HELP!! My current tech-fu is SO weak. At least in certain areas. FIREsticks especially

[night driver]

Having decided to kick DirecTV to the curb, and mostly because they rolled me into the Evil ATT empire instead of leaving me Directv I'm looking at options.

Have pretty basic DTv and was talking to someone who uses a jail-broke FIREstick and pays for HULU and Netflix streaming service, with a total cost of about 60 bux less than I'm paying now.

I'm not all that conversant in Firestick so, can I get some schooling from y'all??

I BELIEVE I want one at least SOMEWHAT preprogrammed but I'm pretty much a naif babe in the woods on this. (Y'all have NO CLUE what it takes to admit that lil detail. SERIOUSLY!)

HALP!! MR WIZARD!! I TRIED TO BE AN ENGINEER, BUT.........

[bw]

Having decided to kick DirecTV to the curb, and mostly because they rolled me into the Evil ATT empire instead of leaving me Directv I'm looking at options.

Have pretty basic DTv and was talking to someone who uses a jail-broke FIREstick and pays for HULU and Netflix streaming service, with a total cost of about 60 bux less than I'm paying now.

I'm not all that conversant in Firestick so, can I get some schooling from y'all??

Praise God, I have no idea what any of that means. Disconnected ... priceless.

[Dennis Olson]

What EXACTLY are you trying to get in terms of programming?

[pops88]

If by jail broke you mean it has Kodi, I found it a waste of time. It was such a pain to find what I wanted to watch, or even anything to watch that it became completely not worth it. I like my Firesticks though and own 3. I ditched Netflix over their politics and crap offerings. I pay for OANN and Firestick has that app, as well as Youtube and many other popular ones. If you don't have a smart tv, a Firestick is great.

[bw]

If by jail broke you mean it has Kodi, I found it a waste of time. It was such a pain to find what I wanted to watch, or even anything to watch that it became completely not worth it. I like my Firesticks though and own 3. I ditched Netflix over their politics and crap offerings. I pay for OANN and Firestick has that app, as well as Youtube and many other popular ones. If you don't have a smart tv, a Firestick is great.

In our evening wine interlude, I was talking with my wife about some mid-70's technology. I'm ok with no longer being cool, but I was cool once.

[night driver]

MY understanding of jail-broke is similar to opening up my 2 meter/440 ham handheld to be able to function out of band on MARS/CAP frequencies. That may not be remotely close th9ough.

[WalknTrot]

Should be easy. Just plug the Firestick in to the TV's HDMI port, (Firestick also plugged into power of course) tune TV to that port, and turn on the Firestick (w/the remote). Have your house wi-fi user name and password handy, and enter when prompted. If you have Netflix/Amazon Prime, etc. load those apps to the Firestick and enter those user names and passwords when prompted. (Should only have to do that once.) Then get yourself to the menu, select, etc. Watch TV. Good to go.

I know neither where, what or most importantly, WHY with the jailbroke thang. You are on your own there.

[Jez]

Having decided to kick DirecTV to the curb, and mostly because they rolled me into the Evil ATT empire instead of leaving me Directv I'm looking at options.

Have pretty basic DTv and was talking to someone who uses a jail-broke FIREstick and pays for HULU and Netflix streaming service, with a total cost of about 60 bux less than I'm paying now.

I'm not all that conversant in Firestick so, can I get some schooling from y'all??

I BELIEVE I want one at least SOMEWHAT preprogrammed but I'm pretty much a naif babe in the woods on this. (Y'all have NO CLUE what it takes to admit that lil detail. SERIOUSLY!)

HALP!! MR WIZARD!! I TRIED TO BE AN ENGINEER, BUT.........

If all you really want is to pay for Hulu and Netflix, is there a reason you're not going with a Roku device? Just be sure you have broadband internet. No need to Jailbreak an Amazon spy device.

[Dennis Olson]

Right. Roku is the way to go.

Are you thinking you’re going to get local programming over the device? Because you’re not.

[night driver]

D, I'd like to cover the capabilities I have with the JUST slightly higher capabilities than basic direcTV.


Things like ION (addicted to Chicago PD), ESPN and films. An AMAZON PRIME ap would be nice.

About the only time I go to Local Stations is for weather...I don't leave the SKYWARN 6 meter backbone up 24/7 anymore....

