How many of you are Netflix subscribers ?

[Jaybott]

On 9/19/2019 at 9:18 AM, Skallywag said:

 

Fargo, Dexter, Better Call Saul, Nurse Jackie,  Marco Polo, Rectify, Weeds. 

 

 

 

Did you watch 100 Eyes? It originally was a Marco Polo Christmas Eve special that gives the back story between Kubla Khan and 100 eyes. It is in the television section of Netflix.

[giddyup]

Does Netflix have any newer TV series like Handmaids Tale, Mr Mercedes, Billions, Get Shorty, Ray Donovan etc?

[BobBKK]

Love Netflix HATE we only get 20% of the programming US gets. 

However, Billions, Vikings, Lost Kingdom, Peaky Blinders, Mad Men, Mindhunter, Roman Empire, Line of Duty, Narcos, Frankenstein Chronicles, Bodyguard, Punisher, Kominsky Method, The Crown, Knighfall  +++

 

ALL fantastic viewing IMHO just wish we did not have to wait so long for new series of all those shows.

[BobBKK]

21 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Android TV box, Fire TV stick, Roku stick or box, etc etc... HDMI plug and play. Some of them like Roku require a U.S. internet presence. But others don't, such as the Android TV devices and even the Amazon Fire TV stick basic/international version.

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Stick-Basic-Available-Non-US-Customers/dp/B01ETRGE68

 

 

Though the U.S. versions of Fire devices are cheaper and more powerful and content rich, if you can manage the internet access and ordering aspects of those.

 

I have Ruko Premiere but all the better shows it asks for subscriptions? 

[Kalasin Jo]

True is truly dreadful.

 

I let the family watch Freeview Thai TV. I subscribe to Netflix and watch that. No news, no sport of course. Otherwise great content withe either Thai subtitles if needed or Thai dubbing plus many other languages.

 

I don't subscribe in Thailand but in France, but not a problem accessing in Thailand for months at a time although content a bit different.

[NoshowJones]

On 9/18/2019 at 3:15 PM, timendres said:

I really like Homeland. Also, Billions, The Blacklist, Lucifer, Archer, Sherlock (TV series), Shooter (TV series), High Seas, The Umbrella Academy, One Punch Man, Pine Gap, Lost In Space (TV Series), Miss Fishers's Murder Mysteries, How I Met Your Mother, The Sinner, Wanted, Timeless, Vexed, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Black Mirror, Limitless (TV series), Happy, Sacred Games (surprisingly good for and Indian production and has English soundtrack).

 

Sadly, Columbo and Poirot, two of my favorite series, are blocked in Thailand.

I have been downloading a lot of Columbo in Thailand in the not too distant past. When was it blocked?

[Hank Gunn]

On 9/20/2019 at 2:23 PM, giddyup said:

Does Netflix have any newer TV series like Handmaids Tale, Mr Mercedes, Billions, Get Shorty, Ray Donovan etc?

Not sure about the other ones but Ray Donovan is available. (It’s in my queue but I haven’t checked it out yet.)

[giddyup]

2 minutes ago, Hank Gunn said:

Not sure about the other ones but Ray Donovan is available. (It’s in my queue but I haven’t checked it out yet.)

Great series.

[madmen]

1 minute ago, Hank Gunn said:

Not sure about the other ones but Ray Donovan is available. (It’s in my queue but I haven’t checked it out yet.)

Just finished binging on it. Easily in that top 3 best on Netflix

[Hank Gunn]

To giddyup and madmen, thanks for the recommendations. I’m looking forward to checking it out.

[giddyup]

3 minutes ago, Hank Gunn said:

To giddyup and madmen, thanks for the recommendations. I’m looking forward to checking it out.

If you can get Barry or Get Shorty, they are both excellent.

[rumak]

41 minutes ago, Hank Gunn said:

Not sure about the other ones but Ray Donovan is available. (It’s in my queue but I haven’t checked it out yet.)

I enjoyed it .  Different than most of the usual stuff .  But maybe not for everyone  lol

[Don Mega]

On 9/19/2019 at 7:28 PM, Don Mega said:

Nope.

 

Not sure if I get the Aus or Thai content though.

To follow up on this, if I log out of netflix I land on the .com/th website, logging back in Iam on the .com website.

