How to Watch Netflix Instant Queue Movies on Your TV

A lot of people have started using Netflix to watch movies. The instant download queue makes it easy to watch a limitless number of films anytime you want, on demand. The one downfall of the instant feature is that you have to watch the movies on your computer. With a cheap simple device (which you may already own!) and a little set up you'll be able to watch movies from your Netflix instant queue right on your TV.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. 

   First find a Netflix Ready Device to attach to your TV. This device grabs the movie from the internet and streams it to your screen. You can find a list of these devices at the link in the resources below. If you have an Xbox 360 or compatible Tivo or Bluray player, you may be ready to go. If you don't already have a device on the list, you can pick up a cheap one like the Roku Digital Video Player. Rather than being an all in one, the ONLY purpose of this device is to get movies from your netflix instant queue and put them on your TV.

2. Connect your Ready Device to your TV. Typically this will only require two cables - one for power and one for signal. The signal cable can come in several different flavors, so if you're buy a new ready device, make sure you get the correct cable. Newer HDTVs typically use HDMI, while old ones may use composite.

3. 

   After your Ready Device is hooked to your TV, you need to setup the router. If you don't have a router, any simple one will do. What the router does is allows your Ready Device to connect to the internet. If your router isn't connected to the internet, just plug an ethernet cable from your modem to the router. Most Ready Devices can connect wirelessly to the router - if yours can't, you can use another ethernet cable to connect them. If the Ready Device supports wireless internet, go into the setup menu once the device is connected to the TV. Tell the device the name of your router and enter the password if necessary. If the router is new, you'll be able to find this connection information in the manual.

4. 

   Once all that's setup, the final step is to add films to your queue. Login to the Netflix site and add some instant movies to your queue. Not all films are available for instant viewing; look for the + symbol in the image shown here. The + means an instant version is available. Once you've added a movie to your instant queue, you can go back to your TV and select it for viewing.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want to use your Ready Device and computer wirelessly, make sure you have a wireless router. If you don't, you'll have to use ethernet to connect your devices to the router.
• Not all Netflix plans come with unlimited instant viewing.
• The quality of your streaming movie will depend on your internet connection, so make sure to shut down all downloads and anything else connected to the internet if you want to get the best possible picture.
• A faster internet connection will also increase the quality of your movie.

Resources

• Netflix Ready Device List

[counselor40]

on 7/27/2009 1how - good stuff. please also check out my piece on the same topic.