Satellite reception 2016

Britabroad · Post by **Britabroad** » Thu 11 Feb 2016 19:41

I live in rural P.O. - our internet connection is very slow, so online TV channels are variable. We have had a Sky satellite and box for years, but reception of free-to-air UK channels stopped last year when the BBC/ITV programmes stopped working. I gathered that they'd tightened up on the satellite's reach.
I kept the satellite box for Sky News but now I can see BBC 1 & 2 ITV and Channel 4. Sometimes the reception quality varies - weather conditions?
Can anyone tell me if this is this situation is likely to last?

montgolfiere · Post by **montgolfiere** » Fri 12 Feb 2016 12:17

Reception is likely to start to deteriorate once more at the end of March until the Autumn when it should start to improve over the Winter once more.
This has been the Pattern for the past 2 - 3 years.

Boomshanka · Post by **Boomshanka** » Fri 12 Feb 2016 14:29

Sky changed from 1 to 3 satellites so that more digital content can be broadcast to the UK. The result being tighter beam on the UK and not us this far away. We lost ours some time ago.

There are a few options
Get a bigger dish but that can be expensive and the rules are different for 1m+ dishes - Check with the local Mairie
Get an IPTV solution, TV via the internet. Either Freeview via Filmon on your PC or a more complete service from a specialist
Just watch French TV

We sell a complete solution for UK TV in France. just look at our advert on PO Life's main site or visit our website. Many people are now switching to IPTV as we have all your favourite UK TV and more.

russell · Post by **russell** » Sun 14 Feb 2016 12:49

If your internet connection is too slow for watching streaming services directly you can download programmes from iPlayer using a VPN and watch them later.

For a wider range of programs a Filmon subscription allows you to record programmes on their servers and download to a PC for viewing later on your PC or by copying to a USB stick you can watch on a recent model TV.

Russell.

Boomshanka · Post by **Boomshanka** » Sun 14 Feb 2016 14:30

If your landline has slow broadband (most of the PO has appalling speeds via landline) have a look at www.freedom4g.com

They offer broadband via 3/4G which is so much faster but it does depend on coverage where you are based. Send them your town and postcode and you can see if you have coverage.

Chap in Argeles was getting 1.25mbs from the landline and was getting 45mbs+ on 4G

montgolfiere · Post by **montgolfiere** » Sun 14 Feb 2016 17:49

all a bit pricey at around 100€ a month (when adding 15€ a month for the initial costs over 24 months.)
The original Poster was looking at FREE TO AIR Satellite Reception !!! A larger Dish maybe 120 Metronic (not a Huge expensive Total solution Dish) might well be a good solution for at least 6 months of reception and then using the above suggestions on Iplayer Download/ filmon download etc. a cheaper option!!

martyn94 · Post by **martyn94** » Mon 15 Feb 2016 10:08

montgolfiere wrote:all a bit pricey at around 100€ a month (when adding 15€ a month for the initial costs over 24 months.)
The original Poster was looking at FREE TO AIR Satellite Reception !!! A larger Dish maybe 120 Metronic (not a Huge expensive Total solution Dish) might well be a good solution for at least 6 months of reception and then using the above suggestions on Iplayer Download/ filmon download etc. a cheaper option!!

It's a bit pricey just for TV, but not quite so daunting if you also want decent internet access for other purposes. If you just want internet access without much tv, you can get much cheaper versions of the same service, with caps on the volume of data, direct from Bouyges, including a "pre-paid" service which requires no permanent subscription.

I looked into this because it would be ideal for my "other place", in Normandy. But it seems my chances of getting 4g reception there, or any reception at all, are as distant as ever.

montgolfiere · Post by **montgolfiere** » Mon 15 Feb 2016 11:28

UK Satellite TV Reception in Normandy shouldn't be a problem!!!

martyn94 · Post by **martyn94** » Mon 15 Feb 2016 12:39

montgolfiere wrote:UK Satellite TV Reception in Normandy shouldn't be a problem!!!

No, indeed. But landline internet certainly is for me. That's why I was happy to consider 4g service with capped (but for me, quite adequate) data volumes. Particularly if you can get it on a "pay-as-you-go" basis: I'm there less and less, thanks to the seductive charms of the P-O. Paying for satellite internet year-round is increasingly unappealing, even apart from the speeds, and the latency.

4g is a bust for me up there because there's no signal, but it could be highly relevant to people down here who want decent internet at places they only use for a few weeks/months a year.

That's assuming that they don't fret too much about the telly. It seems to me infinitely depressing that people should lash out on a home here, drive/fly a 1000 kms or so to come on holiday, and then worry about still getting Eastenders, or F1, or whatever else they're hooked on. But chacun à son goût.

For myself, I only thought of getting the (very easy) UK TV reception in Normandy when I had lived there full time for a few years, after twenty years of more occasional use. And the novelty wore off pretty quickly.

martyn94 · Post by **martyn94** » Mon 15 Feb 2016 17:03

russell wrote:If your internet connection is too slow for watching streaming services directly you can download programmes from iPlayer using a VPN and watch them later.