[timendres]

On 9/22/2019 at 12:40 AM, possum1931 said:

I have been downloading a lot of Columbo in Thailand in the not too distant past. When was it blocked?

I don't think it was ever available to Thailand. Previously, I had a VPN solution that was providing me the US content, until Netflix blocked that.

[WaveHunter]

I used to have NetFlix when I first moved to Thailand but got rid of it, when they changed their subscription plans that increased price significantly if you wanted to maintain the previous level of content (which wasn't really that great to begin with).  If you opted out of the higher priced subscription, available viewing choices were a joke!  There's only so many cheesy, dubbed foreign films I can handle LOL.

 

I use a Roku Stick and find most content I want can be had through YouTube.  If I want to watch specific movies or view a particular TV series, PirateBay provides everything I want...for free.

[NoshowJones]

26 minutes ago, timendres said:

I don't think it was ever available to Thailand. Previously, I had a VPN solution that was providing me the US content, until Netflix blocked that.

I can assure you that I have downloaded lots of Columbo episodes in Thailand, I am presently in the UK and expect to download more when I get back.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

9 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

I used to have NetFlix when I first moved to Thailand but got rid of it, when they changed their subscription plans that increased price significantly if you wanted to maintain the previous level of content (which wasn't really that great to begin with).  If you opted out of the higher priced subscription, available viewing choices were a joke!  There's only so many cheesy, dubbed foreign films I can handle LOL.

 

 

AFAIK, there are really only two main variations about Netflix subscriptions:

--the country the subscription is in, Thailand vs. the U.S.

--the quality and number of concurrent streams the subscription plan supports.

 

There is and always has been a considerable difference between the U.S. vs. the Thailand-based subscription content. And Netflix's catalog has been changing over time to include more of their own content and less from other sources.  But I don't believe any subscription changes per se have curtailed the content available in either U.S. or TH subscriptions.

 

 

[WaveHunter]

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

AFAIK, there are really only two main variations about Netflix subscriptions:

--the country the subscription is in, Thailand vs. the U.S.

--the quality and number of concurrent streams the subscription plan supports.

 

There is and always has been a considerable difference between the U.S. vs. the Thailand-based subscription content. And Netflix's catalog has been changing over time to include more of their own content and less from other sources.  But I don't believe any subscription changes per se have curtailed the content available in either U.S. or TH subscriptions.

Netflix did in fact make a change back in 2017.  I received an email from them announcing that a "new and improved" Netflix would soon be rolling out with better programming, but at a slightly higher price.  If you chose to, you could upgrade for a slight increase in monthly payments or you could elect to keep your plan as is, with no additional cost. 

 

What they did not mention in that email was that some programming that was normally available to me would be blocked.

 

When I elected to keep my present monthly payments, all sorts of programming that I enjoyed watching disappeared, and thus I ended my subscription.

 

I'm sure that the option to keep your plan or upgrade was just a temporary option offered to existing subscribers at that time, and so today, no mention is made by Netflix that such an option was ever offered.  At that time, it caused a lot of negative feedback from subscribers.

 

I thought it was offensive to block programming that was formerly included if you elected to keep your subscription price the same and not upgrade.  Had they not done it that way, and only added the new additional programming for the higher price, then I would have felt differently.  I  just felt it was kind of underhanded the way they tried to coerce you into upgrading by taking away something you were already paying for.

[rumak]

1 hour ago, WaveHunter said:

I thought it was offensive to block programming that was formerly included if you elected to keep your subscription price the same and not upgrade.  Had they not done it that way, and only added the new additional programming for the higher price, then I would have felt differently.  I  just felt it was kind of underhanded the way they tried to coerce you into upgrading by taking away something you were already paying for.

That makes sense.  I have only had Netflix for about 6 months (price 420 baht/mo  so would not know about before.  But already am finding it more difficult to find things that interest me.  In the beginning series that i liked ( ray donovan, homeland),  and some movies filled up plenty of time. 

Now i am intrigued by what many of you say about other options.... but nobody is here to hold my hand and show how to do.   Some talk about VPN options,  other talk about this "box" or that box..... I am now going to try to find something that works for me. 

