Television changed the world when it made its debut a few decades ago. However, no one can deny that the advent and eventual takeover of the Internet has put this little box of entertainment out of business. The world of on-demand video has changed drastically in the past few years. With high-speed Internet and more options, one can stream anything anytime on their TV. Still, there is a lot offered on TV that online streaming platforms lack.

How does TV streaming work?

Think of how your cable connection works. You pick a provider and pay them for a plan of your choosing, which includes the channels that you would like to watch. These channels then play the various content provided by different production houses. You may not be watching all of the content that is coming your way, but you pay for it.

An Internet streaming service, however, works in a way that gives the viewer complete control over what they watch and how much of it they want to watch. It also gives you complete control over your time. With television, you’d have to time your life around the time your favorite shows are streamed, whereas with an online TV streaming service, all of that is controlled by you.

You connect a TV streaming service to your Internet connection, and you’re good to go. So what determines your watching experience? Only the quality of your connection. That is the one factor that cannot be compromised. If your Internet service connection isn’t good, then using streaming services is going to be extremely inefficient and infuriating.

Stumbling upon a weak connection or URL will make your video and audio terrible in quality, and your program will end up buffering every few minutes. This will only be worsened if you are using live Internet TV streaming. This is usually done for sports matches or red carpet events, and even weather updates and special events that are covered by media. You will need a strong and unwavering Internet connection to get the best experience

Start with the right connection

If you’re finally switching over to streaming services from cable, then the first thing you must consider is your Internet service provider and the kind of connection you can opt for. In simple words, know full and well how fast the speed of your Internet is. This is measured in megabits per second, and most streaming services recommend that you start up with 3Mbps. This is the bare minimum you must have to stream a video of decent viewing quality on one device.

If you’re looking for a more high-definition, or HD, experience, then a minimum of 5Mbps is recommended. This will only increase the number of devices that will be using the Internet. Contact your service provider and look for the plans they have, and if not, then come up with a custom plan for yourself and your family. A wired broadband connection is also an alternative if you live in a place with cable or phone operators that haven’t got wireless features available to their customers with higher network speed needs.

TV Streaming: The process of setting up

Now that you have the Internet connection sorted, all you need to do is find a way to get it to the device you’re streaming. A wireless connection is simple to set-up and takes a couple of minutes at most. Some devices may have a cable port you can connect your Internet cable to. Either way, this step is fairly simple, depending on the device.

It is likely that your TV streaming will be done through applications intended for the very same. Channels don’t play any role here. So if you’re using a device with apps, simply open up the apps and you have your TV streaming good to go. However, if you’re looking for a wholesome experience that involves connecting it to your TV set, things might take some more time.

You’ll need to find a way to get the device connected to the TV, which can be done through a cable or get the apps on the TV and the Internet connection for TV as well. With the many smart TVs available today this shouldn’t be too much of a task. If you have any number of gaming consoles attached to your television, this becomes easier still. This is because consoles such as Xbox can connect to the Internet and have a store where you can install apps for streaming.

With all of these features, streaming TV online has never been easier!