duffer

Just thought I'd update everyone on my current setup in case it offers some help to others in need of watching UK TV.

As you know being able to watch UK TV is a great comfort to many although a few may look at it as if you do not want to embrace the Italian culture blah blah blah. This is not a discussion on that aspect of it. Just a thread telling you what I have done to avoid Italian TV -

My equipment -

Panasonic 2012 plasma smart TV purchased in IT
Sky + HD from UK, purchased on Ebay
UK Sky TV subscription registered to my UK address
WD TV Live media player purchased from Amazon UK factory store
VPN service from StrongVPN
Asus RT-N66 router with Sabai technology dual gateway
iPad
iPhones
Android smartphone
Xbox 360

My Sky box purchased off Ebay UK, dish pointed at 28.2E degrees, Sky subscription registered at my UK home address. Sky card brought over and paired with the Sky box and Bob's your uncle. All done thru Skype. Note that if your UK address is already serviced by Sky then it's going to be difficult. My UK home address has Virgin cable so no need for Sky there.

So I've had my UK Sky working perfectly for about 5 years now during which time I've upgraded the LNB from a single Strong LNB to an Invacom Quad and the dish from a 90cm to a 125cm metal one. Each upgrade providing excellent gains in reception. This coming summer however, there will be a change in satellites broadcasting the UK TV channels so perhaps I will need a larger dish for the terrestrial channels or face losing them from the cluster of Sky channels. By terrestrial I mean BBC1-4, ITV1-4, C4, C5 and their various guises. It is assumed that the Sky subscription channels will still be available on the current dish size. For many, simply tweaking the dish, upgrading to proper thick insulated cables and a new LNB will give that extra bit of signal however for me it will be down to dish size, something I don't think I can increase. So I have gradually increased my options to view UK TV via the internet.

It may not occur to many but your internet (ADSL connection) provider is very important. I'm not saying which one is best but I can guess that demand in our area is/has outstripped supply and rather than invest in better infrastructure, Telecom is reducing our bandwidth to make available to new users. Only this can explain why until 3 years ago I could reach almost 6MB in download and 2 years ago it was maxed out at around 1MB. Simpy changing from Telecom to Fastweb (using exactly the same copper line) I increased my download speed by 70%. However 70% meant my speed was only bumped up to 1.7MB. This is not sufficient if you want decent streaming of TV programs and movies unless you don't mind watching for 2 mins and then waiting for it to buffer for 5 mins. So I recently changed again but this time to a local provider with only 5000 or so customers, again using the same copper line I have now got 7MB in download speed although it drops to around 6MB during peak hours. This is still fantastic.

This speed is important because I have now coupled it with a VPN service. I was using Hide My Ass which provide you with countless IPs from almost any country. I prefer a VPN rather than a proxy service because it gives you more security and privacy. However, I noticed that the downside is taking a hit on the download speed. From 7MB on a normal connection to 3-4MB on the VPN connection. So now I have changed VPN from HMA to Strong and I am getting 6MB in download via a UK VPN on Strong. This is great. It's only a PPTP connection rather than OpenVPN which is even more secure but I can live with that.

What can I do with the stuff I got? I have now hooked up my TV, Sky +HD box and WDTV Live media player to the Asus router. I've set up the router with my Strong VPN details. As this router has a dual gateway from Sabai, I can specify which devices should use the standard Italian gateway or which should use the VPN gateway with UK IP address very easily. All iPads and iPhones can connect as normal. Nothing needs to be done on these. Same for anything else for which you cannot specify VPN settings such as games consoles, blu ray players. They connect via wired or wireless. You open the internet homepage for the router and click next to each device which gateway it should use: default, standard or VPN.

Now I was hoping to have BBC iplayer, 4oD, etc on the smart TV. I have so far failed on this because either I have failed to find specific UK firmware for this TV or because the firmware detects the model number and sees its a European model (has the E suffix on the model number instead of B suffix) and therefore doesnt make iPlayer available. But the local weather info is for London so I know the VPN is working fine.

However, my media player is working fine. I have tested iPlayer and Netflix UK and they work great! This is because I bought it with specific UK firmware from Amazon UK. Therefore, if you don't have a smart TV I am almost 100% sure a smart dvd or bluray player from the UK will work for iPlayer, etc. as would a Smart TV from the UK which already has these apps installed. It's great watching it on the big screen.

Anyway, the media player will be moving to the bedroom. One of the advantages of the Asus router is it's range - I have full signal in the bedroom whereas with an Apple Timecapsule I was dropping the connection or unable to connect - impossible for streaming.

Regarding the iPad, with the VPN I have no problems, either security or speed, to watch iPlayer, Filmon and any other catchup service. I have also tested the Sky Go app and it works great. Remember, with every Sky subscription you can register 2 mobile devices for Sky Go (obviously with a UK ip address) so you may have friends and relatives in the UK who do not use their allowance - you could watch Sky on your iPad for free (well just the cost of the VPN - I paid 42 Euro for 12 months).

One app that I didn't get to work is TVCatchup - it gives me the message that my location is OK for this service and for me to accept the T&C however when I try to view it gives me a failed to open stream message. However, it works fine on the iPad Safari browser. With Hide My Ass the app detected straight away I was using a VPN or proxy and wouldn't allow me to go any further.

I have yet to test the Xbox but I presume any UK service will be available. All the catch up and movie services are available on Xbox Live so in lieu of a smart tv or player, you could use a UK bought Xbox or a UK Xbox Live account on an Italian Xbox (I haven't tried this yet because my TV doesn't have a VGA input and the Xbox doesn't have wireless so I'm yet to connect).

The Sky Go app is now also available on Android and is working great.

I would be more than happy to go over what I did in more detail so feel free to ask me any questions.

