Roku

Has anyone had any experience with a Roku system for their camper? Our campground has wi-fi so it might be an option to add. What is the benfit to having the system? Do you have to pay extra beyond the box?
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Unless you're always at the same campground and you KNOW it has outstanding WiFi, you can forget Roku or any other system for streaming video over the internet to your camper. Most campgrounds barely have enough bandwidth for email. And if you somehow managed to capture all the bandwidth they have to run your video, no one else in the campground would be able to do anything on the internet.

Roku is the smart connector between the internet and your TV. Similar function is found in many Blueray Players and in many new TVs. There's no content included. If you're already an Amazon Prime member, you get some TV and movies for free, although I'm not positive Roku talks to Amazon. The free Hulu service is very limited. You have to pay for Hulu Plus, as you do for Netflix and other streaming content providers.
 

Hastey

Oklahoma Chapter Leaders
We are big Roku users, in fact I'm watching it now. There are several free channels and yes it communicates with Amazon. We also have netflix and really like the player. We take one of the two that we have with us when traveling. That's the good news.

Now the bad news: As Dan was saying about the signal strength, band with etc. We have been very limited to where we can use it. We use it mostly when we get to Michigan and camp at the in-laws for a month or so. Good service there because I installed it :p We did find some camp grounds that have good wi-fi.

Some more bad news: Camp grounds that use a code to log in with by going to a web page, you can't use their wi-fi. I called Roku and there is no way to get to the internet and access the wifi.

I am considering looking into a 3/4G broadband connection.

Hope this helps
 

jimtoo

Moderator
Also,, if you do go into a park and start streaming the video down,,, you might be ask to leave. I know of two parks that put in the log in page to stop the streaming of video.

Jim M
 

TravelTiger

Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
Another thing we discovered, Many of the TV programs we had hoped to watch with Hulu+ on our Roku are not authorized to stream to a TV, only to a computer. Something about the licensing.
 

Hastey

Oklahoma Chapter Leaders
Another thing we discovered, Many of the TV programs we had hoped to watch with Hulu+ on our Roku are not authorized to stream to a TV, only to a computer. Something about the licensing.

There is more than one way to skin the proverbial cat. You can use your laptop and your flat screen for a monitor. Just need a HDMI cable.
 

TravelTiger

Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
There is more than one way to skin the proverbial cat. You can use your laptop and your flat screen for a monitor. Just need a HDMI cable.

Yes, we've done that, too. But the point of the Roku was so that we *didn't* have to hook the laptop to the tv at home. Sometimes we watch tv and surf at the same time! LOL!
 

sJv

Active Member
Many people have iPhones and iPads nowadays. You can get the $40 HDMI adapter and connect it to your TV. That's what I do. I have an unlimited data plan from AT&T (grandfathered in from the first iPhone), so I can watch Netflix over 3G if there isn't WiFi. Other options with iDevices include something like Air Video or Plex (my new favorite) to connect to your computer at home and watch your collection of shows. Plex also allows you to stream Hulu from your computer (so you get the free version) to your device.

Plex can be installed on Roku2's as well.

If you don't have a good internet connection, then you can get a Seagate GoFlex satellite wireless hard disk. They are about $180 for 500GB. These generate their own WiFi network. Just about any device with a browser can connect to it and stream video.

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Satellite-Wireless-External-STBF500101/dp/B004Z0S7K6

-steve
 

danemayer

Well-known member
I have an unlimited data plan from AT&T (grandfathered in from the first iPhone), so I can watch Netflix over 3G if there isn't WiFi.

AT&T is on to you. They're starting to throttle connection speeds on high data usage accounts - meaning they're not going to allow the old unlimited plans to stream video more than occasionally.

If you don't have a good internet connection, then you can get a Seagate GoFlex satellite wireless hard disk. They are about $180 for 500GB. These generate their own WiFi network. Just about any device with a browser can connect to it and stream video.

I assume you mean you can use it to stream video by copying movies and TV to the hard disk before you leave home. Even if it creates a local WiFi network inside your RV, it doesn't get you a high-bandwidth connection to the internet.
 

sJv

Active Member
I assume you mean you can use it to stream video by copying movies and TV to the hard disk before you leave home. Even if it creates a local WiFi network inside your RV, it doesn't get you a high-bandwidth connection to the internet.

This is what I meant when I said if you don't have a good internet connection. You don't always have an internet connection, so bring your own media. Obtain said media with your laptop when you have a good connection, and store it on the GoFlex for later viewing. For the last couple of years, I buy a DVD, rip it with handbrake, and put it on my storage server. The DVD then sits on the shelf as a backup. I have over 300 movies ripped from my own DVD's. iTunes movies and TV shows can also be put on the GoFlex, but you'll only be able to watch them with an Apple product.

Another option if you happen to have a computer/laptop with you that has all your content, is to make an ad-hoc wifi network between your computer and AppleTV, iPod, iPhone, iPad, etc and stream movies this way. AppleTV's are nice in that you can use Airplay from iTunes on your computer to stream to your ATV. iDevices can use the Air Video or Plex app (among others). Heck, even a Roku with Plex can connect to your laptop and stream content.

There's a lot of options for non internet connections, but they do require some work to set up, as well as a local library of your content.
 
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