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Hulu/Roku/Chromecast- school me

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Looking to say bye to cable and go the route of streaming. Honestly I watch a couple shows and then sports, otherwise I do a lot of online watching from YouTube. Because of this I don't want to be spending the ridiculous amount of cable anymore. I know I will have to buy a Apple TV box for my one tv that isn't a smart tv, but after that I'm lost on all the companies.

 

What are the differences between them all? Do any of you guys use one of these and have any comments?

 

I also saw people say they buy a antenna as well to pick up extra channels just incase I want to watch news or what not, anyone do this as well and recommend a certain antenna?

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I use chromecast for my upstairs tv and it works great. But it is not a stand alone device. It only streams from your phone with apps that support it. (Netflix, YouTube, Pandora, etc). You can use the Apple TV or a kindle fire stick to turn your tv into a smart tv.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Man never even heard of Kodi lol, God so many companies!

 

What makes one better then other if you don't mind me asking?

 

If I went Kodi route do I need Apple TV or something? What type of port do I need to make sure my tv has for it?

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Man never even heard of Kodi lol, God so many companies!

 

What makes one better then other if you don't mind me asking?

 

If I went Kodi route do I need Apple TV or something? What type of port do I need to make sure my tv has for it?

 

 

You just need a fire stick loaded with Kodi.  All you need is a HDMI port on your TV.  

 

Again, if you want details, PM me

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I ditched cable about a year ago and it was pretty liberating! I now use just a Roku3 to stream Netflix and Amazon Prime as well as Sling TV off and on. I also installed an antenna in my attic which picks up about 40 channels from Philly and to me the HD channels like CBS bad FOX look better than anything the cable company was providing. I only use the antenna on 1 tv. I did some poking around on antennaweb.org to see what kind of channels I could get with an antenna and to figure out what range antenna to buy. For me, a Clearstream 4 antenna did the trick. I was planning to buy it from antennasdirect.com but saw it at BJ's for a few bucks less.

 

The only downsides I bump up against are sometimes the weather has an impact on the over the air channels, I miss the DVR but don't care enough to do anything about it, and I'm dependant on the Internet connection to remain stable. I'm not a big sports fan but tuning into games is limited with my arrangement. Check your ISP to see about limits with how much you can download.

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one thing to keep in mind is that most cable cos are wise to us wanting to ditch and therefore require a cable/sat subscription package in order to stream. so if you plan on watching any local channel, you'll need an antenna. if you plan on watching espn, amc, fox sports, etc you'll still need a sub...

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one thing to keep in mind is that most cable cos are wise to us wanting to ditch and therefore require a cable/sat subscription package in order to stream. so if you plan on watching any local channel, you'll need an antenna. if you plan on watching espn, amc, fox sports, etc you'll still need a sub...

 

Not true. I haven't had cable in 3+ years - only internet. No antenna either. I watch football every Sunday during the season. I can pick up most local and international channels live now as well.

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I have two Roku boxes and it gets most of what I need. I also put this antenna in the attic.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Element-Bowtie-Indoor-Outdoor-Antenna/dp/B00C4XVOOC/ref=sr_1_39?ie=UTF8&qid=1459829911&sr=8-39&keywords=Hd+antenna

 

Gets great HD from both NY and Philly. But I haven't been able to get WABC.

 

I'm happy with the Roku but we have a need for Fox News, Fox Sports 1 and HGTV. So haven't totally droped cable yet. But knocked the cost down.

 

But I will look into Firestick and Kodi. Not sure what it gives me beyond what Roku with Netflix and Amzn Prime Video gives me.

 

Also, you can get an over the air DVR by Channel Master on either Amazon

 

http://www.amazon.com/Channel-Master-DVR-Bundle-subscription/dp/B00JGZQ17Q/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1459830371&sr=8-5&keywords=Hd+dvr

 

Or the channel master site. Reports are that it works well.

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I have two Roku boxes and it gets most of what I need. I also put this antenna in the attic.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Element-Bowtie-Indoor-Outdoor-Antenna/dp/B00C4XVOOC/ref=sr_1_39?ie=UTF8&qid=1459829911&sr=8-39&keywords=Hd+antenna

 

Gets great HD from both NY and Philly. But I haven't been able to get WABC.

