Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

Have to agree that the TV here is crap and paying approx $80/month for MySKY, it's not really money well spent.

So today I returned the SKY box and we are now using Freeview, with a recorder so we get to watch Masterchef!

What I have also sorted out, because we have a AppleTV, is a Netflix account. Which gives us access to tons of content from the US, including films, TV series (including BBC ones) and heaps of stuff for the kids. We can also access the US amazon site for video on demand. Our Interent connection is fast enough to stream HD programs without stuttering.

So win win all round. We get to watch what we want when we want, no ad's and at a cost of $7.99/month (USD).

If you are wondering how I set up a US Netflix account, I used this service, which I understand will also allow a UK Netflix setup if you prefer.

http://unblock-us.com/

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

Sounds promising, I'd be interested to see how much of your monthly internet allowance this eats up. Please could you let me know how it's going in a month or two?
My next project is to get BBC iplayer working reliably with a proxy server - can't wait for the next series of The thick of it.

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

Hi Mark, it cost me a extra $10/month to jump from 40GB to 160GB from telecom. On top of Netflix, we used Spotify for music streaming. I'll let everyone know what our usage is and any issues at the end of the month.

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

With Quickflix (like a crap Netflix) you get free data usage through Orcon. It's $16 a month and it's possible to watch on your TV. Hopefully the new TV service 'Igloo' launches this month which is $25 a month and you get BBC Knowledge, UKTV and a fair few more.

I'll still be downloading most of the stuff we watch though, I've got 200GB a month to go at now so I'll be downloading everything and anything.

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

Cheers for this. I'll be interested to know how it goes on.
We've been thinking of ditching sky also but also need to upgrade our TV etc.

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

Interesting thread.

Im still UK side and have a UK Freesat decoder. If I bring that over with me, does anybody know if it will pick up the kiwi Freesat stuff?

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

I used the internet for TV for the first time recently, (as we didn't get the sky sorted out quick enough). Whilst impressed with the quality on a 40 minute programme it did stutter a few times which is BLOODY annoying, but it's not yet put me off and I'd be interested in your outcome. Keep us posted please

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

No it won't, the polarity of the satellite signal differs from the European satellites.

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

So, how is this going?? I'm looking to ditch Sky and now have the bandwidth to play with.....

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

I have just cancelled Sky Sports now the Olympics is over. Not bothered with ITM cup.
Moved from VF Ultimate package to Naked broadband and with my on account mobile phone I get a little bit more discount.
Vodafone will pay for the sky box rental so all good there.

After time you realise what you do and don't need.

Worried about moving from VF for the broadband, I do get some good speeds here.

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

So far so good! We watch anything between 1-4 hrs worth of content a day.

There a couple of technical issues to get to grips with.

The Unblock-us.com site requires the IP address of your PC/Laptop to be able to route the location information. If I then use my laptop on a different wireless network (like when I take it out of the house) I have to "reactivate" it when I get back to use the Netflix content, otherwise it won't work. Takes 5secs, so no biggie, but took a while to work out what the problem was.

We get the occasional "Netflix is unavilable" message, but I just retry and it works fine.

Netflix has great content for the kids and we can control what they watch and when they watch it. For us we get ad free TV series, many of which have had no NZ air time (as far as I aware).

It does have a large selection of movies, but we have found that we have not watched as much as we could have, but it's nice to have the choice.

Have found browsing the Netflix website and adding content to our "queue" was much quicker than using the search function via the Apple TV.

Not checked our broadband usage yet, but been delighted that the speed has been good enough to sustain a good constant HD stream to two Apple TV's and the usual websurfing. Surprised as we live in a semi rural area.

Interestingly Sky has been very proactive in trying to get me back, as I have until the end of the month to return the SKY Box. They have offered me either half price for six months or two free premium channels on top of what I have. I have had two phone calls from them trying to get me back. So if anyone is with SKY, threaten them with cancelling and see what they have to offer.

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

Asked husband about this:

Got rid of Sky, switched to Orcon from Telstra with 200gb and saved $130 a month.

Got an Apple TV, using unblock-us is about $10 a month

Netflix and Hulu Plus cost about $30 a month, charged through a US itunes store account

We buy the odd itunes gift voucher online for the US store - about $40 a month, and use those to rent movies and buy season passes

Our data is about 170 gb a month

So we save a bit, not a huge amount, but prefer the selection to sky, and theres a lot of stuff over iTunes, netflix and hulu to watch

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

Just a qucik update. Our Broadband usage for the month of Sept was 59GB, with a limit of 160GB, we are well in our cap.

Everything is running well otherwise.

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

Thanks for the info, I hate giving money to Sky and we've been searching for an alternative for a while now.

Just one question:
*Techno-phobe alert* Just putting that out there first :o

So do you access BBC streamed programmes via Apple TV (with the unlock-us software) or is that via Freeview?