So far also  mentioned were PopcornTime and PirateBay......  seems like many possibilitie but i don't like to just start clicking on things for fear of screwing up my computer or getting a virus.  But everyone keep  posting your options.    thx, rumak

[WaveHunter]

44 minutes ago, rumak said:

That makes sense.  I have only had Netflix for about 6 months (price 420 baht/mo  so would not know about before.  But already am finding it more difficult to find things that interest me.  In the beginning series that i liked ( ray donovan, homeland),  and some movies filled up plenty of time. 

Now i am intrigued by what many of you say about other options.... but nobody is here to hold my hand and show how to do.   Some talk about VPN options,  other talk about this "box" or that box..... I am now going to try to find something that works for me. 

So far also  mentioned were PopcornTime and PirateBay......  seems like many possibilitie but i don't like to just start clicking on things for fear of screwing up my computer or getting a virus.  But everyone keep  posting your options.    thx, rumak

Personally, I find a Roku stick and Youtube to provide most of what I want.  It amazes me how much content is available on YouTube.  I especially like getting my news shows from Fox Channel, CNN, Al Jazeera, BBC, etc through YouTube.  You get the content without constant commercial breaks which is real nice.  Lots of older TV series reruns which is fun, and even many movies (which probably violate copyright so they don't stay online too long).  It's very nice to view YouTUbe on a nice big-screen TV instead of on your laptop too!

 

Pirate Bay is also great.  Literally hundreds, if not thousands of popular movies, tv series, music, etc.  Even porn LOL!  I'd say the chances of finding a particular movie I'm looking for on PirateBay to be about 8 chances out of 10!  It's pretty amazing.  Sometimes it even has movies that are currently showing in theaters!  How they get away with that, I have no idea.  Same is true of television programming (from anywhere around the world BTW).  Also, many computer applications (Adobe, Microsoft, etc), all without having to pay for them.

 

Now you have to appreciate that much of the content of torrent sites like PirateBay violates copyright, so if you have a moral issue with that, PirateBay might not be for you.  That's a decision you have to make for yourself.

 

The site itself is very secure.  Viruses are rare but it's still wise to run virus checking on all downloads.  In all the hundreds of downloads I've done, I've yet to find one with a virus. 

 

All downloads are peer-rated for copy quality and safety (lack of viruses).  Depending on how many people are "seeding" a particular torrent, downloading them is pretty fast, and the process is easy to figure out (You use a torrent downloading app such as UTorrent to download them).  

 

Without question, it beats NetFlix IMO!  YouTube on my Roku Stick + PirateBay fills my needs for sure ????

 

Happy to answer any questions about setting up PirateBay if you need help.

 

Here's a few screen shots of PirateBay's website (https://thepiratebay.org) :

 

 

[rumak]

18 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

Personally, I find a Roku stick and Youtube to provide most of what I want.  It amazes me how much content is available on YouTube

Thanks for your helpful response.  I did google and found this  :

The Roku Streaming Stick is a flash drive-sized and shaped device that plugs into your TV's HDMI port and delivers streaming content via the internet. Through Roku, you can subscribe to any of thousands of streaming video channels, including ones that are free and subscription based.

 

So, that's a start ????     Are Roku sticks made by multiple companies (brands) ?  If so which one do you recommend.  It looks like it is wireless so does it pick up signal direct from my modem ?  BTW: I have a Samsung Smart TV.     Have heard good things about youtube ( good stuff by subscribtion i assume ?)

Rumak

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

43 minutes ago, rumak said:

Thanks for your helpful response.  I did google and found this  :

The Roku Streaming Stick is a flash drive-sized and shaped device that plugs into your TV's HDMI port and delivers streaming content via the internet. Through Roku, you can subscribe to any of thousands of streaming video channels, including ones that are free and subscription based.

 

So, that's a start ????     Are Roku sticks made by multiple companies (brands) ?  If so which one do you recommend.  It looks like it is wireless so does it pick up signal direct from my modem ?  BTW: I have a Samsung Smart TV.     Have heard good things about youtube ( good stuff by subscribtion i assume ?)

Rumak

 

 

I prefer the Amazon Fire Stick devices, which are similar in that they both are plug-in HDMI devices.

 

The reason I prefer Amazon's devices is they are basically running a version of Android OS, and thus you can sideload onto them and use all variety of regular Android apps, in addition to those in Amazon's own app store for Fire TV devices.

