Roku Security PIN

Short version: Go read this.

Long version: Read all this, then go read that.

As one who provides user support (as a Roku user) on the Roku Community Forum, I see a lot of the issues that users run into from time to time. It's often the same ones over and over.

Prepare for rant, in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

So many people that go to support forums (not just Roku forums) don't bother to look for their issue. There's a good chance any issue someone encounters has been encountered before. And solved before. But do people bother to search the forums? Nope. They may go so far as to see a post with a title that describes their issue, and then simply post their question without reading to see if there is an answer.

I cannot tell you how many times I've seen a post on the Roku support forum asking a question, and that question is immediately following the answer from someone else's earlier asking of that same question. They didn't even bother to read the answer that was already on the page when they posted their question. And, after they posted their question, they didn't bother to look again, because that answer was still there, right above their question. It's frustrating. Really frustrating.

Okay, rant over.

I bring this up because every so often I find a topic on the board that I decide to write about here. And today was going to be one of those days. I say was, because I also saw another posting on another Website that actually did a very good job of answering it. So, I'm not going to answer it, but rather point you to the excellent job of answering that was done by Ryan Downey of The Streaming Advisor.

The question is most often posted in the form of "How can I find my Roku Security PIN?" But here's the thing: a user will not get prompted for a Roku Security PIN unless the user has set up a Roku Security PIN. If the user never set one, the Roku device will never prompt for one. So what the user is asking is: "What did I set as my Roku Security PIN?"

The bad news is that Roku can't tell them. The good news is that they can reset it to whatever they want to. And The Streaming Advisor has a good write-up on how to accomplish that. Go read it, if you want to read a really good step-by-step description on how to do that. It's a good write-up and may help you with your Streaming Life.

Streaming on the road

When you travel, how do you handle streaming TV? There are a couple of different ways to do this. I'll give you two of the more popular ones, then how I do it. And if that seems to indicate that I don't do it in one of the more popular ways, that's correct. But first, the popular ways.

Most of the support Websites when discussing streaming and traveling usually offer suggestions about using a Fire TV Stick or a Roku Stick. The reason is that those devices are small and easy to pack. And for many people, the Fire TV Stick is the easiest to use when it comes to setting up a streaming device in a hotel.

The problem that you run into is that many hotels force you to agree to terms, or require you to enter your room number, or otherwise require input from you when you connect to their WiFi. With Roku devices, you have to have a computer or smart phone to complete the process. It's a little more complicated and not as easy as a Fire TV Stick, according to many that have used both methods, but generally both work well.

If you have a Roku device, you can use any current model. All the current Roku devices support this functionality. Fire TV Stick has supported this longer, and it seems that most people like it better.

So, I said that I don't use either of those ways. So how do I stream when I go on vacation? Easy. I don't. You see, I don't carry a streaming device with me. It's not what I want to do on vacation. I want to focus on where I am, who I'm with, and what we're doing. None of that means a streaming device.

I did see something unexpected recently, however. I was traveling last weekend, and one of the hotel rooms in which I stayed had a setup where you could stream from the TV. It had a tablet set up to control lights, TV, and other things in the room, as well as access to restaurant menus. So, had I been interested in streaming Netflix, Hulu, or something, I could have used that.

Now, not all rooms are set up that way. So, if you want to stream and you don't get a room with a built in streaming setup, a Fire TV Stick or a Roku Stick may be the perfect thing for you when you are traveling. Vacation and traveling aren't the same thing. Some travel for work, or short trips for personal that really isn't a vacation. I get that. But, I'm fortunate enough that I haven't been in that situation.

But, I do know that if I was a Roku or Amazon Fire Stick user, I'd be comfortable taking one. If I was all-in on a different device, I'd want to pick up a Fire Stick or Roku for travel.

Sure, there are travel routers and such that make this easier, but the easiest thing for Fire Stick or Roku users is to simply pack a device and take it with you.

Don't forget the remote. You will need the remote. If you use a smartphone app to control your device, you'll still need the remote. Trust me on this. Or don't and find out the hard way. You can't use the smartphone app until you're connected to the network. And you can't connect to the network without a remote.

If you want to stream while traveling, there are only a couple of good options, but those that use them are happy with them. Whatever your preference, do what you need to make your Streaming Life an easy one.

Price hikes, and this time it's ESPN+

If you've used the ESPN+ service, there's a good chance you're about to pay more for it. If you have it as part of the Disney Bundle -- Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ -- then nothing is changing. But, if you subscribe to the service standalone, you're about to have to shell out an additional $3/month.

Yes, the price for ESPN+ is going up from $6.99/month to $9.99/month. And in case you haven't done the math, that's an increase of nearly 43%.

This is the third year in a row that it's gone up. The last two years, it went up $1/month. But this year, it's $3/month increase hitting subscribers.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the annual subscription is going up as well. It was $69.99/year. That's going to $99.99/year.

Will I keep my subscription? That's easy. I don't have a subscription, so no. But, I may subscribe later in the year, during college football season. Three subscriptions ought to get me through the season. I can live with that.

I do hate that more and more prices are going up. This won't hit me hard, since, as I said before, I do not subscribe year-rout. But, it will has a slight impact on my Streaming Life, as well as for others.

PBS free and paid

If you're a fan of PBS content, you'll be happy to know that PBS has streaming apps available for several devices, including the Big Four: Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android/Google TV.

You can watch PBS content on demand for free. Not all for free, but a lot of PBS content is free.

