# TV solution in rural Andalucia



## Nonnamags (Jan 10, 2013)

Hi everyone, since the great satellite turn off, there has been much ado about android boxes for Internet TV. Now then, I live in the middle of nowhere, no chance of a landline, we have vodafone unstable wifi modem with a 10gb monthly allowance. As a teacher and OU student I have on occasions have to purchase extra gb as the monthly allowance is not enough. It appears the android box may be a dilution but I'm doubtful given the above information......any deas please anyone?


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Have you considered satellite internet?


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

An android box is only as good as your internet connection speed. You need at least 3mb to stream TV programmes.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Alcalaina said:


> An android box is only as good as your internet connection speed. You need at least 3mb to stream TV programmes.


And watch out for fair usage limits which, once the daily limit is exceeded, throttle your speeds down to a level which renders watching TV impossible, with or without an android box.


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

A 10GB monthly allowance won't cut the mustard I'm afraid and an android box won't change that unfortunately. 
The only real option you have is finding an internet provider either satellite or wimax who provide unlimited allowance.


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## Aron (Apr 30, 2013)

Nonnamags said:


> Hi everyone, since the great satellite turn off, there has been much ado about android boxes for Internet TV. Now then, I live in the middle of nowhere, no chance of a landline, we have vodafone unstable wifi modem with a 10gb monthly allowance. As a teacher and OU student I have on occasions have to purchase extra gb as the monthly allowance is not enough. It appears the android box may be a dilution but I'm doubtful given the above information......any deas please anyone?


I live in rural Andalucia and have Iberbanda for Internet and a phone line which is Satellite. Occasionally the a TV signal drops off, but I get to watch TV via FilmOn. However, during the summer, I don't watch TV, so I am quite content.


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## Nonnamags (Jan 10, 2013)

thrax said:


> Have you considered satellite internet?


 I think that's even more expensive than vodafone? Dunno.... It's not for myself, but I think now we have spanish TV I might just invest in sky...can I do that from here or do I gave to have a uk address? God it's all so confusing, and there's a world cup coming up....aaaaggghhhh!!
Thanks to all for advice given. X


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Nonnamags said:


> I think that's even more expensive than vodafone? Dunno.... It's not for myself, but I think now we have spanish TV I might just invest in sky...can I do that from here or do I gave to have a uk address? God it's all so confusing, and there's a world cup coming up....aaaaggghhhh!!
> Thanks to all for advice given. X


Not sure if the World Cup matches will be on Sky.
We have very poor speed internet but we are quite happy watching BBC etc. On our laptops or IPads. We watched the England- Peru match last night, no breaks, uninterrupted viewing.
Watching tv in this way has two advantages: one, it's free, at least there's no additional charge on our monthly internet/phone bill and two, we can watch different programmes simultaneously via tablet and earphones.
We have the full Sky package but I think we'll maybe trim it to Sky Sport and documentaries, news and so on.we only watch news and sport anyway.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> Not sure if the World Cup matches will be on Sky.
> We have very poor speed internet but we are quite happy watching BBC etc. On our laptops or IPads. We watched the England- Peru match last night, no breaks, uninterrupted viewing.
> Watching tv in this way has two advantages: one, it's free, at least there's no additional charge on our monthly internet/phone bill and two, we can watch different programmes simultaneously via tablet and earphones.


But you wouldn't be able to do that on a wifi modem with a download limit. You must have a reasonable internet speed to stream two programmes at once. Maybe it's better than you thought? You can check it here; just click Begin Test, it only takes half a minute.

Speedtest.net by Ookla - The Global Broadband Speed Test

Here's mine.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Alcalaina said:


> But you wouldn't be able to do that on a wifi modem with a download limit. You must have a reasonable internet speed to stream two programmes at once. Maybe it's better than you thought? You can check it here; just click Begin Test, it only takes half a minute.
> 
> Speedtest.net by Ookla - The Global Broadband Speed Test
> 
> Here's mine.


Thanks, I'm now goingto do that
Very silly question, no doubt...but can internet speed be affected by weather?


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Incidentally all the Spain games and a few others will be live on Telecinco, a free channel on Spanish TV. The subscription channel Gol TV is offering all of the games free, but only if you subscribe for 12 months afterwards at €20 a month. That includes some Premier League games too and you can watch on a digital TV or via internet.

http://www.goltelevision.com/que_es_golt


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> Thanks, I'm now goingto do that
> Very silly question, no doubt...but can internet speed be affected by weather?


