On 27/03/2018 15:11, trader_4 wrote:
On Tuesday, March 27, 2018 at 8:16:12 AM UTC-4, Bod wrote:
On 27/03/2018 13:08, dadiOH wrote:
"Amethyst" wrote in message
news Can a Roku streaming stick be used to get free TV stations?
http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=8433834roku.jpg

We are very low tech where I'm asking if I can get free TV with the low
tech equipment that I have already at home.

I picked up two unopened Roku streaming sticks at a garage sale where the
husband who worked for Roku had left the ex wife where he had a few cases
of these things that the ex wife was selling for a buck each but she
didn't
know what they're good for - and neither do I.

The gray box is a Roku 3810R and the green one is a Roku 3800R.

Googling, everyone seems to already know what they do, where I can tell
from the hits that they connect your TV to the Internet over your router
so
that you can use Netflix and stuff.

But we are really low tech so my question is how much free stuff can this
Roku thing give me? All the articles assume you have Netflix, and they
even
assume you have cable, and they assume you have a TV, none of which I
have.

I don't have a TV antenna to get over the air broadcast TV, and even if I
did, I'm remote so I'd likely get one station or two at best.

THere is no cable service. Just electricity. Nothing else by way of
services.

I'm on WISP. About 5 Mbps down and up.
The router is an old WNDR Netgear N with the USB port unused.

The kids have a PS3 connected to an old Sony TV.
http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=6286595sony_model.jpg

The Sony TV is too old for HDMI.
http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=7549633sony_cables.jpg

I know the Sony TV can do Netflix over the net through the PS3 which is
wired to the router because we had a friend stay for a few days and her
account worked where the kids set that up, but we don't have Netflix
account.

We have Windows 10, one of which has an HDTV monitor.
http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=4561584hdmi_1.jpg

So that one kid's desktop is the only HDMI connection in the house.
http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=1354901hdmi_2.jpg

In our low-tech situation, with only my kid having an HDMI monitor, which
nobody shows on the net, can the Roku streaming stick be used to get free
TV stations?

The roku sticks you have can ONLY be connected to a viewing device that has
an HDMI in port. For your TV with the RCA ports, you need Roku Express
3910RW or an older version of same.
https://www.roku.com/products/compare

No Roku will let you view off the air TV stations via your TV in a normal
manner..

No Roku "comes with" channels. One must access their channel store - either
via the Roku device or internet - and create an account. You can then
select whatever channels you want to add to the device; that will install
the bit of code necessary on the device for that particular channel.
Channels can be added or deleted at any time, the limit being only the
capacity of the Roku device. I have no idea what that capacity is, most we
have ever had is 30-40 of which we actually watch 6-8.

There are many free channels, most all will pump out a deluge of ads; one
needs a high threshold of pain to watch them.. The better channels such as
Netfliix, Amazon, et al all require a small monthy fee.

You can browse the channel store here...
https://channelstore.roku.com/browse


(Butting in, apologies)

I watched some TV whilst I was in the States and I found the amount of
adverts intolerable, especially as I mostly watch the BBC channels in
the UK which are all ad free here.
I found it so annoying that I stopped watching.
Are all US tv channels like that?


--
Bod

Depends on your definition of intolerable. US TV channels mostly have
commercials every 15 mins that last several minutes. Somebody has to
pay for it you know. Some special programs may go longer commerical
fee when they are paid for by one big sponsors, but that is rare.
How does the model in the UK work?

The UK commercial channels in the UK also have ads about every 15 mins
as well, but we Mostly record them and wind the ads on when playing back.
The channels in the US that I saw had ads about every 8 minutes. I can't
remember what channels they were though.
The BBC licence fee is £150 per year and has 5 channels (including the
news channel), but well worth it for not having to watch any ads.

We also pay for SKY which has a few hundred channels, but all commercial.
For that we personally pay £62 per month, but that includes the Sports
channels.

--
Bod