Ciao for now

Capo Boi

Duffer, what a post respect.

This is my set up.

Telecom Italia internet. Landline. (Alice). A pretty constant 4 - 6 MB download speed. Has been for a number of years. (Southern Sardinia). Maybe quite fortunate.
VPN; MyExpat and HideMyAss. MyExpat tends to perform slightly better but with more disconnects. Download speed typically reduced by 1-2 MBs. HMA fewer disconnects but download losses can vary from 250k to 4MBs.
Sony Bravia LCD tv. OK but nothing special. At some stage will buy Samsung smart. However, this is my key. Connected through HD cable link to IPad mini. Watch via VPN, live tv through FilmOn, BBC Iplayer or ITV player. (4OD app is not projectible).
Italia Sky, MySky box. Subscription. I'm a big sports fan and can speak the lingo. Expensive at over €60 per month for the sports package.
Other bits and bobs, but I guess for me it all comes down to the Internet speed. Incidentally, I saw a couple of months ago that TI were targeting 14 Italian cities with a €60 per month 2OMB service.
And, tv catch up.....sometimes the app works but generally, no.

ononno

Wow! I take my hat off to you chaps. As a technophobe silver surfer I make do with the box.bz and copying onto a USB dongle which plugs into my Samsung TV; or Expat shield on to my little netbook. That gives me about as much UK TV as I need or can cope with. I might become really daring and try hitching the netbook to the TV via a HDMI cable, but may be out of range of my wireless router if I do that.
Keep up the good work of the info stream. Thanks.
'o nonno

duffer

No sir! Hats off to the both of yous!

When I decided to change from Telecom Alice, Fastweb had offered me up to 20MB, well... I suppose 1.7MB is within that isn't it... for 25 Euro per month but they wouldn't be able to confirm the actual speed until I signed up and they were able to do the tests. To say I was disappointed is an understatement however I did have my doubts. In 3 major cities FW have a 100MB fibreoptic network, costing around 40-50 Euro per month I think.

The internet connection will become more and more important over the coming few years as you can tell by the new range of TVs for 2013 with more and more apps available. The 2013 version of my plasma is the same PQ wise but boasts more apps and a better interface along with gesture commands, etc.

It's a good idea to hook up the iPad to the TV, or even a media server which you can just push content wirelessly. I haven't tried with my iPad as I'm still waiting to sort out a media server and don't have the HDMI lead. What is the quality like Capo Boi using the iPad on the TV?

The Samsung 8000 is a fantastic TV! Connect it to a VPN router and you could watch all the catch up TV as you'd like.

BTW Sky Go app on Android stopped working after an update. Bummer because with all this snow causing interference with the satellite dish I need these apps to work more than ever for the sports!

Ononno, depending on your router, if it has an aerial that you can screw off, you could replace it with a more powerful omni-directional aerial, giving you more range around the house. They cost around 10 - 15 Euro.

Capo Boi

Duffer, iPad picture on TV is really good. Its an HD picture. You have to buy the Apple Tv cable link. €29 I think and then connect with HD cable. (I think the mini link is more expensive). BBC Iplayer etc only work with HD cable. With normal cable you only receive sound and no picture. I don't have wireless tv so can't comment on connecting by wireless.

duffer

€29 for a cable??!!
I was going to write to Panasonic and ask them about the UK firmware for my Italian TV because I want an All-in-One solution with all the catch up TV on my big screen when the answer just slapped me in the face: Sky OnDemand! Seeming as I exclusively watch Sky, it has the iPlayer integrated and 4oD is coming soon. It works OK, takes a few minutes to download, not as good as the Virgin service in the UK because that's fibre-optic but means at least that I can watch the BBC via the VPN connected Sky box.

JD1963

This is very interesting, thanks for taking the time to share this with us. As i'm not up on all the latest gadgets so I think i'll save this on my computer and use it for future guidance when i'm trying to sort out UK channels on my TV.

chrismcdonnell

Echoing the others above, great post duffer, thanks a lot for taking the time to post it.

Nothing can get between a Englishman and Coronation Street!

ononno

Ah, but the box and expat shield are free! and seamless with it.
ciuao for now,
'o nonnoi

duffer

There are many of these so-called UK TV services and they appear to be 'dodgy' because there have been many that take your subscription and then just stop and you would have no recall because these are illegal services. Plus $20 per month is not cheap at all, considering a fully legit VPN would cost between $50 to $60 per year. These UK apps which we are discussing like TVcatchup, 4onD, etc. are all legit and are free because they get their revenue from advertising. There is also nothing illegal about using a VPN.

duffer

Thanks for sharing, I'm not saying Vietexpat is dodgy but just wanted to point out that there have been several similar companies offering such services, exploiting legal loopholes or just plainly broadcasting illegally. Therefore don't risk more than 1 months' subscription at a time.

Also, your response appears to indicates that you are a spammer and/or affiliated to Vietexpat, correct?

Saxy

Hi all, from Sunny Spain,

'FilmOn HD' gives just about all most of you need, including record to your hard drive!
Download the 'Filmon SD' version (which is free, but quality not as good), and checkout what is available.
Connect your computer to your tv, using an HDMI cable, or if it's an old computer, use a VGA cable.

John

Saxy

Just about all major U.K. progs. except SKY. Download the SD version now and see (it takes a few seconds). It really is as simple as that.
I've been using FilmOn for about 4 years with no problems.

John

Saxy

Just type FilmOn into your search engine, Google, Firefox, Internet explorer etc.
and it will take you there. You can be watching UK tv tonight!

John

chris120

i've been thinking about paying for HD FilmOn combined with a Samsung smart TV through my wifi, is the HD picture quality sufficient for a 46" screen?