If you haven't got Sky / Sky + , or Free box and want to watch UK TV on your computer its remarkably simple. Having got it on your computer you can also buy an HDMI cable from your local hypermarché to connect to your TV and watch the programmes on your big screen. I've discovered a UK web-site which sends the channels via broadband to your computer. You can watch BBC live, BBC iplayer, ITV player, Sky Go, 4oD, 5oD. You no longer need to video BBC or ITV stuff to watch later as its available on this web-site. Prices start from £2.99 a month. Go to:
www.tvonholiday.co.uk
I have just joined this discussion,We have recently bought a smart tv which on bottom floor .our computer/livebox is 3 floors up,too far away for cables . we bought a link up from Auchan,which consists of 2 devices ( TP-LINK ) We plug one in next to T.V ( one cable to tv and one in plug socket ) and the other next to Livebox , ( one cable in livebox the other in plug socket.The signal is carried via your electric supply.We can only watch Hola through the computer ( would like to find a way of getting Hola to our smart tv. Hope this helps
Bill
Pain in the butt, blimey that is going easy on them! ;-)
We wi-max'd (marie arranged it from neighbouring village for our village of 200) never had any probs. Dad said French Tel are a pain in the butt lol.
Right, I wondered why ExpatShield did not work on my daughter's new laptop with W8. Hola, like the rest including our (paid for) Zattoo are sluggish, lots of buffering and slow the hardware down. It is frustrating, new services blossoming, French line speed staggering like a drunken old man. We have two new connection in the neighbour hood over the last 10 days and that has knocked line speed down another bit. France telecom really does miss the point, if they upgraded even old cables services would improve. Perhaps they simply do not want us using Hola and so on.
Hi, we use/d ExpatShield, which generates a UK IP address et voila, all for free too. It enables you to read some UK news websites and Youtube vids too as some block you if you don't have a UK IP address.
Getting about .5mbps during the day which works for Filmon SD but no good in the evening.
Exactly. For continuity without buffering and reloading losing bits of programmes/films or pixelation you need a minimum of 2.5Mbps speeds, more for HD. The answer to the question is to do some speed testing. There are umpteen on line speed tests, so what I tend to do is use four of them in order to be able to find an average and work on that as the measure of what I have. There are differences between peak times of day when there are more or less users on line, so also measure daytime and evening to get a good look. Remember that it is giving you a download speed that may be right for email, but even when you get perhaps 5 or Mbps readings, it may not mean that streaming is entirely smooth and unbroken. The fact that so much is now HD means that is inevitable.
Buffering is due to your bandwith/speed connection rather than the provider. I think the problem is that all programmes are in HD rather than SD.
Hello again. Thinking of trying your suggestion of tvonholiday.co.uk. Do you still get buffering though? Thanks
Hi Nick
Thank you that is very helpful.
As it happens I do have Sky but wanted to access BBC iPlayer and now that I have finally got broadband this is a great solution.
Thanks
Peter
A healthy suspicion of the internet is a good thing I believe.
I'm using it now but I still have a suspicion of stuff that is free on t'web!
Seconded .
I can't quite believe I am still trying to tell people about Hola . It's such a good service and free. Some people have complained about publicity when using it but I have Adblock and have never had any problem with pop up publicity using Hola.
Why pay for a VPN service when Hola is there for you.
I f you just want BBC iplayer and ITV iplayer join hola - it's free
Yep, hooked via wifi from the Netgear wifi extender. With the Livebox being so far from the tv and a couple of thick stone walls this is the only way of getting the tv signal without trailing ethernet cables all over the house. We also use plug in wifi extenders for reception in the barn.
Does the droid box work on Wifi Neil?
Had Chromecast but sent it back as it had all sorts of problems. Don't forget with FilmOn you can "record" 10 hours for free up to 7 days ahead. With a Droid box you have internet on your tv - it comes with a remote but I use a mouse.
Ive been using filmon for ages and connecting to TV via cable. Normally OK but does freeze at peak times. I then bought a Chromecast gadget for £30 from Amazon and it turned my android tablet into a remote, still using filmon, I could cast it directly to the TV and then use my tablet for other things. Absolutely delighted for a !month, then it started freezing and now won't let me cast at all. Grrrr