 

Roku, in contrast, is basically a closed OS where the only apps and services you can use on the device are those that Roku allows into their app store, and it's a much smaller universe of apps and services in comparison. Especially as Roku lately has been kicking out anything they deem to be potential copyright infringing.

 

I have two Roku devices at home and have used them in the past. But right now, they're both in the drawer unused, and they sit behind my actively used Fire TV and Android TV devices.

 

[rumak]

48 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

I prefer the Amazon Fire Stick devices, which are similar in that they both are plug-in HDMI devices.

 

The reason I prefer Amazon's devices is they are basically running a version of Android OS, and thus you can sideload onto them and use all variety of regular Android apps, in addition to those in Amazon's own app store for Fire TV devices.

 

Roku, in contrast, is basically a closed OS where the only apps and services you can use on the device are those that Roku allows into their app store, and it's a much smaller universe of apps and services in comparison. Especially as Roku lately has been kicking out anything they deem to be potential copyright infringing.

 

I have two Roku devices at home and have used them in the past. But right now, they're both in the drawer unused, and they sit behind my actively used Fire TV and Android TV devices.

 

Thanks TG....  are these devices sold at Computer shops ?    I will be going in to CM  soon and will be looking around at whats available .  Like i admit,  I am not a tech whiz but sooner of later I get things figured out.

[WaveHunter]

2 hours ago, rumak said:

Thanks for your helpful response.  I did google and found this  :

The Roku Streaming Stick is a flash drive-sized and shaped device that plugs into your TV's HDMI port and delivers streaming content via the internet. Through Roku, you can subscribe to any of thousands of streaming video channels, including ones that are free and subscription based.

 

So, that's a start ????     Are Roku sticks made by multiple companies (brands) ?  If so which one do you recommend.  It looks like it is wireless so does it pick up signal direct from my modem ?  BTW: I have a Samsung Smart TV.     Have heard good things about youtube ( good stuff by subscribtion i assume ?)

Rumak

 

Roku is the brand name.  I think Amazon has a knockoff of it, maybe Google too, but Roku was the first, and probably the best bet for your money (I could be wrong though). All I know is that I've had my Roku for years and love it. 

 

They have different models, depending on what kind of speed you want, whether resolution you want, etc, but all are quite inexpensive, and there is no monthly charge (ie: no subscription required).  It connects wireless to your router.  I'm pretty sure you can buy them through Lazada. 

 

What's really cool is that you can take it with you when you travel, and it works fine in hotels with any TV that has an HDMI connector, and as far as I know, anywhere in the world where you have an wireless internet connection.  Pretty nifty ????

 

Youtube doesn't require a subscription.  It's free but you should establish an account (free) so you can save favorite channels, customize how you interact with it, set preferences, etc.

 

EDIT:  Just read @TallGuyJohninBKK comment about Amazon's Firestick.  Sounds like that's worth looking into, especially if you are an Android guy.  I'm 100% Apple myself.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, rumak said:

Thanks TG....  are these devices sold at Computer shops ?    I will be going in to CM  soon and will be looking around at whats available .  Like i admit,  I am not a tech whiz but sooner of later I get things figured out.

 Both the Roku streaming devices and the Amazon Fire TV devices are mainly U.S. centric, and there can be some complications/limitations to using either of them in Thailand, unless you make them think that you're actually in the U.S. by changing your internet IP address.

 

Neither of them are officially sold in Thailand AFAIK, meaning, thru any of the major stores. You might find them available thru 3rd parties on Lazada or thru some small time Thai websites.  But both devices are pretty small and light, so it wouldn't cost too much extra to have a package of one or the other of them shipped from the U.S. to Thailand.

 

With Roku devices in particular, though, they're particularly geared to U.S. users, so there may be some complications in trying to set up a Roku device outside the U.S., and your ability to add/use the mainly U.S. Roku channels may be limited unless you're using a VPN-delivered wifi giving you a U.S. IP address. I don't believe you can install any VPN app on Roku devices.

