Receiving the bbc in france

Totally untrue.

Hello Jane, I have been using unlocator.com for years without any lasting problems.
Best if you go to their web site and read about the differences between VPN and Smart DNS.
All I can say is that it works a treat and allows viewing of all UK TV channels in real time or catch-up. On the very rare occasion when there’s been a problem it’s been resolved very quickly. It’s not a free service, but well worth the small expense of about $50 per year.
I hope this helps.

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Muchotv

Freesat via a satellite dish pointing somewhere near 28.2°E and a Humax box bought from Argos.
Some basic information here

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You can buy a dish yourself and a frequency finder doodad from eBay, or pay the money for someone to come out and you up a sat dish. You can use either an old sky box for a decoder (but cannot record) or buy a humax satellite décoder with or without a disk for recording. We have both. You cannot record on a sky box unless you are still paying your account for the card. I got my humax from amazon Uk , shipped out. Old Sky boxes are available on your local trading Facebook page. Just type in Things For Sale in the Charente, you being in Angoulême, and you will find it. They are often advertised. Personally I recommend the Humax. Living or etcetera magazine list dish fitters. We used Robert Foulkes also found on Facebook.

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had a good laugh at that - still giggling - thank you - needed it - having a mare of a day so far but hey it’s only 3 o’clock things could be worse - I have half a glass of Malbec left from last night

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Thank you Dan, I will look into that. I live in an Estate with strict regulations and I cannot put up a dish on my house.

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Thank you for all the responses to my question. Dish is not an option for me not allowed on the private Estate I live on.

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Ah, that might have been useful to know up front.

In which case you will have to look at some sort of Internet solution, David’s suggestion of unlocator might work for you or google “UK IP TV in France” for other options.

As previously mentioned a vpn by their very nature will slow down your connection. Also the BBC periodically block them. So one that works now may not do so later. This is a method which is faster than a vpn, doesn’t involve downloading any software and is a more secure method.
It is a low cost option and it works. I have been using them for the last 7 years without issue and rarely any buffering despite mutiple users. Smart DNS. This will allow access via the internet to all uk broadcasters. It also includes a free optional VPN should you need to go down that route. From memory last year I paid about £36 for the year. You are not tied in for 3 to 5 year contract as required by some vpns. You can use it on as many devices as you want. Works on smart tvs, set top boxes, tablets, pcs including windows, mac, android and linux.

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I watch BBC and all the rest on my laptop down here in Gers, department 32. I have an Orange Livebox with my landline and the WiFi is good. I view through FILMON FREE, but it’s only free for a while. I am happy with the service. I used to view on satellite with a Skybox on my TV: all of which are now obsolete. I could have a large monitor, but I’m happy as I’m the only watcher in my home.

A related question, i have a 80 cm dish but facing tall trees, certain times of the year, now the signal disappears on certain channels, bbc mainly, but I still get the ones on the different frequencies like quest, and higher up the Freesat box.
Anything I can use to boost the signal?

A bigger dish

Will that help with the trees been there?

To an extent, yes - you will get more signal which might be enough to overcome the loss caused by the trees.

However you are right to suppose that the trees will be a problem regardless of dish size - is there any option to reduce their height?

I spoke to the mairie and he said he couldn’t do anything as they were not on their land but agreed they were too tall. They are conifers so no better in winter, just the signal seems better in good weather.

I tried Pure VPN. I found it very unstable/unreliable. It’s supposed to have DNS ‘on the servers’ but then they told me that had been scrapped. In the end it was nailed by the anti-VPN Territorial Protection Squad anyway.

Things may have improved since I used it, some 2 years ago, but due to the endless trouble I had just running it, I won’t be going back.

An excellent VPN I used was Tunnel Bear. This worked very well for many months before being cut off in its prime by The Squad

There is a British brand of radios called Pure Digital. There is a VPN service based in the Far East somewhere called PureVPN. Never the twain shall meet.

We used Tunnelbear for a couple of years Christopher until bbc and others caught up. We tried quite a few others but to no avail until this summer when Pure was suggested. Have been using it successfully for a few months - reasonable price - no fuss and super on-line support. How long it will last is anybodys guess but will enjoy it as long as we can​:blush::blush::blush:

I use https://www.transponder.tv/ … you have to pay and its not much but you get all the UK freeview channels + an option to record. Much easier than the box and tv in my opinion.