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I'm using something called Teleport which is a solution being provided by my ISP. It makes it anything that I am connected from the US. To activate the Roku box I had to register e.g. enter my address, visa card info, etc.
I have done all that with a US address & I can see many, many channels. About 30+ channels. Most of them are free channels showing cartoons, westerns & old TV episodes. However I can't find channels like Netflix or Hulu
I have checked the firmware & it is up to date. The Roku box automatically checks for updates on a daily basis.
The Roku box is quite nice. The channel are from the US. Very easy to use & out of the box there are already many free channels. You don't need to fool around with adding software. Actually there are more than enough channels to keep me occupied but I want to know why there are no paid channels like Netflix, Hulu, HBO,..?
I may add an Android box later on. Looking at the the Minix X7.
I found out that you can add channels to the Roku box. Also found out that the system detects the location where you are trying to register from & the "Teleport" that is provided by my ISP may not be good enough to hide my location because I had problems trying to add CNBC the business channel. While I had no problems adding NHK Japan.
Looks like I will have to try registering with a VPN.
I notice that those who are using those android media boxes are actually using the XBMC software. There are different versions which run on android, Win 7, Mac OS,...
Instead of buying another hardware box I'm thinking of loading XBMC on a PC which is running Win 7, or on my Mac. Anyone know which platform is better option
I only looked at the established media players like Roku 3, Apple TV & hardware running on the android OS. You need decent hardware & bandwidth to to do a good job of streaming. The Roku is very small device similar in size to the Apple TV & comes with a remote.
I didn't consider the chrome cast because it seems underpowered & is more like a beta device. The Roku is for normal users who just want to watch TV without fooling around with the hardware & software I spent only $150 on the Roku box & it is very easy to use. The only problem is that there is geo blocking if you are using it outside the US:( So I can only get about 40+ channels.
That is why I am playing around with the XBMC software on my Mac. You can get more channels from the US, Europe, ...etc It is a collaborative effort & the software is free. Plenty of references available on youtube http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=xbmc
To get around the geo blocking I am looking at various solutions. I can get VPN but my network speed is going to suffer if I use VPN. Came across a service called unlocator https://unlocator.com/ It changes the DNS to make it appear that you are in the US.