Will an Apple TV work for me?

Joined
Aug 22, 2008
Messages
191
Reaction score
25
Points
28
I got back from visiting an Apple store and a Comcast store and found what they told me didn’t entirely agree with each other. So I thought I would ask some questions here.

First, let me share my situation:

I live in an over-55 community that provides basic Comcast cable, and which has a third party company providing Wi-Fi internet connection. I need to verify to see how many devices I can connect to our Wi-Fi, as I have two iPhones, two Macs, and an iPad connected. I could get Comcast Internet, but that costs considerably more. My wife’s Mac often has a hard time connecting to the Wi-Fi network, but it seems fast enough when connected.

I watch very little TV, and my wife has never used more than basic cable. Her initial wish was to watch two of her favorite TV shows that are on the same time, but is attracted by the ability to look at old episodes as well. She is a member of Amazon Prime, but has not watched any of her shows. We don’t watch TV on our devices. We have some movies registered with the Apple Store with my Apple ID (but not with our iCloud accounts). We live near Boulder, CO.

So here are my questions if we buy an Apple TV:

What speed test do I need to do to see if our Wi-Fi is fast enough to watch HD shows?

Can she watch Amazon Prime shows on her Apple TV?

Can she watch local channels on her Apple TV?

Can she watch “free” network shows without paying a fee? (ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, Food)

Can she watch any channels that our Comcast subscription has paid for?

How long do the current TV shows stay available? For instance, if she wants to watch Madame Secretary and Iron Chef America which are scheduled for the same time - how long will they be available for her to watch them both for free?

Thanks for any help!
 

Raz0rEdge

Well-known member
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Jul 17, 2009
Messages
15,734
Reaction score
2,059
Points
113
Location
MA
Your Mac's Specs
2022 Mac Studio M1 Max, 2023 M2 MBA
To watch Amazon Prime shows you need the Amazon Prime Video app which isn't available for the latest Apple TV yet. It has been "announced" and perhaps will be available this summer. With that app and your Amazon account you can watch all the videos. A way to bypass this for now is to use the Amazon Prime Video app on your iPad and stream the video to Apple TV using AirPlay.

To watch local channels, you'll need a couple of additional things beyond the Apple TV. You'll need a HD antenna to pick up the Over The Air (OTA) HD transmissions of your local channels. You'll also need a device like HDHomeRun to grab the OTA channels and stream it to your Apple TV (ATV) using AirPlay.

The network shows will indeed be free, the only cost is associated with the purchasing of the HD antenna and HDHomeRun device..

The other option you have is to use the TV app on ATV and the apps for ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, etc. and stream their content. But you are likely paying something for that..

You can use the Comcast app to stream content through your account, you'll have to check out the app to see what kind of content you can stream..

With the local broadcasting, you can watch one of your shows live, but the other will have to be streamed. If you with the various network apps, a lot of them allow you to stream an episode as early as the day after it is aired. But this might vary based on the networks..

Cord cutting is something that a lot of people have been trying to do for a long time and while there is no single solution that solves the problem, a combination of things and the latest generation of devices like the Apple TV make it a lot easier than figuring out how to create your own streaming device..:)
 
Joined
Jul 26, 2012
Messages
116
Reaction score
4
Points
18
Location
Honolulu, HI, USA
Your Mac's Specs
MBA i7, 8GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, High Sierra; iPad 3rd Gen, 32 GB, iOS 9; iPhone 5E, 64 GB, iOS 11
Find out from someone who can tell you how many simultaneously connected devices is your limit. You didn't give the model number of the router, that might or might not be readily available, but try to find out. Also, you mention Comcast and "a third party company providing Wi-Fi internet connection." and you said "I could get Comcast Internet, but that costs considerably more." I don't know the speed of the basic Comcast connection, because that maybe your limiting factor. I don't know about what would be the appropriate speed because there are a lot of other factors. If you are sharing the Comcast connection with the rest of the residents, you could have periods of freezing or buffering which can be painful to watch. You might want to spring for the Comcast Internet, but again it is tiered, meaning depending on the speed you want/need you pay a different price. My mother and I are both on Spectrum/TWC her connection is 100 MBps and mine is 300 MBps and they stream just fine via Internet or AirPlay, but I don't know what the lower limit is.

