# Information on Fire stick



## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

I've heard of it but don't know much about it.
We have Roku and I like it ...... and there is no such thing as too many westerns!


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

mark sr said:


> I've heard of it but don't know much about it.
> We have Roku and I like it ...... and there is no such thing as too many westerns!


I agree actually, if only they didn't show the same ones over and over.


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

With Roku [and I assume FireStick] there is no shortages of westerns to watch. Many I've never seen along with the ones I had completely forgotten about. I have several free western channels loaded onto my roku along with all you can get thru you tube. There are also many other types of movies and old tv shows available also.


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## Colbyt (Jan 27, 2014)

There are a lot of options but before you buy you should determine which smart device will offer what you want and that you have a decent connection speed of at least 6MBPS download with more being better.


Almost all devices offer Netflix and Amazon Prime. Starz is currently running a nice promotion (6 months for $25) and we are enjoying it.


ROKU as mentioned is one of the better known. It may well be the best choice if you don't want to think about it too much before you buy. I believe they are currently offer some discounted deals. 



Most all new HDTV's offer some connectivity as do smart blu-ray players. Not all devices offer all apps that is why you sorta need to know what you want to stream before you buy the device.


All the free to views apps that I know of force you to watch their commercials. Amazon Prime and Netflix are the two with the widest variety. They both feature new and old movies and series along with a good bit of original content. 



Amazon offers paid channels but Sling TV may be a better deal if you want something like a cable package. 



Have fun.


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## diyorpay (Sep 21, 2010)

Had to ask...

BigJim- when you 'shut your cable off', did you keep or get an internet connection? We know you posted here so we'll assume yes.

All the mentioned devices need a degree of high speed internet. Other than over the air antenna, nothing is free. Just checking.

Also, just mentioning, when new antenna went in, did you do a channel scan using tv's original remote control?

Roku is the most independent of the device makers. Not all carry competitors product but it's gotten better. Roku by far has the most channels because it's easiest for content providers to 'get carried'. 

With just internet, an inexpensive Roku will get you their Roku channel with many movies and tv shows. PlutoTV is carried for free as are many others. Westerns, old serials, tv from the 60's, recipe and cooking shows, exercise shows, etc are plentiful. I get a kick from original Batman & Robin serials from the 40's.

Edit: If any stick or similar device does not have an ethernet jack, it will rely on wi-fi. So you need a router on that mentioned internet. And an HDMI input port on your tv.

Roku sample selections:
https://blog.roku.com/hidden-gems-2018


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Thanks for all the information, I really appreciate it. We do still have internet. My wife and I were just talking about a new router so I did a speed test, it has slowed down some but it isn't too bad yet, I don't think.

I think we may got with the Roku, that may work for us.

Speed Test


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

Those are a lot better speeds than I have and my roku/WiFi works fine.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

mark sr said:


> Those are a lot better speeds than I have and my roku/WiFi works fine.


Thanks Mark, I appreciate the information. I had bought an Amazon Fire Stick online three weeks ago, and as of day before yesterday it hadn't even shipped yet so I canceled the order. I am glad I canceled now.

I am not up on all the electronics of today or even yesterday. lol


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

> I am not up on all the electronics of today or even yesterday



You aren't alone!


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## 3onthetree (Dec 7, 2018)

You have a really good service speed for when you decide to stream. For the antenna watching, I imagine if you're in the hills of Chattanooga you may get spotty service. Changing the height and the cost of the antenna does make a difference unless you're down in a valley. I use Tvfool-dot-com (there are others) to list all the stations I can get and the radar map of where to aim the antenna for the best stations. Here's a general Chattanooga:








We have a bunch of channels that play more than the westerns, it seems we can watch every television series from the 60s-80s now, a lot I'd forgotten about.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

3onthetree said:


> You have a really good service speed for when you decide to stream. For the antenna watching, I imagine if you're in the hills of Chattanooga you may get spotty service. Changing the height and the cost of the antenna does make a difference unless you're down in a valley. I use Tvfool-dot-com (there are others) to list all the stations I can get and the radar map of where to aim the antenna for the best stations. Here's a general Chattanooga:
> View attachment 598499
> 
> 
> We have a bunch of channels that play more than the westerns, it seems we can watch every television series from the 60s-80s now, a lot I'd forgotten about.


Thanks 3, I appreciate your time and information. I bought one of the Roku sticks. I am still learning how to use it but for me it is a challenge, I don't understand the electronic stuff to well. I was hoping we could use our antenna and the fire stick deal but that ain't going to work. When I unplug the fire stick to use the antenna, the TV don't work so we will just have to watch the local news on out PC. Here where we live, there are mountains all around us, we live in Lookout Valley.