 

Amazon has somewhat similar issues, but not quite to the same extent, as Amazon is a bit more international than Roku. With Amazon like Roku, you have to establish an account with the service. And Amazon Fire Stick devices work better and have access to a broader range of content if the device thinks the user is in the U.S. And you can install and use various VPN apps/services on the Fire Stick that will give you a U.S. IP address.

 

However, Amazon, unlike Roku, specifically sells a version of the Fire Stick streaming device meant for use by users outside the U.S., and they'll directly send it to foreign countries, including Thailand. And you can use it with your local (Thai ISP) without needing to use any kind of VPN, if you choose to.

 

It's called the Fire Stick basic edition, and I'll include a link to it below:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Stick-Basic-Available-Non-US-Customers/dp/B01ETRGE68

 

It's been many years since I set up my last Roku device, and when I did, it was either in the U.S. or done here via a U.S. VPN connection. So, perhaps there are some Roku users here who use the device with a standard Thai ISP and can explain just what you can and can't do when trying to use the device in that fashion.

 

[rumak]

31 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

It's called the Fire Stick basic edition, and I'll include a link to it below:

TG.....  great post,  lots of info and easy to understand.   About an hour ago i realized my smart TV had

access installed for  youtube as well as the Netflix i have been using.   I have now signed up to youtube

and viewed for a while.  Plenty of free stuff but very little in the way of  tv shows or movies .  Those i guess would require subscriptions. 

What you suggest sounds great , so i will look at the link you supplied and continue from there.  

WaveHunter seems to be able to get a lot with Roku using a VPN .  His post shows quite a selection thru

Pirate Bay.    So I will need to somehow decide what will work  best for me. 

Both of your posts are a great help..... and hope i can ask a question or two as I proceed.  A "stick" is definitely the way to go ..... so I will be looking to get  one from Amazon or Roku.... gotta check out that 

link now     thx, rumak

[WaveHunter]

56 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 Both the Roku streaming devices and the Amazon Fire TV devices are mainly U.S. centric, and there can be some complications/limitations to using either of them in Thailand, unless you make them think that you're actually in the U.S. by changing your internet IP address.

 

Neither of them are officially sold in Thailand AFAIK, meaning, thru any of the major stores. You might find them available thru 3rd parties on Lazada or thru some small time Thai websites.  But both devices are pretty small and light, so it wouldn't cost too much extra to have a package of one or the other of them shipped from the U.S. to Thailand.

 

With Roku devices in particular, though, they're particularly geared to U.S. users, so there may be some complications in trying to set up a Roku device outside the U.S., and your ability to add/use the mainly U.S. Roku channels may be limited unless you're using a VPN-delivered wifi giving you a U.S. IP address. I don't believe you can install any VPN app on Roku devices.

 

Amazon has somewhat similar issues, but not quite to the same extent, as Amazon is a bit more international than Roku. With Amazon like Roku, you have to establish an account with the service. And Amazon Fire Stick devices work better and have access to a broader range of content if the device thinks the user is in the U.S. And you can install and use various VPN apps/services on the Fire Stick that will give you a U.S. IP address.

 

However, Amazon, unlike Roku, specifically sells a version of the Fire Stick streaming device meant for use by users outside the U.S., and they'll directly send it to foreign countries, including Thailand. And you can use it with your local (Thai ISP) without needing to use any kind of VPN, if you choose to.

 

It's called the Fire Stick basic edition, and I'll include a link to it below:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Stick-Basic-Available-Non-US-Customers/dp/B01ETRGE68

 

It's been many years since I set up my last Roku device, and when I did, it was either in the U.S. or done here via a U.S. VPN connection. So, perhaps there are some Roku users here who use the device with a standard Thai ISP and can explain just what you can and can't do when trying to use the device in that fashion.

 

Actually, no problem using my Roku Stick in Thailand at all, or any other international locations I've travelled to.  Whenever I travel, I alway bring it with me to use in hotels.  Basically Plug & Play functionality.  No need for VPN or messing with IP Address.

 

I thought you could buy it off Lazada or AliExpress, but now that I check, AliExpress doesn;t have it, and the price is a rip-off on Lazada; like 3000 baht!  Best to order from Amazon.  

