# Television networks



## Keith Simpson (Jul 26, 2013)

Hi, can anyone recommend the best all round TV service for my apartment.
Thank you.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Keith Simpson said:


> Hi, can anyone recommend the best all round TV service for my apartment.
> Thank you.


where are you?


wherever you are , if you're in an apartment there's probably a communal aerial for Spanish TV - just plug & play - I get something like 40 TV channels free (+ tons of radio stations) & now with digital I can watch a lot in English should I choose to - not English channels obviously, but if programmes were originally made in English you can usually watch them in English - same with things made in German, Italian, French or whatever....

For English channels it depends where you are


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## Dunpleecin (Dec 20, 2012)

There are a few different ways of getting TV in your apartment.

1. A Community aerial which will be live already. You will simply need a set top box (either a Freeview box from the UK or the Spanish equivalent TDT). You will pick up all the Spanish terrestrial channels whichever box you have and if any are English language channels dubbed, you can normally hear the original English via an audio button on the remote. It might say audio or have a icon of a speaker on it. Pressing this will give you the language selection.

2. A Community satellite dish. As above but you will need a sky box or a freesat box. This would be plug and play too but you'd need to see whether it is set to pick up UK TV or Spanish TV as they point in different directions. There is no Freesat in Spain so I am presuming a UK freesat box, even plugged into the Spanish dish wouldn't work.

3. Your own satellite dish. If there is one there already it's as 2 but be aware that later in the year the satellite channels from the UK MAY disappear owing to the relaunch of a new satellite. The launch of this new satellite has been delayed owing to a crash at the launch site, so the chances are that this will happen around Christmas. HOWEVER, NO ONE KNOWS what is going to happen and you may not lose channels at all. This isn't stopping unscrupulous sellers using scare tactics for their own services though, so if someone tells you they know what will happen, they don't.

4. A motorised satellite dish. This is where you can pick up pretty much everything and you use a special box to pick everything up. Not cheap but if you're a telly addict or sports fanatic, it would be fantastic. You possibly won't be affected by the satellite changes either, but I stand to be corrected there.

5. Internet TV. For this you will need a good speed home ADSL and a subscription to an internet TV service. You can get it for Spanish TV or UK TV. However, you need to be aware that if you are sold one of these by some ex pat seller, be aware that UK TV on the internet is only meant for UK households, meaning that this is bypassed by these services by using proxy servers (effectively hiding where you're viewing from). If the UK TV Companies decided to clamp down on this you could end up losing it. Not very satisfactory if you've forked money out. I daresay you wouldn't see your seller for dust.

It also depends where you are. If there is nothing in your apartment and you're desperate for UK TV I would be tempted in going for number 5 for as short a term contract as possible until the satellite situation is sorted out. It then depends on your circumstances, but if the satellite scenario is sorted out early next year, you might want to go for a dish of some description. If you're loaded, then I'd go for option 4.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Dunpleecin said:


> There are a few different ways of getting TV in your apartment.
> 
> 1. A Community aerial which will be live already. You will simply need a set top box (either a Freeview box from the UK or the Spanish equivalent TDT). You will pick up all the Spanish terrestrial channels whichever box you have and if any are English language channels dubbed, you can normally hear the original English via an audio button on the remote. It might say audio or have a icon of a speaker on it. Pressing this will give you the language selection.


newer TVs don't need a box of any kind


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## Dunpleecin (Dec 20, 2012)

Well of course a newer TV with integrated freeview/TDT goes without saying.

I also omitted to mention smart TVs too, but I thought that would over complicate things!


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## Keith Simpson (Jul 26, 2013)

Thanks guys. Shall I buy the TV in Spain ?


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## Keith Simpson (Jul 26, 2013)

Because you guys are so helpful can you also guide me with Internet providers
Thanks again


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Keith Simpson said:


> Because you guys are so helpful can you also guide me with Internet providers
> Thanks again


... you still need to tell us where you are in Spain. 

There are very few national companies. The obvious one is Movistar (used to be known as Telefonica) which uses a fixed line to deliver ADSL - but you need a line and these are harder to get than you might think.

In some larger cities, there are companies like ONO who use fibre optic to deliver ADSL or packed deals (TV, phone, ADSL etc.). 

WiMax is another option but again, almost by definition, these are run by local companies.

Lastly there is satellite internet - probably to be avoided unless it's a last resort.


