becks_r

Hi all

Now I know there are a few threads on this subject already, but I have got very confused reading them. So I think if I clearly state what I am hoping to achieve, someone will point me in the right direction, and I really hope it will be clear!!

I have just moved to a house with ultra fast fibre internet. We had DISH satellite at our last place, with a DVR. We don't want cable TV and we can't have either DISH or DirectTV because we are on a hill, surrounded by very tall trees and neither company can get the line of site they need.

So to get streaming and on-demand I think we need a Roku box, but I am not sure what else. I also need a way to record programs, not everything we watch is on-demand.

If we buy a Roku box here in US, I assume it will only have access to US programming. It seems some people have got 2 boxes, one US and one UK. Do I have to buy the UK one in the UK? If that is the case, I could buy one when I go back to UK, but I might need some help with getting it to work in US.

So I think I need the following -

a Roku box
a service such as Sling or DirectTV online for the actual TV programs. Could I have both?
a way to record streaming programs that are not on-demand

Is this correct? Are there other options I obviously don't know about? And the big one for me - what can I use to record?

I really am a novice with all this, when I first moved here I had cable, then DISH. Back in UK I had Virgin fibre with a TIVO box and I suppose I just want that back - easy to find the programs I want to watch and record them if I need to.

Any help is, as always, gratefully received

lansbury

You need 2 Roku accounts a UK and US ones. Then 2 Roku one for the UK and one for the US, both can be purchased in the US as which account you log into determines what it downlaods. Then something like SmartDNS to fool Roku into thinking the UK box is in the UK.

Sling is Dish and DirecTVNow is well as the name says. Sling has a virual DVR and DirecTVNow is getting that feature if it already doesn't have it.

Strictly speaking you only need one Roku but you would have to keep logging into and out of the separate accounts. Also Roku Has Play Station Blu (I think that is its name) which is similar to Sling and DirecTVNow. If your local TV stations are important to you check which one carries your locals. As yet all locals are not on streaming services and no-one yet carries all locals. For locals you may like to consider an over the air antenna.

Lot of useful info here http://cordcuttersnews.com/

becks_r

Thank you for the information. I suppose my next step is to work out which channels I need - I really only record motorsport which is often hard to watch live with time difference. But I really don't want to go back to watching commercials.....

lansbury

I've been looking at changing to a streaming service myself. I currently have a Roku and watch Netflix, Britbox, Acorn TV and a few others. I haven't tried Sling or DirecTVNow yet as they do not carry all the Portland locals. I have DirecTV via satellite which does.

A cloud DVR works in a very similar way to the box in your living room. The DirecTVNow one should be available in the Fall, Sling has it now. Not sure if with a cloud DVR you can fast forward through the commercials.

I will get a subscription to Sling in September, for a few months, as I want to get the PAC12 football, and DirecTV doesn't have it. Will find out more about cloud DVRs then.

becks_r

We went with Dish satellite at last place because cable was dreadful service and so expensive. I kept missing motogp races because the signal would be lost and it would just record nothing!

The reason we picked Dish was just because the house was surrounded by trees and DirecTV couldn't get a signal. The latest Dish software was a nightmare though, but I can't get any satellite at this new house.

Someone did say to me that I should look at getting an antenna for local TV channels, but I'm not sure how much I would watch them.

You say you use the Roku to watch Netflix etc, does the Roku just let you find these providers and start watching them, obviously using your login to those providers. Or do you have to pay extra for them, I mean extra on top of what you would already pay if you signed up on your laptop, for instance?

Rete

I use my Roku to watch Netflix, Acorn, PBS, etc. The link for them are already on Roku but unfortunately, you have to have an account which each one of these in order to access them. So it would be the fee for the Roku service and then the fee for each of the other ones you wish to use.

becks_r

Great, thanks for clarifying that. I wish I could just pick the channels I want and pay per channel. I think there are a handful of channels I always watch, but invariably I have to pick an add on package that has 1 channel I want and 5 more that I don't....

becks_r

I have had another look and I see another option is Playstation vue - has anyone used this?

lansbury

There is no fee to use Roku once it is purchased. To watch Netflix you use the same log in as on your computer. Other services work the same. Buy a subscription either via Roku or on the providers web site.

Rete

That is true it is the same login but you still need to signup and there is a monthly service fee. The same if you use Amazon Prime. The login is the same for the computer as it is on Roku. PBS charges $60 a year here for membership and for me to view Masterpiece theater and other PBS programs online or on Roku.

scrubbedexpat099

I have DirectTV bit the only thing I would miss is the Footie, I also do not have ultra fast internet as I am in the Boonies.

Dish have the footie on their cheapo package so may switch.

Might try Roku, might try Amazon Fire just to see...

jeepster

Can you use C-Band? These are the big satellite dishes and where you can choose individual channels: C-Band Satellite Equipment and Parts | Actuators | Feedhorns | LNB | Dishes |

rbackhouse

If you have a Playstation 3/4 then you can download streaming apps for Netflix, Amazon and Hulu (others too but can't remember them all) . It would work similarly to a Roku. You would still need accounts for each of the streaming services. If you already have the playstation then you would not need to buy the Roku.

Something else to consider is that some providers are now also acting as streaming aggregators. For example Amazon allows you to add "Channels" to your account. A Channel can be HBO or Showtime or Acorn TV etc. This allows you to avoid having to have a separate "app" on your streaming device for each streaming provider. Of course you have to pay an additional monthly subscription but it does not require you setup an account from each channel.

And also one other thing to check is if your TV is a "Smart" one. If so it may already have its own app service with Netflix, Amazon etc available. Again this would allow you to avoid having to buy a dedicated streaming device like a Roku.

becks_r

Gosh - they are huge! Thanks for the suggestion, but they certainly wouldn't work here. I couldn't put something that big on the front of the house and at back I have huge trees causing a big canopy over the garden and the patio.

jeepster

Depends on your latitude. The further North you are the bigger the dish.