You might want to post this same question at the Computer Help forum here at GW.
This type of subject has been discussed a few times.
Would give a variety of responses to go by.

Thanks raven....I was not sure if the question was clear enough for anyone to understand, so I thought I would try here.
I will go there and search for previous post.

Watch Netflix on your TV, is that what you're trying to do?

A lot of people are using a Roku box to do that, or you could use a Wii or other device...you can read about devices that you can use on the Netflix website, see link below.

We just use an old laptop hooked up to our TV with a compatible cable, works great.

Here is a link that might be useful: https://account.netflix.com/NetflixReadyDevices

Thanks oldgardner.

I don't know what all I need to know so any help is good.
I guess watching Netflix is just what I want to do. Is internet speed important to do that?..No cable, just DSL.
No Wii so I will read about other devices.

We use a moderate speed DSL and don't have any problems watching streaming Netflix. But the faster speed DSL, the better, of course.

In addition to Netflix, you could also watch free Hulu if you don't want to spend more money on TV. If you don't mind paying, you could pay $7.99/month for Hulu Plus and get a little more content than you get with free Hulu.

You can get unlimited streaming with Netflix for $7.99/month.

Before you get all excited about streaming movies, look at what's available for streaming. When I looked at the list of movies and past TV series available from Netflix I wasn't impressed. The US and British TV series they're offereing are of seasons we saw on DVD years ago.

How about a satelite dish and an HD-DVR? If you have a phone line you can order movies from DirecTV.

Sorry I cannot help, but just offering some alternatives. I do hope you can get some TV, but you might try taking pictures, writing about what is around you--nothing fancy, just as if you are talking, learning a new hobby, Personally there are so many things in nature and if you can spend time outside you will find a whole new world. Even the sky looks different. But that is me!! Enjoy your fishing hole.

In order to watch full screen video over land lines, be it copper phone lines or fiber optic, you need lots of bandwidth (high data speed). If you have optical cable sevice, you may be in luck. If you have only metal phone lines, you are likely out-of-luck. Phone companies such as AT&T have made good strides in recent years in boosting the data flow over phone lines, but the last time I investigated, there was a caveat, and that the length of copper phone wire between your house and the phone exchange building. Good bandwidth for DSL can be had for line lengths up to a mile. At one mile, a drop in performance (data speed) is noticed. DSL internet service can be provided at longer distances, but data quality and speed reduces. In my opinion, data speed over a copper phone line one mile in length is too slow for viewing full screen TV. You need to talk to your local provider to see what they have to offer.

Phone companies such as Windstream and Frontier have been extending fiber optic lines into rural areas and if you have one of these, you may have enough data speed to support what you wish to do, but since yours is a fishing cottage remote from population centers, I doubt it.

Another option is TV, internet, and phone over a cable service such as Time Warner. Beware that 911 calls and location identification probably will not work over cable service.

There is one more "gotcha" for DSL or Cable TV: This service works fine for few users sharing the same equipment. But, if the line gets too busy with many users, service suffers. That depends on how much installed capacity there is to be shared by all. I have DSL in a medium sized town. My service is ok most fo the time, but there are periods when it stinks. Those periods are from 3 to 6 pm and after midnight. School attendees and adults hit the line from 3tot 6 pm; Typically, system maintence occurs after midnight and sometimes Friday night and Saturday.

Some folks have tried internet over sattelite link. Transmission delays over the very large distance makes internet interaction action iffy. TV reception is not affected by this delay because it is a one-way data flow. Satellite signal strenght is affected by moisture content of the atmosphere. Rain, sleet, and snow can block transmission.

Hopefully, the fish will be biting and you won't have time for TV.

I live in a rural area and my DSL service is fine for watching TV over the Internet. It isn't all that complicated. ;)

Thanks again for the information and the suggestions.
We do fish and love doing that....good crappie fishing.
We spend a lot of time during the spring, summer and fall.
It is that time when we are in for the day with rain or at
night I want something to do.
I plan to get the DSL and computer and then the TV could be
improved...that is what I'm working on. I thought about AppleTV, and go from that.