BBC begins IPTV service on Freesat platform

[YorkshireLad6 7,152]

BBC quietly added true IPTV services to its' Freesat offering over the last weekend.

 

Anyone with an internet connected Freesat box can now receive an increasing offering of programme content and add-ons (the first streams included Strictly Come Dancing as well as behind-the-scenes content). Further options will include comedy, music and sport. Internet provides more bandwidth to allow BBC to increase their increasing range of "red buttton" multimedia services.

 

Of course they block IP addresses attempting to view from outside of the UK, but like iPLayer this is easy to circumvent with a suitable proxy

 

BBC Announcement

BBC Blog

[PumbaMunich 871]

I just stumbled upon this product , not sure if it block IP addresses outside the UK or not, but a one time fee of 35 euro plus a VPN account somewhere would be a great way to watch UK tv for those unable to install a satellite dish.

[YorkshireLad6 7,152]

Yep, that would work. It's simply a bespoke user-interface in BBC iPlayer, so that's all you get (Freesat boxes and many TVs include at least ITV Player too) and you'd need to work out how to funnel it through a VPN/poxy.

[PumbaMunich 871]

Well at least you guys to have cheaper options... I had to cough up around 300-400 euro for my IPTV-box to receive the free-to-air channels from Nilesat and Arabsat

 

there's a yearly subscription of around 200 euro as well...

[ovbg 724]

I don't know if this is still valid, but with my Humax HDR FreeSat box, I required still a Satellite signal to use the IPTV services. Despite the fact that those services didn't come through the Satellite, but through the internet, they were invoked by pressing the "Red" button, which was only available with a UK Satellite signal.

 

Just passing a warning, in case anyone was considering an older Humax HDR box to do this.

 

It is very likely the newer boxes have a proper direct access to the BBC iPlayer that doesn't require the red button nor satellite signal to work.

 

And somewhat related, those of you with a Satellite connection to the UK satellites, plus a UK Sky+ box, you may now be seeing the BBC iPlayer included on your system There is even talk that 4oD will come on board some time next year. You will of course need some sort of VPN or SmartDNS service to counter the geoblocking, but this may be good news for UK Sky users.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/30/iplayer-sky-hd/

[donaby 124]

@ovbg Can you access iplayer on freesat channel 901 or does this require a satellite signal as well?

 

Itvplayer is available on freesat channel 903 with channel 4 and channel 5 adding their catch up TV offerings shortly.

[ovbg 724]

From memory I couldn't. I remember there were two ways, either through the red button, or via a channel. Neither were available at the time with my Humax HDR receiver.

 

I have since sold it on eBay, so I can't test again.

[hooperski 29,431]

Have just got back home from P C World having bought a HomePlug adaptor, this is supposed to let me watch TV that I've missed on my TV via my laptop. Make sense?.

The product is a German devolo dLAN 200 AV Wireless N.

Anyway there are no verbal instructions, just pictures, and they are as follows.

Plug one adaptor into the wall socket and connect it to your router with an ethernet cable, done that.

Then the picture shows a cable from the other adaptor to the TV, there isn't another cable in the box.

Also the connection has to be ethernet one end, the adaptor end, and HDMI for the TV.

Am I a cable short of a full connection or am I making a complete fist of this?.

Any information or medication would be appreciated. Please send PM. Thanks.

[pog451 2,486]

 

Am I a cable short of a full connection or am I making a complete fist of this?.

 

The fist one.

 

What you have bought is a network switch/adapter and has nothing to do with watching TV. If your TV has en ethernet port, you can connect it to the Devolo and then connect your laptop wirelessly to that, but if your TV doesnt have an internet port, you've bought the wrong thing (and should have bought something like an appleTV.

[PeterN 1,179]

Instructions in English for the dLAN® 200 AV Wireless N Kit can be downloaded here under Product information>Manual

 

devolo make several products that extend a computer network using the mains cabling in your home.

With one of the units attached to your modem/router and plugged into the mains you can plug the second unit into the mains elsewhere in your home. The two units communicate via the mains wiring giving you access to the modem & internet from the second unit.

With the model you have, the second unit acts as an access point for both wired and wireless network connections.