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

Hiya. I do not have access to the BBC per se. But I do access a streaming service called Netflix via the Apple TV, which carries some BBC content (Sherlock, Dr Who, Luther etc). Netflix is a US based service and its content heavily reflects that.

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

I use an IP blocker, currently Expat Shield, to access BBC and ITV content, on the net. I will be subscribing to Unblock-US as soon as Sky stops at the end of the month, then I can access US TV as wells as UK TV....

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

Everything is going good. Nice to have a good choice of content. Been able to access Amazon on demand and Hulu.

Unblockus allows you to switch Netflix locations from US to the UK and Sweden, with local content for each location. Great as the OH is from Sweden!

Strange that we only need the one Netflix account, but it works across the board.

Don't miss Sky at all. Free view works, but rarely watch it.

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

We have Tivo - fab. Pretty sure prime is getting better too. Find friends with sky for the rugby though ;)

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

If you want a site to stream sports (any) pm me and i'll tell you some sites. Obviously not over the open forum. You do have to close a lot of adverts which can be a bit of a pain but no major dramas. When Ireland play NZ here, I was watching the UK SKY sports on a match being played in Auckland. I have watched cricket, rugby and football over this. As you are streaming you will need a decent speed and a reasonable amount of data (depending on how much you watch) Probably should have brought tickets but at the time I was keeping a eye on finances

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

Here is another suggestion

http://www.filmon.com/

Create a free account and hey presto, British freeview live 24/7

no proxies required, you can even get it on android

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

Does FilmOn offer UK television for free in New Zealand? I use this service in Germany and it's great, especially if you Airplay from an iDevice as the video quality is for some reason much better than on a PC or Mac.

But I was under the impression, UK Television is only offered free within Europe (or the EU). Outside of this region, I though FilmOn charged for the live UK television channels.

In any case, I find it an excellent service. The video quality is quite poor on a computer, but on my iPad it is very sharp and even when Airplayed it is pretty good.

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

Hi ovbg and welcome to the forum. Your first post had been moderated as it contained a url link.

Perhaps have a look in the Germany forum and say hello.

Enjoy B.E.

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

Thank you Mr Holmes.

So, I'm still interested to know if FilmOn has UK TV on their free service in NZ. The last time I VPN'd into NZ, I noticed my FilmOn app stopped showing the UK channels. I was wondering if that was standard in NZ.

Anyway, yesterday the BBC iPad app was updated (that is, the real one, not the global one), and this came with a couple of really nice features some people in NZ may be interested in. For a start, the video quality is now much better and pretty much SD in quality. Secondly, it now offers full Airplay to an ATV, rather than the previous "mirroring hack" of before.

This is for both their on-demand and live streams!

The quality when Airplayed to my 40" TV is very good. Of course, you will need either a VPN or SmartDNS to access this from the UK. I personally use SmartDNS only when accessing TVNZ shows because the bandwidth is so much higher for these longer distances, but many VPN's may also work.

Anyway, it's pretty easy now to be able to watch the BBC even in NZ. It's really amazing how TV has changed so much!

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

For all those that might want to know, if you have set your unblock-us account to the UK then you can stream TV on the BBC iplayer site, whilst this is on (I've tried this twice with success both times) Or do like I do and download it to watch without judders in HD :-)

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

Anyone know how to get the Iplayer app for Ipad/Iphone, without having a UK Itunes account?

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

You will need a UK iTunes account, but this is pretty easy and painless.
* On a computer (rather than a mobile device) go to iTunes and create a new account. Make it a UK account.
* You will need a separate email address to the one you normally use with iTunes - this is how you switch between national accounts. If you don't have a 2nd email address, just create a quick free one from any of the free web based services out there. If you keep the password the same as your existing email address, it makes it easy to switch between them.
* The key here is when this is done on a computer's iTunes, you get the option to not use a credit card. Choose this method as the credit cards may have to be issued in the country you are setting up. Besides, the BBC iPlayer is free.

And it's done.

Now, you can log into the UK account, and download any free app, song, tv show or whatever. Of course, generally you will only be able to download free apps. But in the UK app store, the free BBC iPlayer app is the official one rather than the Global one.

Now, if you have an ATV, you should be able to Airplay this across to your television. Since last week, the BBC iPlayer app has been updated with a couple of really cool things, including much better quality video and airplay without mirroring. The quality is SD, but good enough in my opinion to look fantastic.

Oh, and the live feeds work great from the BBC as well! It all Airplay's so good.

You will need some unblocking service. I use Overplay and love it. That costs only US$5 a month for their SmartDNS service (you won't need the full VPN), and this will give you access to so much international TV, it's one of the best US$5 to spend in a month.