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## Keith Simpson (Jul 26, 2013)

Sorry guys I'm in Mascarat Nr Altea Costa Blanca

Cheers.


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

Keith Simpson said:


> Sorry guys I'm in Mascarat Nr Altea Costa Blanca
> 
> Cheers.


Ive never come across anyone who lives there 

You have a number of choices, but probably limited by flat living.

Communal system as Xabiachica mentioned
SKY, but you would need a big dish and a UK address it could be registered to
Something like Canal+ which I believe has some UK TV, and you only need a small dish

For internet and phone I used WIMAX with Aeromax. About €30 per month to include both. Having got yourself a decent internet connection you can stream TV progs or download.


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## Keith Simpson (Jul 26, 2013)

Many thanks to all

KS


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

Dunpleecin said:


> HOWEVER, NO ONE KNOWS what is going to happen and you may not lose channels at all. This isn't stopping unscrupulous sellers using scare tactics for their own services though, so if someone tells you they know what will happen, they don't.


You are right here, we had one installer pretty much guarantee us that in our region(Alicante cityish) they can install a 1.4mt dish and it will be fine when the new sat is up. The reasoning was they can receive the first new sat already on a 1.4 and the new one will be the same.
Needless to say we are still without freesat but now we are here we can find more local installers 

Also what is the current size dish needed for this area? Anybody know?



> Lastly there is satellite internet - probably to be avoided unless it's a last resort.


For reasons only known to the landlord this is what we have, I'm not sure it is the only option but hey-ho they were only trying to help and install it for us because we didn't have our NIEs at the time to do it ourselves.

Still it's rubbish, 20mgb downloads and 6mgb uploads my derriere. More like 5 & .18 on a good day.
Not sure if there is anything they can do about it, maybe it's worth asking about. Maybe not.


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## sat (Jul 20, 2008)

Pazcat said:


> You are right here, we had one installer pretty much guarantee us that in our region(Alicante cityish) they can install a 1.4mt dish and it will be fine when the new sat is up. The reasoning was they can receive the first new sat already on a 1.4 and the new one will be the same.
> Needless to say we are still without freesat but now we are here we can find more local installers
> 
> Also what is the current size dish needed for this area? Anybody know?


In Alicante city is currently a 1m / 1.1m dish should suffice. Maybe a 1.25m dish to help with rainfade. (the 1.25m dish is also sold as a 1.4m dish - the dish is 1.25m horizontally - the correct way to measure a dish, and 1.4m vertically - sound like you get more dish for your money!)

However, what sized dish you will need for the new satellites UK beam, which will carry the majority of the BBC ITV channels is anyones guess.

Yes, the theory is that if you can get the 2F channels - like C4HD and Fives, then you should be able to get the channels when they are on 2E - the new satellite. That is assuming 2E is exactly the same as 2F....which is why some installers are saying a 1m-1.25m dish will suffice....

but like I said- no one will know until it is operational.


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## Dunpleecin (Dec 20, 2012)

With regard to internet, you'll only get very fast internet in the big cities I believe. Just like BT the phone lines are all done by Telefonica/Movistar. It's worth checking with Movistar what speed you can get as other operators, who may be cheaper, may claim the same speed as Movistar. Some will be honest though. Round here, Movistar runs at around 8 meg and whilst Orange were going to do it cheaper, they could only offer 6 meg. That was a month wasted though because in the end Orange didn't have the coverage! So I ended up with Movistar and whilst it's not like BT Infinity like I used to have, I can Skype and Viber easily enough even if other applications are a bit slower than I was used to.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Dunpleecin said:


> With regard to internet, you'll only get very fast internet in the big cities I believe. Just like BT the phone lines are all done by Telefonica/Movistar. It's worth checking with Movistar what speed you can get as other operators, who may be cheaper, may claim the same speed as Movistar. Some will be honest though. Round here, Movistar runs at around 8 meg and whilst Orange were going to do it cheaper, they could only offer 6 meg. That was a month wasted though because in the end Orange didn't have the coverage! So I ended up with Movistar and whilst it's not like BT Infinity like I used to have, I can Skype and Viber easily enough even if other applications are a bit slower than I was used to.


The only trouble with that is that Movistar LIE!

I checked recently on there web site (using my telephone number) and was told I could have 8Mb. Speaking to them, they agree that I can only get between 512K and 1Mb because I'm in the campo!!!!


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