Cutting the cord... In Singapore

Hello Life

So I moved to Singapore in search of better life about an year ago.

It has been busy and I have seen my own little ups and downs here.

So this happened when I decided to not buy the shitty cable TV subscription and rather run on Netflix, Amazon Prime and YouTube.

Now the TV I had in the furnish apartment was a Samsung E series. Believe me it's a pathetic TV and shouldn't be called Smart TV at all. 

Yes it had all the 3 apps that I needed, but moving around is slow and at times they just crash.

So I decided to get a better alternative. I looked at ChromeCasts and Xiaomi Min boxes first. Somehow the Android experience on these weren't appealing either. At one instance the Xiaomi box crashed and rebooted too.

So I turned towards the ever famous "Roku".

The packaging and the box design were so inspiring bthat I didn't read much about it. Actually didn't find much about the issues I will face later also.

So, I ordered and got the pretty little box. Awesome remote coz of it's size and fit n finish. Voice control and private listen mode were the 2 features that had me vested in it.

I try to set it up and YouTube worked - wow.

Tried Netflix and it worked too. Another wow.

Searched for Amazon Prime Video. And No App found.

Re tried a few times. Restarted the box. Somehow I found the app but it won't install. Saying region related errors.

Disheartened, I tried the Voice control feature, again same Region related error.

Felt disgusted. Searched on the web for any help/clues. But found nothing. So vent  my anger in a Reddit post.

Also, spike to the seller that he didn't tell me that Rokus don't work outside USA and other handful supported regions. He said he had no clue. But offered me a months use of his VPN account so I can be happy.

I actually have no use for the VPN coz my router doesn't have VPN setup feature. So I can only use it from one mobile phone. And the speed was also Yucky.

I accepted it to be my sad fate. For a week.

However, somewhere deep inside I wanted to get this working. So I tried something that nobody has posted on any blog or websites. Or if they have, I didn't find it. 

So here I am posting the minor trick that worked for me.

First few learnings about Roku:

• It's a capable hardware.
• You need a Roku account to use this box. 
• You can create the account from Roku website.
• However, during sign-up they ask for Credit Card details, claiming that it won't be charged unless you purchase things.
• Roku and many of it's features work only in USA, Canada and few Euro regions

Now with above learning here's how I approached and solved my problem:

• Use VPN and take any USA server. 
• Go-to Roku website and sign-up. Mostly it asks for name, email and basic stuff
• Don't want to give credit card details - During sign up, first page asks basic details then on clicking button the next page asks for card details. You can stop here. Just close the browser tab. Coz Roku account is created already from first page. This second page thing is more like updating information about account.
• So far you have created a USA Roku account and not used credit card.

Next you switch on and set up Roku box using this account. You don't need VPN or proxies now. Box assumes that you are in USA coz of account. Voice feature and private listening works. Even prime video app can be installed and used now.

For getting the mobile Roku remote you can download an unofficial app.

Hope this helps