Not the sort we've got (ADSL) - it comes down the telephone line.


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## Nonnamags (Jan 10, 2013)

mrypg9 said:


> Not sure if the World Cup matches will be on Sky. We have very poor speed internet but we are quite happy watching BBC etc. On our laptops or IPads. We watched the England- Peru match last night, no breaks, uninterrupted viewing. Watching tv in this way has two advantages: one, it's free, at least there's no additional charge on our monthly internet/phone bill and two, we can watch different programmes simultaneously via tablet and earphones. We have the full Sky package but I think we'll maybe trim it to Sky Sport and documentaries, news and so on.we only watch news and sport anyway.


Thank you mrypg9 I think it will be the same here basic news and sport....our internet is mobile wifi so a no go as most days the signal is rubbish...

Can anyone tell me how I can buy a sky card and box from Spain? Thanks for all help.....


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## Nonnamags (Jan 10, 2013)

Alcalaina said:


> But you wouldn't be able to do that on a wifi modem with a download limit. You must have a reasonable internet speed to stream two programmes at once. Maybe it's better than you thought? You can check it here; just click Begin Test, it only takes half a minute. Speedtest.net by Ookla - The Global Broadband Speed Test Here's mine.


OMG thanks for this it's proved my point....it's pitiful

Down at 1.96 and up at 0.5 and I pay over 40€ a month for this.....rubbish!


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## Nonnamags (Jan 10, 2013)

Just done the test again with better results 3.06 and upload at 1.36 
I swear every time the wind blows it disappears!!!


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Alcalaina said:


> Incidentally all the Spain games and a few others will be live on Telecinco, a free channel on Spanish TV. The subscription channel Gol TV is offering all of the games free, but only if you subscribe for 12 months afterwards at €20 a month. That includes some Premier League games too and you can watch on a digital TV or via internet.
> 
> Qué es Gol Televisión | GolT


That's ok if your spanish tv works but unfortunately mine doesn't. So thgat's no tv whatsoever!



nonnamags, you cannot legally get sky in spain ( or any other country) You'll have to use a UK address that does not already have a sky subscription.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

We've currently got 1.22 MB download, 0.22 upload...


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## Nonnamags (Jan 10, 2013)

Hmmmmm.....I'm confused! Maybe if it's all on telecinco, it'll be ok...

Thank you everyone for all your kind help. Spain is infuriating at times, especially in these wilds....Ha!


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## Nonnamags (Jan 10, 2013)

I've just clicked on an advert for UKAWAY....£30.00 a year for Iplayer??? Would this work does anyone know? It uses a VPN so probably not legal I assume, but grateful for any experience...


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

gus-lopez said:


> That's ok if your spanish tv works but unfortunately mine doesn't. So thgat's no tv whatsoever!
> 
> 
> 
> nonnamags, you cannot legally get sky in spain ( or any other country) You'll have to use a UK address that does not already have a sky subscription.


Not strictly true; SKY generally don't care how many accounts are registered at an address as long as the money comes in. But you do have to have a UK address to get an account. You won't get the UK terrestrial channels via SKY unless you get a HD SKY + box with wifi connection, then you can use SKY on demand and watch the BBC, ITV etc albeit a few minutes later than scheduled...


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

thrax said:


> Not strictly true; SKY generally don't care how many accounts are registered at an address as long as the money comes in. But you do have to have a UK address to get an account. You won't get the UK terrestrial channels via SKY unless you get a HD SKY + box with wifi connection, then you can use SKY on demand and watch the BBC, ITV etc albeit a few minutes later than scheduled...


+ a dish big enough to receive it !


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Nonnamags said:


> I've just clicked on an advert for UKAWAY....£30.00 a year for Iplayer??? Would this work does anyone know? It uses a VPN so probably not legal I assume, but grateful for any experience...


It should work if you have 3 mbps, but you'll have the same problem in that it will quickly eat into your download limit.


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## Aron (Apr 30, 2013)

Nonnamags said:


> I've just clicked on an advert for UKAWAY....£30.00 a year for Iplayer??? Would this work does anyone know? It uses a VPN so probably not legal I assume, but grateful for any experience...


VPN is perfectly legal. It is used by companies all over the world and by individuals like you and I. The problem with VPN is it lowers your bandwidth. I can use VPN fairly well on my ipad, but mirroring it onto the television, the bandwidth can be problematic. Iplayer is free through any VPN.


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## Madliz (Feb 4, 2011)

Feeling very superior now with download speed of 8.37 and upload 0.69 but then I'm not in rural Andalucía. Oh well, a few more viewings and I might be...


