Whether you’re a full-on cord cutter or you’re supplementing your traditional TV viewing experience with the latest and greatest, adding streaming entertainment services to your viewing experience is next-level entertainment. But to make it truly next level, there are some amendments you can make to your current streaming experience to make it even better. Read on to find out how.
Invest in a smart TV
Before you get ready to stream, first things first: if you’re in the market for a new TV, make it a smart one. You don’t necessarily have to break the bank to find one that will suit your streaming needs—there are plenty of decent options available that are reasonably inexpensive, even if you want to go with a really big screen.
But to make sure you get the biggest bang for your buck, choose a smart TV that has good resolution (4K is recommended), a decent refresh rate so your picture image stays sharp (either 60Hz or 120Hz, depending on what you’re watching), and loaded with good streaming apps—or at least, has the capability to download the ones you want if they don’t come pre-loaded.
Consider an external streaming device
Not ready to spring for a new TV? No problem. You can still get a solid streaming experience by investing in an external device that connects to your TV and internet. Steaming devices are a less expensive way of bringing entertainment into your home, and often come pre-loaded with a ton of great apps featuring the best streaming TV services. Just remember: you still have to subscribe to those streaming services.
Opt for a wired internet connection
Even though Wi-Fi tends to be the norm these days, if you really want to have the ultimate stream energy, try connecting your TV or streaming device to the internet using an ethernet cable. If your TV or streaming device doesn’t have an ethernet port, you may need to buy an adapter to make the connection. But once you do, you’ll be able to experience new streaming movies and streaming TV services at top speed without having to share your connection with other computers, tablets, or smart home devices connected to your network and slowing things down.
Supercharge your Wi-Fi connection
If using a wired internet connection sounds like a pain and your home is already used to a wireless connection, there are still things you can do to potentially help improve your experience.
First, make sure you have enough internet speed to stream how you want to stream. As a general rule, you’ll want a minimum speed of 15 Mbps, but if you have a high-resolution smart TV and more than one device connected to your Wi-Fi, you may want your internet connection to be even speedier. Next, make sure you don’t have a ton of competing devices maxing out your network usage—which means you should also double-check that your connection is secure and password protected, so your neighbors can’t leech off your connection.
Then, if you’ve already ensured your router isn’t hiding behind a wall or bookcase and you still want a boost, consider investing in a Wi-Fi extender to amp up your coverage.
For more information on how to speed up your Wi-Fi, you might want to visit this page from AT&T.
Manage your streaming subscriptions
These days, there’s tons of streaming services to choose from—which means it’s easy to get overwhelmed by choices. But it doesn’t have to be complicated. One of the easiest ways to find the right streaming service for you and manage multiple subscriptions in one is to opt for a bundle. Some streaming TV services allow you to do add-on subscriptions so you can take advantage of several services at once, without having to have multiple subscriptions you have to log into and manage separately.
But overall, it makes sense to pick the stream subscriptions that make the most sense for your needs. For example, don’t subscribe to an app that offers tons of historical content if your preference is sci-fi. And remember, just because you subscribe doesn’t mean you can’t unsubscribe—whether that’s just to take a break until the next big show gets released, or because the content doesn’t entertain you and you want to try something else.
Use the download option
A lot of streaming services are now offering the option to download the movie or TV show you want to watch. When you download your entertainment of choice, it cuts down on slow-downs like buffering—or helps you bypass an internet outage. Now, you can watch new movies to stream or your favorite show offline without interruption. This can be an especially great option for in-flight entertainment.
This article is AT&T sponsored content written by Carly Milne, a TechBuzz contributor. The statements in this article are her own and don’t necessarily represent the positions, strategies, or opinions of AT&T.
