Sentanta Broadband - Worth it?

If you have no other means of getting Setanta and want to watch extra Premier league matches, or get the big matches not on FSC, or get a couple of French and Dutch matches, its worth it.

Its quite pricey and its kind of annoying watching it on the computer with a relatively poor quality. On the 600k, which sometimes shorts out, it is not so bad. ON 300k it can be difficult to watch for me.

I had it all last season though.

 

This pretty much sums up my experience. The 600k feed is pretty good quality but for several of the matches involving the big clubs it would not work and you'd be forced to watch on 300k which is not good at all.

The broadband service also shows Champions League matches as well which is pretty nice. The archives for those would usually go up the night of the game.

I'd recommend signing up for the full year package though so that you get the Pay per view content without having to pay individually.

 

I had it last season, I think it may differ between those of us in the USA and those in Europe, for me there was never a set time games go into the archive and thats the major con for this IMO, sometimes its there within 24 hours other times its not there 1.5 days later but the European counterparts say its usually up for them fairly quickly for them (within a day)

You may want to try it for a month and see if its worth it, I personally wouldnt do it again just because of the archive feature, sometimes I only watch 1 or 2 games live a month on this due to the time.

 

I personally wouldn't recommend it if you can even possibly get Setanta sports on TV. I had it because I wanted to watch all the United and Arsenal matches that weren't on FSC. But watching it on the computer was so annoying.

 

Then I assume you want to watch a specific team, every game. Like United or Arsenal etc. Or you simply can't get enough of the EPL and want to watch the match you choose.

 

How is it compared to FSC on broadband?

 

In that case it should be a no brainer for you (if you can afford it). Without Setanta broadband, I would have gone months without seeing Man Utd play in the premiership. It's especially good for the derby matches which are frequently scheduled for the early Saturday kickoff (I think all of the Man Utd v. Liverpool and Arsenal v. Spurs matches were on Setanta).

 

Anyone know how much SPL specifically Celtic they show/archive? Guessing not much since Sentanta USA gets like 1/10 the games UK does.

 

Unfortunately there are no SPL matches on the broadband channel. I was pretty upset about this myself. I'm hoping that I do get a couple on tv when FIOS picks up Setanta in a few weeks.

 

Yeah, for whatever reason Setanta is not allowed to broadcast anything SPL related whatsoever online (when I asked, they simply told me they had only secured the televised rights, not the online rights).

 

Hey guys, I am thinking about signing up I just had a quick question. I have read about the shortcomings of the technology, but will I get the exact same games that are on Setanta USA. So for example, on Saturday August 16th I would get Arsenal v. West Brom, and Villa v. City. The games are taken from Setanta's website here http://www.setantaus.com/en/NA/News/Setantas-Barclays-Premier-League-Schedule-Announced/

Also, what UEFA champions league games are shown? Is it just english teams? and Are they shown live?

Thanks for your help.

 

I never compared the games last season on broadband to the games on Setanta USA but I'm pretty sure they matched up the same. I don't remember ever being screwed over when it came to the games being on TV but not broadband.

The Champions League games are the ones that aren't show on ESPN2. They are shown live. It usually isn't the English teams because ESPN usually claims though to show. Setanta was a great addition when it comes to the Champions League. They are also archived fairly quickly for viewing later that night.

 

I did broadband last year and except for SPL the lineup is the same as Setanta USA. It's a pretty good deal but there are some frustrations. The 600K feed is only for live broadcast and CL archives. Most archive games are only available in 300K which can be tough to watch. Games are not archived on any regular schedule and that was my biggest frustration. Being on the West Coast the broadcast times can be difficult and the archive was a big deal for me. It was frustrating waiting for some games to be posted.

Overall I'm a big Arsenal fan and with BB I was able to watch virtually all of their games (you'll miss a lot with just FSC). I just recently resigned for the annual package.

 

Thanks guys for the help...I am going to order it before the season starts. I am a Liverpool Fan so getting help from a ManU and Arsenal fan is a little ironic. Lol, thanks again.

 

I am a Liverpool fan and have broadband. For all of its shortcomings, it is still worth it. Definitely a solid buy.

 

Are you saying it sometimes becomes upside down? If you are, that usually means that your connection speed for your Windows Media Player is lower/higher than it should be. Sorry, I don't remember the specifics (I fortunately have the channel through DirecTV now), but if that happens, try opening up your WMP and going to options, then preferences and play around with the settings there (usually the default settings and full video acceleration works for me). After doing so, make sure to close the Setanta player and then re-open it.

Now if you were talking about something else, sorry but I can't help you.

 

So the archived games are all 300k. That is very disappointing. I have a unique situation in that I have a large 50'' HDTV and the picture quality from FSC is really bad. I could get Setanta via Dish Network, but I think I would rather watch the games on my computer's LCD monitor via Broadband. But if the feed is only 300k then that's just a wash I guess, it's going to look bad either way.

 

As of now the only archives that are 600K are the CL games. I heard an interview with the Setanta NA chairman on EPL Talk and he stated there were some improvements to come by the fall. My hope is that all archives will be 600K at some point soon.