Now that my Cox email address is tied to Yahoo instead of Cox, I might consider getting rid of Cox also and trying a different internet provider. I just got rid of Dish because we hadn’t watched it in over a year.
We stream everything over Roku. Even our local TV channels come in over Roku, via Tablo now. We rarely watch local TV channels either. But with no recurring fees for Tablo, there were enough benefits of streaming local TV instead of stringing wires or cannabalizing the cable TV lines to the TVs. I feel like we should keep local TV capability, even if we rarely use it.
All you do for Tablo is plug the Tablo box in to your rooftop antenna and to power. Connect the tablo to your WIFI network using your phone and a Tablo configuration app, and your tablo is then installed. Then you install the Tablo channel to Roku on each TV. Then when you go in to the Tablo channel on Roku, you get a local channel guide and the ability to record local TV channels, plus around fifty additional streaming channels. The Tablo boxes come in 2 tuner and 4 tuner versions. Unless you live alone and rarely watch local TV, you’ll probably want the 4 tuner version. If you watch one channel while recording another TV channel, that alone takes two tuners.
I haven’t considered the security issues too deeply yet. But it is convienent.
Maybe Purism should build a secure media server like Roku except no spying.
Be sure to review this thread: Data collected on me by ROKU
Note that Roku has been openly increasing its affinity for tracking lately. (Pick any recent article about streaming devices on arstechnica.com.) That’s in addition to any tracking that the third-party apps you use are doing.
If you haven’t already, set up Pi-hole on your network, and load the tracker-blocking filters you find appropriate.
They provide some data exploitation opt-out links in their privacy policy: Privacy - Tablo TV I would take advantage of them.
Personally, I’ve ceased to use Roku (for reasons of privacy abuse, infuriating/dark-pattern-manipulative UI, and low streaming quality), and now instead use a mini-PC connected to my TV. It runs Linux Mint, and I stream the one video service I use via LibreWolf with added privacy-protecting extensions, in glorious HD, behind a VPN connection that also incorporates DNS filtering like the Pi-hole application on my network. (I prefer to allow the VPN to bypass Pi-hole in favor of the VPN’s own DNS lookup, filtering, and randomization.)
I also switched to a Roku device. But that was because I left Cox and their provided TV device to T-Mobile (who does not provide a TV device) with the package. Two popular choices that were available were an Amazon Fire stick and a Roku, I didn’t feel like talking to Alexa and its inherent “always listening issue”, so I chose the Roku device. (Although Roku also has voice activation also if desired, dependent on model no.)
Better add Pi-hole, then, to control tracking/exploitation.
Although I’m not sure how to achieve that when using the provider’s device instead of your own router. Maybe there are settings in the device that allow you to designate the machine that runs Pi-hole as your DNS server…? (That would be the normal way, if using your own router.)
When I get a business account next month perhaps I can double park a 3rd party router behind the router?
I got a consumber account on T-Mobile in October which means I’m on 90 day hold before I can switch to a business account. (I should have started with a business account.)
A business account means I can have port forwarding on port 80 (and other ports) and put my 30 year old mainframe back on as a web site.