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How to Build the Perfect Streaming TV Setup in 5 Steps!
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Apr 29, 2025
I've been helping people cut the cable TV cord for a decade. In this video, I'll help you build your household's perfect streaming TV setup that's both simple and affordable. 🚨 Get the latest deals and free trials: https://michaelsavesdeals.com/ 📺 Compare live TV services: https://michaelsaves.com/streaming/best-live-tv-streaming/ 💻 Find a better internet plan: https://michaelsaves.com/internet-plan-comparison-tool/ CHAPTERS: 0:00 Choose Your TV Wisely 2:04 Get a Streaming Device 4:33 Strategy to Organize Your Apps 6:43 Finding Content Faster 8:28 Check Your Internet Speed 9:44 Bonus Tip Start your regular Amazon shopping with my link to support the channel: https://www.amazon.com/shop/michaelsaves NOTE: This description box includes an affiliate link. If you use my link, I may receive a small commission. It helps offset the 80% decline in YouTube revenue my channel has experienced since November 2022. Need a personal recommendation for streaming TV, phone or internet service? Email [email protected]! FOLLOW MICHAEL SAVES:
View Video Transcript
0:00
hey everybody Today I'm going to help
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you build the perfect streaming TV setup
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for your household Simple affordable and
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it all starts with your TV set Number
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one today choose your TV wisely And the
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best TV for streaming could be the one
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that's already in your living room as
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long as that is a smart TV And most of
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us own smart TVs by now This is the TCL
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TV that I have Bought this one about a
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year ago And probably like most people I
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went into the store and considered
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factors like the price size 4K picture
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quality as well as how it sounds And
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then I just read a whole bunch of
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reviews online before making my purchase
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Now if you're going for a truly
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minimalist streaming TV setup another
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major factor to consider is the built-in
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streaming platform Some TVs have Roku or
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Amazon Fire TV builtin while the TV that
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I bought uses the Google TV platform And
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in all of these cases you do not need to
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buy a separate streaming media player
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That's really what I mean by a
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minimalist setup Take a look here Right
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now I don't have anything else hooked up
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to the back of my TV set and there's
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only a single TV power cord plugged into
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the wall And with my smart TV connected
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to Wi-Fi of course I can stream all my
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favorite apps using the Google TV
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platform Lately I've been hearing from
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more people who prefer this type of a
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setup But personally I've had my fair
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share of issues with these built-in
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platforms from missing apps to sluggish
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performance And I'm speaking
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specifically about Samsung and LG
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branded TV sets The Google TV platform
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with my TCL is an improvement over those
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but I found that it still recommends
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things I'm not interested in or have
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already watched There is an app only
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mode So let me show you what that looks
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like Much better in my opinion The
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downside though you can't use Google's
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search and voice assistant whenever you
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have this appsonly mode turned on If you
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can relate to anything I just said the
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second step in today's video is going to
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help solve these problems Number two is
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get a streaming device This storage bin
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is full of some of the streaming media
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players from different brands at
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different price points that I've been
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testing over the years These are my two
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favorites Apple TV 4K and Roku Ultra
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These are both premium devices about the
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size of a drink coaster and they don't
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take up a lot of space beside your TV
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set You can also hide them out of sight
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inside your TV cabinet and they'll still
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work Let me show you the Apple TV
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interface adree That's a huge plus
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providing uncluttered easy access to all
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of your streaming apps Now let's compare
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that to the Roku interface The app tiles
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are larger I prefer that And there are
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more recommendations for content
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including a lot of free content Plus
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Roku's Voice Remote Pro has more
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features than the Apple Remote
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Unfortunately there are ads on Roku's
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home screen and the company has been
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experimenting with adding even more of
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them At this point I see that as the
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main trade-off to consider with this
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platform So let me know which one of
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these devices would you pick The way I
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see it I don't think you can go wrong
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with the Apple TV 4K or Roku Ultra They
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are more expensive but if you can afford
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it it may be worth it even just for your
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primary TV And then for other TVs in
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your house you could choose a more
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affordable streaming media player Here's
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just one example of how that could work
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Roku introduced new streaming sticks in
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2025 They're less than half the price of
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the Ultra Roku Streaming Stick Plus
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That's the one I would recommend as your
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starting point The new device has a
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slimmer design It can be fully hidden
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behind your TV Just plug it into your
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TV's HDMI port and then power it with a
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USB port So you don't even need to have
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a cord running to a wall power outlet
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When you decide it's time to buy a
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streaming device I've got two main rules
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First I typically buy the latest model
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year of any particular device That will
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help futureproof your purchase No
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discontinued models And second because
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there's just so much competition I only
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buy streaming devices when they're on
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sale Now that you're set up with a smart
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TV and an optional streaming media
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player you have access to a growing
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number of apps both free and paid Most
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people who took my YouTube poll said
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there are just too many apps So how do
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you keep things simple when these
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companies and a whole bunch of others
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are all competing for your streaming
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time and dollars The answer is number
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three to organize your apps And there's
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a specific way I like to do this to get
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the most out of my subscriptions You
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could do this on any device I'm just
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going to show you on a Roku And this is
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the traditional Roku layout 3x3 tiles So
