Need a streaming box

[In2Photos]

I have a Sony Bravia TV from 2016, an Android TV. I'm tired of how slow most of the apps are while browsing in them. I'm also tired of having to use WiFi despite having Ethernet at the TV because manufacturers decided to use 10/100 ports. So it's either replace the TV which will open up a whole can of worms like new entertainment center, speakers, paint, rug, etc.

So it's probably best to get a streaming box. Here's my requirements.

Not an apple product
Needs a gigabit or better Ethernet port
4K
Can run all the apps, sling TV, Hulu, Netflix, Paramount, YouTube, yada yada yada
Stream content using Jellyfin from my unraid server
IR remote so I can program my Harmony (yes I still use a Harmony)

Roku? Nvidia shield? Anything else to look at?

 

[Sgraffite]

Is there any special requirement to run all the apps? If not you could look at used mini PCs, which there are tons of reviews for on YouTube and elsewhere. You didn't mention budget, there is a good amount of fairly capable mini PCs that can be had for $300 or less.

 

[In2Photos]

Is there any special requirement to run all the apps? If not you could look at used mini PCs, which there are tons of reviews for on YouTube and elsewhere. You didn't mention budget, there is a good amount of fairly capable mini PCs that can be had for $300 or less.

I want something that is easy to run and just works without any fiddling or special remotes/equipment. My wife is also a primary user of this TV so it needs to function similarly to the existing setup. With a mini PC is there some sort of app/program that would run on it to provide all of the necessary links to site like netflix, hulu, etc or is it like using any other PC using a web browser? As for budget I'm flexible if it means getting a better experience. At first I didn't want to pay the $200 premium for something like the Nvidia Shield, but if it means I can enjoy watching things again, then it's probably worth it.

 

[Sgraffite]

I expect you'd have to go to the respective website on the PC to use the services but maybe there is a simpler way. I'm not sure what would function similarly to your existing setup.

 

[In2Photos]

Thnaks. After looking around some more today it looks like only the Apple TV and Nvidia Shield have gigabit Ethernet ports. All others either rely on WiFi or have a 10/100 port. That's so lame, lol.

 

[balloonshark]

If you go the PC route Windows app store should have some of the streaming apps. Example: https://apps.microsoft.com/collecti...tainmentApps?hl=en-us&gl=US&hasHeroImage=true

I see they also have sling so their streaming apps aren't limited to those in the link above.

There are also linux media distros available. https://www.tecmint.com/linux-media...of#:~:text=As a subset of the Linux family of

You might also consider getting a game console.

 

[manly]

Thnaks. After looking around some more today it looks like only the Apple TV and Nvidia Shield have gigabit Ethernet ports. All others either rely on WiFi or have a 10/100 port. That's so lame, lol.

Fair gripe, but is there any actual use case where > 80 Mbps is required for media streaming?

Throughput has never been a problem on my Roku Ultra, and I just use WiFi 5 which isn't very fast.

I suppose some day (soon-ish) we will all be streaming 8k.

 

[In2Photos]

Ok I was really having trouble watching anything last night on the TV. Watching on my phone or computer I had no issues so it wasn't an Internet problem. I performed a speed test on the TV over WiFi and got 9Mbps. WTF. The TV is right next to the "mesh" router with an Ethernet backbone to the main router. So I ran it again and got 150. I pulled up the Deco app and monitored the traffic on the TV. It was dog slow despite plenty of available bandwidth. Checking the settings I set the TV to high priority and WOW what a difference! Smooth streaming! Even the guide seemed snappier although still not instant like other devices. I'll have to see how much this helps over the next few days.

If you go the PC route Windows app store should have some of the streaming apps. Example: https://apps.microsoft.com/collecti...tainmentApps?hl=en-us&gl=US&hasHeroImage=true

I see they also have sling so their streaming apps aren't limited to those in the link above.

There are also linux media distros available. https://www.tecmint.com/linux-media...of#:~:text=As a subset of the Linux family of

You might also consider getting a game console.

Thanks I'll take a look.

Fair gripe, but is there any actual use case where > 80 Mbps is required for media streaming?

Throughput has never been a problem on my Roku Ultra, and I just use WiFi 5 which isn't very fast.

I suppose some day (soon-ish) we will all be streaming 8k.

I think I read somewhere that Sony core is pushing 100 Mbps but I don't use that. I don't know it just seems like a way to cheap out. I mean how much more is a 1000 port really? I imagine it's cheaper than a better WiFi card. It just seems backwards to use WiFi to get better speeds when a cable is available.

 

[manly]

I think I read somewhere that Sony core is pushing 100 Mbps but I don't use that. I don't know it just seems like a way to cheap out. I mean how much more is a 1000 port really? I imagine it's cheaper than a better WiFi card. It just seems backwards to use WiFi to get better speeds when a cable is available.

I mostly agree with you, but in reality it's pretty much a nothingburger.
4k streaming takes about 25 Mbps, and 8k is years away from mainstream. Personally a year ago I didn't even have fast service (I think it was 25 Mbps, now 100).

