Firestick or Roku? Amazon or Lazada?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

6 minutes ago, gamesgplayemail said:

I still don't understand why roku and not chromecast or android tv box as they all do the same thing ?

 

is roku famous ?

 

 

Not quite the same things in all kinds of ways, other than that they all offer various forms of streaming...

 

I personally prefer to use a Fire TV or Android TV device here for my U.S. streaming. But Roku is still, I believe, the most popular/widely used streaming device in the U.S. (I think mainly, because it tends to be simpler to use and requires less technical knowledge/tinkering.  As a result, it's also more limited).

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

5 hours ago, giddyup said:

What I need to know is, has anyone imported a Roku from Amazon, and did all the loaded free apps work, like Crackle etc?

 

Re your question about Crackle, when I go to the Crackle website here using a Thai ISP connection, I get a message saying the service isn't available in your region, which is what I would have expected. Thus I'd expect the Crackle channel on Roku would give you the same message here.... unless you make the Roku device think you were really in the U.S.

 

Although there are international versions available of Netflix and Amazon Prime and a few others, a lot of the U.S. video content is geofenced to the U.S. because that's where the studios rights exist... And different rightsholders may exist for that same content in other countries such as Thailand.

 

Audio content, in my experience, is much less problematic... And I think it's easier to get here without having to do all the technical trickery that has to be done with a lot of U.S. major studio-produced video.

[giddyup]

9 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Re your question about Crackle, when I go to the Crackle website here using a Thai ISP connection, I get a message saying the service isn't available in your region, which is what I would have expected. Thus I'd expect the Crackle channel on Roku would give you the same message here.... unless you make the Roku device think you were really in the U.S.

 

Although there are international versions available of Netflix and Amazon Prime and a few others, a lot of the U.S. video content is geofenced to the U.S. because that's where the studios rights exist... And different rightsholders may exist for that same content in other countries such as Thailand.

 

Audio content, in my experience, is much less problematic... And I think it's easier to get here without having to do all the technical trickery that has to be done with a lot of U.S. major studio-produced video.

It looks like I either have to subscribe to Netflix or get the Kodi app on my tablet and use Roku's mirror for streaming.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

15 minutes ago, giddyup said:

It looks like I either have to subscribe to Netflix or get the Kodi app on my tablet and use Roku's mirror for streaming.

 

It's not all that difficult to use a Roku here for U.S. streaming purposes -- but it's generally going to require either having a VPN router OR using a DNS redirect service that accomplishes a similar kind of thing.

 

A Roku bought in the U.S. isn't going to just work normally for a lot of U.S. video content right out of the box here -- without some intervention on your part.

 

On the other hand, with a Fire device or a Shield or MiBox Android device, you just install the VPN app of your choice, make a U.S. connection in the app on your device, and you're good to go.

 

Black Friday's coming, and I think Amazon is selling the Fire TV sticks for $25 to $35 or so, lower for the older 2nd gen Fire Stick and a bit more for the newer 4K Fire Stick. They're a steal, especially if you're already in the U.S. and can obtain them there. And they'll allow you to do whatever you want to do.

 

 

Edited November 22, 2019 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[giddyup]

18 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

It's not all that difficult to use a Roku here for U.S. streaming purposes -- but it's generally going to require either having a VPN router OR using a DNS redirect service that accomplishes a similar kind of thing.

 

A Roku bought in the U.S. isn't going to just work normally for a lot of U.S. video content right out of the box here -- without some intervention on your part.

 

On the other hand, with a Fire device or a Shield or MiBox Android device, you just install the VPN app of your choice, make a U.S. connection in the app on your device, and you're good to go.

 

Black Friday's coming, and I think Amazon is selling the Fire TV sticks for $25 to $35 or so, lower for the older 2nd gen Fire Stick and a bit more for the newer 4K Fire Stick. They're a steal, especially if you're already in the U.S. and can obtain them there. And they'll allow you to do whatever you want to do.

 

 

Since I've already outlaid $40 for my Roku, which won't be delivered until next week, I'm reluctant to invest in another streaming device. As far a VPN routers etc, I'm not that tech savvy to start messing around with that stuff. I've been downloading movies from torrent sites for 10 years without a problem, no buffering, generally perfect copies of new release movies and TV, so I'm probably better off sticking with the devil I know. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

19 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Since I've already outlaid $40 for my Roku, which won't be delivered until next week, I'm reluctant to invest in another streaming device. As far a VPN routers etc, I'm not that tech savvy to start messing around with that stuff. I've been downloading movies from torrent sites for 10 years without a problem, no buffering, generally perfect copies of new release movies and TV, so I'm probably better off sticking with the devil I know. 

