It's possible to stream television and services like Netflix over the cellular 3G connection. The problem is the 5GB usage cap that carriers have on the service. Streaming uses quite a bit of bandwidth and you'll chew through your monthly allowance pretty quick. If you're in a 4G area, Sprint/CLEAR are offering service which is unlimited and more suited to streaming HD video content without fears of going over your monthly bandwidth allotment and having a huge bill. As far as how well it works on 3G, pretty well but will be location dependent. I've been in areas where I've streamed with virtually no buffer time, to areas where it's constantly buffering because there are to many users in the area. In 4G areas the service should be virtually buffer free the majority of the time.

My DW has caught missed episodes by using the WiFi at a park but she usually does this late at night when the full bandwidth is available. She has said that some shows aren't available on the TV network's website. I think she mentioned Oprah and Dr. Phil were not available. We recently added Netflix App to our iphones. You can get many TV shows (older episodes) and tons of movies to watch using the iphone. It comes in handy when you're stuck somewhere and need to kill time. Like when I take me DW to the bead store, I've actually watched one 2 hour movie and most of a second 2 hour movie while waiting. Sorry I got off track... I'm really impressed with how well Netflix works on my 3G iPhone. Some of the available TV shows I remember seeing on the list were- Lost, 24, NCIS, 30 Rock, Law & Order....you choose from the episodes in the different seasons of the shows run...season 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. Checkout the www.netflix.com website for more details and show listings.

Just remember many parks are blocking such practice because a few people have no problem using up a lot of bandwidth thus making it hard for others to get on. My opinion and my opinion only but I think a satellite dish and a DVR is a better way to not miss favorite programs.

When we have no reception (just have what the antenna can bring in) we do go out and stream some shows from the internet. We make sure we have plenty of room on out 5G but have found we can do 4-5 shows a month without going over. Hulu seems to steam the best, the other networks seem to have more difficulty. My son says it is a compression issue. Right now we are in an area that has no TV signal and the internet is slow, even with an antenna and booster so it is a DVD week.

This is something I am hoping will get better as we prepare to buy our rig and truck and hit the road. Right now at our rental home we have no cable TV or satellite. We have DSL and we stream Netflix through my son's PS3 and Hulu on our computers (the only network I go to is CBS since they don't use Hulu, and sometimes the CW Network) but that's how we watch TV. Yes, some shows aren't available, but mostly everything we watch has been available to stream at one point and we can usually get the DVDs through Netflix when the season is over. It just means we are behind a season.

**Some people have been surprised to find out we have no cable or satellite, but I really don't miss it. When I visit my mom I often end up watching Hulu anyway because I flip through all her 200 channels and can never find anything on :) **

But I'm hoping with Virgin Mobile offering the unlimited air card that soon Verizon will follow suit and that the 5GB usage will be dropped by the time we're on the road. At this point, I don't want to pay for TV on the road and I want to use an Aircard instead of Satellite internet, but I guess the cost would end up being about the same. But I will need an Internet connection, so I guess that will be determined when we actually go on the road. I have read a lot of full-time articles on this and I cannot believe how much technology has changed, even in the past 5-10 years. So since we're hoping to do this no later than 2015 I hope the technology will continue to get better and those limits will eventually disappear as more places get the 4G coverage. Otherwise I guess I'll be spending a few hours every week at a local restaurant or bookstore with Wi-fi so I can watch TV.

Christina in Alabama

-- Edited by crouton on Sunday 17th of October 2010 02:11:39 PM

Through my DSL line at home that is how I catch college football games live that are not being broadcast on cable. In fact, I like it better than the cable and national TV broadcasts because it gives you a constant update on stats and you can even chat with people watching the same game.