I guess I need to look at a video of how to use the Roku. I like to have never got it to work at all. lol


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## 3onthetree (Dec 7, 2018)

Isn't the Roku plugged into the HDMI port of the tv, and you are using either your PC/phone or the supplied Roku remote to access the stick? You can keep the RG6 for the antenna still hooked up to 'cable.' So just switch the tv between the 'tv/cable' and 'hdmi' feed depending on whether you are Roku-ing or old school. If not I think Roku has some local channels allowed in some markets.


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## diyorpay (Sep 21, 2010)

Big Jim-

Plug Roku stick or Roku device into an HDMI port on tv. Often on back of tv. Some HDMI ports on side of tv. Note which HDMI port it is. (HDMI1, HDMI2 etc).

The over the air antenna gets connected (screws on) to the 'coax in' terminal that cable boxes use. Now get your remote control that came with tv. Look for the input button. With tv on, hit that button a few times to see your choices of inputs to tv screen. When you had cable, the tv was likely always set to channel 3 or 4 with that remote and then you put it away. The antenna over the air free tv will be one of the 'inputs'. It may say 'antenna' or cable. You want antenna. Take time to scan for channels if you haven't done that.

Now with your Roku remote, hit the center button to activate the Roku. With tv remote, hit input button to find the HDMI input with Roku device plugged in. 

You will need to get a Roku account and get a name and password. Anywhere it requests your credit card info, skip it because you can enter that later or never if you don't want pay services (Netflix, many others).

Once you see your Roku screen, hit the home button, looks like a house.
Any boxed content on right side are some you may want to keep, others maybe not. Scroll right and down to navigate. Hit OK or center button to select. Maybe start with ROKU Channel. If your Roku remote has volume buttons on the side, you can pair to tv or just use tv remote for volume. If you want to reposition a 'channel' or even delete it (you can always add it back), press the 'asterisk' button and see choices. Arrow pointing left (the top one) means 'back up/ don't enter'. Click it a few times to get back to Home or just hit Home key.

All down left side are suggestions to add 'channels'. Settings is most important to get started. Hit that. Go right to Network. Right again to set up connection. Choose wireless for wifi. It will ask for your network name and password. You should be live on the internet then. Scroll down for subtitles and more.

Let's try Streaming Channels then enter. Then select Top free Movies & tv. Select a channel. Where it says add channel, hit enter.

Hit Home. Streaming Channels. Scroll down to Classic TV and select.Here's those westerns and much more. Home again, Streaming Channels. Now pick News and weather. We like WeatherNation for weather. There are more.

Enjoy your Roku.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

diyorpay said:


> Big Jim-
> 
> Plug Roku stick or Roku device into an HDMI port on tv. Often on back of tv. Some HDMI ports on side of tv. Note which HDMI port it is. (HDMI1, HDMI2 etc).
> 
> ...


diyorpay, thank you so much, that is one really big help. That works like a charm. Man there are a bunch of things to watch. There is even a bunch of Hoot Gibson westerns. lol That is some oldies, I love it. I really appreciate it buddy. Fiber optic cable we had didn't have near this many movies and things to watch.

3onthetree I appreciate your information also, thanks a bunch.

Mark, I really thank you for putting me on to Roku, it is well worth what we paid for it and more.


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

Jim, thanks for the thread and thanks to all who replied, I'm on a small antenna and although I enjoy the savings for dumping the cable my selection is really poor.

Can you give me an idea what Roku costs? 

Also, do many of the movies available have closed caption? I haven't researched it yet but other sound option would be a tv with a tel coil that would talk directly to my hearing aid.

Sorry drifting on your thread.

Bud


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

I think I paid $40 for my Roku but it's been several yrs. They have fancier models with voice control that I'd expect to cost more. I have watched some movies with closed caption automatically included [not sure if it could be turned off] I know you can turn the closed caption on [I haven't] I don't know if it works for all shows or not.


My main reason for keeping cable is NASCAR although I suspect my wife would throw a fit if I had the cable turned off. I do enjoy being able to watch a western any time I want to ..... and if it gets interrupted you can pause it or even back it up and continue watching later.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Bud9051 said:


> Jim, thanks for the thread and thanks to all who replied, I'm on a small antenna and although I enjoy the savings for dumping the cable my selection is really poor.
> 
> Can you give me an idea what Roku costs?
> 
> ...