Like I do think it's sad modern PCs and consumer switches are still "stuck" on GigE, but that's good enough for 99.9% of all users. So yeah the top Roku Ultra unit should have GigE except it's really never going to matter to the UX.

 

[nOOky]

Thnaks. After looking around some more today it looks like only the Apple TV and Nvidia Shield have gigabit Ethernet ports. All others either rely on WiFi or have a 10/100 port. That's so lame, lol.

The Nvidia is a solid device, mine works very well.

 

[In2Photos]

Since none of the options out there meet my needs 100% I decided to try the Onn Pro 4K and see how it goes. It was $50 from Wal-Mart and got delivered today.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Look into a mini PC, something like this: (just a random listing, there are many makes/models of these)

Pardon Our Interruption...

Then setup a Jellyfin server on a separate box with lots of storage. You can then access Jellyfin through the web browser on the mini PC. Basically like having a mini Netflix that's self hosted.

You can of course also access any other streaming website or services from there as well.

I used to use a Raspberry Pi but found it was slow when trying to use Youtube or just the browser in general. Once you got a video playing it was fine, but its the browsing experience that was slow.

 

[Brainonska511]

I can see a mini PC being a pain for some people, but it really isn't so difficult to set up. I have a Windows 10 machine: just boots right to the desktop, the Netflix app is installed, and a web browser is available for almost all other streaming services. I also have Kodi installed with a library of DVDs and Blu-ray I've ripped to put our collection more at our fingertips.

The biggest downside, after initial setup hurdles, is lack of a remote and user training: we have basic Logitech keyboard with built in touchpad, and we make it work, but it can be a pain in the ass to use at times.
---

On a related note, I found that wireless QOS options always kind of sucked and didn't work right. Even when I thought it was set right for traffic priority, downloads and streaming could cause zoom/teams calls to drop, or vice versa, and turning it off altogether fixed all my wifi traffic issues (Asus RT-AX3000).

 

[In2Photos]

I've had a HTPC for years now, but stopped using it a while ago as it was just easier to use apps on the TV. My HTPC was in a desktop case, mini PCs weren't really a thing at that time. It ran Windows 7 with Media Portal. I really only stored movies and music on it since we had DVR functionality with cable shows. And when we "cut the cord" many of the apps allowed you to watch shows after they aired.

I had 2 main problems with using a PC though. 1 was the remote. Once you're inside of Media Portal or some other program a remote can do everything you need. But it can't in a browser and having to use a keyboard was not as cool as it sounded initially. 2 was codecs and making sure you had all the right ones. Sometimes this meant having to use an external player since Windows didn't natively support it. Back then I had to buy software to watch back ripped Blu-ray discs. Before I bought a streaming box I tried playing various files on a Windows PC and still had issues with playback on some files. Not sure if I've completely solved that yet with the Onn box, time will tell.

So I got the Onn box Friday. I spent about an hour getting it all set up with all the apps and accounts. Watched a few of them to make sure they were working fine. Once I felt good about it I installed it in our living room cabinet. I made use of the "watch htpc" activity on our Harmony remote since this will effectively replace that. Got it fired up and checked everything again. We sat down to watch a 4K movie from the server which I tested previously. Only this time it was freezing. 🤬 Checked wireless speed and was only getting like 40Mbps. WTF, it's right next to the mesh router? So I grabbed the cable and plugged it in to the switch in the same cabinet instead. Now I was getting 100Mbps. Decided to reboot it and try wireless again and this time I got 300 Mbps. Fired the movie back up and it played mostly flawless throughout the whole 2 hours. I felt like there was one spot that got a little choppy but not terrible. I'm not sure if anyone else noticed.

That was probably the most demanding thing that we're going to watch and it worked well. Hopefully that is an indicator of things to come.

Using apps on this is so much better than the TV!!! It's so much faster, instantaneous response. Shows startup right away. You can bounce back and forth between shows or finding a new show. Was able to watch the baseball game last night in 4K on YouTube TV. Oh yeah. I'm also getting better audio quality from this then directly from the TV. For some reason the TV doesn't pass all audio formats through the ARC.

So far, for $50 I'm pretty happy. Wish I picked one up years ago. I do have to use a second remote. I use the Harmony to turn everything on/off and then the Onn remote controls the Onn box for everything we watch. You can also configure it to change the volume on the receiver. So it's not so bad.

 

[ch33zw1z]

If you’re looking for a set top device with gigabit, Roku is probably not using more than 10/100 still. I’m a long time Roku user and am shopping around but that’s one reason. I’ll probably be picking up a shield, but would consider the Apple TV I just gotta research more. I know OP said not apple, so not recommending it. My bro has a shield and really digs it. I’m a plex junkie, and the wireless will spike >100mbps to start streams, it does adjust to accommodate the 100mbps lan connection but it takes a few seconds to get the clarity that the WiFi has immediately. I put some raw 4K’s on the server to have a bit of fun and the mbps demand can be pretty big consistently (like 40+ mbps with more frequent jumps to 60-70mbps

 

[In2Photos]

