Amazon Fire Stick

[blueyedgirl5946]

We are thinking of cutting our satellite loose and trying to find other options. I have heard that Prime customers can stream movies and other programs using the contraption called a fire stick.
Does anyone know how this works. Can anyone suggest a way to get some television without satellite. There is no cable where I live.

 

[goingpostal]

It's just a little plug in to your TV and go type of thing, then you can stream Prime or a ton of other apps as long as you have good internet service. I've never had cable but we have Hulu, Netflix, Hbo and Prime through the fire stick. Smart TV's or many game consoles will do the same thing.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

goingpostal How fast is your internet speed. We live in a very rural area and our is not too fast, 10 I think.

 

[jcat]

Does this help?


We don't have a firestick, but I do sometimes use a cable to attach my laptop to the TV to watch Prime movies, series, etc..

 

[foxxycat]

check out commercial free hulu=is available on firestick or if you have a smart tv=you download the app and set up an account. I just cut the cable this morning. I waited 30 minutes to actually cut the cable account and have to mail back some of the equipment. so we tried out the fire stick and it works very well but some services you have to pay for. I found netflix has commercial free shows. hulu has commercials but is only 6 a month or 12 a month for lesser commercials.

I also like Youtube Live TV but it's not supported on most tvs made prior 2015ish. It seems most of these live broadcasts only work on devices instead of tvs. We are researching getting a tv that supports youtube TV and hulu LIVE . but for now I can watch live tv on my phone but kind of dumb. I can screen it from my phone to my tv but it uses a ton of battery...such a pain in the butt!!!

 

[susanm9006]

For any streaming you need high speed internet. If you do and have Amazon prime you can get their programs for free. Otherwise I would start with Netflix, around $13 a month but tons and tons of programming including a good deal of recent TV programming from air and cable.

All the streaming sticks, Amazon Fire, Roku, etc work pretty much the same. They plug into your TV HDMI , you download their app to your phone or tablet and you can scroll through their offering and select a watch list online. When you are ready to watch you just switch to that HDMI and use the remote to select and watch your program.

I use Roku sticks. While I do have cable TV they charge for each TV you have so I use the sticks to stream to my bedroom and dining room TV’s and to watch Hulu and Netflix.

 

[foxxycat]

I didnt have high speed internet 6 months ago and was able to stream videos but the pictures weren't as clear. I had dsl and it was not too slow but not high as cable internet. You can always try amazon video on your phone or computer before you commit to the fire stick to see how it works.

 

[misty8723]

For any streaming you need high speed internet. If you do and have Amazon prime you can get their programs for free.

Not everything on Amazon Prime is free.

 

[susanm9006]

Not everything on Amazon Prime is free.

Correct. They also have content you have to pay for but there is still quite a bit of the free stuff including original programming.

 

[MonaLyssa33]

I got a Fire Stick before I started boycotting Amazon, so I use it now for Netflix and Hulu only. I don't have Prime anymore and I've been fine without it.

There are other streaming options like Playstation Vue and Sling TV. Sling TV, I believe, has options for getting your typical cable channels.

 

[DreamerRose]

I have a Fire Stick, but I don't use it. My son bought it and installed it when I had Amazon Prime, which I dropped after a while. I inadvertently signed myself up for a free trial of streaming on Netflix, and eventually gave that up. It was hard to find the movie I wanted to see, and when I did select one, the audio worked, but the video didn't. Other son says that's a wifi problem, but that's way beyond my non-techie brain to fix. So no streaming.

Best Buy has TVs now that have built-in streaming devices, and that's the way TV is probably going to go. No more air transmissions, no cable. Everything will come through a wifi and a computer.