Online tv overseas

[HowsTheSerenity]

I am moving back to Australia soon and am in despair over missing UK tv. I have looked online and seen various things (such as tv proxy etc) that will let me watch iplayer, 4od etc from overseas. Now I know nothing about any of this kind of thing. So, does it work and is it worth it.

I cannot cope without QI and Mock the Week!!

[NetworkGuy]

First off, would be worth asking friends and family (and people on MN) just what sort of costs there are for downloading GB (Gigabytes) of data.

TV (based on my BBC iPlayer downloads) takes about 100 MB per 10 minutes (obviously it varies a bit, but take those as example figures).

There are services offering VPN (virtual networks) which can provide you with a UK address, but obviously if broadcasters find out the IP ranges for these firms, they will be blocked, so perhaps worth only paying for 3 months at a time rather than taking annual contracts.

Do you have anyone in the UK who has broadband? I only ask because a few ISPs don't count the uploaded traffic (they only count downloads) so someone here could run a server, allowing you to pull the programmes you want back to Australia, and I ask about whether someone here could help because on a business travel site, someone wrote:

"I use the fabulous slingbox (www.slingbox.com).

You can buy a slingbox from Dixons, John Lewis, Amazon, etc so is perfectly legal.

It plugs into your home Sky/Cable/TV/whatever and then you can watch this from your laptop anywhere in the world.

I am an expat and have been using it with a Sky+ box in my parents house for the last 4 years (with the equally fabulous "slingcatcher" so I can watch UK TV (including all the sports, movies, etc) on a normal telly."

[NetworkGuy]

The two ISPs I can think of are Andrews and Arnold (AAISP) and Zen. You see the problem would be that if you had the slingbox with a friend over here, and were downloading several hours of TV a month, it could take someone over their data allowance.

For example, PlusNet charges 5 pounds for 5 GB if someone exceeds their allowance of 10, or 20 or 60 GB a month. They count "all" traffic (they don't count from 00:00 to 08:00 but what I mean is they count both downloads and uploads.

Someone running the slingshot box in their home would allow you to view shows, by transmitting the show through their internet connection. Zen and AAISP don't bother to count upload traffic so it would not matter if you 'pulled' 5 or 50 GB of programmes, as it would cost the UK user no extra.

I'd offer, but I am locked into a contract for a while longer with another ISP. Anyway, most important for you to check is how much data you are likely to download, and see how much that will cost in Australia. If it is really expensive then it may be better to buy a friend a TV recorder (onto DVDs) + stack of blank DVDs and get them to post you episodes weekly !

(I know it seems daft these days, but there are technical blocks using the internet, both on what you can do legally and how much data and how fast it will get to you from someone in the UK, via USA, along with the traffic from thousands of other servers for people living in Australia.)

[savoycabbage]

My dh has tried a few times to get past the blocks on iplayer, but hasn't managed yet.

We have got an Apple TV which is connected to the UK itunes so we get some things from there and we have an American account too.

[JeMeSouviens]

We use : //www.uknova.com

Has a good range of UK TV.

Download VUZE software. Then you download the show you're after, and open it in Vuze, it processes it somehow (seeds/downloads/torrents ....boring).. et voila. UK TV at your fingertips.

[JeMeSouviens]

Oh, and did I mention its free.

[NetworkGuy]

Where are you, savoycabbage ?

Some services such as PureVPN offer a free trial... See the Gold package (they say on the front page that some services do not work where there is a shared IP - maybe it is because a lot of traffic might have been through those IPs, far more than a single user is likely to 'ever' use, and the broadcasters detected that and blocked them).

[MrsMills]

We use www.my-private-network.co.uk

For £5 a month we have a UK IP address which we log onto to enable us to watch Iplayer, ITV Player, 4OD and some live streaming too. We've used it for about 2 years with not a single problem.

If the IP addresses were to be blocked, you can stop the agreement straight away, so you're not locked in to a long contract with them.

[Bucharest]

I use vpnuk, which costs about £6 a month. It's never failed me.

Keep meaning to check slingbox prices, I looked into them a couple of years ago, but they were still a tad pricey and IIRC you are connected to someone's telly, so obliged to watch what they are watching.

[HowsTheSerenity]

Info overload!
I like the idea of the UK IP address.
I really have no idea of anything. I am technologically stunted I think.
Will reasrch what you have all said. Thanks heaps!!

[NetworkGuy]

Sorry for the overload.

These VPN services have a UK IP address and allow the remote user (such as these nice MN users) to connect to it and then 'onward connect' to some UK website, which 'sees' the UK IP address, and accepts the request.

I have looked at this to be able to use some US web sites which check for a USA IP address, but these types of service are the sort you might see in NCIS or CSI or 'spy' shows where someone is trying to disguise their IP by going via other countries, to make it hard to track them.

The two VPN services mentioned above seem reasonably priced, though some are lower, perhaps only with a long contract.

(Thanks MrsMills, Bucharest, useful info.)