Bud, the one we bought was $39 + tax at Walmart. It is well worth every penny to us, there are so many things to watch and when we want too it is unreal. Our cable was costing us right at $100 a month and we were only watching 5 maybe 6 channels because most was just reruns. Now we can watch programs that we like any time instead of having to wait until they come on. It does have closed caption, I have it set up on ours now. I have to have closed caption or I may as well not watch as I can't hear well at all. Jet fighters winding up under flying power did a number on my hearing. 

Our TV is not a smart TV but is HD with an HDMI port and you will need that HDMI port. Our TV in the living room is a smart tv and it has all the same things this fire stick has made this non-smart tv. There are a couple of things we liked to watch that we would have to pay for like the Waltons, Building in Alaska, and a couple of others but we will just have to leave them off.

One thing we really miss and maybe there is a device that we can buy for this function. We liked very much the feature of being able to record a program but most of all is being able to make a replay or stop a program and resume. There are somethings we miss and would like to replay to see what someone said or to see what happened.

Bud, when I make a thread, feel free to jump in and say what ever you want, I am just like a mud flap, I am flexible, getting off topic or what ever it is called don't bother me at all. Oh one more thing, you will need Wifi as this is wireless except for the stick and the wire for power to the stick. 

We do still have our antenna connected and use it to watch local news. Just hit the source button on the orignal remote and select antenna or TV that will put the TV back on antenna and you can watch local stuff. diyorpay explained how to do all this and man do I appreciate it. I am kinda thick sometimes and it takes simple instructions or I don't get it, old age ya know. lol I just thought of something, if your TV has an ethernet port you can run a wire straight from the router to the TV, I am not sure we have one on our TV.

By the way, we ordered a fire stick from Amazon and the order just set there for about three weeks and didn't ship so we canceled the order and ordered the one from Walmart and had the stick within 3 days, free shipping on top of that. We did have to pay local taxes though.


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## diyorpay (Sep 21, 2010)

Glad you are enjoying your Roku.

I have/had all generations of Roku devices and consider it superior to the competition. The Ultra version has ability to plug in Ethernet directly, has a USB IN port for watching your own content, can receive 4K content if your tv is 4K capable (no over the air content is 4K yet). Your down speed is excellent so wifi will not be a problem.

Try googling 'Roku hidden channels' on your PC or tablet. If you see a channel that's interesting, you can log in on PC with your Roku credentials and add the channel to your account. It will then appear on your tv.

A comment: If you want to 'fast forward' or 'rewind' a program, you can, using the arrow buttons on either side of play button. BUT it is not precise and it's tricky. It's not like a VCR. You have to be fast to rewind just a short bit as in when you missed what somebody said. And I think you have to hit the play button quick thereafter. If you miss some words and want to go back, first hit pause button, note timeline and 'where you are', then try to go back by hitting arrows pointing left and then play/pause button again.

The Waltons seems to be a tightly held franchise by owner. It's available in Amazon Prime but not included. That means after you pay a membership for Amazon (it includes free delivery of many items for a year), it still costs more $ to rent or buy. You can still browse the catalogs of some premium services without being a member. If you enter the Amazon channel, just hit 'just browsing' selection. Up top banner find search icon, key in Waltons and see results. It is not unheard of for family members to share an account (Amazon, Netflix, HBO etc).

Youtube also has free content that you may enjoy.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

diyorpay said:


> Glad you are enjoying your Roku.
> 
> I have/had all generations of Roku devices and consider it superior to the competition. The Ultra version has ability to plug in Ethernet directly, has a USB IN port for watching your own content, can receive 4K content if your tv is 4K capable (no over the air content is 4K yet). Your down speed is excellent so wifi will not be a problem.
> 
> ...


Thanks buddy, I appreciate it.


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## Colbyt (Jan 27, 2014)

@BigJim






> Big Jim-
> 
> Plug Roku stick or Roku device into an HDMI port on tv. Often on back of tv. Some HDMI ports on side of tv. Note which HDMI port it is. (HDMI1, HDMI2 etc).



Almost all modern TVs also provide the option in the setup menu for you to create a personal label for the HDMI ports so that you don't have to remember which one it is.


I infer that from what you posted that all is working now?


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Colbyt said:


> @BigJim
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Colbyt, it is working now, thanks to all y'all's help. This TV we have the Roku hooked up too only has one HDMI port, it is an older TV. I am still discovering all kinds of things. Kinda like a kid at Christmas. lol


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## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)

subscribing


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

We took the Roku off our small TV and put in on the big TV in the living room, the movies and programs are limitless, we love it.


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