Streaming TV

ukexpatspain22 · 10 Apr 2009 at 06:49

Any other expats out there?
Just made the move a few months ago! Things have been very hectic, but are finally starting to slow down some. I'm glad I found this forum- will be good to talk to other expats.
What do you all do for the entertainment you are used to? For example TV, radio, music.. ect, ect.
I am from the UK- are there websites that stream radio channels that I could use? I guess the music is not a big deal, there are always online stores and iTunes. Does anybody use these products?
What about television? What do you all do so you don't miss out on all of your favorite shows? I have seen a lot of websites offering UK television on your PC, but are they good? I have been trying a product called Dual Viewer Dual Viewer. They had a 24 hour trial period, and I am pretty impressed with it. Seems to offer the channels I liked the most, and gives me a UK address so I can watch them online.
Has anybody tried Dual Viewer or a similar product? Seems to be a good solution for expats or people without sky. Anything better? Just want some feedback before I decide to buy.

allosunshine · 10 Apr 2009 at 07:40

I'm from the UK living abroad and I have a VPN which gives me a UK IP address which then allows me to watch all the catch up players from all the UK terrestial channels. I also have a program called zattoo which lets you stream Freeview TV from the UK.

jbloggs · 10 Apr 2009 at 10:20

allosunshine said:
I have a VPN which gives me a UK IP address...

Just out of interest, how did you set this up?

allosunshine · 10 Apr 2009 at 12:26

jbloggs said:
Just out of interest, how did you set this up?

I got it from a VPN provider, strongvpn.com. It costs me $15 a month or you can go for OpenVPN which I think is $20.

If you want to go for it let me know and I'll refer you if you don't mind.

Matteysan · 10 Apr 2009 at 13:30

I use TVcatchup, has quite a few channels to watch. Just a quick sign up & away you go

allosunshine · 10 Apr 2009 at 15:19

I've used TVcatchup as well, same thing as zattoo, only diffeence is tvcatchup is web based and zattoo is a program that you download and run from your pc.

jbloggs · 10 Apr 2009 at 15:21

Mattey1 said:
I use TVcatchup, has quite a few channels to watch. Just a quick sign up & away you go

The reason I was asking is because I have a sister in Australia, and she would like to watch UK TV channels, like BBC etc, but these require a UK IP address to get them, seemingly Zattoo requires a UK IP address to watch UK tv channels as well, so what would be the best (free) method to watch UK tv channels (by streaming?) in Australia?

Happy · 10 Apr 2009 at 16:30

If she's in Oz then the timings for the programs will be wrong, unless she's nocturnal

jbloggs · 10 Apr 2009 at 17:30

Happy said:
If she's in Oz then the timings for the programs will be wrong, unless she's nocturnal

BBC iPlayer (and the ITV/Channel 4 etc equivalents) are not time dependant, Zattoo would be; however, the point of the post was to find out the best option to actually achieve it, rather than worry about times...

allosunshine · 10 Apr 2009 at 17:37

I personally dont know of a totally free option but paying out for the VPN is worthwhile if your gonna use it enough. Plus it is the only layout as all the channels catchup and both programs, zattoo and tvcatchup, are all free.

Happy · 10 Apr 2009 at 17:39

jbloggs said:
BBC iPlayer (and the ITV/Channel 4 etc equivalents) are not time dependant, Zattoo would be; however, the point of the post was to find out the best option to actually achieve it, rather than worry about times...

I was talking about Zattoo and TVCatchUp, but yeah point taken

jbloggs · 10 Apr 2009 at 18:23

allosunshine said:
I personally dont know of a totally free option...

Well, I suppose in all possibility there probably is none, or if there was you probably would have found it...

allosunshine · 10 Apr 2009 at 19:05

jbloggs said:
Well, I suppose in all possibility there probably is none, or if there was you probably would have found it...

I did have a good look but I'm sure if someone looked a bit more or in different place there may be a solution but until then I'll just carry on paying for the VPN.
There is plenty of software out there offering satellite tv on your pc but its all paid for software and a lot of it is american tv I think.

ukexpatspain22 · 12 Apr 2009 at 02:10

That is what this Dual Viewer does- lets you watch channel 4, bbc, 5 ect on your pc. Must give you a UK IP address or something. Nobody else has tried this solution?
How fast are the VPN's?

allosunshine · 12 Apr 2009 at 04:48

ukexpatspain22 said:
That is what this Dual Viewer does- lets you watch channel 4, bbc, 5 ect on your pc. Must give you a UK IP address or something. Nobody else has tried this solution?
How fast are the VPN's?

Most days they are ok, its just around peak times I get some stuttering but then I guess it depends on your links back to the UK from where you are.

allosunshine · 12 Apr 2009 at 04:50

By the way, have you downloaded and tried that Dualviewer?? You get a 24 hour free trial.

Naushad · 2 Mar 2014 at 10:01

I have Sling Box connected to cable to access my favourite programs when I am on the road.

gareth170 · 2 Mar 2014 at 12:12

Naushad said:
I have Sling Box connected to cable to access my favourite programs when I am on the road.

same here i have a HDS-600RS Freesat+ Twin DVB-S2 HD Tuners Sling Box it's really good when your away from home or on holiday.

Glaucus · 2 Mar 2014 at 12:29

allosunshine said:
I got it from a VPN provider, strongvpn.com. It costs me $15 a month or you can go for OpenVPN which I think is $20.

If you want to go for it let me know and I'll refer you if you don't mind.

Unblock-us would be far easier and cheaper and simple to change region etc.