snowfox1812

Do we need a set top box to watch italian tv? I'm happy to not have tv but hubby wants to. We have Uk digital tv but no italian aerial only old analog cables (I think), so do we need an aerial and a set top box or only aerial. And which aerial to choose - only looked at Leroy 'Robbers' and OBI. We know we need to pay Rai. Thanks

Geordieborn

We do not have a tv here, but all who are resident pay the licence via the electric bills... However I'm pretty sure it's similar to the UK whereby you need a set-top box or you can watch via the internet. I'm sure an aerial and box will give you Italian tv on your uk digital set...

philat98

This shape of UHF antenna is favoured where we live.
https://www.amazon.it/SH45-TU-ANTENN...84&sr=1-12#Ask
The cable plugs straight into your TV without a set top box but you might need an amplifier in your area.

modicasa

Italian tvis now only broadcast in digital. Therefore you will need a digital tv - or a set top box as a decoder. You will also need a digital aerial.
If you have a tv set, of any description you should pay the canone rai of 90 euros pa. If you watch tv on your tablet, pc or phone there is no requirement to pay the canone.

Plan B

Hi, can I ask how you managed to get UK TV, and which channels?

modicasa

I think she means a uk digital tv set. The only way to watch UK programming is via the internet.

Efes123

There is a way using Satellite, but it's expensive and you generally need a very large dish

There's a company that can supply you with a UK Sky card for about 200EUR a year. Then you have to pay for a sky subscription, so the costs start to mount up.

Geordieborn

I have to admit I read this differently and thought the OP was saying they currently watch no TV here, but were thinking of using an old digital UK TV to get Italian TV? I've not checked this out, but suspect satellite is not really an option these days as they changed the footprint of UK satellite a while back making it much harder to pick up? A large number of people in the UK that we know watch most of their TV in the UK via the internet or on catch-up. Again I've not looked into this, but Italy has not stood still in this area and may well have options to watch TV via the internet. Obviously you need good internet, but if you have then you need little other than your UK tv set to watch it.

ononno

A Subscription to filmon 5 eurines a month, a google chromecast dongle in the tv set, and bob's your uncle. You can watch all bbc and itv channels live, or record them to watch later at your leisure.
ciao for now,
'o nonno

Efes123

You'll also need a VPN service as the UK terrestrial channels are only available in the UK. The VPN tricks the website (ITV, BBC, etc.) into thinking you're based in the UK The BBC are continually changing the tech to try and stop people doing this.

arjacey

We're still working out the best way to do this. Our internet speeds are poor so streaming is not always possible but FilmOn is watchable most of the time. You only need a subscription if you are recording programs, not to watch live TV. As previously mentioned, BBC iPlayer needs to think you are in the U.K. So a VPN is needed. We use VPN Express (Apple App although I think it's available for other platforms) which has proved reliable but does need a purchase of quota. I have always thought that I should be able to watch UK channels that I have a licence for wherever I am in the world anyway. Make sure you answer the 'Do you have a licence?' question honestly. Because of our internet performance we normally download and watch later. We use AppleTV but chromecast will do the job.

Geordieborn

Yes you will likely need a VPN to watch UK TV here in Italy, but not Italian TV

Think I've mentioned before we don't watch tv here in Italy (don't have one), but do listen to UK radio via the web and I did get hacked off when that "due to rights restrictions..." lady came on when they were covering some live event, so installed a vpn which I think was around £40 for 2 years. Not too sure what the situation is with Filmon (regards vpn), but know that lots of Brits here in Italy use it for tv access. Once or twice I've used the vpn to access a live uk sports event and it worked very well on what I consider an average to poor connection speed (6.5Mbps just now tested). Look at a Kodi device or Chromecast if your tv is not "smart" , but has an HDMI plug i.e. not mega old for internet tv.

arjacey

No VPN required for FilmOn (not sure why). Our TIM ADSL running at 1.1mbps this afternoon 😔.

Geordieborn

Interesting on the speed front, just out of curiosity I just ran another and got 7.7 Mbps using Speedtest here to test we are using WIND with a Huawei E5377 dongle. When we arrived, using a WIND much slower dongle we were lucky to get 1Mbps... a few years back.

arjacey

We seem to get 4G (about 20Mbps, that'll do it) most of the time here so are considering getting a 4G router offered by TIM. Main issue is that use is not unlimited but compared to what we would pay for a radio-based link, this may not be a problem. Also, we are not sure we are in line of sight of any aerials. Young chap came round in the fog, waved a grey box around randomly and couldn't find a signal. However, I do know he was pointing it West to find a potential signal coming from the South. How many Gbs do you use a month? What do you pay? TIA