The average household spends $170-$180 on cable/satellite + streaming services every month! This equals roughly $2,100 per year!
This expense may be a shock to some of us who enjoy this hobby but the average person doesnât know the tips and tricks that we use for free or low cost entertainment.
My favorite gift to give close family members and friends is a loaded Android TV Box with everything ready to go.
When I say âcloseâ I mean it! You must remember that you will probably get support questions on a continual basis so be very careful who you give one of these boxes to. There are some family members I would never do this for as it would be constant phone calls. I gave one of these to my neighbor a few years ago and I was over at his house every other day providing support. I learned my lesson that you only do this for people who are somewhat technically inclined, and most importantly, willing to learn something new.
This obviously requires registering for various accounts needed on the device. I simply create a burner email address in Proton Mail and setup everything through that address. When I give the streaming device to them, I also provide the credentials for the Proton account so they can log into the different services that I setup for them. I provide them with a document that I type up with their login details for every service.
I also turn off auto-billing in all of the accounts that I setup so Iâm not charged next billing cycle. Itâs up to them if they want to continue using the service.
In the following video Iâve setup an Onn 4K Plus along with Surfshark VPN, Stremio with TorBox, and XCIPTV with a cheap IPTV service. You can customize the gift however you see fit. For many, they will be thrilled with just Stremio and TorBox. I know that some of you donât have Onn Android TV Boxes available to you but you can always use a different streaming device for the gift.
In the following video I show how to properly remove your account for an Android TV Box and transfer it to the gift recipient.
Tell us in the comments below if you give these devices as gifts and how far do you go as far as setup for the recipient?
rcloudsystems.com is a great tool to use to remotely help your gift recipients with any streaming issues if you donât live close by after intial gifting of their box. rcloudsystems works best using tailscale to make a vpn network connection to their box anywhere.
Been there done that back in the day, couldnât even go on vacation without getting bombarded with calls. So I decided other than maybe my parents everyone else would have to do their own. So these days I simply give them the gift of a urlâŚ.. troypoint.com lol Itâs a lot less hassle
I set up hundreds of firesticks when I lived in Mexico. I wonât ever do it again. I am just too cranky an old man and donât have patience for ppls laziness. So on that note, need any help @itzme ?
Troy. Send me dm and I will invite you into risharde_r / rcloudsystems discord group for it. I was on board with him early on about a year ago. Rc remote control has evolved into an excellent tool! I can help with questions too.
Boy, does this topic hit the nail on the head. Through experience I have learned to be very selective about what family members and friends to tell about tv streaming alternatives and assist them in cutting the cord. Unless they are self-motivated, willing to learn and educate themselves on the technical aspects of streaming, using available resources and how to solve problems from time to time, it becomes a thankless endeavor.
Oh yes, I have already done this for my Grandson, & a couple of friends of mine. I had set up a firestick for him & now since itâs going south with the blocking of apps for this Christmas I took a Kinhank G1 box & set it all up for him. He is very good to operate them & I have them well designed for access & he hasnât had hardly any troubles at all. One of my friends is my best friend I have known since 4th grade & he taught me everything I know about computers. I would not be able to build them if it wasnât for him & his teachings back in our younger days. It has been excellent for him as he still works & I am retired so I had the time to set them up for him & with him being very tech savvy he has no problem running them & I have helped educate him on many things. It has been a blessing to do this for him with all he has done for me over the years. My other friend I set one up for isnât very tech savvy, needs some help at moments but for the most part he hasnât had any major issues. I do take the time to design/organize the box as to make things as click & go as possible. I bought 2 AM9âs, set one up for my friend I have known all my life & mailed it to him, then got in to the other setting it up for me. I had 2 of the Kinhank G1âs & set the other up for my other friend. I agree with you Troy @troypoint that doing this for family & friends could turn in to a barrage of questions & struggles for them but so far for the three people I have done it for total it hasnât been a problem. I usually only install all the apps that are user friendly without any special needs. I thought about doing one for my mom, but although she can navigate apps on her phone itâs a whole new world with these boxes & she would be contacting me every day with questions struggling with things as she isnât good at tech.
You know that is how I got started in the whole alternative to Cable, BUT there were a ton of challenges in terms of the learning curve, so you are spot on about being cautious who you give the âgiftâ to. I learned quickly, and so it was not a drain, but I was told by the gifter that they were very concerned about their long term support responsibility. My concern is that few casual users will take the time to learn the ins and out and so the gift will just die after the first year. Just a thought.
I have had people over the house watching sports and I show them all that they could have also just with a few you tube vids to understand the concept but nobody wants to learn anything anymore, I am going on 6 years of cutting the cord and I have saved a bunch of money and my friends complain about the cost of cable
Iâm loving these responses almost as much as I love Troy
When I finally found TroyPoint I was elated! His videos and tutorials are all right on point! Hence TroyPoint
Anyway, in response to whether I help people side load or notâŚ. I start off by telling them it took me 10 years of reading, trial and error and smoke coming out of my ears!
vote for that possible tutorial by Troyâ:double_exclamation_mark:
Thatâs enough to keep them from asking me !