Evie!
Thanks for the questions! I
love questions!
Probably answering your questions will lead to more questions - this is
good!! This is fun for me!
Now, lets get started.
Pooker wrote:I don't even know how or where to begin. How do I know my television will accommodate these free services?
First of all, you need to have a new-"ish" television set, of the kind that has a slot (sometimes on the back, sometimes on the side) that will accommodate a USB plug (a USB plug is the kind of plug that is on the end of your mouse, where it plugs into the slot on your computer)
On Edit: (sorry, it had been a late night. Or something! 
) (Correction: The USB plug information is incorrect. The correct information is a HDMI slot, and a HDMI cable with a HDMI plug on the end of it. One end of the cable plugs into the tv, the other plugs into the Roku - or similar device.). Many/most television sets made over the last ten years will have at least one or two of these slots.
And you also will need a Roku device. Price starts at around $24.95, pay once and you are done, unless you want to subscribe to something.
This slot is where your Roku device will plug into your television set. Once the Roku is plugged into your television set, the Roku will automatically connect itself to the wireless connection in your home.
Pooker wrote: Where I live, our HOA contracts with Frontier and t.v., internet, and land phone are bundled in a package. It has changed companies over the years from a private provider where we had wonderful cable service which even included our own closed circuit channel where we could get info on what was going on in the community, buy/sell items, have a guide, etc. The private owner retired and no one wanted to buy the business, so our HOA had to go out for bids. Our equipment - cables, boxes, etc. are very old and none of the big boys wanted the expense of replacing 50 year old wiring, etc. Verizon was the only company to bid, so we got verizon and lost most of our perks. After Verizon replaced most of the equipment, Frontier took over. Hence, I know nothing about services - only the confusing bundle choices we had from many, many neighborhood meetings and presentations when Verizon was courting us.
Forget about the "confusing bundle of choices". There is only ONE thing you need - from Frontier - in order to be able to stream, and that is a reliable
broadband internet connection. That's
it. More than likely you
already have this.
And for others that may be reading this, if you want to be able to stream television programming, the only thing you need from your internet provider is this broadband connection, from whatever provider you might choose. Frontier is but one of these, there are many different broadband internet providers across the country.
Here where I live I have ComCast Xfinity.
Pooker wrote: My brain is exploding with questions. Do you have some sort of guide that tells you what is on where?
Well. . . yes and no. The Roku device will put a “search” screen on your tv, you can type in what you are looking for. Same with YouTube – you can bring up YouTube through your Roku device, and type what you are looking for into YouTube’s own “search” screen.
Other "channels" will have sub-channels with a scrolling listing of date and time of their programming.
One thing I should say here – if you are fond of the current filled-to-the-brim with commercials shows on the television networks these will not be free, but will require a subscription. I have not watched these scripted shows in at least ten years, and I don’t miss them at all. But – to each his own.
Pooker wrote: Do I just go out and buy a Roku whatever?
I suggest that you first determine if you have an actual broadband connection from Frontier. Probably you do – but it is (slightly) possible that you don't, and that your internet connection is only suitable for sending emails and such. In order to stream video (television programming) you must have a strong and fast broadband internet connection.
This is information you should be able to get from your HOA (LOL, probably if you phone your HOA and ask, they will just say "I don't know"), or get the information from Frontier directly.
I would be happy to do some internet sleuthing for you to find out about Frontier in your area – but that might
not let me know what
kind of contract to provide what
kind of internet connection your HOA has with Frontier.
Pooker wrote: And plug it in where?
For convenience sake, let me just repeat what I wrote above (and this only applies to the Roku device, which I have – there are other devices that do much the same thing, but I am not familiar with them):
First of all, you need to have a new-"ish" television set, of the kind that has a slot (sometimes on the back, sometimes on the side) of your tv that will accommodate a USB plug (a USB plug is the kind of plug that is on the end of your mouse, where it plugs into the slot on your computer).
