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Firstly I don't know if this kind of question is allowed or not so apologies for breaking any rules.

I have Now TV at the moment but want to subscribe to Netflix in the US. Would it be possible to have both on a roku?

Many thanks in advance.

Streaming boxes of any kind are usually geo-tied. Even my ancient WDTV can't use things like Hulu over here, and BBC iPlayer won't work over there.

Is there any substantial difference between US and UK Netflix catalogues? Which show in particular are you after? Perhaps it's on another service if it's not on Netflix in the UK.

PS - currently waiting for the new Roku products to appear in stock so I can finally replace my Amazon Fire TV which I never got on with.

Nothing in particular. I'm also looking at NBCSN

Are you asking if you can get Now TV and Netflix both running on a Roku box, or are you asking if it's possible to access Netflix US on a Now TV box?

the former.

I doubt you'll be able to access NBCSN legally in the UK given that the sports they have rights to are covered by different broadcasters over here.

This is what's available on Roku in the UK:
https://www.roku.com/en-gb/whats-on

Netflix, iPlayer, NowTV, Amazon Video, ITV Hub, All4, Demand5, TVPlayer, Yupp, Google Movies & TV, STV, CineFUn, Tubi, OVGuide, SkyStore, Rakuten, Viewster, Viki, Lyca TV, a bunch of random crap, foreign channels....

There used to be before Netflix launched in every country bar Syria, North Korea and Iran which coincided with Netflix cracking down on people using VPN's and Smart DNS to access other Netflix regions, which has been largely successful.

The only issue I have with Roku is that I believe they still output at a fixed refresh rate of 60Hz, which would leave Now TV and UK sourced output on Netflix with motion judder.

Roku have updated their NOW TV box range to render at 50Hz, although this is very restrictive in what you can watch in comparison.

There are still significant differences between Netflix US and Netflix UK when it comes to acquired content (Netflix original content is largely the same everywhere I believe).

Your Netflix subscription works globally - and isn't geo-tied - it's just your actual IP address when you connect that defines what you watch. So if you are on holiday or business abroad you can log in to Netflix but will see the line-up appropriate to the country you are in - not your home country.

Assuming Netflix haven't blocked the VPN you use (they do actively block popular providers now I believe) then you can access the US line-up from a UK subscription on a UK-based device accessing the internet via a US IP address over a VPN.

This is an advantage to using an Android TV box (whether it is running Android TV OS or Android Tablet/Phone OS builds) as you can run a VPN client and the App on the same device. (Though Android TV OS VPN apps are less common and may need side loading / launching - whereas a TV box running Tablet Android OS will allow them to be installed more easily. The advantage of Android TV - the OS - is that it is optimised for remote control operation)

(Some mobile apps are now using GPS location data in phones and tablets to geo-block rather than IP address to circumvent this)

What about a vpn for roku to get NBCSN?

What's the output quality like now on Tablet/Phone versions of Netflix? I remember a lot of sideloaded Netflix users complaining about a low-quality output, especially when seen on a big screen. (I don't use it so I don't know.)

I know when I tried to sideload VMAnywhere onto an Android box it failed miserably because it runs in portrait mode and the box output everything in landscape. That's before I got anywhere near the HDMI output issue.

Unless the box is specifically Netflix approved you won't get 2160p streams - whatever the OS. nVidia Shield TV does 2160p HDR Netflix (and Amazon) and uses Android TV as the OS. They do 5.1 DD/DD+ with no problem. Basically this is the Rolls Royce of Android TV.

Wetek boxes are / were Netflix approved and largely do 1080p stuff - though have at some points done 2160p - and at one point there was an Android TV ROM for them (Their standard image is Android Tablet/Phone but with a nice Android TV style launcher). Similarly the audio is often 2.0 - but DD/DD+ has appeared at times. It's all a bit less guaranteed than the nVidia Shield TV, but is / was officially Netflix supported.

Until recently you were stuck at 480p streams on almost all non-approved boxes, but some with the right Widevine support (historically not enough for Netflix) are doing 1080p. It's probably not via an approved route (just as Netflix within LibreElec via a Chrome DRM hack isn't) so it is definitely not guaranteed to last.

As for Netflix on actual Android tablets/phones - again it depends on Netflix approval as well as the right Widevine support. Mainstream suppliers like Samsung will have decent 1080p support - no-name suppliers will be trickier.

Thanks for all the replies. I'm examining the issue further and may have clarified the issue. Bear with me:

Now TV without VPN
Roku with VPN through virtual router.

Any thoughts?