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there are nine streaming apps that you
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can see without having to scroll down My
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first tip prioritize the apps that you
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actually pay for Let's say that I just
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signed up for YouTube TV today In that
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case I would highlight the app click the
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star on my Roku remote and then move the
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app to the first position That way I
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can't miss it And every time I opened up
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my Roku I would be reminded that I pay
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for YouTube TV In addition to the paid
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apps I like to have at least one free
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app besides YouTube also featured high
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up on the home screen In the past I've
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said my favorites are Pluto TV the Roku
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Channel and Tuby in that order But I
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think I've got to change that order
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around Tuby the Roku channel and Pluto
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TV That's just a little update for you
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because over the past year or so I found
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myself opening the TB app more often
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because I like its content selection
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Really it's the movies And I got to say
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Tuby has a better overall user interface
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rivals many paid apps Having free apps
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front and center on the home screen it's
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just an in-your-face reminder about all
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the free content available to stream No
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subscription required But when it comes
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to my paid subscriptions I do like to
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rotate them to save money So about once
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a month I'll also rearrange the apps to
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either move or delete apps that I'm not
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currently using Let me know if you can
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relate to this Someone recommends a new
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show for you to watch and your first
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thought isn't about the plot or the
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actors Instead it's what streaming
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service am I going to need to watch this
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show Step four today is all about
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finding shows faster And if you don't
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like having to use your remote to type
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in searches at least try out your
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streaming platform's voice search
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feature it can help you launch apps and
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find content recommendations That said
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this is what I prefer Just watch is an
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app and website It's sometimes even
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faster I think of it as an updated
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version of the old TV guide that you
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used to get with the Sunday newspaper
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While watching TV I'll just pull it up
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on my phone and search for a show or
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movie Then Just watch is going to tell
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me where that show is available to
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stream and how much it's going to cost
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You may also have success with AI tools
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things like chat GPT and Gemini but
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these are far from perfect from my
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testing Check this out I recently asked
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Gemini about cheap ways to stream
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Hallmark movies Why that search Well a
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few days after recording this video
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Peacock loses streaming rights to
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Hallmark movies But at first Gemini
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listed Peacock as one of its
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recommendations I then asked a follow-up
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question about Hallmark channels leaving
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Peacock and Gemini confirmed that
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reporting And then after another
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follow-up Gemini apologized for its poor
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recommendation After a couple tries
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Gemini did get it right and it
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recommended both Friendly TV and
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Hallmark Plus as affordable streaming
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options Nothing we've talked about today
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can be done without an internet
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connection Step five today is to check
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your internet speed This only takes a
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few seconds I promise Connect to Wi-Fi
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and go to
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speedtest.net on either your phone or
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computer Then just run a speed test from
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your location You are going to get
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results for both download and upload
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speeds But really it's the download
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speeds I want you to focus on for
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streaming You only need about 25
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megabits per second download to stream
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in 4K on one device Chances are your
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download speeds are much higher than 25
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megabits per second And they'll be fast
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enough to stream all your favorite apps
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Plus use multiple other devices in your
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home at the same time After conducting
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this initial speed test if you ever run
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into issues while streaming in the
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future head back to
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speedtest.net and just run another test
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That way you can see if the problem lies
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with your internet provider If not it
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may be an issue with an app or streaming
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platform And you can use another great
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resource
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downdetector.com to verify if other
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people are also having problems with
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their services I've got a bonus tip that
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could be the best $12 you ever spend on
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your TV Now I realize antennas were
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around long before streaming They're
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still important though because it's just
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so expensive to stream the four major
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broadcast TV stations from a single app
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And that's why if you live in the city
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or the suburbs it may be worth trying an
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indoor antenna In my area it's pretty
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hard to pick up all four of the major
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locals with an indoor antenna But this
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set of rabbit ears does the trick It's
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only $12 and recommended by the antenna
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man Personally I don't mind the
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old-fashioned look but for people who do
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there are more modern flat indoor
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antennas available I've had success with
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this one an amplified Mohu Leaf antenna
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These typically perform best when
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they're placed in a window or high up on
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a wall and some antenna users have added
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a Tableau DVR to their setup This device
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lets you record shows from those antenna
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channels and then watch on multiple
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compatible devices in your home through
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the Tableau app If you want to stay in
10:52
the know I produce a monthly video with
10:54
the latest streaming TV news and updates
10:57
And I'm always updating deals on
10:59
streaming TV phone plans and internet
11:02
service on michaels.com
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