[Dennis Olson]

Check the Roku channel store and see if they have what you need. You’ll be happier than with a fire stick.

Plus, if you have Spectrum cable available in your location, you can get a package of a bunch of basic channels plus 10 channels of your choice (non-premiums; those are extra) for $15 a month with no contract.

[night driver]

I'll have to look into the Spectrum angle. they're REAL damn pushy up here...

[raven]

My brother in law just moved. He had Spectrum cable and internet so when he moved had them come out.
He has 3 TVs and the tech told him it would cost $7 PER MONTH for each additional TV.
And then the tech recommended that he buy a couple of Rokus instead and download the spectrum app for the other TVs.
Saved him some money.

You still have to have internet which is $50/month here.
The cheapest FireStick is $40. The cheapest Roku is $30. But this is a one time fixed cost.
With either you have to install apps - which works like installing an app on your smart phone.
Apps are free - yes all free.
But the service isn't. One of the better apps is "Sling TV" - order now and you get a free Roku.
Free, Free Free - yes free.
Sling - $15/month. Prepay two months and get a $29 Roku Free.
And you can get an RCA HDTV Indoor Antenna when you subscribe and prepay three months.
And with an Air TV anternna - you get local channels - if you are within antenna range.

Sorry I got so excited. For $15/month and a free Roku I can't think of a less expensive way to get introduced to streaming TV.

There are other apps. Netflix, Hula, the list is long.
If you have Amazon Prime, then a FireStick allows you to access Amazon programming,

I have a FireStick. I do not have Amazon Prime. I had Sling for a while but found I only watched TWD on AMC could not see paying a monthly fee for one show.

If I was to start over, I would go with the Sling offer probably get the Air TV and buy a Roku.
(well, I just checked . . . there is only one OTA channel available here in the secure remote location)

[byronandkathy2003]

Right. Roku is the way to go.

Are you thinking you’re going to get local programming over the device? Because you’re not.

kathy and i love our roku tv

[blackjeep]

Cable cutting is something I definitely need to look into. I barely watch any TV.

[bw]

I barely watch any TV.

15 years for me, best I can recollect. Don't miss it.

[Meemur]

Yo, ND -- do yourself a favor and also get an indoor antenna that hangs on the wall, about $12 at Wally World. Where you are, there's about 23 channels (might be more) that you can get over-the-air.

www.tvfool.com for more details.
These are not your primo stations but ABC, NBC, FOX, PBS, and so on.

It seems like I could pick up Detroit and Canada stations with an amplified indoor antenna at night.

You may also get CBC out of Canada -- good for whacked out comedy on Saturday nights.

[Kable]

Titanium app. Used to be terrarium but they are no longer supported.
Scroll down to the area: "Install Titanium TV on Firestick/Fire TV [STEPS]" and follow the step by step. Pretty straight forward.

[twobarkingdogs]

Best thing to do is to define what it is that you want to watch then determine how you go about watching it.

As you may or may not be aware the streaming universe which right now is basically limited to the big 3, netflix, a-prime and hulu, is undergoing a major change in the next year or so. Its starting with the disney and comcast properties as they are spinning up their own streaming sites and are also pulling their shows and movies from the other big-3 sites. Comcast owns NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network, Syfy and a few others including movie studios. Disney owns ESPN, ABC, Fox, A&E, History, Lifetime and a few others including movie studios. So the content from those 2 companies will be shifting locations as soon as their existing contracts run out. And like most things you will have to subscribe to those 2 companies streaming sites to watch.

My point is that you don't want to commit to much cash to cord cutting at this time as things will be changing. That was why I stated that you need to determine what you want to watch. Roku might be the way to go for now as it is low cost and it sounds fairly simple. Just be aware that in a year or 2 you might need to change.

tbd

[WFK]

When you stream Video make sure your internet supplier has no hard or soft limits in usage!

[Maryh]

We ditched Spectrum cable a year ago. We did keep the internet. We went to the old inside antenna and get plenty of channels. We get our local, plus ION which got us addicted to Chicago PD also. Not looking back! I do miss the sports choices as we follow many college games because our kids went to the schools.


My son has a subscription to Playstation Vue and gave me his password. I cannot watch tv when he's watching but you can stream many devices. I stream them through the PlayStation Vue app and hook the computer to the tv if hubby wants to watch the game tool Works for us and saves us $$$.

