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internet tv

T

Tigger 1

Member
I have a friend who is considering buying a set top box to watch internet tv. Since I'm not very up to date on this I thought I would come here to get some information for him. I have two major concerns for him first off he isn't very computer literate and second his internet comes from ATT wireless.
He can look things up on the internet but not much more would he have much problem finding programs?
Would the connection be fast enough to stream over the cell tower it's 3G service?
 
3g is not great. If its strong and consistent, it should be enough.

Take it from someone in the set-top box business though, they're soon going to become a thing of the past.

As for alternative services I could recommend, I don't really have any, sorry.
 
i am currently using my 3G Android phone as a wifi modem, there are a few concerns:

1. most set-top boxes won't support an ad-hoc network which most tethers and hotspot portables put out. and offer no ethernet option for a wired network in leiu of that.

2. the speeds are great. currently i get 3.5Mbps down and .5Mbps up, which is more than double what my home internet used to give me (until their modems went kaput and have yet to be fixed) HOWEVER the latency is going to hurt. i have managed to connect my PlayStation 3 via a ethernet connection which connects to a laptop that also connects to my phone. speed tests on the browser in the console are on par with my phone's speed test app. but try signing into your PSN account and loading up Netflix or an online game. you'll have a lot of trouble getting signed in without it timing out, or worse, it will give you one of the common '807xxxxx' error codes. i have not yet found out why that happens while the browser works fine.

3. data caps on portable hotspots or tethers, or possibly being blacklisted for violating your data plan through tethers. Netflix and Hulu use a TON of data. you can easily break a 5GB cap in a heartbeat if you devote most of your time watching Netflix or Hulu like you are accustomed to a satellite or cable television provider.
 
unlimited data usually means accessing. they still throttle you for high data usage at times. your speed will go from like 3Mbps to 256Kbps but it will still work. just remind you of dial-up
 
Yea just had another talk with him and he has a 5gig plan with the rechargeable WiFi hotspot. He did say he had 4G so that's a plus but I don't think web tv is going to be an option with this setup.
 
What's internet TV? if you are talking about Roku, or apple or google version of it, it's not quiet an internet tv.
 
Are you considering something like a Google TV, or one of those cheapo Android STBs?

Tigger 1 said:
I was kinda wondering about the data cap even though he said it was unlimited.
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Might be best to double check their usage of the word "unlimited". Read the fine print, see if there are any caps, throttling, overage charges, fair usage, or other limits.
 
my phone will eventually go to a lousy 256kbps rate even if i just leave data on and allow the widgets to auto-update. i am not sure if the number is set in stone or if it happens whenever your carrier thinks you've used too much based on how much you have recently used...i'm still at 3Mbps down and .5 up, but last month the entire time i was only getting lousy 256Kbps rates.

'Internet TV' often means any device with access to Hulu Plus or Netflix, usually a STB, Blu-Ray or Smart-TV. it can also mean any such device that accesses provider-specific TV services such as ESPN mobile or FIOS TV

using a portable hotspot is not going to work for a majority of devices. 1) most don't support ad-hoc networks, and 2) the latency is far too high for using a game console or STB for it. (i still cannot get my PS3 to login to PSN which is required by Netflix but it browses just fine on the web). at best, it is a great backup when your main internet is down for the count and is not likely to be up for a few days. good for browsing the web, being away from home and remote, or downloading a few large files
 
The MPEG2 video files that my TiVo records are typically 5GiB per hour of programming. That's a little less than 11.5Mbps in real time. I can transcode that to H.264 and get a reasonably decent-looking HD picture on my 40" TV at a data rate of 1-3Mbps, variable. I'm guessing that the Internet streamed content has to be pretty much the same, or else I'd see noticeable picture degradation. I have a 30Mbps download rate, so there's no guarantee that the data rate isn't more than that!

The thing is that depending on your data plan, you could max out your entire monthly usage allowance in a couple of evenings of viewing. That would seem to be the big "gotcha" to me!
 
decent, almost blu ray, 1080p quality movies is not smaller than 10gb. If you are planning on any kind of internet streaming, you need a solid connection.
 
let's see, i watched an hour of YouTube, surfed all day on the web with multiple tabs open (Facebook included with a few flash games ), downloaded Infinite Flight on my iPad, downloaded the map packs for Infinite Flight, and played some online games on the iPad (ForestVille and such) and my daily use was a paltry 350MB down, about half that up. i have been turning data OFF when not in use, too.
 
I know he was looking at one from Walmart but I'm not sure what. I think he gave up though after I gave him the facts I got here.
 
Tigger 1 said:
I know he was looking at one from Walmart but I'm not sure what. I think he gave up though after I gave him the facts I got here.
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I really don't see the point in roku, google tv or any other stupid boxes. Here is another way. Buy a cheap PC sort of like ASUS Eee Box EB1501P-B117E Nettop - Newegg.com (you can probably build one for even cheaper) this one. Hook it up to your TV through HDMI. Get wireless keyboard and mouse. Yes, it cost more than a small box, but keep in mind you are getting a fully functional PC, you can watch most of the shows online for free, you can play games, browse internet. It's going to save you money in long run. Not to mention the convenience of mouse and keyboard.
 
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