Smart TVs, Roku sticks, cable TV alternatives. Sling? Anyone use these?

susiestar

Roll With It
My family loves Netflix. The kids each have their own account (we can have up to 5 people/devices watching at once). It sure saves a ton of squabbling to have the each watch their own thing, lol. For a long time we just had 3 people on the account because the kids didn't have tablets or computers. They were a bit afraid to ask for items with screens because getting very upset over a show/program/whatever is a guaranteed way to get me to unplug all screens for a few weeks. They used to HATE when Wiz had a fit over not watching Pokemon or whatever because I would unplug ALL of us for a month or so.

I haven't explored Roku much and I vastly prefer Netflix to Hulu though Netflix is one of the least secure sites I have ever seen. So far in 2.5 years we have had someone change our account settings so that we could not even log in. Each time they look to see where we are watching and it is a totally different state. Once it was even another country - Brazil!! They were nice about changing things for us but did NOT ask for ANY info to verify that I am the one who signed up and is paying for the service - they just said they were sorry it happened and changed the passwords to one I chose. I found that odd considering here the even the utility companies won't change anything over the phone or even take a payment on an account until you have answered your security questions correctly - all 3 of them!
 

susiestar

Roll With It
My family loves Netflix. The kids each have their own account (we can have up to 5 people/devices watching at once). It sure saves a ton of squabbling to have the each watch their own thing, lol. For a long time we just had 3 people on the account because the kids didn't have tablets or computers. They were a bit afraid to ask for items with screens because getting very upset over a show/program/whatever is a guaranteed way to get me to unplug all screens for a few weeks. They used to HATE when Wiz had a fit over not watching Pokemon or whatever because I would unplug ALL of us for a month or so.

I haven't explored Roku much and I vastly prefer Netflix to Hulu though Netflix is one of the least secure sites I have ever seen. So far in 2.5 years we have had someone change our account settings so that we could not even log in. Each time they look to see where we are watching and it is a totally different state. Once it was even another country - Brazil!! They were nice about changing things for us but did NOT ask for ANY info to verify that I am the one who signed up and is paying for the service - they just said they were sorry it happened and changed the passwords to one I chose. I found that odd considering here the even the utility companies won't change anything over the phone or even take a payment on an account until you have answered your security questions correctly - all 3 of them!
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
We have Netflix, Amazon Prime and Bling and, if we dump cable, will pay extra for the NFL channel. Still way cheaper than cable and has almost all the channels we watch.
 

PatriotsGirl

Well-Known Member
Be careful. I tried to do this, too. I bought some Google Chromecasts with the plan to ditch cable. I found that we happen to be in an area where Comcast and AT&T have put monthly data limits on their internet use. If you go over these limits, you get charged. The first month we had the Chromecasts we were going over our data limit and I found it was because my son was watching Netflix. They will be spreading this data limit everywhere at some point so just pay attention to the communications that come out from your cable company. We got rid of the Chromecasts and are stuck with cable. We are football fanatics so we can't go without it anyway...
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
Whatever your internet services provider... nothing in the real world (or at least nothing in the business world) is ever free. So, if you think you can ditch one paid service by getting it free through another service, chances are you will get burned. You will pay something, so better to have all the data in front of you and choose which payment set-up works to your advantage. If you are counting on on-going unlimited video streaming from your internet services provider, you are probably in for a rude awakening.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Insane, there are many free stations, but they aren't "enough." Not for me. And husband. So we did get Sling ($20 mo.) and that has most of the channels we enjoy. We already had Netflix ($8 a m onth) and Amazon Prime ($100 a year) for movies and TV. So while it's not free, it is way less than cable and it's monthly payment, even with the internet fee. I'm sure it is different all over. But that is how it works here. At least, that is how it works for us. However, we have continued to keep cable so far. Sonic got rid of his cable and still has internet and his internet fee was not inflated.

Sonic is lucky. We don't care if he uses our Netflex or Amazon Prime accounts so he gets some freebies that WE pay for and all of us use them ;) Jumper uses our Netflix account....doesn't like Amazon. We all have different locations, but the passwords work anywhere, at least in Wisconsin.
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
If you access these "free" stations from your computer (not from the "air"), your ISP can end up charging for data use. I believe Netflix requires internet access, and likely Amazon Prime. Not sure about other options. In our corner of the world, you have three options: pay for cable, pay for satellite, or pay for data usage for internet-based options. Maybe you have more options than we do.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Not sure. We already pay for internet and some of the options cost, but not as much as our cable package...we'll see if it helps Sonic's bills. He's our family experiment on this issue. He already canceled cable. His bill was ridiculous!!!
 
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