Hi All,
Frustrated trying to keep up to date with UK TV programmes when in Fuerteventura, I think I have finally found a satisfactory solution. TV on holiday.
Essentially it's a VPN facility so BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub etc all think you are in the UK, and therefore allow you to catch up with programmes.
I have tried various VPN apps before (Tunnel Bear etc) but they have never proved satisfactory. TV on holiday is a paid for service (£4/week, £8/month, £35/6 months, £60/year) but having tried it for two weeks, I'm delighted with the service.
I usually use First One TV https://www.firstonetv.net/Live/United-Kingdom, for watching live TV, but often miss programmes, so TV on holiday http://www.tvonholiday.co.uk has proved to be fantastic.
I have no connection with either (or any) companies.
Tom.
Hi Tom,
Just a question. This works on a “vpnâ€. I have heard that vpn`s reduce your download speed significantly, I also heard that a smart dns does not !! Can you enlighten us please. Considering that many in the stix`s suffer poor download speeds,
Cheers
Ron
Hi Ron,
It was always my understanding that streaming via a VPN would be difficult out here with the bandwidth generally available (I, like many others, rely on a wireless network, which struggles at times).
I proved that to be true over the last two years using a range of VPN servers including a VPN back to my own network in my home in the UK. Therefore, I was rather reluctant to sign up to a paid service.
I tried TV on holiday as it was only £4 for a week, sufficiently inexpensive to risk a trial. If it didn't perform as I wanted, it was easy enough to cancel. I did have an issue with Chromecast (it will not work if you are connected to a VPN server) and I was offered a full refund - I didn't accept it as I was able to send the signal to my TV by a cable, rather than Chromecast.
So, my conclusion is, the VPN server needs loads of capacity - not something you will find one free service - and TV on holiday have shown me that it works. OK, I get the occasional stuttering, but that's down to the wi-fi signal within Cotillo.
As for Smart DNS, I'm not really able to assist you. I'm using a laptop and a HDMI cable to my un-smart TV.
Hope that answers your questions Ron.
Tom.
Getflix is as little as £1 a month - http://www.getflix.com.au/pricing
Been using it for years now, no issues at all.
14 day free trial, so you can use it for your holidays for zilch cost.
It has both SmartDNS and VPN, but SmartDNs is all you need.
SmartDNS basically tricks the original BBC/ITV/C4/C5 streams in to believing you are in the UK and they then happily stream to you directly.
VPN/VPS re-routes absolutely everything, and that's simply not required. In laymans terms VPN/VPS is just another unnecessary stop on the bus that slows down the overall journey.