After my last post on here asking about convenient streaming options at higher resolutions, I got a few comments recommending Stremio with Torrentio and Real Debrid.

I ended up going through with that and streamed a 4k movie. That said, what’s the catch? I’m a little paranoid because I’m not sure if this still counts as torrenting, and if I should be using a VPN while watching something from RD.

No such thing as free lunch, so I’m assuming there’s other downsides to this solution, could someone let me know what they are?

  • illyria817@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    0·
    1 year ago

    You don’t need a VPN with Torrentio + Real Debrid. You are not torrenting - they already torrented it for you, and you are streaming the cached file directly from the RD servers. I think the only “catch” is that it’s not free (obviously) so I don’t think you can call it “free lunch” lol. Torrentio addon specifically scrapes the debrid service - now, if you were to install, say, TPB addon for Stremio, it would be torrenting, so you don’t want to do that without a VPN.

    • Jaluvshuskies@lemm.eeEnglish
      0·
      1 year ago

      This is what I understand as well. I have been using it (well, specifically streamio + Rd with torrentio addon) for half a year so far and it’s fantastic. Definitely seems too good to be true, but there’s no catch imo :)

      There’s only 3 cons which for me aren’t big deal breakers unless it’s important to you

      • No auto renewal
      • Not free, it’s like $6 for 6 months or something which imo is insanely affordable and an incredibly good deal
      • If you watch on multiple devices but at the same time, you get banned

      EDIT: As I was corrected below, bullet 3 only applies when under the same IP using different external IP addresses

      • Learning2Draw@lemmy.mlEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        So it’s two months later, this still working for you? I’m looking at this for myself just setting up unraid now…

  • sylverstream@lemmy.nzEnglish
    0·
    1 year ago

    I can’t see any downsides. I’ve switched recently from an *arr stack to Stremio and can’t be happier. Even with all the automation, I found it annoying that I first had to download something before I could watch it, after which Bazarr had to download subtitles (which only happens every couple of hours) and Kodi had to be updated before it was visible there. And downloading obvious requires storage.

    Stremio also works across devices which is awesome. I bookmark shows on the go and watch it in the evening on my CCWGTV.

    We’ve already noticed that we enjoy watching media more.

  • Gamey@feddit.rocksEnglish
    01·
    1 year ago

    I use it and don’ care much but it’s definitely Torrenting so if you are in a country with bad laws and very paranoid you whould probably use a VPN but just know that the few actual lawsuites that came from this bs are at best symbolic and your chance to get hit by a lightning is probably a lot higher.

    • derivada@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      Using a debrid service is paying for a third party to do the torrenting, so your IP is not in the torrent swarm. Your ISP knows you’re using the service, but they don’t know whether you’re streaming illegal content, which means there are no grounds to subpoena neither the ISP nor the debrid service logs.

      a VPN is probably not needed imho.

      I am not a/your lawyer.