TV thicko seeking help

[pastyballbag]

Hello, I was hoping someone with more knowledge than me could help me work out what I want/ need

I’m paying around £55 a month for virgin media- line rental, broadband and TiVo. It’s occurred to me for the amount of TV I watch this is far more than I need to be paying. My TV is quite old (on its last legs) but still working fine and I was wondering if I could turn it into a smart TV so I can get Netflix etc without paying for the TiVo?

My plan was maybe to leave virgin and find a cheaper broadband provider (around 20 a month) and get one of those stick things that plug into the tv that means you get certain apps like Netflix/ iplayer etc. But I see some broadband providers also provide a box (or maybe a stick?) that does the same thing - eg Now TV- for around £24 a month. Am I missing something? Is this what I’m looking for?!

I’d have less channels obviously but I don’t watch much and feel like I could watch most of what I want on catch up.

Does the TiVo I have with virgin at the moment work via the internet? Or via the tv Ariel?

I’m aware that my questions are jumbled and my understanding limited, thanks for getting to the end!

I have a roku box - you download the various apps to watch the different services/ channels.

I just pay for broadband and Netflix, and sometimes films from Google play

A fire stick is also an option- I got roku as I liked the purple remote!

My tv is also old (has an HD ‘ready’ sticker) but you just need an hdmi port to plug in the roku, like you do with your TiVo box now.

Thank you, so my TV would be compatible, that’s good to know!

How does the fire stick/ roku work in terms of price? Do you buy it as a one off and that’s it or is it a monthly price like my virgin is now? And does it work all via the internet? So...how would I connect my tv to the internet?

You can sometimes pick up roku sticks for 20 quid.
What I like about roku is it has all the apps. You tube BBC,all4, now tv, Netflix and prime.
So if you wanted to watch something that was on a box set on now you could just do a month.

Once you attach the roku stick to the tv you follow the instructions on the screen to log into your Wi-Fi.
You will have to make a free roku account before hand, it's easier to set up then.

Ah ok thank you. Am I missing something then- would there be any benefit to getting something like a now tv box for a fiver a month over just getting the roku? Does it do the same stuff but without the monthly fee?

Also what sort of broadband speed would I need to stream stuff though the tv? The virgin I have now is much faster than most packages I think and I don’t know how fast it needs to be

Roku is a one off cost, then you pay for what you use eg Netflix

You could get a now box - if you mostly want sky channels that’s a good option.
If you want other apps too eg google
Play store, Netflix etc then a roku is better. (And you could get a now tv app on Roku, with fees to use)

Basically depends on what you want to watch.

These are Netflixs recommended min speeds

Re broadband speed- depends what your doing.

To just watch tv (stream) and browse the inter web on my phone- I have around 20mbps (guaranteed 10Mbps) via bog standard cable (not fibre) with sky.
I rarely download/upload anything anywhere, and the connection is pretty stable (city based, not country side)

If there are 5 of you downloading (not just streaming) and uploading lots of big files you’ll need a faster connection.

*you’re!!

I have a fire stick. I pay for Netflix then the rest is just free apps like iplayer and channel 4s equivalent

Now tv and Netflix

Thank you. Those of you who have Now broadband- do I need to get a separate Now box/stick to watch tv? Is the Now broadband hub just for internet? Thanks