There is also the WiFi level, you should see something like 802.11 (then some letters). That letter makes a difference. You should see or try to find out what that letter is, sometimes combinations are also noted. "a", "b" and "g" are not sufficient for HD. Sometimes "n" works, but typically only if double band "n" but that is still iffy. You really need "ac", which can even handle 4K (the Apple TV won't do 4K). We also need to know if you have available hardware ports on the router, because a wired connection might be better. Sorry, both my mother and I are on "ac", I never tried when I only had dual band "n".

What speed test do I need to do to see if our Wi-Fi is fast enough to watch HD shows?
Ok, the "specifications" for HD would indicate that 5Mbps might be suffice. But this is where it gets confusing regarding what "HD" means. There are basically 3 types of HD. You might see 720p, 1080i or 1080p. Which is "basic" HD. There are more for the 4K and 8K and some in-betweens. If this sounds like mumbo jumbo to you please read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_video (I know it says Wikipedia and sometimes Wikipedia is not factual, but I've just checked it and it gets through the basics). So there are so many "options" to consider.

Can she watch Amazon Prime shows on her Apple TV?
In a word, no. Amazon Prime moves and shows will work on your iPads (unless they are really, really old) which you can AirPlay onto the TV, but Amazon does not support Apple TV. I think they want you to get their Fire TV devices. The "quick" test is to see if you can stream Amazon Prime movies or shows on your iPads. If it stutters or freezes, your connection is too slow, and you'd be paying for the Apple TV and your experience will be bad.

Can she watch local channels on her Apple TV?
The short answer is, it depends. Sorry, no easy answer. What does "local" mean? In our area Spectrum/TWC has a few local channels and it is only available through them, since they own the channels.

Can she watch “free” network shows without paying a fee? (ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, Food)
Can she watch any channels that our Comcast subscription has paid for?
Sorry, the answer to both is the same I've stuck them together. Apple TV does support the major networks and PBS Unless you are willing to do what @RazOrEdge says and you get an antenna and get them OTA (Over the Air), if you can, not all locations are supported. I couldn't get PBS until they moved, now I can get them, but isn't the Food channel only available on cable? Maybe in your area, it could be OTA. But generally speaking, Apple TV will be just another device connected to your TV and the Comcast box will connect to another connector, i.e. they are independent, you'll still be able to watch what you want via cable. Even if you "upgrade" to Comcast Internet. Apple TV does have access to the major networks and PBS but I can't see why that would be any better than watching what Comcast is offering regularly. If you're renting the cable box and you're looking to get rid of it if the Apple TV is sufficient then maybe, but I don't know about the Food Channel, I watch it via cable.

How long do the current TV shows stay available? For instance, if she wants to watch Madame Secretary and Iron Chef America which are scheduled for the same time - how long will they be available for her to watch them both for free?
This is harder to answer since it is not Apple TV or even Apple specific. "Free" makes it harder. I'm not sure because I have two DVRs so I just record. But sometimes some shows appear on the network site. CBS tries to get you to pay. The Apple TV has support for Hulu which is free and keeps just the last 5 episodes and Hulu + but Hulu Plus is not free, which you can watch entire past seasons so you can watch all the 4 seasons of Madam Secretary if you want. It is $7.99 per month. I don't work for Hulu nor do I own stock in Hulu, it's just been around for a while. I subscribe to the paid version.

To add to the mix, there is the Roku (but it doesn't support AirPlay), but does however have support for 4K and you can stream Amazon Prime video, without going through your iPad first. And it won't link to your AppleID, so if you've bought or rented content from iTunes, you'd be out of luck. Obviously if you can afford both, then both is better, but each are the over $100 price and there is some duplication. Both can be controlled via an app for your iPhone(s). Since you seem to be Apple centric, then the Apple TV might be better if you want or can only afford 1.

There are too many "moving parts" to give you a simple yes/no answer. You could get it, from an Apple Store, and return it within 14 days for full refund. If you buy it from elsewhere, it may depend on their return policy. For example Amazon will give you 30 days, but only if is unopened which kinda defeats the purpose of "testing" it.

 
Last edited:

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top