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TV through a computer


Syd

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How are you intending to manage your wi-fi connection? Campsite wi-fi can be unpredictable and sometimes expensive. Dongles etc will require large data allowances to watch TV, again reception can be patchy and expensive.

If you want to watch (and possibly) record reliable TV abroad then a cheapish satellite dish and receiver will work out to be far more flexible and inexpensive in the long run giving you 'free' TV after initial setup costs. 

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If you have decent bandwidth when you are away, you could install and use the BBC iPlayer Desktop to watch the Grand Prix with the usual commentary.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/install

 

If you are abroad you will also need to install and use ExpatShield which will give you a UK IP address by using a vpn. Otherwise the iPlayer will say that programs are not available in your area, although you can access BBC radio without it.

http://expatshield.com/

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Guest 1footinthegrave
lennyhb - 2011-08-23 4:10 PM

 

Not only will it not work very well unless you have a good fast connection it is also dam selfish, hogging the bandwidth and slowing down everyone else's connection.

 

You are joking I presume,if not they better stop BT Vision service that will stream movies to your home, and recently added BBC Iplayer too, and of course Xbox live, PC online gaming, Youtube, Spotify, internet radio's, and God knows what else. Oh and should have mentioned all the social network sites with everyone sending pictures, and video clips to each other. There are literally thousands of streaming services available now, both video and audio. Not to mention all the kids downloading their music and stuff of their mates, he in isolation will have no impact in the grand scheme of things. In addition Windows 7 now has a multitude of streaming video available through Media Centre.

 

But I do agree a cheap satellite system would prob be the best way for him to go, or tune in to local TV stations !

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1footinthegrave - 2011-08-24 3:45 PM

 

lennyhb - 2011-08-23 4:10 PM

 

Not only will it not work very well unless you have a good fast connection it is also dam selfish, hogging the bandwidth and slowing down everyone else's connection.

 

You are joking I presume,if not they better stop BT Vision service that will stream movies to your home, and recently added BBC Iplayer too, and of course Xbox live, PC online gaming, Youtube, Spotify, internet radio's, and God knows what else. Oh and should have mentioned all the social network sites with everyone sending pictures, and video clips to each other. There are literally thousands of streaming services available now, both video and audio. Not to mention all the kids downloading their music and stuff of their mates, he in isolation will have no impact in the grand scheme of things. In addition Windows 7 now has a multitude of streaming video available through Media Centre.

 

But I do agree a cheap satellite system would prob be the best way for him to go, or tune in to local TV stations !

 

No I am not joking, most campsites are in remote areas therefore some considerable distance from an exchange if they are receiving there connection via copper they will probably be lucky to get 500k, have you honestly not noticed how poor campsite connections are.

OK I would agree that the diversity factor does help as everyone will not be downloading packets at exactly the same time, how good their link is also depends how low their contention ratio is, generally in the UK it's a max 50:1 for a private link and a max 20:1 for a business link

 

I live 1.5 miles from the exchange I can only get a 2 meg link which never runs faster than 1.3 meg downstream, iplayer is a nightmare my link is just not fast enough for streaming. A friend on the same exchange but less than a mile from it gets an 8 meg link.

 

BT may be flogging all these services but a large majority of the population do not have a fast enough connection to make full use of them unless you live in a reasonable sized town, not the normal habitat for a campsite.

 

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Hi Syd

 

My understanding is that you will be blocked from BBC iplayer, if trying to access from outside the UK. (Others may know better) as it is an on-line service, it recognises where access request is located.

 

We use a "Hauppauge" TV to PC dongle, in the laptop that receives "local" TV stations direct. (no requirement to go on-line)

 

As regular followers of F1 we just turn the volume down so the foreign language doesn't distract.

 

Our Hauppauge dongle was from Maplin's about 4 years ago & from memory around £30.

There are numerous others available, but I have no experience of them to say if they are better / worse.

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flicka - 2011-08-25 10:54 PM

 

Hi Syd

 

My understanding is that you will be blocked from BBC iplayer, if trying to access from outside the UK. (Others may know better) as it is an on-line service, it recognises where access request is located.

 

No, that is where ExpatShield comes in, it gives your location as in the UK.

 

Likewise HotspotShield, also from Anchor Free, puts you in the USA for any US restricted web sites.

 

However the main purpose of these programs is to secure your internet access from hackers when you are using unsecured wifi. Nobody can read your emails etc.

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