You should be able to also download the other UK apps now that you have an iTunes UK account such as 4oD, ITV and Demand5, as well as Ireland's RTE (their version of BBC) and TV3 works as well (no relation to NZ's TV3). RTE, TV3 (IE) and ITV all Airplay quite well, Demand5 only with Black borders, but 4oD blocks Airplay.

I also recommend the SmartDNS as it is far easier to set up, doesn't slow down normal traffic (as you don't tunnel into the UK), and allows far faster bandwidth from the UK meaning you may not have any buffering issues. BBC's SD stream is about the same as TVNZ's highest quality, and using the SmartDNS in Germany, I never have buffering issues going your way.

You can leave the SmartDNS on at all times, so your normal internet won't be affected, you can still watch NZ on-demand TV but you will be opened up to so many other sites.

The BBC also offer full HD on PC's or Smart TV's which may (or may not) work in your country. But if you already own a Smart TV it maybe worth trying out. I have full HD BBC iPlayer here in Germany direct on my Samsung TV which is normally blocked - but it is worth checking if NZ models work before buying! Anyone who is interested, I have some videos I put up to show what is possible and how to change country stores in Samsung Smart TV's, plus examples of BBC playing when abroad.

I'll post the link if anyone is interested, but only if people ask, as I don't want to come across as a spammer being so new here.

I used to have a Satellite here in Germany which could pick up UK TV, but when we moved to a new place, that was impossible, I was so disappointed that I could no longer get English language Television, I went all out to find out how to do it in a comfortable "sofa friendly" way, that now I can get not only UK TV, but television from all around the world. I never thought a year ago, I could even be watching New Zealand Television here in Germany - wow, NZ has changed since I left ;)

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

Hi ovbg, are you still getting BBC iPlayer fine using Overplay? I have replicated your suggested setup with UK itunes account to download iPlayer app and have used Overplay SmartDNS, and got ITV fine but BBC playing hard to get. Before trying some different options I wondered if BBC have tightened up their screening....?

Anyone having problems with bbc?

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

Hmmmm..... Just looked up the igloo website. Looks good. Anyone using it?

Edited to add: I notice that they have a partnership with some broadband providers so you don't have to worry about your data cap. Details here: http://www.igloo.co.nz/igloo/whatis/isp.html

I'm with slingshot so I'm going to seriously consider this. I think Sky is a real rip off.

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

Just tested it southerner and everything is fine here, on all devices I have and both live & catch-up.

It's interesting that you are having problems as usually it's the other way around. In most cases it is the BBC which is the least problematic.

Anyway, can you tell me exactly what the problem is? Do you still get a geo-block message from the BBC? (Or are you directed back to the Overplay site just for the BBC?). Is it working but having bandwidth problems, i.e. you are not getting an error message, but a spinning wheel that won't stop?

Are you trying this on a PC or another device?

Here are some things you can try:
1) Try clearing the cache on your web browser. Sometimes that causes the problems. If it still doesn't work, try a new browser that you have never used for the BBC yet (just as a test), so if you use FireFox, try IE or Safari etc. Often the problem with web browsers is that once the service begins, they still automatically resort back to their saved cache rather than streaming everything again.

2) Try this test from Overplay, if it works, you should get a green tick:
http://www.overplay.net/smartdnstest.php

3) Are you on a dynamic IP address? By this, I mean does your ISP change your external IP address every day? (If they do, it may be invisible to you unless you have situations like this Smart DNS - in which you will have to go back to Overplay and reassign the new IP address with their service)

Let me know what the details are, and don't give up. The BBC is usually the easiest one to get going, and you should get it working.

Regarding the previous discussions on live TV, I'm writing an article for my new blog exactly on how to get live TV for the UK with comparisons and descriptions. It's still a few weeks away from publication, but it may have something of interest for people here. The blog discusses everything about watching global Internet TV: www.eyeondemand.com so is topical for this discussion and has direct/easy instructions on how to set some things up.

(update:) odd... I was just on the Overplay site and for the first time ever, I saw at the IP address assignment page that it told me my SmartDNS was not "on"... this is odd because it is on, and working. Maybe they have a technical problem there. I'll contact them and see if this is the case - who knows southerner, maybe this is the problem.

Don't give up or despair!

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

I've just been reading that this is a tie up between TVNZ and SKY. Can't see my favourite programme The History Channel either.

Re: Ditching SKY and using Freeview/Internet
 

Absolutely fantastic. Those of you who are watching UK tele via the Samsung Smart Hub, 4oD have just added themselves to the lineup.

This means the Samsung Smart hub should offer all of the UK's main catch-up services. BBC iPlayer (BBC Sport as well), ITV Player, Demand 5 and now 4oD.

Check out the review on http://www.eyeondemand.com/2013/02/05/4od-review/ for more details.

You may have to check your UK Samsung app store as it may not install automatically. And of course, not all models will support it yet, but if you do get it working, let me know as I want to create a list of working models to help people out.