 

Here's your basic kinds of choices:

 

https://thevpn.guru/roku-american-channels-usa-get-unblock-vpn-dns/

 

https://www.smartdnsproxy.com/page/unblock-us-channels-outside-the-us-on-your-roku-streaming-device.aspx#.Xde7UVczY2w

 

http://support.smartdnsproxy.com/customer/en/portal/articles/1352112-roku-setup-for-smart-dns-proxy

 

 

 

PS - in your case, assuming you already set up your Roku in the U.S. and have a U.S. Roku account before moving, you shouldn't have to factory re-set the device once in Thailand. Those particular instructions are for folks who are trying to set up a new Roku from scratch outside the U.S.

 

 

Edited November 22, 2019 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[giddyup]

6 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Here's your basic kinds of choices:

 

https://thevpn.guru/roku-american-channels-usa-get-unblock-vpn-dns/

 

 

  Those particular instructions are for folks who are trying to set up a new Roku from scratch outside the U.S.

 

 

That's me. I bought the Roku for what I thought would be simplicity and ease of use, it's starting to veer seriously away from that. Like I said, the method I've been using is bulletproof, not about to give myself headaches.

Edited November 22, 2019 by giddyup

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Setting up an Android tablet with a VPN app, and then casting to a Roku might be another way to go... But I'm not clear in remembering just how cross platform compatible the Roku casting/mirroring setup is.

 

I remember casting from my laptop to a Roku.... but I can't ever remember trying to do that with an Android tablet... I just remember, whenever I tried it with my Roku devices as the recipient, the results were pretty balky and inconsistent, and the connection often seemed to drop or have issues.

 

 

[giddyup]

5 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Setting up an Android tablet with a VPN app, and then casting to a Roku might be another way to go... But I'm not clear in remembering just how cross platform compatible the Roku casting/mirroring setup is.

 

I remember casting from my laptop to a Roku.... but I can't ever remember trying to do that with an Android tablet... I just remember, whenever I tried it with my Roku devices as the recipient, the results were pretty balky and inconsistent, and the connection often seemed to drop or have issues.

 

 

I have already checked out enabling tablet to mirror with Roku, pretty simple, I think I can probably manage that. Not sure how good the results will be, have to wait and see.

Edited November 22, 2019 by giddyup

[Thainesss]

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

a DNS redirect service that accomplishes a similar kind of thing.

 

FYI Netflix has been onto this method for about 2 years during the great clampdown they did. 

 

 

[Thainesss]

By far the best, easiest, most reliable, and function heavy system to use is the Nivida Shield with ExpressVPN (or similar VPN) 

 

Realize you are probable put off with buying something but for the future you can even take all those torrents, put them on an external drive and plug the drive into the Shield and use the Shield as a home media hub. Choose your movies and shows from the shield interface with the remote & stuff. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

10 minutes ago, Thainesss said:

 

FYI Netflix has been onto this method for about 2 years during the great clampdown they did. 

 

Are you sure the DNS redirect services don't work with Netflix U.S. these days???... usually, the services end up finding their way around that eventually...

 

 

But either way, Netflix is the least of anyone's concerns on this particular topic, because Netflix is one of the relatively few U.S. streaming services that are specifically and officially supported here in Thailand. So the easy solution is just to get a Netflix TH account and use that.

 

Edited November 22, 2019 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Thainesss]

Just now, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Are you sure the DNS redirect services don't work with Netflix U.S. these days???... usually, the services end up finding their way around that eventually...

 

Pretty sure. I haven't specifically tried in about 9 months but it was locked down hard for a long time, and I was using the best paid DNS Service at the time. 

 

2 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

But either way, Netflix is the least of anyone's concerns on this particular topic, because Netflix is one of the relatively few U.S. streaming services that are specifically and officially supported here in Thailand. So the easy solution is just to get a Netflix TH account and use that.

 

True, but the selection is minuscule compared to the US version. 

 

And Im not sure there is a Netflix "TH" account per se. I just have my regular US Netflix account and depending on my location or where im spoofing my location it shows me that areas selection. 

 

[Thainesss]

I just did a brief look and Roku doesn't even support Express VPN or DNS Functionality at all. 

 

Sorry OP you bought the worst device possible for the application. ????

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

17 minutes ago, Thainesss said:

 

And Im not sure there is a Netflix "TH" account per se.

 

There is...and although I've personally never used it, others here have said the selection is quite good.....

