The simple way to watch the London Olympics is to just turn on your cable or satellite-connected TV and watch the NBC Olympics coverage on conventional television. If you want to watch the London Olympics via the Internet, though, things get complicated.

First, NBC’s “Live Extra” Internet Olympics coverage requires that you have a cable, satellite or telephone company TV, such as AT&T Uverse,  subscription that includes MSNBC and CNBC. If you get your TV purely over the Internet or over the air (OTA) with an antenna, you’re out of luck. You’re also not going to be watching the Olympics live over the Internet if you have a basic TV subscription that doesn’t include MSNBC or CNBC.

Think you’re ready to go? Not so fast, buddy. If you’re lucky, you’ll be “automatically” validated without needing to login in. Chances are though that you’ll need to jump through NBC’s Olympic hoops first.

How to watch the Olympics on the Internet. More >