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How to Turn Cable TV Into Internet TV

The Internet offers a wide variety of TV shows and movies available for free streaming or download, and getting to choose the programs you're interested in watching without having to pay for hundreds of cable channels you never touch is an exciting prospect. However, watching your favorite shows on a small, glaring laptop screen instead of on your big screen TV is a definite drawback. With recent advances in technology, you can now watch streaming TV from the Internet on your television.

Things You'll Need

  • TV
  • Internet service
  • Internet-enabled box, such as Roku or XBox360
  • Subscription to Netflix and/or Amazon video-on-demand
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Instructions

    • 1

      Compare your options. A number of services and devices exist for those wanting to transfer their Internet viewing options to the TV. If your TV and computer are both newer, they may be equipped to connect to each other directly with a cable. With this setup, whatever appears on your computer screen will appear on your TV, including your desktop and other open programs, but choosing the "full screen" option will mimic the experience of watching a show on TV. If your computer and TV are not equipped in this way, or if you'd prefer, you can also purchase one of several internet-equipped boxes. The XBox360 can be set up to bring movies and series from Netflix Instant View to your TV with a year's subscription to a service called Xbox Live. The Roku digital video box links to your Netflix and Amazon video-on-demand accounts to show anything from either source on your TV. Depending on what sort of technology you already own and which Internet video sources you already watch, one of these options may fit your situation better than the others.

    • 2

      Order your device, or if you already own an XBox360 and would like to set it up to watch Netflix, connect the console to the Internet and create an Xbox Live membership.

    • 3

      Cancel your cable service.

    • 4

      Install or set up your device. To install a Roku box, simply plug the three cables attached to the box — white, yellow and red — into the white, yellow and red inputs on your TV set, respectively. Then, plug the box in to a power source and follow the prompts you will see on your TV screen. To set up a new XBox360, connect one end of each cord included to the console, and the opposite ends of each cord to the TV, power outlet and receiver.

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