Have we got it all?

[lynda]

We are staying in our house in Villelongue del Monts until November and have all of our family visiting over the summer . The grandchildren especially want to watch English TV .
We have two I pads , an Apple TV box, a Dell computer and an Android Midnight smart TV streaming box , a TP link wifi range extender and HDMI leads for the two TVS . We have also subscribed to VPN fire -all we need to do now is know how to put it all together -have we got it all for this to happen ?
I have been reading the forum and getting the ideas !! Lynda

[Allan]

We are staying in our house in Villelongue del Monts until November and have all of our family visiting over the summer . The grandchildren especially want to watch English TV .
We have two I pads , an Apple TV box, a Dell computer and an Android Midnight smart TV streaming box , a TP link wifi range extender and HDMI leads for the two TVS . We have also subscribed to VPN fire -all we need to do now is know how to put it all together -have we got it all for this to happen ?
I have been reading the forum and getting the ideas !! Lynda

There are a few question marks over VPN Fire. They appear to charge by the volume of data that you download. If you watch a lot of TV you could run up a substantial bill.

The other question mark is that they talk about 50 servers in the US but say nothing about the UK.

I would have thought you would be better with a SmartDNS service, cheaper, easier to set up and probably faster.

The equipment that you have is more than adequate and you can watch live TV using Filmon without a VPN or SmartDNS but if you want to use any of the catch-up services then I would rethink your VPN.

[martyn94]

This looks a bit like overkill. Don't try to use all of them at once unless you want to dedicate your life to it. You can perm them any number of ways, but I would start with one ipad loaded with the filmon app and the Apple TV connected to one tv, plus the range extender if you turn out to need it. No VPN or smart DNS is needed, as Allan says, unless you find filmon unsatisfactory. If you want a second tv working at the same time, you could use the computer (if it has an hdmi outlet). I am sure the android box is fine, but they involve a learning curve (plus maintenance idc) which you might as well avoid unless you enjoy playing with this stuff.

One minor point, which may be too late for you: if you want to use eg the BBC iplayer app and smart DNS (usually better as well as cheaper than VPN, as Allan says) install/update it before you leave the UK.

[Allan]

This looks a bit like overkill. Don't try to use all of them at once unless you want to dedicate your life to it. You can perm them any number of ways, but I would start with one ipad loaded with the filmon app and the Apple TV connected to one tv, plus the range extender if you turn out to need it. No VPN or smart DNS is needed, as Allan says, unless you find filmon unsatisfactory. If you want a second tv working at the same time, you could use the computer (if it has an hdmi outlet). I am sure the android box is fine, but they involve a learning curve (plus maintenance idc) which you might as well avoid unless you enjoy playing with this stuff.

One minor point, which may be too late for you: if you want to use eg the BBC iplayer app and smart DNS (usually better as well as cheaper than VPN, as Allan says) install/update it before you leave the UK.

Not sure I agree with you Martyn. The Midnight TV box is no more complex to install Apps on than an iPad or a mobile phone, indeed most of the time it thinks it IS a mobile phone.

I don't understand why you recommend installing things in the UK. By their very nature, smartDNS services expect you to be away from your home country and as long as you have an account with the UK App store then downloading apps works fine in France.

Lynda - if you PM me with an email address I'll send you a guide that I wrote for a friend with similar equipment.

[martyn94]

This looks a bit like overkill. Don't try to use all of them at once unless you want to dedicate your life to it. You can perm them any number of ways, but I would start with one ipad loaded with the filmon app and the Apple TV connected to one tv, plus the range extender if you turn out to need it. No VPN or smart DNS is needed, as Allan says, unless you find filmon unsatisfactory. If you want a second tv working at the same time, you could use the computer (if it has an hdmi outlet). I am sure the android box is fine, but they involve a learning curve (plus maintenance idc) which you might as well avoid unless you enjoy playing with this stuff.

One minor point, which may be too late for you: if you want to use eg the BBC iplayer app and smart DNS (usually better as well as cheaper than VPN, as Allan says) install/update it before you leave the UK.

Not sure I agree with you Martyn. The Midnight TV box is no more complex to install Apps on than an iPad or a mobile phone, indeed most of the time it thinks it IS a mobile phone.

I don't understand why you recommend installing things in the UK. By their very nature, smartDNS services expect you to be away from your home country and as long as you have an account with the UK App store then downloading apps works fine in France.

Lynda - if you PM me with an email address I'll send you a guide that I wrote for a friend with similar equipment.

My thought was mostly that since lynda already has an ipad, she already knows how to use it , and likewise she knows how to use her computer.

My experience is that the UK version of BBC iplayer will not install from a non-UK IP address, even using an account on the UK app store. But that may just be a quirk with me.

[lynda]

Many thanks for all of this advice as it will come to fruition when we reach our house later tomorrow evening -now in a hotel on Massiac ! Lynda

[lynda]

This looks a bit like overkill. Don't try to use all of them at once unless you want to dedicate your life to it. You can perm them any number of ways, but I would start with one ipad loaded with the filmon app and the Apple TV connected to one tv, plus the range extender if you turn out to need it. No VPN or smart DNS is needed, as Allan says, unless you find filmon unsatisfactory. If you want a second tv working at the same time, you could use the computer (if it has an hdmi outlet). I am sure the android box is fine, but they involve a learning curve (plus maintenance idc) which you might as well avoid unless you enjoy playing with this stuff.

One minor point, which may be too late for you: if you want to use eg the BBC iplayer app and smart DNS (usually better as well as cheaper than VPN, as Allan says) install/update it before you leave the UK.

Not sure I agree with you Martyn. The Midnight TV box is no more complex to install Apps on than an iPad or a mobile phone, indeed most of the time it thinks it IS a mobile phone.

I don't understand why you recommend installing things in the UK. By their very nature, smartDNS services expect you to be away from your home country and as long as you have an account with the UK App store then downloading apps works fine in France.

Lynda - if you PM me with an email address I'll send you a guide that I wrote for a friend with similar equipment.

[martyn94]

This looks a bit like overkill. Don't try to use all of them at once unless you want to dedicate your life to it. You can perm them any number of ways, but I would start with one ipad loaded with the filmon app and the Apple TV connected to one tv, plus the range extender if you turn out to need it. No VPN or smart DNS is needed, as Allan says, unless you find filmon unsatisfactory. If you want a second tv working at the same time, you could use the computer (if it has an hdmi outlet). I am sure the android box is fine, but they involve a learning curve (plus maintenance idc) which you might as well avoid unless you enjoy playing with this stuff.

One minor point, which may be too late for you: if you want to use eg the BBC iplayer app and smart DNS (usually better as well as cheaper than VPN, as Allan says) install/update it before you leave the UK.

??? Is there some text missing here?
Not sure I agree with you Martyn. The Midnight TV box is no more complex to install Apps on than an iPad or a mobile phone, indeed most of the time it thinks it IS a mobile phone.

I don't understand why you recommend installing things in the UK. By their very nature, smartDNS services expect you to be away from your home country and as long as you have an account with the UK App store then downloading apps works fine in France.

Lynda - if you PM me with an email address I'll send you a guide that I wrote for a friend with similar equipment.