Sorry if this has been covered before, I am new to the forum.
We recently moved to France (36300 Indre) & opted for an Orange Livebox and although we can receive French channels we cannot get English programs. We purchased a Firestick but that will not work. Does anyone know of an English speaking TV installer in our area that might be able to help please? David
Orange is a French company so will provide French TV. But all is not lost. Install a satellite dish (90cm should be fine for your location but bigger is generally better) and buy a Freesat box. Youāll then have access to lots of UK TV. Thereās plenty of existing helpful threads if you search for āFreesatā.
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Seconded.
BUT
Be aware that Freesat is now time limited - there are no plans to add satellites to the 28.2Ā°E cluster, Skyās contract to provide services runs out in 2029 and Freesat probably around the same time - the satellites wonāt last much longer and are expected to beEoL around 2030.
There is a switch to IP based services because the broadcasters can have much more control over thecontent that can be accessed by each subscriber.
If the tv is fairly modern, mine dates back to 2015 sat dish directly plugged into the tv and I get all the Uk channels, no need for any other devices.
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Get yourself one of these
Amiko MyTV - All Your Content in One App Amiko MyTV - All Your Content in One App
A real game changer.
No need for a vpn and virtually e ery uk channel and more avialable inc bbc iplayer itvx etc. Even a good selection of Netflix included and Sky Sports in abundance.
Last night bad weather prevented are sat dish from picking up a signal so switched to Amiko box and watched without a problem.
The service connects to our Orange box via wifi, French connection service of course with english channels.
Depends - our TV has a satellite decoder but I had to specifically search it out and they are not terribly common in the UK. You canāt even choose āsatellite decoderā as a filter on many sites and where you can (eg Argos) itās a little over 10% of sets available which have a satellite input.
AIUI itās much more common to find TVs equipped with a satellite decoder if bought in Europe.
If you want to follow the Freeview route, then I have a 1.7M dish you can have gratuit (needs a new LNB)
You can also consider using a VPN and loading the various apps for the channels that you want, but these will be limited to the mainstream broadcasters though.
Then the ultimate, and the way UK TV is going - a Freely TV. But you cannot buy these in France.
If you have Orange Livebox (with a reasonable connection speed) and Firestick all you need to do to watch UK channels is install a VPN on the Firestick. You need to set your Amazon account to UK for digital media purchases (even if you do not buy anything)
The suggestion of @JohnBoy of an Amiko MyTV is interesting. When you say John āa selection of Netflix and Sky Sportsā are there any subscriptions involved?
EDIT: I am assuming you are going down the online route rather than mess about with satellite dishes in which case you do not need an TV installer to help you
Iām not sure about the one mentioned but most hooky IPTV services need a regular payment. The ones that try to look legit usually charge a bit more.
If it is "hooky, I would be more concerned about the service being stopped and having to start again. The combination of Livebox + Firestick + VPN is a well trodden (and as far as I know legal) route on SF and is supported by solid organisations.
Will send you a PM, @Mik_Bennett
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Moved in to our new place three weeks ago. Iāve already taken down the satellite dish. Iām using Nord VPN. First time it seemed to work without issue - BBC iplayer. 2nd time I was getting error messages from iplayer. Not had time to sort yet. I did swap server locations in UK. I plan to replace the tv aerial with an fm antenna I brought with me from the UK. We have fibre internet and a new Orange Livebox which should satisfy my tv needs. Saying that the storm last night knocked out internet. Think itās stable again now.
This can usually be fixed by changing the location set in the VPN. I have sometimes have to change mine every two or three weeks
Indeed, thatās the risk of such services. Much like gambling and the stock market, donāt use money that you canāt afford to lose.
A friend (cough) suggests having a main service and a cheap backup in case the main one was to cease. Much like VPNs and iPlayer, itās a bit of a game of cat and mouse.
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Annual subscription which vary.
From memory I paid 110 euros which includes Netflix, Sky Sport and so much more.
Vpn is ok but having done that for a year with subscription similar to Amiko beats it by far. With vpn you are forever having to āchange locationā but not so with Amiko, not had one hiccup in the 11 months we have had it.
@Mik_Bennett, like EVs, itās the future. All those dustbin lids that Alan Sugar made his fortune on are old hat.
It sounds interesting. Is it another box you need to buy and is there a subscription for its service in addition to the individual content subscriptions
Yes, another box is required and an annual subscription and thatās it, no individual content subscriptions,they are
All included.
See the link I posted earlier.
You do need a fast fibre connection which I think most fibre connections are.
If your future involves paying ever more for an inferior product that can be rendered useless by your masters at a stroke, you are correct.
Sorry misunderstood. So you pay one ā¬110 subscription p.a. to Amiko which includes all the various pay for services like Sky, Netflix Disney etc. and do I understand that no VPN required. Do you have a link to the services it accesses?
My subscription is due for renewal in 2 weeks.
I am no techie so I go through a āfriendā.
I will let you know more then.
Certainly had no problems with it during last 12 months so unless a fortune to renew I will be jumping in again.
I know some will say it all sounds a bit iffy but as CJ said, I didnāt get where I am today ----------!
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