nogard

If one has the funds and one does. Is not the answer; to buy a large motorised dish? No laptop, no broadband required? Plus unlimited channels.

Jonny22

I've been using a Samsung smart TV for over 2 years without a problem. BBC iPlayer, ITV catch-up apps inbuilt makes it worthwhile.

macliam

For British channels, how so? The "standard" UK satellite shadow is now more tightly focused and no longer covers southern Portugal....... So, you can pick up many, many other channels, but not the ones that most expats want.

???? - Back down the snake to comment 2 of this thread. To access those services you need to spoof a UK-based IP-address, usually by using a VPN otherwise you are blocked by the geographic requirement.

The Firestick has catch-up apps like iPlayer as standard, subject to the same requirement, as do other android boxes - but they also have other applications and the ability to add more.

Jonny22

Indeed, but a VPN slows everything down. A dummy DNS suffices without any speed drop.

nogard

'For British channels, how so?' I do not know; i was asking a question.

AllanB

My UK4G TV - Watch UK TV seems to work well (in Thailand), it lags a bit, but that doesn't matter.

macliam

OK, so I hope I provided the answer - It's not the size of dish or it's direction or angle, it's the fact that the satellite beam for UK channels no longer covers much of Portugal.

There are many other satellites available but they don't carry UK content, or in the case of the BBC backup provided by Arqiva, they are limited in content, not "official" and may move as the main channels did.

macliam

Agreed, but you're still paying for the DNS (and not all work or are safe). There are free VPNs (which do slow things down but are still usable) but I don't know of a safe, free DNS service.

Unless, of course, you know different

zoff

I read that the Opera web browser offers a free VPN service. At the time, April 2016, this option was only available in the developer version of the browser.

Upgrade Your Browser | Beta Releases for Free | Opera

macliam

"free" VPNs are available, but for UK viewing you need one with UK presence. Not sure Opera would offer that. I could be wrong though......

Jonny22

Free DNS may exist but I'm not aware of any. If they were free I probably wouldn't trust them anyway. Still, a paid for DNS costs me less than a cheap bottle of wine a month so I just do without one to finance it

MikeJ

There are a raft of free DNS service - including Google. Google them.
Not sure why you don't trust NFP services?

Jonny22

No real reason Mike, only prejudice and paranoia...But I like the easy app mine has and if there's an issue I feel more 'entitled' to complain. For the cost I can't really be bothered nickel and diming.

deecee

just got back from UK where I purchased the Amazon fire stick, fully loaded, £60 including Kodi. Sat down read the instructions, plugged it in, put in my wi-fi code and was watching BBC etc within half an hour. Sports channels are there (tried to watch ManU match, start stop,start stop) but my WI-Fi speed not good enough, its through Vodafone, 25.99 per month.
My opinion for what its worth, its great for Films, box sets etc, but to be honest Netflix is easier to use for main UK channels, Filmon gets you a great range of films, TV series etc, and I bought the firestick hoping to get all the sports channels, however it looks like I will have to wait until Vodafone improve the download speed or find another similar priced supplier.