 

It's netflix-dot-com/th, AFAIK...  But you'll only get that if you're using a TH ISP and IP address.

 

https://www.finder.com/th/netflix-tv-shows

 

[giddyup]

2 hours ago, Thainesss said:

By far the best, easiest, most reliable, and function heavy system to use is the Nivida Shield with ExpressVPN (or similar VPN) 

 

Realize you are probable put off with buying something but for the future you can even take all those torrents, put them on an external drive and plug the drive into the Shield and use the Shield as a home media hub. Choose your movies and shows from the shield interface with the remote & stuff. 

I already do that now. Download everything to an external drive and play through a cheap Chinese media player, works perfectly, and I can watch what I want, when I want.

[RocketDog]

23 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

It's going to depend on the individual channel and specific service at hand... If the app/service is available outside the U.S., then it ought to work fine with a Roku connected to a Thai ISP address... But if it's a U.S. only service, then when you try to open the channel and/or log-in, it's probably going to fail.

 

Just because a Roku device sold in the U.S. may come with some pre-loaded channels doesn't necessarily mean those same channels are going to work if you try to use the device outside the U.S. (with a non U.S. IP address).

 

Exactly correct. I bought the Roku in America and tested it on my TV at home there. Things like tubi and crackle worked fine.

 

Brought to Thailand and utter fail, as mentioned in my other post on this thread.

 

Installed VPN router and used USA server, all fine again.

 

Yes, Amazon or Roku should put that notice in their advertising but then you might not buy one. What do you think they will do?

 

Always the same story for thousands of years :

Let the buyer beware.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

13 minutes ago, RocketDog said:

Yes, Amazon or Roku should put that notice in their advertising but then you might not buy one. What do you think they will do?

 

Always the same story for thousands of years :

Let the buyer beware.

 

The reasons for that are simple and not bad behavior on the seller's part, IMHO.

 

Roku doesn't market or sell their devices in Thailand, or in many other countries for that matter. So there's no reason they would be advertising details not pertinent to their own markets.

 

Similarly, Amazon doesn't have a direct retail presence in Thailand, and most Amazon branded media consumption devices (Fire boxes/sticks and tablets, etc.) aren't even available for shipment to Thailand via Amazon's international shipping program.

 

To me, the issue you raise is kind of like asking a Thailand electronics retailer why they don't advertise or warn that if you take their device outside Thailand to the U.S. and try to plug it in there, it's not going to work.

 

[giddyup]

23 minutes ago, RocketDog said:

Exactly correct. I bought the Roku in America and tested it on my TV at home there. Things like tubi and crackle worked fine.

 

Brought to Thailand and utter fail, as mentioned in my other post on this thread.

 

Installed VPN router and used USA server, all fine again.

 

Yes, Amazon or Roku should put that notice in their advertising but then you might not buy one. What do you think they will do?

 

Always the same story for thousands of years :

Let the buyer beware.

Received my Roku this morning and have found out that most of the popular free channels are not available. Plenty (over 800) of dross though.

[giddyup]

1 minute ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Similarly, Amazon doesn't have a direct retail presence in Thailand, and most Amazon branded media consumption devices (Fire boxes/sticks and tablets, etc.) aren't even available for shipment to Thailand via Amazon's international shipping program.

 

The Roku devices are available through Amazon for delivery to Thailand. Received mine this morning. Pretty slim pickings as far as free movie and TV shows though. 

[RocketDog]

On 11/23/2019 at 4:46 PM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

The reasons for that are simple and not bad behavior on the seller's part, IMHO.

 

Roku doesn't market or sell their devices in Thailand, or in many other countries for that matter. So there's no reason they would be advertising details not pertinent to their own markets.

 

Similarly, Amazon doesn't have a direct retail presence in Thailand, and most Amazon branded media consumption devices (Fire boxes/sticks and tablets, etc.) aren't even available for shipment to Thailand via Amazon's international shipping program.

 

To me, the issue you raise is kind of like asking a Thailand electronics retailer why they don't advertise or warn that if you take their device outside Thailand to the U.S. and try to plug it in there, it's not going to work.

 

Ok. Fair argument. I concede the point.

 

So my solution is especially pertinent to the problem others are facing.

Thanks.

[RocketDog]

On 11/23/2019 at 4:48 PM, giddyup said:

Received my Roku this morning and have found out that most of the popular free channels are not available. Plenty (over 800) of dross though.

The only solution I know is the one I named earlier. Now I have more free movies than I care to watch though it will cost you a router and a VPN subscription, both of which I wanted anyway for unrelated reasons.