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## el romeral (May 8, 2012)

Nonnamags said:


> I think that's even more expensive than vodafone?
> Thanks to all for advice given. X


I am also in a rural part of Malaga with no ADSL phone lines. We use Eurona Telecom (they have an office in La Trocha in Coin) for wimax internet. We get up to 3mb download and 1mb upload. Mostly it is good enough to watch TV on Filmon. Can be weather affected a bit or slow at peak times. They also do satellite packages but they have monthly restrictions.

Our prices have come down hugely the in last year - from 70E a month for 2mb to 18E a month for 3 mb. I think they have more competition now. We also have a VOIP phone.


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## caravan (May 18, 2014)

I thought you could just get a Sky contract billed to a UK address , put a dish up, and then get Sky and all the BBC channels, plus Freeview!! is that not now the case?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

caravan said:


> I thought you could just get a Sky contract billed to a UK address , put a dish up, and then get Sky and all the BBC channels, plus Freeview!! is that not now the case?


depends where in Spain

in some areas there is little to no signal now


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## Aron (Apr 30, 2013)

caravan said:


> I thought you could just get a Sky contract billed to a UK address , put a dish up, and then get Sky and all the BBC channels, plus Freeview!! is that not now the case?


Never had Freeview in Spain, you had Freesat. I have a dish and Freesat, but since the change of Satellite, I get nothing other than things like Movies for Men or news channels. No BBC or ITV etc.
I could get Sky (not Freesat) with a UK address, but for the amount of TV I watch it's not worth it.


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## caravan (May 18, 2014)

ok thanks for that maybe tv is not that important when the sun is shining lo


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## Milanesa (Jun 1, 2014)

Hi, just to say i am in andalucia and have a sky box i bought form uk, but nothing works here apart from the pay channels, no on demand etc. i only receive channel 5, none of the bbc or itv channels. I have cancelled my subscription as it just isnt owrth the moeny out here for me.

I just watch you tube or filmon thansk to the suggestions here to watch anything i feel i want too. Hope that helps.


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## caravan (May 18, 2014)

thanks for that I suppose that before you take the plunge to a new life you want to keep a lot of things around you that know but really that's not the point of a fresh start so maybe uk tv is not that important I think ?


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## buble (Apr 29, 2011)

caravan said:


> thanks for that I suppose that before you take the plunge to a new life you want to keep a lot of things around you that know but really that's not the point of a fresh start so maybe uk tv is not that important I think ?


I'm afraid that for a lot people that would be just "wishful thinking".
UK tv is what helps soften the shock of adapting to another culture. Life in Spain is often nothing like that portrayed in "A Place In The Sun".


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

buble said:


> I'm afraid that for a lot people that would be just "wishful thinking".
> UK tv is what helps soften the shock of adapting to another culture. Life in Spain is often nothing like that portrayed in "A Place In The Sun".


BBC radio does that for me. I can happily live without UK TV, but I'd be lost without Radio 4.


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## caravan (May 18, 2014)

oh I know its all a bit of a compromise we know a lot of people that have come back because they miss things that they take for granted in the uk but my point about the tv was that in time you focus on the main reason for ( living in the sun) ie the weather different culture ect but yes it is a pity they turn the sat of


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

I like UK tv! I don't watch it any more here than I did when I lived there, but it does get dark in the evenings, you know.


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## Milanesa (Jun 1, 2014)

Hey caravan, i agree with you. I thought id be lost without sky, but as you settle into the different culture it has become less important for me. If i did it again i wouldnt worry about it tbh, cost us a fortune to get a dish erected and now we arent really going to use it! 

I am loving my new life in the sun, no negative comments apart from the terrible drivers haha!


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## caravan (May 18, 2014)

ha ha you should try driving in south lincs the eastern eure lads with their 10 year old high powered german cars and very few duel carrage ways every time you go out its like being on a rally I drove in the costa blanca last year and I found it a piece of cake 
swings and roundabouts I suppose


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## moonman (Oct 1, 2012)

thrax said:


> Not strictly true; SKY generally don't care how many accounts are registered at an address as long as the money comes in. But you do have to have a UK address to get an account. You won't get the UK terrestrial channels via SKY unless you get a HD SKY + box with wifi connection, then you can use SKY on demand and watch the BBC, ITV etc albeit a few minutes later than scheduled...


to get sky on demand ,, i have 2 questions , (1) is a uk vpn needed. (2) what internet speed is required. thank you in anticipation.


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