For a wider range of programs a Filmon subscription allows you to record programmes on their servers and download to a PC for viewing later on your PC or by copying to a USB stick you can watch on a recent model TV.

Russell.

But how do you find out what might be worth these fairly laborious procedures? I say this without any spin at all. I have enjoyed a great deal of TV over the decades, mostly not at all "arty", but have long been cut off from any-word-of-mouth (water-cooler/coffee-break) kind of feed-back about what might be worth watching. I read UK media (eg the guardian) which makes me think that the stuff is for adolescents or quite young adults, and in either case requires continued attention over weeks and months and years. Or else "binge-watching", which doesn't seem attractive.

But apparently we are in a golden age for TV content. So how do I find it?

russell · Post by **russell** » Mon 15 Feb 2016 21:02

For Filmon it's not that laborious. One click on their programme guide to set up a recording and one click again to download.

I do find that recording programs saves time as I frequently never watch them!

Russell.

martyn94 · Post by **martyn94** » Tue 16 Feb 2016 10:42

russell wrote:For Filmon it's not that laborious. One click on their programme guide to set up a recording and one click again to download.

I do find that recording programs saves time as I frequently never watch them!

Russell.

I understand how to get it once I know it's worth getting. But how do I get to know that? One problem is that the most esteemed TV now seems to be in serial form (Mad Men, Breaking Bad or whatever) with the implication that there is character and plot development which requires you to watch each episode in order. Something I know that I have rarely lived up to.

Plus the fact that I am no longer part of the "target demographic" for anything much apart from David Attenborough: it doesn't mean that I might not like it, but it makes it less likely.

The fact that you don't watch what you record is not new to you. One of the Guardian's reviewers (I forget which) had a theory in the days of VCRs that their main function was not actually to let you watch what you'd otherwise miss, but just to stop you feeling anxious about missing them.

Allan · Post by **Allan** » Tue 16 Feb 2016 12:16

martyn94 wrote:
I understand how to get it once I know it's worth getting. But how do I get to know that? One problem is that the most esteemed TV now seems to be in serial form (Mad Men, Breaking Bad or whatever) with the implication that there is character and plot development which requires you to watch each episode in order. Something I know that I have rarely lived up to.

Plus the fact that I am no longer part of the "target demographic" for anything much apart from David Attenborough: it doesn't mean that I might not like it, but it makes it less likely.
.

I think you are having a bit of a laugh here Martyn, you cannot be that disconnected from the world. Surely, you would choose TV programmes in the same way as any other media, by reading synopses, critics reviews, favoured actors, any of the published TV guides or just by judging general popularity.

How is it any different from choosing which books to read, music to listen to, cinema films to watch, art exhibitions to visit or radio programmes to tune into?

Failing anything else you could always ask to borrow SmileyG's Radio Times 😀

martyn94 · Post by **martyn94** » Tue 16 Feb 2016 14:15

Allan wrote:
martyn94 wrote:
I understand how to get it once I know it's worth getting. But how do I get to know that? One problem is that the most esteemed TV now seems to be in serial form (Mad Men, Breaking Bad or whatever) with the implication that there is character and plot development which requires you to watch each episode in order. Something I know that I have rarely lived up to.

Plus the fact that I am no longer part of the "target demographic" for anything much apart from David Attenborough: it doesn't mean that I might not like it, but it makes it less likely.
.
I think you are having a bit of a laugh here Martyn, you cannot be that disconnected from the world. Surely, you would choose TV programmes in the same way as any other media, by reading synopses, critics reviews, favoured actors, any of the published TV guides or just by judging general popularity.

How is it any different from choosing which books to read, music to listen herto, cinema films to watch, art exhibitions to visit or radio programmes to tune into?

Failing anything else you could always ask to borrow SmileyG's Radio Times 😀

I'm being a bit difficult, but my point is exactly that UK TV is, for me, particularly difficult to find out about, let alone judge, compared to other media. I am not disconnected from "the world", but I am increasingly disconnected from people whose tastes I would trust who are much interested in UK TV. The same applies to books, to a lesser degree. I understand that there is research I could do, but it's a question of what economists call the "search cost": how much effort for how much likely payoff. I don't know of any very reliable and easy resource, which is pretty well where I came in.

But all is not lost as I have not quite finished my boxed set of the "Phil Silvers Show" (aka Bilko).

rhys · Post by **rhys** » Wed 08 Jun 2016 15:26

The Saturday edition of the Daily Telegraph has a fairly good arts coverage - including previews and reviews of tv programmes; also listings so you can plan what to see for the week ahead.

martyn94 · Post by **martyn94** » Wed 08 Jun 2016 19:06

rhys wrote:The Saturday edition of the Daily Telegraph has a fairly good arts coverage - including previews and reviews of tv programmes; also listings so you can plan what to see for the week ahead.

That's a new one. It always amused me that acquaintances who read the Telegraph "only got it for the sport". Now you get it for the TV listings. I'd rather cut my hand off. Though I acknowledge that this is trying to be helpful.

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