[HowsTheSerenity]

Network (and everyone else). What would you do. I am moving to the boonies. Internet is crap where I am going. I do not mind paying a small amount. I will be back in Oz permanantly (unless I miss London too much and move back).
Thanks

[NetworkGuy]

Ahhhh... you'll be "in the sticks" - with rotten speeds you will not be able to stream video easily, and I suspect if you download several GB of data a month you will be paying through the nose (based on another poster wanting her husband to pay for a higher broadband data allowance - but I cannot recall the costs, sorry).

Snail Mail and a friend with a pile of DVDs and a recorder that can be programmed to copy certain shows to DVD may be an option even if it does mean you get them a couple of weeks later.

Might be worth asking in one of the MN sections about 'moving to Oz'(where some British ex-pats give hints and tips to those thinking of it ... you are clearly not in the same position regarding local government etc but they may have some ideas and may rarely visit the geeky section).

[HowsTheSerenity]

Thanks for the advice. I wont be in the boonies for long and when I move to civilisation I may look into all the above. DVDs and hopefully youtube it is.

[NetworkGuy]

Perhaps worth seeing if any UK ex-pats in Oz already get those shows you are after - and if so then you have a potential source, if any has a DVD burner on their PC...

[thumbwitch]

interesting! I am too tight laid back to pay for any of these things but have found that QI, for example, is available on standard AUssie tv anyway. Haven't seen Mock the Week sadly, and the Aussie "equivalent" isn't really as good.
It might rock up on Foxtel (we haven't got that either ) - a lot of UK tv does! But we get a fair amount of UK tv anyway, on SBS, 7Two, ABC mostly. 7Two are currently showing things like George & Mildred, for heavens' sake!! But also Vicar of Dibley and other stuff.

I agree with NG though - sticksville is not going to help you with slow broadband speeds - although the monthly download allowance with some packages has improved markedly recently.

[NetworkGuy]

Thanks for the feedback - useful to know just what sort of content îs^available.

Over here, some ITV channel (ITV3 ?) is showing "On the Buses" which I think may be older the G+M !

[Themasterandmargaritas]

This is a revelation to me, does this mean I can break out of 20 year old repeats of Mr Bean and Top Gear on BBC Prime?

Will the uknova website work if I am in Africa? We are still not fully on broadband, if I understand correctly we use a satellite based system so streaming for example on youtube rarely runs smoothly.

[JeMeSouviens]

UKNova works where ever you are. The shows are loaded to the site and you download them to your laptop, using Vuze to convert the file. (Vuze is also free).

We then plug the laptop into the TV and watch it that way.

[NetworkGuy]

If you are getting problems with YouTube then imagine something 60 to 120 times the size to be downloaded and the problems might be significantly worse.

Have you ever used 'peer to peer' ? Just that even if it took some time, you may be able to get data that way (however all these methods maty be ruled out if you have high cost associated with large amounts of data).

In Europe, one service charges approx 32 pounds for under 3 GB of data each month. I get data at a fraction of that cost and even then need to be careful about when and what I download.

So the big question is what do you want to d/l and what restrictions/ charges does your internet service put on using the satellite ?

[NetworkGuy]

Thanks JMS - didn't know they were file transfers rather than streaming - that should help (YouTube tries to stream and most of these services offering clips block downloading).

[Themasterandmargaritas]

Wow JMS that sounds like it could work. Mr techy guy, I use a dongle and pay a monthly fee for a package, 1 GB at highest speed then once I have used up that I have no restrictions but have a slower speed for the rest of the month.

I'm going to investigate further tonight when the dc are in bed.

[BigBadMummy]

I have used tvproxy.co.uk It is about £8 a month and you do not need to sign up for a long time. YOu can do it month by month using Paypal.

So simple to use that even I could sort it out. THey emailed simple instructions on how to change the settings on my laptop and I did it in minutes.

I only used it for a month and have signed up again this month for a friend who is on holiday in the US and desperate to watch the Grand Prix.

Well worth the £8 if you ask me.

[BigBadMummy]

Network Guy SLingbox is fabulous (my parents use if for their place overseas) but it does mean that you are limited to watching what is being output on the TV that is broadcasting.

So if the inlaws etc are not watching QI but Antique Roadshow, you are buggered.

It does have a remote control device so you can change channels but if it gets knocked, again you are in trouble.

[NetworkGuy]

BBM - I suppose it depends on whether there's a spare aerial point that could be used.

A Freeview box is under 20 quid these days, and I suppose setting up a Slingbox and Freeview box may be awkward unless someone has rooms to spare and can happily leave them alone to just transport the TV sigs to wherever.

However, one question is whether you can download from the Slingbox rather than 'stream' (watch) the video... If downloading is possible than it allows for watching when the show isn't live... (or have problems with speed of getting the data from the other end)...

If drownloads can just run along for however long it takes then it may well work fine for TMandM and HTS (as long as data allowance isn't a problem).

[BigBadMummy]

networkguy no, you cannot download and watch later on the Slingbox. Well certainly not on the couple that I have used / seen.

Shame