UK TV in Stockholm (should work world wide)

byke

I have been looking to get some good UK TV while living in Stockholm, Sweden.
But getting UK TV is really tough and there (at present) are only 3 options to get UK TV over here.

1. Satellite
2. Sling Player
3. VPN

One of the biggest issues of no one offering good sollutions for UK TV abroad is because of licensing
agreements / TV license's etc ... Maybe in the future we will see some good options but at present
its a bureaucratic issue.

1. Satellite
I haven't been able to do this as it requires something like a 2 meter dish.
This is by far the best option over here to get as many channels as possible with some of the best
quality, but the feasibility of it is virtually impossible unless you live in the woods in the middle of
nowhere. Satellite does offer the largest amount of channels and best type of quality
(so if you can .... do it!)

2. Sling Player
This is defiantly a great option if you have access to the parts needed.

- A friend or family relative with a good internet connection.
- A friend or family relative with a good TV connection.
- A "sling box".

Basically you hook this system up to your TV & Internet and what it does is, it converts your TV
stream into a internet stream so that you can then log on (via the internet) to the slingbox and
watch TV from anywhere in the world as long as your internet connection is good.

This option defiantly comes in second place if you have all the bits as the quality is identical to
satellite if you choose it to be (via the settings)

3. VPN
I am currently on this and I will let you know what I am using and how it works.

My set up :
iMac computer
A good internet connection
VPN / UK Based IP
TV
Cable from computer to TV

Firstly I pay a monthly subscription service for a VPN.
Basically this means my computer dials into another computer (in the UK)
and then if anyone tries to find out where I am located it shows UK on the results (aka a UK IP).

Then (since I use a mac) I have a program on my system called "Zattoo" which is basically like
having a TV controller on your desktop and a TV screen to see TV.

This allows me to watch the following live channels :

BBC 1
BBC 2
BBC 3
BBC 4
BBC News
BBC Parliament
BBC CBeebies
BBC CBBC
ITV 1
Channel 4
Five TV

..... and a few other european channels which I have never really bothered even trying to watch.
I have a cable from my computer to my TV so I can actually watch TV on my TV.

So basically once this is setup, I have to use a remote control on my Mac to change channels.
And I watch the actual TV programs on my TV.

Its by no means the best way, but its one of the cheapest ways and its my only option at present.
I pay about 10 euros a month for the VPN account.
I then pay the normal local TV and internet bills.

The only problems is that sometimes the VPN IP can go down, or the internet connection can go down.
And obviously you need all these things in sync at the same time to work.

So far its been really good.
Yes there have been some glitches due to all these extra bits that need to work together.
But for myself it has been well worth it, as it really has been a god send a life boost to be able to have the
possibility to watch UK TV.

It all sounds really complicated, and I can promise you it is not.
It may take 20 minutes to set it all up, but its not hard (i am by far no computer geek)

If anyone wants help, just say so and I can make you a step by step video (for this VPN option)
as it is very simple.

Obviously in the future it should get easier as technology evolves.

Cheers

Mark
_________________
www.bykeforum.com
www.bykestore.com
www.technausa.com
www.yogurt.se

byke · Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:04 pm Post subject:

Just a small update, bbc iPlayer is talking about a better quality stream
signal being made available in the next few days (fingers crossed)
_________________
www.bykeforum.com
www.bykestore.com
www.technausa.com
www.yogurt.se