[Mixin]

Digital Trends recently put out this really good, easy to read article comparing the 3 streaming devices. 4K tvs are pretty affordable so you may keep that in mind for a future purchase.

Chromecast vs. Roku Streaming Stick+ vs. Fire TV Stick 4K
https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-t...fire-tv-stick/

[Dennis Olson]

Chuck, the statements “my tech-fu is really weak” and “I want to hack...” are mutually exclusive. Don’t do stuff you’re not qualified to do. You won’t like the probable result.

[night driver]

VERY TRUE!!.

I was looking at MANY units where the adjustments were already completed.

I was considering buying the expertise. EQUALLY dumb in several contexts...

[NHGUNNER]

Check the Roku channel store and see if they have what you need. You’ll be happier than with a fire stick.

Plus, if you have Spectrum cable available in your location, you can get a package of a bunch of basic channels plus 10 channels of your choice (non-premiums; those are extra) for $15 a month with no contract.

Just last week I switched to the Spectrum TV Choice where you pick 10 channels plus you get the local channels (CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS and Fox). I'm sure the pricing depends on the territory. For me, it was $25 a month plus broadcast fee of $5 for total of $30. We dropped Netflix for this. I considered SlingTV but from what I could see, the price only included streaming from one device at a time. With the kids, I didn't want to be hindered by that. Also, with Spectrum I can add the Roku streaming channels for each one I picked. I log in with Spectrum and I can see old shows they have instead of just the live tv. For instance, one channel is A&E. With the Spectrum app, I can watch A&E live tv. By adding the A&E streaming channel on the Roku, I can also select shows that have already aired to watch.

I just got it Friday, so I'm not up to speed on everything, but so far so good. One thing to note, once you pick your ten stations, you can only make a change during the first 30 days. No one told me this initially.

[Green Co.]

Chuck... don't know where your at, but you can go to some internet sites that allow you to enter your zip code or address, and it will show the tower locations & distance, so you know what type of antenna you need.

I fooled around with several different models of antenna. NO indoor antenna did me much good, all the best channels are 45+ miles away. But when I got the right outdoor antenna, on a 20' mast, I get 72 channels from the Houston, Bryan/College Station area.

Oh, and I looked, ION TV is available OTA from Chicago... Ch. 38, with 5 sub-channels

https://www.stationindex.com/tv/markets/Chicago

[Dennis Olson]

You’re right, it’s $25. My bad

[WalknTrot]

With Amazon/Amazon Prime, you can subscribe to many cable channels on a piecemeal basis. When something is running on Starz, I subscribe for the duration of a couple months. Same with HBO..whatever. Or individual first run shows, too. They pop up as available for view the morning after they air on cable. Easy as Amazon website to subscribe or unsubscribe.

All the TV I will ever want...and best part? NO NEWS CHANNELS!!

[night driver]

Chuck... don't know where your at, but you can go to some internet sites that allow you to enter your zip code or address, and it will show the tower locations & distance, so you know what type of antenna you need.

I fooled around with several different models of antenna. NO indoor antenna did me much good, all the best channels are 45+ miles away. But when I got the right outdoor antenna, on a 20' mast, I get 72 channels from the Houston, Bryan/College Station area.

Oh, and I looked, ION TV is available OTA from Chicago... Ch. 38, with 5 sub-channels

https://www.stationindex.com/tv/markets/Chicago

Virtually all the TV stations here have their transmitters down in 7 Hills...named for the 7 hills which would be GREAT EXCEPT they are actually LOWER than my location AND I have a little issue with what we Hams refer to as The Euclid Lake Erie Shelf. It's not a HUGE feature except I'm sitting about 60 feet or so above Lake Erie water level. The shelf starts about 200 meters from my side door and runs up about 6oo feet pretty much straight up.

It's an issue. Hell, I can JUST hit my 3 preferred repeaters but I KNOW I'm NOT into the MAIN inputs for any of them.

I'd likely be getting Leamington and London Ont as well as Toronto from across the Lake.

[Repairman-Jack]

I have a Firestick that I "jailbroke" Out of the box the Firestick has probably most of the streaming services you'd want.

Jailbreaking/Hacking/Kodi was time a little time consuming but there are tons of online tutorials that will walk your though step by step. About the only thing I use Kodi for in running a video streaming app called Magic Dragon, it has a very good selection of newer movies (note if you're using an app like this you might want to also consider using a VPN)