OT: IPTV advice

[Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp]

Hi, The TV aerial gave up the ghost in the UK and I am in the process of getting broaband in Eire. Allthough the Irish place is almost exclusively LG smart TV's, I have nothing "smart" here unless a Blaupunkt with an Ethernet port counts. It pulls in some data channels doing a freview scan, but the data channels are slow to load and apart from a few minutes of video, grind to a halt.

What is available in IPTV boxes and what programs? I did a search and found that providors give trials, but do not actually specify the channels provided.

I notice that a lot of "smart" boxes are Android. Does this mean that Google is part and parcel of the package?

I really want to avoid Google now as I find it far too intrusive, I can never remember the bloody passwords either as they insist on something impossible to remember.

Basically I want a smart box for the UK with a variety of channels, sport is of no concern. The package should hopefully work in Ireland also on the LG's, preferably using the same subscription.

Any recommendations please?

Regards

AB

[tabbypurr]

desktop computer

[Tim Watts]

Roku stick - I have one, pretty decent, handles everything I care about (Youtube, Google Movies, Amazon, Netflix, iPlayer and many randome TV channels)

Beware Google Chromesticks and Amazon thingies - they tend to not work with "the enemy's media" which is bloody stupid.

[Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp]

Many thanks, I bought a Roku Express from the local Asda and am in the middle of playing now.

It does not get freeeview though?

It gets Iplayer and I seem to have the option of Netflix.

I guess Iplayer will dissapear in Eire though :-(

Hola seems to have gone now, so I assume a VPN will be needed.

Thanks for the recommendation, it is a cheap introduction to TV streaming.

Regards

AB

[Brian Gaff]

Should you not be worrying more about how fast the broadband its in the UK? Sounds to me like your speed is going to be too slow whatever you shove on the end of it. Brian

[Harry Bloomfield]

Tim Watts submitted this idea :

Firestick? Mine seems to work with everything thrown at it, including Kodi.

[Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp]

Thanks, I suspect the data problem was more to do with the TV, it's a Blaupunkt and was not sold as "smart". I discovered the data channels by accident when I connected the RJ45 to see if a software upgrade could be downloaded, come to think about it the software never was found and the reason I connected was because of a slow response to the remote.

I was with Virgin at the time and am now on a much slower feed, Post Office, not even sure if it's fibre.

I got sick of Virgins grab money techniques!

Anyway this Roku stick that I have bought streams video perfectly. I must admit it is surprising what is available and it beggars belief that people can find time to view some of the stuff that's on offer, at least with film as a recording medium there was an initial financial outlay to recoup, it seems obvious that people take full advantage of the virtually zero overhead costs to produce videos that would make paint drying major blockbuster material.

I suppose after I usethe stick for a while, I will figure out what I should have bought :-)

Regards

AB

[Tim Watts]

Youtube was deactivated by Google.

[Theo]

You can't get OTA Freeview on a pure IPTV stick, you need a tuner for that. I don't suppose you get any UK DVB-T transmissions? The two options in that sphere are Freeview Play and YouView.

It's worth noting that YouView boxes from the likes of BT and TalkTalk work fine if you aren't on those ISPs - just things like 'BT Sport' don't work. There are loads on ebay for not-very-much.

If you can't get DVB-T, have you tried satellite? You're probably in beam for Freesat, and there are smart TV Freesat boxes (eg Humax HDR1100s)

Theo