You know how they always say that it is supported Such And Such Foundation, and "viewers like you?" Well, they mean viewers like me. I donate monthly to PBS. And watching more PBS content is a bonus.

In the PBS app, you'll find that some items are marked with a little compass, indicating it's PBS Passport content.

The content that doesn't have the icon is available for watching for free. The PBS Passport content requires you to have a PBS Passport membership. How do you get one of those? Donate to PBS at a certain level.

The level for PBS Passport is $5/month or $60/year. If you donate that amount, you can log in to the PBS app and watch PBS Passport content.

I suspect most people will fall into one of two categories:

1. Ooh, look at all the free stuff. Oh, and if I donate, I can get even more stuff. Cool!
2. Oh look. They make you pay for the good stuff.

I'm more of the first category. But, however you fall there, the end result is the same: PBS content on your streaming device. How much is up to you.

I don't watch PBS content regularly, but when I do, I'll spend hours there. To me, it's worth the $5/month -- and I give more than that -- to get the content. I also simply like supporting PBS. No, I don't like everything PBS does. My political stance and theirs often conflict. But I do think that, overall, PBS is a good thing. So, I donate. I prefer people supported stuff, not government supported stuff, which is about as political as I'm going to get.

PBS apps, with or without PBS Passport membership, offer a lot of good content for your Streaming Life.

Privacy phone, part 3

I'm beginning to wonder if this whole "privacy phone" experiment is worth it. If you're not quite sure what I mean, here's the deal.

I'm looking for a cell phone that doesn't capture all my data and sell it to companies, who bombard me with emails, ad, and other nuisances. I'm not looking to go off the grid. I'm not looking to sneak around. I just want to use as much of what current technology offers without giving my data for others to sell. I will pay my way.

To achieve that goal, I need a phone that offers things I can use, that's easy to use, and that isn't always reporting back to the mothership (Apple or Google). I love using an iPhone. I don't like my data being shared by Apple. Now, Apple says they don't sell my data. So maybe I already have a privacy phone. If that's the case, why am I doing this whole experiment?

Well, there is more than just iOS. And there are iOS apps that sell data.

First, let's stay with iOS and take Apple at its word. My data is still getting out there. So how? If it's not Apple, it's the apps. Another recent report -- there are always reports, this is just one recent one -- indicates that many app developers keep coming up with loopholes to gather and share (sell) your data.

It’s common for app developers to embed SDKs to add features to their apps without having to build them from scratch, but these SDKs specifically were designed to send app user location data to brokers.

But experts and location data industry workers tell The Markup that the moves have been insufficient; there are plenty of loopholes in Apple’s and Google’s policies that allow location data to still be collected, even without using those SDKs.

“The challenge, and this is a challenge with data brokers in general, is that you’re playing whack-a-mole, where these companies have many different vectors through which they get people’s sensitive information,” Justin Sherman, a cyber policy fellow at the Duke Technology Policy Lab, said.

So how do I find apps that don't do that? With iOS, it's hard. That is a closed system with proprietary apps. There is no way to know. So what to do? Trust them? Go open source?

Open source apps are, well, open source. It's easier for the community -- that's you, me, and other users -- to find if an app is doing nefarious things.

That's where a non-IOS phone enters the picture. And that mean either Linux or Android.

I'm considering a Linux phone to test, but there are several "de-Googled" versions of Android available. That's what I've been trying.

Android is an open source OS. But Google's distribution is not. All of the data is reporting back to the mothership (Google servers). And Google sells your data.

These versions of Android I'm trying don't have Google Services. They have alternate services that allow many phones to work, but these services don't report the data. Now, from what I can tell, some apps won't work without Google Services. But most will (though they need an alternate service). And they offer open source apps.

There are still going to be some problems, of course, as not all apps will work. But, from what my research is showing, the apps that do work, plus open source alternatives, give the user a good experience.

So, I have a Teracube 2e phone running /e/OS (a version of Lineage OS). The problem I'm having is that I can't find a carrier that will work here. I've found T-Mobile carriers that will work, except that T-Mobile service at home is not good. I've tested the phone when traveling using a T-Mobile MVNO (mobile virtual network operator: a cheap carrier that rides a major carrier network). If I had good T-Mobile service at home, I'd be set. But, I don't. And Teracube 2e doesn't support Verizon. So, that means I need to find an MVNO that runs on AT&T.

Cricket does, and works on my Google Pixel 4a, but I can't place calls on the Teracube. Maybe it's the phone? Well, it works on a T-Mobile MVNO. And, it took a while to get Cricket to work on the Pixel, so Cricket works, but setup can be problematic.

I've tried Red Pocket, but that was the same thing. And it had issues with the Pixel, but I didn't want to put all that much time into it. I want something that works. So, now I've ordered a SIM from Good2Go (stylized as "good2go"). That's another AT&T-riding MVNO. I'm going to try all the ones I can before going with AT&T because of the cost. And yes, I know I'm wasting money on a month of service from crappy MVNOs. Well, crappy insofar as my phone is concerned.

I'm occasionally wondering how I got down this privacy phone rabbit hole. And it was because I was reacquainted with Linux after setting up a Raspberry Pi as a streaming server. But this privacy phone monster has taken on a life of its own. But, I'm still able to enjoy my Streaming Life, and as long as it doesn't interfere with that, I'll stick with it. Maybe that's why it's taking so long. If I focused on it, I may have it solved quickly. But no, I'm taking it slow. I have some streaming television to watch. And I think I'll go do that now.