I've been carrying one around for a while and it seemed to work just fine, but lately I've noticed it either won't connect to the hotel's wifi or even if it does and everything appears fine, the channels won't load.

At the last Hyatt, setup said connection was excellent, but download speed was zero.

I liked using it mostly to keep up with the local news back in the hometown and an occasional film.

probably need to use VPN

I finally threw my Amazon Fire Stick away because I need VPN to stream to TVs in hotels, guest houses and short term rentals: https://readyjetroam.com/2019/04/02/...ile-traveling/

This might be better placed in the "Travel Technology" forum, where there are other posts about Roku. I'm going to ask a mod to move it there.

You can load a VPN on your fire stick and use it to watch from apps. we have a USA and a UK Amazon account. I have a VPN on my "UK account fire stick". Turn on the VPN and watch BBC, ITV ect.

www.ustvnow.com is a legal way to watch Amrrican TV and you can buy a subscription that includes a cloud DVR. No VPN needed. The local channels are out of Pennsylvania

USTVNOW is quasi-legal at best.

There seems to be a consensus that the contract they bought to run a small cable service is legit, but a nearly equal consensus that they don't have a legal contract to stream those channels.

This is why Roku dropped them from their platform as content and copyright owners threatened lawsuits.

If the Omniverse lawsuit goes the way the content owners hope it does then there will be no question that USTVNOW has no legal right to stream.

Interesting. I thought it was developed for the US military and subsequently was able to expand to non-military. Sorry if I gave incorrect info. We used USTV now in the UK and Mexico without issue and no VPN needed on a paid subscription. So obviously at that point it worked.

I don't know that you've given wrong information, I just think it's still a legal grey area that is currently being litigated and platforms like Roku and Apple TV decided not to wait for a legal resolution and took down the app after complaints for the various networks and content owners.

I am not even going to pretend that I understand every legal subtlety that they claim allows them to stream these channels, but USTVNOW is owned by a Dutch phone company that is primarily in the business of providing "ex-patriots worldwide" with "affordable" VOIP phone service.

As for their target audience, it has been reported that they don't in any way check for military status, that that is just a sort of adverting come-on, and they will sell service to pretty much anyone anywhere.

Yes. The wifi on my phone was great and I also tried using VPN. I think the hotels are on to us.

This. I have the TunSafe VPN client installed on my FireStick (via side-loading, not that hard to do) connected to a VPN server at my home and when I'm abroad I might as well be in my own living room.

if you have Comcast TV, you can also sideload the Xfinity app and watch your DVR programming, LIveTV and OnDemand that way as well.

Not Marriotts (neither MR or old SPG).

I tried using a Roku once, more of a headache then its worth. Instead I use an HDMI to Thunberbolt adapter into my MacBook Air or wife's MacBook Pro. Use screen mirroring and it works like a charm. The hardest part can be trying to access the HDMI port in the back... but if I'm in the same hotel long enough I've been known to take down the TV to plug it in

Have you tried a Roku lately? I'm surprised you can call a laggy, resolution-limited, cabled (so forget about using it easily while in the bed or at the couch), and non-intuitively-controlled solution less of a headache than a Roku with it's own remote control and direct connection to the TV.

Hell, my travel Amazon Fire stick even controls the volume and power on the hotel's TV.