JoyLo

Hi,
Like Caroline 777 I would like to be able to get UK tv and don't understand much of the jargon. I'd like to get the programmes on my iPad. I know there are a number of ways, but don't know which is the best. Any suggestions?? Thanks.

Rosemary

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Fred James

There are plenty of options such as BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, C4 On Demand and even Sky Go. All of these have dedicated Apps for the iPad. I am watching the Test Match at the moment from Sky Sports using Sky Go.

However all these are blocked if you are not in the UK. You can easily get round this by subscribing to a VPN service for about $5 a month and it is easy to set it up on the iPad.

If you spend another £99 on an Apple TV set top box you can beam most of these programs directly to your TV.

There are some other UK TV services available through your browser some of which will require a VPN but Filmon does not require one. However the quality is pretty poor unless you subscribe to their "HD" service but for some reason if you install the Filmon App the quality is as good as the subscription option.

The only one that will not work with your TV is Sky Go as it prevents the connection from the iPad to the Apple TV and even a direct connection from a laptop is not possible.

Steaming TV to an iPad works really well as the screen is small enough to hide the imperfections inherent in streaming TV when used on a larger screen.

IamStu

I also think you can down load a software called expat shield....I used it some time ago but found the constant pop up adverts quite annoying.
Besides, I really don´t need another wife! Russian, Tai or anything ... I have a Spanish one and have enough on my plate

Scribble

Try www.proxyplayer.co.uk
Very good and can be used on your pc as well as iPad.

Fred James

Expat Shield works OK on a PC and if you install Adblock Plus in your browser you don't get the ads.

However it doesn't work on the iPad.

Countryboy1

I've gone down this road and after much head scratching and advice on this forum I began to understand why it's the router that needs configuring with a VPN and NOT the PC which is what only Expat Shield does. Okay perhaps for watching the BBCi Player for example on your PC, but not on other gadgets, or a smart TV for example.

Scribble

With a smart TV, it needs to go through your router. You need DDWRT on the router, which is complicated unless you feel like messing around for a whole day.
For gadgets like Android, iPad, iPhone, you can use the VPN from ProxyPlayer or other sites - it runs inside an app.

You could also run the smart TV connection through a PC.

anonymous-cowerd

For TV, why have a pc in the way when you can have a tiny, dedicated device (like a hidden set top box)? Google "UK iplayervpn shop" and scroll down, below the paid-for ads and find the iplayervpn entry. I use their Raspberry Pi model and tunnel. It has an ARM cpu just like i-phone, i-pad, etc, but it also has its own GPU (graphics) and HDMI. Proper remote control, too. Think they are still doing free trials.

Fred James

Another alternative to a VPN, which cannot be used on say a TV or Freesat box, is to use a Smart DNS service which costs about the same as a VPN. You can usually get into the network settings on your TV and change the DNS which will have the same effect. I have tried this on my TV and Bluray player and it works fine. You can do the same on the iPad etc so it is another viable alternative.

This is the one I have tried although now I actually use a VPN on the iPad as that is the only device that I really need it on - installing Smart DNS was in the nature of an experiment.

https://www.overplay.net/blog/overplay-smartdns

Scribble

already got one, superb little things.
probably too complicated for a lot of people not techy inclined though.

amideislas

You can buy an Android TV box for as little as €59 almost anywhere. It's a tiny little box just like what you have, but loaded with Android (like a Samsung phone) so you can just get all the apps you need from the play store (everything for TV is there) - no technoid rocket science required.