If you’re looking for a set top device with gigabit, Roku is probably not using more than 10/100 still. I’m a long time Roku user and am shopping around but that’s one reason. I’ll probably be picking up a shield, but would consider the Apple TV I just gotta research more. I know OP said not apple, so not recommending it. My bro has a shield and really digs it. I’m a plex junkie, and the wireless will spike >100mbps to start streams, it does adjust to accommodate the 100mbps lan connection but it takes a few seconds to get the clarity that the WiFi has immediately. I put some raw 4K’s on the server to have a bit of fun and the mbps demand can be pretty big consistently (like 40+ mbps with more frequent jumps to 60-70mbps

So far the wireless on the onn box is working out just fine. We watched a couple of 4K movies from my server the other day and there were zero issues. In fact I have been so impressed with the onn 4K Pro we used in the living room that I decided to upgrade a couple of Chromecasts we had in other rooms. Originally I was going to get the onn full HD stick for $15, but Wal-Mart was out of stock so I picked up the regular 4K box for $20 each. Got everything set up in about 30 minutes this time, although for some reason these 2 had issues connecting to the Google Home app on my phone during setup so I had to do them manually. Both are working out great. In fact I have had to do some traveling for work and decided to take the one from my office with me. So nice to just pull the box out along with my travel router, get the router connected to hotel WiFi and can use the onn to stream from any of my apps. No logging in to my accounts on the Hotel TVs or anything.

 

[Thump553]

Nice write up. My requirements are far simpler than yours and we had been using firesticks. One remote went bad and I decided to replace it. Amazon promised delivery on Sunday and by Thursday it still hadn't come despite daily reports that it would be delivered tomorrow. I canceled the Amazon order, went out to Walmart and bought one of their $19.88 ONNs. Installation-even for a novice to the Google system like me-was simple and reasonably quick. End result was a system that was cleaner than the firestick has become (an annoyance that has been increasing over time to me). I also wish I made this switch a long time ago.

 

[In2Photos]

On a related note, I found that wireless QOS options always kind of sucked and didn't work right. Even when I thought it was set right for traffic priority, downloads and streaming could cause zoom/teams calls to drop, or vice versa, and turning it off altogether fixed all my wifi traffic issues (Asus RT-AX3000).

So I think I just determined that QOS was holding back my internet speed. Two months ago my ISP increased our speed from 300-400. But I was never able to get 400. Best I could do was about 330. Talked to my ISP they said it looks like it may be your modem. They sent a replacement. Same speed, 330 max. I was talking to my neighbor over the weekend and he has a 500 plan with the same provider so he suggested we try his modem on my network. I easily got over 500, with 600 showing up on the test occasionally. Called my ISP back yesterday and they sent a tech out. He confirmed that my cable into the home was good for at least 1000, and that the modem was consistently hitting over 450 when connected to his test meter. He said he had to be my router, but I had successful tests of over 500 with the neighbor's modem so I thought there was no way it was my router. I have a travel router I use for work so I hooked it up to my modem and started seeing nearly 500. WTF? So I started playing around with my normal router and noticed that QOS has a second page where you enter your ISP speeds. It was set to 350. I tried increasing it to 500 and even 10,000 but was still limited in speed to about 330 at any hardwired device. So I disabled it and BAM, full speed, nearly 500 mbps.

Thanks to you for mentioning this! It was what the first thing I thought to try this morning when I started troubleshooting! I could have been at this all day.

 

[Brainonska511]

So I think I just determined that QOS was holding back my internet speed. Two months ago my ISP increased our speed from 300-400. But I was never able to get 400. Best I could do was about 330. Talked to my ISP they said it looks like it may be your modem. They sent a replacement. Same speed, 330 max. I was talking to my neighbor over the weekend and he has a 500 plan with the same provider so he suggested we try his modem on my network. I easily got over 500, with 600 showing up on the test occasionally. Called my ISP back yesterday and they sent a tech out. He confirmed that my cable into the home was good for at least 1000, and that the modem was consistently hitting over 450 when connected to his test meter. He said he had to be my router, but I had successful tests of over 500 with the neighbor's modem so I thought there was no way it was my router. I have a travel router I use for work so I hooked it up to my modem and started seeing nearly 500. WTF? So I started playing around with my normal router and noticed that QOS has a second page where you enter your ISP speeds. It was set to 350. I tried increasing it to 500 and even 10,000 but was still limited in speed to about 330 at any hardwired device. So I disabled it and BAM, full speed, nearly 500 mbps.

Thanks to you for mentioning this! It was what the first thing I thought to try this morning when I started troubleshooting! I could have been at this all day.

Yeah... It's a funny setting. You see it during setup, and think that this is great, but I have historically found that QOS for wireless is garbage. I'd have video calls get all wonky or the web become bogged down because someone was downloading a large file at the same time. And the moment I turned it off everything worked swimmingly.

 

[nOOky]

I have the nvidia shield home pro. I bought a new LG Smart tv with their webOS. Since it was so smart I decided to send the $199 shield back. However upon using LG's horrible mess of an operating system I hooked the shield back up. Seriously, how do you mess up a smart tv operating system? And the LG Magic remote sux, the button placement should be centered around the cursor and enter button, but it feels awkward in the hand and those buttons feel like a reach so I'm always hitting the wrong button to do something. I'm looking for a replacement remote for the tv also.