 

With an internet capable smart TV with an ethernet port or wireless networking you could connect the TV to the second devolo unit and give the TV access to the internet.

IF you have a TV that can't be connected to a network then you'll need an internet capable device between the TV and the devolo unit. That device should have an ethernet port or wireless for networking and HDMI for output to the TV. That device could be a laptop, a games console, a set top box, apple TV etc.

[ovbg 724]

The above info should get you in the right direction. What you have now, is a network connection to where you television sits. But, you don't yet have any actual means to watch catch-up television (as far as I know). I'll add a few options for you now, but if you don't actually have an IPTV device you will need to spend some more money.

 

* Smart TV: If your TV does not have a Smart TV Platform, you could go this route. The benefits are that everything is built into your TV. The disadvantages are that it is very costly, and you are quite limited in options. The make with the most on offer for UK services now, is Samsung's D or E series. It's a messy situation though, with some TV's offering more than others. At it's most though, it is still only BBC's iPlayer and ITV (4oD has suggested it will arrive on the Samsung platform next year). Most other brands seem to have the BBC iPlayer only.

 

* Internet ready BluRay Player: An alternative is to buy a BluRay player, or check your existing one if it has internet capabilities. Again, it's a mess like the TV's, with some models offering more services than others, and no way to really know which will have what. I bought my folks a Samsung BluRay for Xmas, and found it only had the BBC iPlayer and no ITV, yet ITV is on my Samsung TV. Still, if you are after a BluRay, this is a possibility.

 

* Playstation & XBOX. If you already have one of these (late versions), they have the ability to access some on-demand services. I haven't tried these myself, and found some people saying they were great, whilst others saying they were very limited. It may be that the XBOX charges a subscription to use anything other than the iPlayer. But if you have one already, give it a go.

 

* Sky or Virgin Box: It is possible that if your Sky or Virgin box is a recent one, you may be able to access on-demand services from them. This may be even for many free view boxes, which have iPlayer or ITV built in. I know my old Humax FreeSat box had this feature, so if you have one of these boxes, plug that ethernet port in from your Devolo box and set up the networking. When you think about it, since this platform was the original purpose of this thread, I should have put this at the top of the list...

 

* Roku: If you have none of the above, a Roku box can be bought which will give you the iPlayer. That is currently the only worthwhile free UK service, despite early this year, Roku saying other providers are in "discussions" with them. Who knows if more will come, but it wouldn't surprise me. Keep in mind only the most expensive box has an ethernet port (which you may need if you don't actually have wifi in your home)

 

* Apple TV: Very similar to the Roku, but not much use on it's own. However, if you do have an iPhone, iPad or late iPod Touch, and you have wifi (???) You have an excellent BBC iPlayer app that can Airplay over to your tele, an average ITV Player, an OK Demand5 Player, and a brilliant 4oD player which can not Airplay (Airplay means it will stream the video to your television using the Apple TV). A good idea if you own the iDevices already, but not worth it to buy it all for this purpose.

 

* YouView: The best for last. This is not a cheap offering, but it will give you everything you need in one package. You get all the terrestrial FreeView channels, with a great EPG, and then they mix in all (yes all) of the UK free on-demand services; BBC, ITV, 4oD and 5 - the only one with everything. The only catch, this will only work in the UK. If you plan to move to another country soon, you can not use this abroad.

 

* FreeTime: Actually, I will mention this as well. It's basically a FreeSat version of YouView. Much less well known, and as far as I know, it only has the BBC iPlayer and ITV player, but they say 4od and Demand5 will come later this year (not long to go)

 

NOTE: Many of the devices above may require an HDMI connection to your TV. Check that your TV has a free HDMI port before considering any purchase. Most new TV's will have one, but older TV's often only have SCART connections.

 

So, you have a few options. Maybe you already have a Satbox or device which has internet ability and connecting to your TV. But maybe you have to buy something new. Many of these devices may have additional subscription services like Netflix and Lovefilm to keep you going - internet television is a really exciting development in entertainment.

[hooperski 29,431]

Hi Guys,

Re my above post, I went back to the store with the product and explained my woes.

Turns out my TV is like me...not smart.

Think I'll just stay as I am and watch catch up TV through my laptop.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.