 

https://www.amazon.com/Roku-Streaming-Stick-HDR-Streaming-Long-range/dp/B075XLWML4/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Roku+Streaming+Stick&qid=1569251967&sr=8-2

 

Oh, and I forgot to mention, besides YouTube, Roku allows you to connect to dozens of other channels, many f which are movie channels, sports channels, etc... .  Some are free and some are paid subscription.  I don't use any of them though.  Like I said, I get all my movies and other content off of PirateBay, which I love ????

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 minutes ago, rumak said:

 

WaveHunter seems to be able to get a lot with Roku using a VPN .  His post shows quite a selection thru

Pirate Bay. 

 

AFAIK, you can't install/use a VPN app directly on any Roku device. AFAIK, the only way to use a VPN connection with a Roku device is either via VPN installed on your wifi router or setting up a DNS redirect service.

 

As for Pirate Bay, it wasn't clear to me that he was using a Roku device to do his Pirate Bay access. As opposed to some other device like a PC... Roku has been very stringent in the past couple years about removing from the Roku channels (apps) store anything that can be used for piracy.

 

With the international version of the Amazon Fire stick that I linked to above, you can use it with a Thai IP address and still get legal (paid) subscriptions to services like Amazon Prime and Netflix TH, along with various others. I believe you also can now directly install Google's own YouTube app onto the international Fire Stick these days, just as you can with regular Fire Sticks.

 

It would be helpful if you could explain whether you're familiar with VPN services, know how to set up and use them, have a wifi-router that's capable of setting up a router-based VPN, and whether or not you desire to use one for your future streaming activities. Knowing those choices on your part, would help focus the discussion considerably.

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

11 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

Actually, no problem using my Roku Stick in Thailand at all, or any other international locations I've travelled to.  Whenever I travel, I alway bring it with me to use in hotels.  Basically Plug & Play functionality.  No need for VPN or messing with IP Address.

 

You could buy it from Amazon, but I've seen them on Lazada and also on AliExpress, which will have it in your hands in a few days without hefty shipping charges, and if you do order it from AliExpress, it's under $50, so no Customs duty for delivery to Thailand.  I'd order from Lazada since it will probably ship out of Bangkok and you'll have it in a couple days.

 

To the best of my knowledge, if you buy and order a new Roku device and set it up in Thailand with a Thai IP address, you're going to be limited to only using Roku channels that are international and not the U.S. focused ones.  It really depends on what kind of content and content sources the user wants to access.

 

YouTube is international these days. Netflix is international these days. Same with Spotify, the music service. But lots of other streaming providers are U.S. only, like Hulu, Showtime, YouTube TV, others. Where you set up the Roku device and what country your Roku account is registered in is going to determine the channels you'll be able to access.

 

And because there's no built-in VPN functionality with Rokus, if a person wanted to access UK-related content like the BBC and such, it probably would be very difficult or impossible.

 

The Fire TV devices having access to VPN apps and the ability to sideload regular Android apps give them a considerable edge over the Roku devices in terms of being able to configure them to get just the content you want, regardless of where it may be based.

 

 

[WaveHunter]

2 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

AFAIK, you can't install/use a VPN app directly on any Roku device. AFAIK, the only way to use a VPN connection with a Roku device is either via VPN installed on your wifi router or setting up a DNS redirect service.

 

As for Pirate Bay, it wasn't clear to me that he was using a Roku device to do his Pirate Bay access. As opposed to some other device like a PC... Roku has been very stringent in the past couple years about removing from the Roku channels (apps) store anything that can be used for piracy.

 

With the international version of the Amazon Fire stick that I linked to above, you can use it with a Thai IP address and still get legal (paid) subscriptions to services like Amazon Prime and Netflix TH, along with various others. I believe you also can now directly install Google's own YouTube app onto the international Fire Stick these days, just as you can with regular Fire Sticks.

 

It would be helpful if you could explain whether you're familiar with VPN services, know how to set up and use them, have a wifi-router that's capable of setting up a router-based VPN, and whether or not you desire to use one for your future streaming activities. Knowing those choices on your part, would help focus the discussion considerably.

 

 

I don't use a VPN at all, for anything; just normal wireless connection that my condo provides.  No need for VPN to use Roku.  For PirateBay, which is simply a torrent site on the web, I just download movies or other content via a Torrent App on my laptop, like uTorrent, and then transfer the movies to a USB Stick and plug t into the TV for viewing.