 

I use a homemade antenna in the attic and it pulls in all the Phl stations.  Could probably get NY also if I had a rotor.  Only suitable for indoor/attic usage though.  Something like these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jh3M931WUU

http://www.repeater-builder.com/antenna/pdf/make-digital-tv-coat-hanger-antenna.pdf

 

Also the TVFool website you can enter your address and it will give you vectors and distances to all the broadcast antennas in your area.  Even if you keep cable, it is nice to have a backup for emergencies--when you lose cable after a storm, you can still get local news.

 

You may have problems with WABC because you are using a UHF antenna.  I had the same problem with WPVI (6 ABC out of Phl).  I added a simple VHF dipole antenna and combined it with UHF using a Channelmaster 7777 pre-amp.

 

I have not use cable for TV for years, and I am always shocked at the poor (SD) quality of cable when I stay in hotels. 

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I use a homemade antenna in the attic and it pulls in all the Phl stations.  Could probably get NY also if I had a rotor.  Only suitable for indoor/attic usage though.  Something like these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jh3M931WUU

http://www.repeater-builder.com/antenna/pdf/make-digital-tv-coat-hanger-antenna.pdf

 

Also the TVFool website you can enter your address and it will give you vectors and distances to all the broadcast antennas in your area.  Even if you keep cable, it is nice to have a backup for emergencies--when you lose cable after a storm, you can still get local news.

 

You may have problems with WABC because you are using a UHF antenna.  I had the same problem with WPVI (6 ABC out of Phl).  I added a simple VHF dipole antenna and combined it with UHF using a Channelmaster 7777 pre-amp.

 

I have not use cable for TV for years, and I am always shocked at the poor (SD) quality of cable when I stay in hotels. 

 

Yes, that site and I came across another, that gives you bearings to each station's antenna.  Made it easier to get started.  With the antenna I have, the left and right elements can be independently moved so it's possible to use it like two separate antenna arrays.

 

I wasn't expecting to get any low VHF channels, but I'm getting 2,4 and 5 marginally well.  So was hoping I'd get 7, even with this antenna. But I'll have to try a VHF antenna for 7 and the others.  Thnx

 

I'd really like to totally drop cable.  Just annoyed that I can't find another legal way to get FNC and HGTV.

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I have one of those old school enormous antenna's up in are attic, could I some how use that? Also could we use it for multiple tvs or just one?

 

Yes, for VHF if that's what it is.   If it's also got a UHF array on it, it may work ok.  I'm just not sure about the HD signal.  But if you want HD on UHF stations, you may need a new antenna.  If you're close enough to Philly, you won't need a huge antenna.  Especially if you can mount it outside, like on a chimney.  I have a windowed gable that I direct the antenna thru which I think helps. It avoids the signal attenuation of the roof material a bit.  But outside is always best if you've got a spot.

 

Check out Amazon and Channel Master's website.  $50 to $100 for an antenna, plus some coax and a distribution amp will get you started.

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I have one of those old school enormous antenna's up in are attic, could I some how use that? Also could we use it for multiple tvs or just one?

You could probably use it if it has elements for both VHF and UHF.  Most of the HD broadcast channels are UHF, but a few are VHF still, although you cannot necessarily tell be the channel number--used to be 2-13 was VHFand anything above 13 was UHF IIRC.  However, with the move to HD most of the low-channel stations kept their legacy channel number, moved to a new HD UHF channel which is aliased back to their original low channel number.

 

You can split the signal to multiple TVs, but each split will reduce the power by 3.5 dB.  You can purchase a TV distribution amplifier that will give you multiple amplified signals off of the one source.  I would start with one to make sure you can receive it at your location, then try a passive splitter and move to a distro amplifier if you have signal losses when you split it.

 

http://www.killthecablebill.com/how-to-connect-multiple-tvs-to-your-ota-antenna/

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Yes, that site and I came across another, that gives you bearings to each station's antenna.  Made it easier to get started.  With the antenna I have, the left and right elements can be independently moved so it's possible to use it like two separate antenna arrays.

