FireStick v AppleTV v OMGTV

[NY_Dutch]

As most campgrounds don't allow streaming nor indeed have decent wifi, we download when we can and then stream without being connected to the internet at all, just wifi between devices.    My OH sorts it, too technical for me, but it does definitely work without internet as long as content in prime video app.

We tried to use Chromecast in a similar way but it had to connect to the internet before it would work at all.  It drove us mad....

Not having used campground WiFi in several years, I tend to forget about the limitations...

[jackquontee]

I've had the Slingbox device and Slingplayer app on my cell phone and Ipod for about 5 years, which allow me to watch my home channels when away from home, and purchased the Firestick about a year ago to watch movies. Now, with the recent purchase of the ZTE Mobley device, I think I'm covered for both movies and tv.

[jackiemac]

Not having used campground WiFi in several years, I tend to forget about the limitations...

Oh yes, it is a challenge. I hardly ever get on the forum and even using mobile data on my cell sometimes restricts access to the forum.  I get withdrawal symptoms 😁

[NY_Dutch]

Oh yes, it is a challenge. I hardly ever get on the forum and even using mobile data on my cell sometimes restricts access to the forum.  I get withdrawal symptoms 😁

Have you considered using something like the AT&T "Mobley" with its $20/mo unlimited 4G/LTE data plan?

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Cost is only one aspect of campground internet access and often not the important one. If you can't get a signal, or the quality is so poor that you cannot get the bandwidth needed to be practical, it makes little difference whether the service is free or fee.  Busy campgrounds too often overload the internet access infrastructure, even direct connects via cellular data.  We've been in campgrounds where both the campground wifi and mobile data network are fine at  4 pm but deteriorate to unusable by 7 pm or so, when dozens of campers all fire up their phones, tablets and computers to do their thing. A cell tower only has so much bandwidth available and it typically serves a broad area if outside of a city.

[jackiemac]

Have you considered using something like the AT&T "Mobley" with its $20/mo unlimited 4G/LTE data plan?

Hi Dutch, no, we will look at it. It's not too big a deal, we are here to enjoy your wonderful country so not being online gives us more time to do so. 😁

[NY_Dutch]

Hi Dutch, no, we will look at it. It's not too big a deal, we are here to enjoy your wonderful country so not being online gives us more time to do so. 😁

As long as it works for your needs, it's all good! 

[jackiemac]

As long as it works for your needs, it's all good! 

[SammyS]

If you are looking for a device that offers up the best balance, however, it would likely be Amazon’s Fire Stick. The hardware is solid, the UI is stable and its price is inoffensive. Sure, it may not be as all-singing, all-dancing as Apple's TV, but very user-friendly. You can find a step by step guide on how to jailbreak it with no issues. I personally enjoy using Firestick wh no issues daily

[NY_Dutch]

This thread is ~18 months old, and at the time, Jackie was not planning on having ready access to a good data service. The Firestick sucks a lot of data, as do the other streaming devices. We do like our Firestick, but we also have both AT&T and Verizon unlimited data plan hotspots.

[jackiemac]

We use the firestick in the TT. When I have wifi I download stuff to my phone or tablet then cast to TV. Works a treat and if you download during the day there are normally no issues on park wifi. We are happy.

[NY_Dutch]

We use the firestick in the TT. When I have wifi I download stuff to my phone or tablet then cast to TV. Works a treat and if you download during the day there are normally no issues on park wifi. We are happy.

I'm glad that setup works well for you, Jackie!

[jackiemac]

I'm glad that setup works well for you, Jackie!

It does Dutch, we had the Google chromecast but it was a bit twitchy and would keep disconnecting, we couldn't figure out why....

[NY_Dutch]

It does Dutch, we had the Google chromecast but it was a bit twitchy and would keep disconnecting, we couldn't figure out why....

We're in our mid-70's, and my wife's poor health means we spend a lot of time inside our coach, so good TV reception is important to us. Between our Dish Hopper satellite receiver and multiple streaming apps on our Firestick, we can watch pretty much whatever we want, almost whenever we want. Obviously reliable Internet service is important to us for streaming, but also because we're both heavy online users with our laptops, tablets, and phones. RV park WiFi has generally been too unreliable to support our needs, and our preference for state and national parks means park WiFi usually isn't even available anyway. At one private park we stayed in on our way south last month, when I tested the available local WiFi, I got better speeds from a nearby Arby's sandwich shop than I did from the park WiFi.

[jackiemac]

We're in our mid-70's, and my wife's poor health means we spend a lot of time inside our coach, so good TV reception is important to us. Between our Dish Hopper satellite receiver and multiple streaming apps on our Firestick, we can watch pretty much whatever we want, almost whenever we want. Obviously reliable Internet service is important to us for streaming, but also because we're both heavy online users with our laptops, tablets, and phones. RV park WiFi has generally been too unreliable to support our needs, and our preference for state and national parks means park WiFi usually isn't even available anyway. At one private park we stayed in on our way south last month, when I tested the available local WiFi, I got better speeds from a nearby Arby's sandwich shop than I did from the park WiFi.

