or coax for cable) bumping you from 500Mbps to 1Gbps costs them little (or maybe nothing), but they can charge you more.