Can a Roku streaming stick be used to get free TV stations?

Amethyst

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Mar 26, 2018, 7:02:12 PM3/26/18

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Can a Roku streaming stick be used to get free TV stations?
http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=8433834roku.jpg

We are very low tech where I'm asking if I can get free TV with the low
tech equipment that I have already at home.

I picked up two unopened Roku streaming sticks at a garage sale where the
husband who worked for Roku had left the ex wife where he had a few cases
of these things that the ex wife was selling for a buck each but she didn't
know what they're good for - and neither do I.

The gray box is a Roku 3810R and the green one is a Roku 3800R.

Googling, everyone seems to already know what they do, where I can tell
from the hits that they connect your TV to the Internet over your router so
that you can use Netflix and stuff.

But we are really low tech so my question is how much free stuff can this
Roku thing give me? All the articles assume you have Netflix, and they even
assume you have cable, and they assume you have a TV, none of which I have.

I don't have a TV antenna to get over the air broadcast TV, and even if I
did, I'm remote so I'd likely get one station or two at best.

THere is no cable service. Just electricity. Nothing else by way of
services.

I'm on WISP. About 5 Mbps down and up.
The router is an old WNDR Netgear N with the USB port unused.

The kids have a PS3 connected to an old Sony TV.
http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=6286595sony_model.jpg

The Sony TV is too old for HDMI.
http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=7549633sony_cables.jpg

I know the Sony TV can do Netflix over the net through the PS3 which is
wired to the router because we had a friend stay for a few days and her
account worked where the kids set that up, but we don't have Netflix
account.

We have Windows 10, one of which has an HDTV monitor.
http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=4561584hdmi_1.jpg

So that one kid's desktop is the only HDMI connection in the house.
http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=1354901hdmi_2.jpg

In our low-tech situation, with only my kid having an HDMI monitor, which
nobody shows on the net, can the Roku streaming stick be used to get free
TV stations?

Adrian Caspersz

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Mar 26, 2018, 8:33:07 PM3/26/18

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On 27/03/18 00:02, Amethyst wrote:
> Can a Roku streaming stick be used to get free TV stations?
> http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=8433834roku.jpg
>
> We are very low tech where I'm asking if I can get free TV with the low
> tech equipment that I have already at home.
>
> I picked up two unopened Roku streaming sticks at a garage sale where the
> husband who worked for Roku had left the ex wife where he had a few cases
> of these things that the ex wife was selling for a buck each but she didn't
> know what they're good for - and neither do I.

<snip>

> THere is no cable service. Just electricity. Nothing else by way of
> services.
>
> I'm on WISP. About 5 Mbps down and up.
> The router is an old WNDR Netgear N with the USB port unused.
>

You need a modern TV with a HDMI input.

Folks throw away such TVs these days for silly reasons.

Try asking on Freecycle (or your local equivalent).

--
Adrian C

Amethyst

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Mar 26, 2018, 9:45:55 PM3/26/18

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On Tue, 27 Mar 2018 01:33:04 +0100, Adrian Caspersz <em...@here.invalid>
said:

> You need a modern TV with a HDMI input.
>
> Folks throw away such TVs these days for silly reasons.
>
> Try asking on Freecycle (or your local equivalent).

I was afraid of needing a new TV but we have no plans to get a "modern TV".

I just realized though that it didn't even occur to me to look to see if
the PS3 had HDMI!

I just looked, and the PS3 does have an unused HDMI port!
http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=6417873ps3.jpg

So can the Roku be set up in this configuration which exists now, all by
Ethernet cable?

WISP modem to Router to PS3 to TV where the PS3 has an unused HDMI port?

Amethyst

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Mar 26, 2018, 9:56:13 PM3/26/18

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On Tue, 27 Mar 2018 01:45:51 +0000 (UTC), Amethyst <ameth...@koho.com>
said:

> So can the Roku be set up in this configuration which exists now, all by
> Ethernet cable?
>
> WISP modem to Router to PS3 to TV where the PS3 has an unused HDMI port?

I just noticed that the monitor is HDMI *IN*
http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=1354901hdmi_2.jpg

While the PS3 is HDMI *OUT*.
http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=6417873ps3.jpg

Does the direction matter for my purpose if I want to put the Roku
streaming stick into the PS3 to get the TV to be on the Roku Internet?

Roger Blake

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Mar 26, 2018, 11:15:30 PM3/26/18

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On 2018-03-26, Amethyst <ameth...@koho.com> wrote:
> Can a Roku streaming stick be used to get free TV stations?
> http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=8433834roku.jpg

There are quite a few free "channels" available on the Roku but they
are not your local broadcast stations if that's the kind of thing you
were thinking of.

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peterw...@gmail.com

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Mar 27, 2018, 7:25:21 AM3/27/18

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Amethyst

Please do not feed the troll.

Adrian Caspersz

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Mar 27, 2018, 8:13:35 AM3/27/18

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On 27/03/18 12:25, pf...@aol.com wrote:
> Amethyst
>
> Please do not feed the troll.
>

Noted.

--
Adrian C

whosbest54

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Mar 27, 2018, 12:03:05 PM3/27/18

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In article <p9bu5d$1oqk$1...@gioia.aioe.org>, ameth...@koho.com says...

You could try a stick with the PS/3 if it has a HDMI input for external
sources. As another poster mentioned, you won't get local free OTA stations
with it.

You can get an external ATSC HD tuner box for OTA and a TV antenna and hook it
up to the component vid and line level audio inputs on your old Sony TV.
These boxes are cheap and can be used as a personal DVR with a separate
external hard drive.

Here's an example:

<https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-HomeWorx-Converter-Recording-HW-
150PVR/dp/B00I2ZBD1U>

whosbest54
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Amethyst

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Mar 27, 2018, 5:28:45 PM3/27/18

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On Tue, 27 Mar 2018 11:02:56 -0500, whosbest54
<whosbest54@NO_SPAMyahoo.com.invalid> said:

> You could try a stick with the PS/3 if it has a HDMI input for external
> sources. As another poster mentioned, you won't get local free OTA stations
> with it.

It seems that I need HDMI "IN" where the monitor to the desktop computer is
the only device with HDMI "IN".
http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=4561584hdmi_1.jpg

The Sony Playstation 3 only has an unused HDMI "OUT".
http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=6417873ps3.jpg

And the DVD player also has an unused HDMI "OUT".
http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=3232054dvd_player.jpg

The desktop is connected to the router by WiFi and the playstation is
connected to the router by Ethernet.

The playstation then goes directly to the back of the TV, as does the DVD
player.

Given the monitor has multiple different connections, I can free up the
HDMI "IN" of the monitor by using a different cable out of the back of the
desktop tower.

That would free up the only HDMI "IN" that I have.
http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=1354901hdmi_2.jpg

So the only question remaining is whether the Roku streaming stick would
work connected to that HDMI "IN" of the desktop computer monitor.