4857

Hello. Has anybody got any experience with either Europa net or Smartsat TV for streaming internet TV. Not sure which one to go for.
Thanks

Michael

mikelincs

Can't help with either, but, how fast is your internet connection, in huge areas of Spain they will not be fast enough or reliable enough.

amideislas

...but all will be happy to sell it to you. It's not their fault if your internet is insufficient.

But even with the best broadband, most internet TV is of poor quality, stutters and buffers, not to mention adverts popping up on the screen frequently. When there's not much on satellite, we revert to Internet, but I'd much prefer to receive it on satellite - it just works and the quality is far better.

Surprisingly, there's quite a few worthwhile movies on YouTube - just get the YouTube app for your Android TV box. We've watched 2 this week. Quality not stunning, has popup adverts occasionally, but it's better than watching junk TV.

Netflix is supposed to be coming to Spain soon. That may be worth paying for.

Anyway, avoid a long-term contract. In fact, I'd avoid paying anything at all. Most UK TV can be received for free. Suitable HD internet TV boxes cost as little as €50.

Saxy

Hi Michael, I use Europa and find it excellent. Some people will complain about internet tv, but I have never experienced any problems with Europa. It is all down to internet speed. I have a steady 8Mb.
You might also like to look at Filmon... SD is free, HD is not, and they do have an excellent Cloud, add free, DVR recording service.

mikelincs

You do have to be careful with coverage with Europa, we used them in one place, and speed was OK, but it was only a tem rental, when we moved 500m to our permanent one, Europa was almost non existent. could only get aboy 100 kbs, and that only intermittently, was a real pain to get out of the agreement as well.

amideislas

Filmon's SD is very low quality, and their "HD" is sub-SD. In fact, it's hard to tell the difference between their SD and HD. Better off sticking with their free service.

Fred James

If you use the Filmon app on a tablet, the quality is definitely better than on a laptop. It seems to me that the stream you get via the app is the HD quality stream. Still not HD, but at least acceptable.

The best IPTV quality I have seen is on the BBC iPlayer app on my Smart TV. Better than the normal SD satellite picture and that's with a 2.8MB connection.

Saxy

As I've told you before, the you must have a problem at your end. I have an excellent picture when using their HD service. Europa is far better than Filmon SD.
Anyway, for Michael, it's a suck it and see situation. The important thing is a picture that is clear enough to allow him to enjoy program content.

amideislas

Yes, but if IIRC, you are the one with all the posh kit designed to make up for all those deficiencies. I'm not a techo-junkie. I just like things to be simple.

If I can't turn it on and it just works - and works well without requiring a specialised XYZ-1000 super-gadget and then tweaking the non-meat-semicircular hectoflectometer readings, then I'm unlikely to use it. I expect most share the same sentiments.

Saxy

Turn computer on first thing in the morning, turn tele on when required, select bookmarked prog. as required, Filmon, ITV player, BBC iplayer, Yesterday OD, 4 or 5OD, and Netflix etc. sit back and enjoy, "Simples tch"

amideislas

Yes, we have the same. And it's very much like what you said, but first I check the TVGuide app on my smartphone to see what's on, because it's much faster and easier than mucking around with clumsy Filmon.

It goes something like this:

Turn on, wait.... select Filmon... pour a drink wait for app to get it's shit together... select a programme, buffer... wait... programme shows up in a 1/3 screen window, click on full screen icon... Plays for 2 minutes before stopping with a message saying that the free HD time is up, do you want to switch to SD?... click yes... buffer... wait... SD programme shows up in roughly same blurry quality and sound... click "full screen" icon again... stops to buffer occasionally... After a long period of watching, programme may or may not stop. Restart procedure.

But there's other things, like YouTube - where you'll find a surprising selection of top films, etc.

We have the YouTube app on the TV. Same basic procedure as Fiilmon, but the quality tends to be obviously better, less waiting to start, and it doesn't stutter and buffer through the film.

A new YouTube tactic is in the middle of the film, it pauses and randomly inserts an advert - and the quality of the adverts is absolutely stunning. As though you've suddenly switched to some Mega-HD kit - just for the period of the advert, then it resumes your film where it stopped it.

But I much prefer the simplicity and reliability of satellite. "press button, select programme", instantly display programme in double or triple the quality of most internet TV in true full HD. No waiting, stuttering, buffering, etc. If I don't like the programme, switch to another instantly.

Now that's simples.

Saxy

As I said, you have buffering, and the fact that you have to wait ages, proves that the problem is at your end. My computer runs all day giving instant access to UK TV. Programable Filmon HD, records without adverts, just the job, and that's what I use it for. For live tv, Europa is very good (miles better than Filmon SD). You do however need to live in an area with decent internet speed, otherwise you will get buffering. That's why Michael should check his speed online, connect his computer to the tv using an HDMI lead and try Filmon SD to see how it performs. If OK then using his computer, Europa should also work well.

amideislas

You're probably right. Our internet can only sustain 8Mbps (per the statistics generated by Speedtest.net by Ookla - The Global Broadband Speed Test and others), so that may not be enough. But for our area, that's extremely high performance.

But it's a bit difficult to reckon how if it's a system problem "at my end", how can one programme can look like crap, whilst other content is shockingly good quality (e.g., the adverts on YouTube).

We have satellite, so the only time we use internet TV is when there's nothing interesting on Satellite. But I'll ask my internet provider if they can upgrade me to 16 or 20Mbps for not a lot of extra money. My only concern is paying for it but still getting only 8Mb.

Fred James

8mb should be more than enough. As I said earlier we get extremely good quality on BBC iPlayer with only 2.8mb. No buffering at all.

The BBC claim that you only need 3.5mb for their HD stream.

amideislas

We don't use BBC player because we have satellite -and you have to pay for a VPN thingy. We also don't use Filmon that often, just because it's a pain in the butt, and the quality is poor. But in comes in handy sometimes during a storm when the sat reception goes wonky, or to get TV from the US or something..

And a few of the things on other providers, such a youTube are excellent without any of the problems of Filmon.