Questions About Streaming TV, Roku, Netflix, Ect

Roku has qvc and other home shopping channels for no extra cost. Hulu plus allows you to watch a show a day after the original day it airs. Netflix doesn't have current content, just past seasons. As far as I know, live sports are not available (but there might be some channels that you would have to purchase via roku) through streaming devices but you can usually watch big events, e.g. Superbowl, Stanley cup, on your computer.

Remember, if you are going to stream a lot or on numerous devices at the same time then you are going to want the highest speed, and highest priced, nonbusiness internet connection available in your area.

We've thought about cutting the cord. Here's what I discovered during an extended visit to a friend who actually made the switch.

Her kids didn't watch tv much. When they did, they watched on Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime.

She and her husband binge-watched a lot of the tv shows they liked either through the same sites as their kids or by logging on to the networks' websites. I do the same thing with TiVo, though. It seems like the networks have shows available the next day, but Hulu and Netflix are a season behind. The networks only make the last 4-5 shows available it seemed. They did have lots of bonus content though (the type of stuff, you used to get when you bought a whole season on DVD)

If I wanted to catch the news, I could go to the website of a local station and watch it, though during high usage times, it seemed to buffer frequently.

The family bought an iPad because of the conflicts over the two family computers for things other than tv watching.

When we moved, we made the change to Netflix and Roku. We have somewhere around 15 - 20 channels just over the air using an antenna. We have all the local channels plus Fox, PBS and a few others like Outdoor living, Healthy Living Network, etc. So, shows like the Oscars, Grey's Anatomy, Big Bang Theory, etc.. that are on regular t.v. aren't missed. They air just like having them on cable. My kids enjoy Netflix because they don't really watch a lot of regular t.v. shows and we like Roku and Netflix because we can (as previously stated) binge watch shows. For instance, we never watched Dexter when it was on, but then we started it and used part of a weekend to go through 1/2 a season! hahaha

The only thing I really miss are the 24 hr. news channels and being able to DVR things and rewind, pause, etc...

So, we pay like 40 dollars for internet service and nothing at all for the over-the-air channels (other than the initial price of the antenna) and the one time cost of the Roku and the Netflix is about 8 dollars a month. So much more cost effective than 100 or more for cable, if you ask me! :)

I hope I explained it all okay. To be honest, my husband is the one that figured it all out! :) If you need clarification, let me know. It's amazing how many people are doing this!

L.

Oh, and congrats on the new home!

We use Netflix exclusively. Their contracts dictate that a show must be "released" (as in Dvd stage) to be streamed. So for instance, right now season 4 of The Walking Dead is airing on Tv. It will be available on Netflix shortly before or after season 5 begins to air. It's really not an issue for us, though. There is plenty to choose from. Netflix does not offer any live shows. I'm not sure if any program really does that. But you could still view Tv channels (the free ones) if you have the proper equipment. We never watch live anything, and it doesn't bother us at all. We pay $8 a month. I've been using Netflix exclusively for 5 years, and I have no complaints.

Netflix is a few seasons behind. Amazon u have to pay per new episode. Megashare.info is a finicky site but is usually a few days behind. We use all of these and do not have satellite/cable. It does get annoying not remembering all that we watched in order to stream it but uh well. The kids n bubby have their shows. I've also heard crackle and coke and popcorn are both good sites but couldn't get them to work on my computer. Oh yea we stream Netflix and amazon through our older Wii thru the tv so we get towatch a 32 inch old tv instead of an itty bitty computer screen most of the time. I haven't tried to watch anything live but we do have some what of a satellite stream since all we did was put our service on hold so it wouldn't charge anything. We get the buy channels and rotate channels we can watch and sometimes get movie channels

Netflix is one season behind...Hulu plus is one day behind the current episode...

I have never tried to watch live tv as sports, etc don't really interest me. But there are sites and channels that allow you to do that...

I love our Roku the format is very nice and we can stream radio stations as well as tv and movies.

We also stream through our BlueRay player and the format isn't as mice as the Roku.

We pay $35.00 a month for the internet and the standard works just fine...$8.00 a month for Netflix and $8.00 a moth for HuluPlus...so for $56.00 we have all the tv and movies we can watch. However, we do end up purchasing episodes of the Walking Dead from Amazon at $1.99 each so about $28-30 for a season...it is our favorite show and we can barely go to one movie and the theater for that price.

We think it saves us a bunch of money.

Just weighing in, I use Netflix here and have used it for a year exclusively. We are just fine. We get our news and such from the internet. One of these days we will get a better antennae for the roof because we live out in the country, a regular antennae is not enough. We hardly feel like we miss out on things, with our internet being decent enough to stream in live events that matter to us from the computer. Have not tried watching awards ceremonies or games...don't know how that would work. If those mattered to us I guess we would find a way to do it! I know that amazon offers streaming, don't know what is available through them, and we have used hulu in the past and liked it also. As long as you have a good internet connection you should not have a problem with any of it, if I can get one, you can too :)

We've been cable/satellite free for four plus years now. First off, if you have an old school TV you need a converter box and an antenna; if you have an HDTV then you just need an antenna. That will give you all the local and free channels (there are some shopping networks). So, yes, you can watch live tv when it comes on, for free. If you miss an episode, Hulu plus will show most episodes the next day. And most TV networks will show the next day, except for ABC (you have to wait a week and a day for their on demand). Netflix has past seasons and movies. Also, if you stream with a Roku there are a lot of free channels and paid for channels that you can add. You can try Hulu Plus and Netlix for free. You can also watch those on your computer or tablet, along with ABCwatch. Good luck and congrats on the new house!