I'm sorry your wife is unwell. That suck

We manage ok unless somewhere with no wifi so I try to download in advance or we can watch DVDs. This year we are gonna download some movies onto a hard drive so we have plenty. We can always read or crochet or rock the RV 🙈😂😂😂

[NY_Dutch]

 

[jeffpiercemagic]

The OMGTV box is a chinese $50 android box that this guy has setup with existing apps. You can buy a android device and set it up yourself for a lot less.
We cut the cord a couple of years ago. we have an antenna for the locals but no longer use it because we subscribe to Playstation Vue which gives us all the local and 50+ cable channels for $45. Wy wife uses this system on our main tv. I on the other hand can't stand commercials so I've set up a nvidia shield TV with all the apps I want plus it is set up as a plex server. Plex is like kodi in that it creates an interface to display all the movies and TV shows I have stored on a harddrive. Because it's a plex server, I can watch all of my content on any device that has the plex app, which is all of them. Theres also a cool server feature that I can allow others to watch my content from anywhere in the world, for free. I share my server with two other people and between the three of use we have over 7000 movies and 40000 episodes of tv shows that we share.

When we finally buy our RV I plan on connecting a shield tv with a plex server to a router, which will connect to all tvs in the rv by Ethernet alleviating the need for internet.

heres a link to setting up a plex server on the shield tv.

Jeff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aSMRFLeNHk

[edjunior]

The OMGTV box is a chinese $50 android box that this guy has setup with existing apps. You can buy a android device and set it up yourself for a lot less.
We cut the cord a couple of years ago. we have an antenna for the locals but no longer use it because we subscribe to Playstation Vue which gives us all the local and 50+ cable channels for $45. Wy wife uses this system on our main tv. I on the other hand can't stand commercials so I've set up a nvidia shield TV with all the apps I want plus it is set up as a plex server. Plex is like kodi in that it creates an interface to display all the movies and TV shows I have stored on a harddrive. Because it's a plex server, I can watch all of my content on any device that has the plex app, which is all of them. Theres also a cool server feature that I can allow others to watch my content from anywhere in the world, for free. I share my server with two other people and between the three of use we have over 7000 movies and 40000 episodes of tv shows that we share.

When we finally buy our RV I plan on connecting a shield tv with a plex server to a router, which will connect to all tvs in the rv by Ethernet alleviating the need for internet.

heres a link to setting up a plex server on the shield tv.

Jeff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aSMRFLeNHk

But of course, all of this would depend on a good connection to the Internet, at least the sharing part of it, correct.  And from where do you amass all the movies?  This sounds interesting, but it also has hints of the old Napster days.  I would sure love to have something like this, but this, and the "cutting the cord", all depends on a good connection to the Internet.  I live in an area that does not have that.  It is not reliable, and pretty slow, compared with what is available out there today.

[jeffpiercemagic]

Ed, in your case you still need a good internet connection. There is a post on this forum by solarman who has built his own version of the expensive We Boost LTE/wifi booster. This might help you out. Here's the link

http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php/topic,119746.0.html

As far as the Plex setup, with a nvidia shield TV (the only android device strong enough to be a server and a player) or a PC, NAS as your server, once it is setup you do not need a internet connection to watch the media on any tv in your house/RV.
You are correct in the sharing portion does need a internet connection but you can share with anyone around the world. Pic-5 shows my system being shared with 4 others. As far as where you get the media from,
well there are many different ways. I buy dvds/BluRays at garage sales then rip the movie portion from the dvd. You can also rip full movies from websites like youtube, etc, and lastly you can download torrents from
p2p and newsgroups, with newsgroups being the safest. Always use a VPN, I use Nord VPN.
Here's a link to a reddit page for people wanting and willing to share their plex servers.

https://www.reddit.com/r/plexshares/

I've attached 5 pics of my plex server in operation. You will need internet connection to download all the thumbnails and movie information but after that you will not.

BTW let me say that I don't use wifi in my home except for my phones. Everything is hardwired thru ethernet. It's not hard to wire your house for ethernet and it is worth your while to do so. Once I purchase my RV I will run ethernet to each cable wall mount, since the path is already there.

I hope this helps.

Jeff

[theoldwizard1]

I have been using a FireStick 4K (spend the extra money it is worth it) at home for several months in conjunction with DirecTV Now.  No issues with the FireStick (we have 4) as long as your internet connection has the bandwidth.  We have Amazon Prime, but really do not watch much from there.  DTVN is not as nice as cable, but the price and channel selection (the old price and the Live-a-Little channel selection) beat the heck out of what we were paying for cable.

YouTube TV is still "thin" on channel selection, but they have better service (6 streams allowed and unlimited DVR).  IMHO, these are the current leaders.