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Amazon Fire TV vs Roku

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by: 12 OP
~ 4 years ago Feb 22, '20 8:45pm

Ok, we're thinking about cutting back channels on Comcast (or maybe cable altogether) and going with a Roku stick or Amazon Fire TV stick. Looks like Kohl's has decent price on an Amazon Fire Stick with voice-activated remote for $40. Looked at setup for both, pretty much the same. I can easily handle that part.

We'd keep the Comcast router box for WIFI and Internet, as well as landline. I just want to make sure that either stick service will carry the local ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX stations if we cut the Cable TV cord. I'm also concerned about quality of signal from the Comcast router box for WIFI. I've tried to use it through our Blu-Ray player, takes forever to load a site, it seems.
I realize we'd have to pay for some streaming sites, but perhaps not we pay for Cable TV service now.

Suggestions and advice are welcome.

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5
~ 4 years ago Feb 22, '20 9:43pm

carry the local ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX stations if we cut the Cable TV cord.

@DennisinMH : no, but you can get all those over the air with a $25 HD antenna.

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5
~ 4 years ago Feb 22, '20 9:44pm

you can test your download and upload speeds here:

www.speedtest.net

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17
~ 4 years ago Feb 23, '20 12:33am

I have a ROKU. If it can stream local stations, I have not figured out how. I don't think you can.
OTA for local stations. It works great.

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17
~ 4 years ago Feb 23, '20 12:35am

Wifi routers on blu ray players tend to suck. The ROKUs sucks too.

We have a mesh set up with an Orbi satellite feeding the media boxes. Orbi to Orbi wifi. Hard lan line between Orbi and BluRay/Roku/Nintendo/TV/etc....

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14
~ 4 years ago Feb 23, '20 5:31am

Roku, came built-in on a second TV and honestly liked it enough that we bought the box unit for the older living TV. You WILL want the hardwired ethernet version!

Geeky time: there is a Roku app / channel for our NAS so you can watch MP4s (it is picky, H.264 only). We also caught a 4 tuner Tablo refurb unit on-sale for $99. That is a Roku based DVR for your local OTA programming.

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17
~ 4 years ago Feb 23, '20 6:53am

I have a Roku and get local stations over the air. I have Netflix, Amazon Prime, and one of the Sling packages. More TV than I need but I have the stations I want.

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3
~ 4 years ago Feb 23, '20 5:29pm

Amazon makes a Fire TV Recast box that is an OTA (free antenna TV) DVR that can let you watch and record local channels on a Fire TV stick without a monthly subscription.

There are other OTA streaming/DVR options, but that might be easiest if you are OK with Amazon devices.

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14
~ 4 years ago Feb 24, '20 6:41am

@NoTime : Hadn't seen that device before. It got good reviews from the Amazon ecosphere, www.theverge.com/201 8/11/14/18092264/ama zon-fire-tv-recast-r eview-dvr-ota-s

Price and features appear to be comparable to the Tablo for Roku, but certainly wins on the integration side.

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1
~ 4 years ago Feb 24, '20 10:01am

*Edited

I used Hulu Live for a few months - it was $45/month at the time (including both live channels and on demand service), is $55/month now, I think. All the local live channels were included. I think Youtube TV is similar.

Edit - And I use a Roku stick. It's been fine, and this version of it comes with a remote that has TV power/volume controls, but I don't think there's a ton of difference among the various sticks.

Edit2 - Here's a website that compares the various 'live TV' streaming services, if you're interested in that. I think these are the only way you get local news and sports via internet. If you're just interested in tv shows, the on demand services could cover most of it:

clark.com/technology /tvsatellite-cable/b est-streaming-tv-ser vices/

And here's a site that lists what streaming service(s) have a given show, if you watch anything specifically and want to know where to subscribe:

www.justwatch.com/us

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