So you're ready to ditch your cable subscription and go all-in with online streaming. Are you trying to get your cable bill lower? Tired of commercials? Don't watch TV live anymore? Whatever the reason here are some online streaming options and what you need to get started.
Internet
First, you're going to want a solid internet connection. Look into getting speeds around 100Mbps or higher. The more people you have streaming the higher speed you will want to get. For better stability and performance make sure you have a good WIFI connection or even better plug your device directly into the internet using an ethernet cable. Call around see your options, maybe you can even bundle it with another service such as your mobile phone.
What to Watch With
So what are you going to watch on? You need to have some way to get your streaming apps to the big screen. If you have a newer TV you can use the built-in smart TV capabilities which should work just fine. Play around with it and see what you think. But, if that doesn't work for you there are plenty of other options.
Fire Stick
Amazon Fire Stick starts at $30 and is a great option if you're an Amazon Prime subscriber. It has A-L-E-X-A built-in for voice commands and integrates with all of your Prime services. You have different form factors to choose from like a small Fire Stick to a large Fire Cube.
Amazon Fire TV
Chromecast
If you're heavily invested in the Google ecosystem check out Chromecast with Google TV starting at $50. Google TV and its new clean user interface is made for your TV and gives you the same features as any other TV streaming box. They also have the standard Chromecast which is cheaper starting at $35, however you have use another device like your iPad to send your video to the TV.
Chromecast with Google TV
AppleTV
AppleTV is Apple's streaming box. On the pricer side starting at $149, it's powered by the same chips as in your iPhone. It has a huge focus on bringing mobile games to the big screen while the rest are more streaming specific. It also features AirPlay so you can throw whatever you have on your iPhone, iPad, and even your Mac to the big screen.
Apple TV HD
Apple TV 4K
Console
If you have a console, like a PlayStation or Xbox, you can use that to stream all the content you want.
Xbox
Playstation