Using Roku to watch TV?

[KentSuz]

We are newbies and loving our Navion 24D, but havent yet decided how to watch the Insignia television. One article recommended using Roku. Would love to hear people’s thoughts.
Thx!

Susan and Kent
2018 Navion 24D

[peggwn]

We've already installed a TCL 32" ROKU replacing the meteorite that was lodged in our front shelving. We too are interested since we have yet to take the Old Gal (ahem, not to be confused with the DW) on the road to test it out. We also have one in the S&B and it is working great so far after a month. We're cord-cutting and plan to use a combination of HULU for live TV and ROKU for the rest; we may add additional channels later. We'll give a status update when we get a chance to use it on the road. Good luck.

[creativepart]

That’s all we use, at home and on the road. Works great.

We plug the Roku into the SAT 1 HDMI port on our HDMI Matrix that distributes signal to all TVs.

This uses lots of data and you’ll need something better than campground WiFi most of the time. We have two cellular Mifi devices - ATT and Verizon. We have fully unlimited data plans on each. Not the so-called standard unlimited that only gives you 15gigs a month. But completely unlimited.

We use about 4 to 5 gigs of data a day. Usually 150 to 200 gigs a month.

We cut off Dish Network at our home 18-months ago and didn’t ever install a SAT dish when we bought our new RV in 2017.

Our two cell data plans cost ~$58 a month combined. We have one ATT Mobley unlimited Plan and a Verizon gUDP plan. These are totally separate from our cellphone plans and are only used for data on the RV.

[creativepart]

Originally Posted by peggwn

We're cord-cutting and plan to use a combination of HULU for live TV and ROKU for the rest; we may add additional channels later. We'll give a status update when we get a chance to use it on the road. Good luck.

Butch, go for it. We talked about dumping Dish for 6-months and finally took the plunge in 2017. There was some adjustment to be made. It does change how you watch TV.

We have Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, DirecTV Now, CBS and PBS Passport. For local stations we put an antenna on the old Dish mounting pole and it’s connected to a Tablo device that is a guide, DVR and it streams to a Roku App. We probably have too many services. We rarely watch some of these options.

The $40 antenna we got at Walmart. It was super easy to install and even though we live 20-miles north of San Antonio it brings in 40+ channels in HD.

We do watch less mindless TV, it’s not on in the background any more. We actively search for shows worth watching and specifically sit down and watch them. Lots of PBS Shows and Netflix and Amazon originals.

We’d never go back. It’s much better this way.

[BobC]

We've had a Roku at home for years and it's been fantastic. We also have one for our MH. Roku has some competition but is generally acknowledged to be the best of the breed with the best user interface.

And, although there are TVs with Roku built in, I think a separate Roku device is the way to go. That way it's easily upgraded or replaced if necessary. The PO had installed a so-called smart TV in my MH and it's built in "smarts" can't hold a candle to our Roku.

I also have a Chromecast but it isn't as good as a Roku.

[feiter]

Originally Posted by peggwn

We've already installed a TCL 32" ROKU replacing the meteorite that was lodged in our front shelving. We too are interested since we have yet to take the Old Gal (ahem, not to be confused with the DW) on the road to test it out. We also have one in the S&B and it is working great so far after a month. We're cord-cutting and plan to use a combination of HULU for live TV and ROKU for the rest; we may add additional channels later. We'll give a status update when we get a chance to use it on the road. Good luck.

I installed a 32" TCL Roku in my Intent 26M and the improvement in picture quality is fantastic. Roku is great as it offers the interface to allow steaming of almost any available service. Please remember streaming requires EXCELLENT WiFi...we just completed a 15 day 3200 mile trip using the Roku and sayed in 6 different RV Camps...only one (1) had excellent WiFi working as expected with zero buffering. We used our WiFi hotspot (T-Mobile) in almost all places except one where we only had 2 bars for T-Mobile and we were unable to stream anything that night! Before our next trip we will be looking for a WiFi solution as it is paramount to what we want to watch. FYI, 3 sites offered cable and we found the picture quality lacking and were surprised the TCL showed cable in a box and only stretching made it full size...not sure about this. FYI, remember to turn off your electric/electronic antenna before you search for cable on the TCL or you will only end up with the over air antenna channels. If anyone has a solution for always having excellent WiFi please share.

[creativepart]

There is only one solution for internet on the road and that is cellular data MiFi devices and expensive data plans. You don’t need to improve your WiFi signal from the campground. It’s inferior WiFi, boosting it just boosts worthless internet access.

There is no easy answer and there is a lot of detailed info to understand. You need to read up on mobile internet options at www.rvmobileinternet.com