My cable provider offers a streaming device. Should I just use that instead?
You could, but we don’t recommend it. Cable providers are definitely afraid of cord cutters, so to help lure back former cable customers, they now offer their own streaming devices. While these devices can be tempting — mainly because the video you stream to them often won’t count toward your monthly data cap — they just don’t deliver the quality of experience you can find on a proper streaming box. Cable-provided streaming boxes are often slow, leaving out key streaming providers and lacking key features like HDR or voice assistant compatibility.