(Correction: The USB plug information is incorrect. The correct information is a HDMI slot, and a HDMI cable with a HDMI plug on the end of it. One end of the cable plugs into the tv, the other plugs into the Roku - or similar device.)Many/most television sets made over the last ten years will have at least one or two of these slots.
You plug the Roku device into one of the slots on the back (or side – wherever they are) of your television set in order to be able to stream. Once plugged into your tv, the Roku automatically connects to the wireless internet in your home.
Pooker wrote: Since this community is in a bowl with mountains completely surrounding us, our signals are a bit sketchy.
Mountains being all around should not matter, because all of the streamed programming comes over the internet – it’s not like in the old days with mountains blocking the signal to the tv antenna on your roof.
Pooker wrote:For instance, internet works fine in one room (or on one side of a room) but not fine or not at all in other spots. Would that even matter?
Yes, it would matter because streaming comes to you through your internet connection. You need a strong broadband internet connection in order for streaming to be able to work.
The fact that internet seems to work for you in one room, or area of a room, and not the other might (or might not) be a problem. It all depends on how internet comes into your home.
Does it come into your home on a wire, and is this wire is connected to a modem or router? If yes, the internet signal in your home will be the
strongest where it is nearest to the modem or router.
Was this modem or router provided to you by Frontier, or did you purchase it yourself?
If the router or modem is on the older side, it may need to be replaced. I don’t have Frontier in my area (so I can’t speak for them), but many internet service providers will replace an older modem/router to their customers for free. If yours is an older modem/router that you purchased yourself at some time in the past, likely you will need to buy a new one.
Why? Older modems/routers are slow. Newer ones are faster.
MUCH faster. Speed is the key for trouble-free streaming.
Evie, if your community has a wired broadband connection (for example, a wired connection from Frontier comes directly, and individually, to each home in your community) you should be good (notice I say “should” here).
EXCEPT (here is a possible “gotcha”, but probably not):
If your internet comes to you as something called “Wi-Max”, this means that there is a tower somewhere broadcasting an internet signal to
everyone in your community,
all at the same time.
This can cause bandwidth (bandwidth just means how much data – what percentage of an electronic signal comes though and how fast it can come through) problems if everyone in your community decides to get on the WiMax all at the same time.
Since WiMax is a “shared” connection (shared with everyone else in your community, and maybe also shared with nearby communities as well) if everyone is on the WiMax at the same time, the flow of data (the streaming) will slow down so much that the streaming will not work.
Pooker wrote: I'm sorry everyone, for taking up so much time and space. I know I'm older than most of you, and we senior seniors feel left behind with fast moving technology. Many of my friends and neighbors don't have computers or smart phones and some probably can't afford to buy them anyway. I have both, but still feel left behind because how on earth did you even find out about all these wonders?
Oh my goodness, Evie, you are NOT taking up time and space! I am happy to help with this in any way that I can. I would even be willing to come to your home to figure it out for you, if you were not some few hundred miles from me. Truly!
Evie, you are very courageous in seeking out "all these wonders" all on your own, as you do here! Fellow seniors helping fellow seniors!! I
LOVE it!!
Evie – You
CAN do this. Despite all of the unfamiliar words, like WiMax and Bandwidth and modem and router and streaming and all of that other claptrap it really is a simple process (despite all of these big new words) and easy to do.
If you would care to let me know what general area you live in (I am
NOT asking for your address, so please
DON’T give it – because women.rv is not a secure website) I am happy to do some internet sleuthing and find out what I can find out about the services provided by Frontier.
There are other ways to do this as well – I know that Beth uses her smartphone to do her streaming, but I can’t speak to that because I am unfamiliar with this method.
And, oh yes – you say you are probably “older” than most ladies on here. Well. . . I doubt it! I don’t share my age on here for security reasons – but I am definitely “up there”!!
More questions, Evie, please ask!!
Thank you. This is fun for me, and I enjoy helping people discover what is available to them.
Thank you for giving me the chance to help.
Anne