 

I wasn't expecting to get any low VHF channels, but I'm getting 2,4 and 5 marginally well.  So was hoping I'd get 7, even with this antenna. But I'll have to try a VHF antenna for 7 and the others.  Thnx

 

I'd really like to totally drop cable.  Just annoyed that I can't find another legal way to get FNC and HGTV.

Yes, there are a few (very very few) cable channels I'd like to get.  But I do manage to live without them...somehow.  Not worth it though, not at what Comcast wants to charge for it.  I am thinking that it will not be long until FNC, CNBC, Bloomberg or whatever cable channel you want will be able to unbundle and stream whatever parts of their programming you want for a reasonable price.

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Man never even heard of Kodi lol, God so many companies!

 

What makes one better then other if you don't mind me asking?

 

If I went Kodi route do I need Apple TV or something? What type of port do I need to make sure my tv has for it?

 

You don't really need anything to run Kodi other than a PC. Then you can hook up your PC to your TV via HDMI cord. If you don't want to have to do that, there are several platforms you can get to run Kodi. I think Amazon Fire TV is the best, but the Fire Stick will more than get the job done as well.

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PlayStation is actually launching a tv service

 

I also love the double standard of these streaming posts

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

You mean relating to that Dragon Box thing you had/have?

 

I was wondering whether Kodi was a  device for legal access to content, or not so much.    I'm not into the "not so much" method.

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Would there be something printed on the antenna to let me know if it's UHF as well?

 

 

Take a picture and post it.  It's more of a "wavelength" thing.  Meaning, the length of the elements will tell you if it's UHF or VHF.  VHF being longer wavelength signal. Elements designed to receive VHF will be longer.  UHF, much shorter.   Yours may one one or both.  An example.. albeit odd in my mind.. of dual bandwidth antenna.   speed of light / frequency = wavelength.   it's been a while since I thought about this crap....

 

42962278_scaled_741x556.jpg

 

Also check this out.  Second section and the image on the right shows another example of dual band antenna.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UHF_television_broadcasting

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Not true. I haven't had cable in 3+ years - only internet. No antenna either. I watch football every Sunday during the season. I can pick up most local and international channels live now as well.

legally? sure there are plenty of ways to do it (just as there are plenty of ways to stream movies without paying for netflix, hulu etc), but i was referring to streaming legally via the official abc, cbs, nbc, cnn, espn ,etc apps. those absolutely require a cable subscription. in most cases you even have to log in via the cable site

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legally? sure there are plenty of ways to do it, but i was referring to streaming legally via the official abc, cbs, nbc, cnn, espn ,etc apps. those absolutely require a cable subscription. in most cases you even have to log in via the cable site

 

 

Yes, there is nothing inherently illegal about using Kodi. Kodi is just a P2P streaming software.

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Yes, there is nothing inherently illegal about using Kodi. Kodi is just a P2P streaming software.

that part is correct. what you fail to tell him though is that while kodi itself is legal, the various add ons you can install designed to allow you to stream pirated content are a little more...murky. if he wants to be 100% legit my comments stand. he needs a cable subscription and an antenna

 

*btw i do not condone or frown upon kodi or any other such service in any way. just providing facts

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So it's like a Torrent .... for video.

 

Slightly different. Torrent implies downloading a file to your device. This just gives you the ability to stream.

 

 

that part is correct. what you fail to tell him though is that while kodi itself is legal, the various add ons you can install designed to allow you to stream pirated content are a little more...murky. if he wants to be 100% legit my comments stand. he needs a cable subscription and an antenna

 

*btw i do not condone or frown upon kodi or any other such service in any way. just providing facts

 

I'd agree w/ murky. They're not illegal.  

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Would there be something printed on the antenna to let me know if it's UHF as well?

''

 

Here's a modern antenna. They can be attached to the back of your tv or a wall and it can be painted over to make it less noticeable. 4K ready.

 

http://store.gomohu.com/leaf-50-indoor-amplified-hdtv-antenna.html?gclid=CjwKEAjw55K4BRC53L6x9pyDzl4SJAD_21V1ttb1IzxwdWpZ86hu3lYmasXSRI82QxgqYL9xUD82bxoC0Vvw_wcB

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