Those of you who like TV but travel abroad regularly will know what a pain it can be to tune in to BBC and ITV.
If you have a "normal" Freesat/Sky dish, it will work as far as central or southern France, depending on how big it is. beyond that - ie down into Spain and Portugal, you are looking at using a different satellite and receiver and a 90cm dish, which while not too complicated, is a bit of a pain for normal users.
More recently, owners are turning to the internet to get their BBC and ITV (and many others), but regular users will know that BBC and ITV can tell that you are abroad, and block you.
You can get round this by using a VPN service, but again, this can get a bit too complicated for the average guy, and BBC and ITV are constantly playing cat and mouse with the VPN services and banning them - so it will work fine for weeks, then disappear.
If you have a "normal" Freesat/Sky dish, it will work as far as central or southern France, depending on how big it is. beyond that - ie down into Spain and Portugal, you are looking at using a different satellite and receiver and a 90cm dish, which while not too complicated, is a bit of a pain for normal users.
More recently, owners are turning to the internet to get their BBC and ITV (and many others), but regular users will know that BBC and ITV can tell that you are abroad, and block you.
You can get round this by using a VPN service, but again, this can get a bit too complicated for the average guy, and BBC and ITV are constantly playing cat and mouse with the VPN services and banning them - so it will work fine for weeks, then disappear.
And if you do use the internet for TV, then you have the added problem that usually you can only really do it easily on your phone laptop or tablet. If you want it on your main TV, you have to connect your device to your TV with an HDMI cable, which can be a pain, and it uses a lot of battery power, especially if you use a laptop.
The other problem is that internet TV uses quite a lot of data, and you have to decide whether to use your UK sim, roaming, or buy a local SIM card. However data prices have come down these last few years, and I find that this problem is nowhere near as bad as it was a few years ago. I find that you can generally buy data for well under €1 per gb, and if you have Netflix and Iplayer on the low quality setting, you can get about 3 hours of viewing out of a gig.
The other problem is that internet TV uses quite a lot of data, and you have to decide whether to use your UK sim, roaming, or buy a local SIM card. However data prices have come down these last few years, and I find that this problem is nowhere near as bad as it was a few years ago. I find that you can generally buy data for well under €1 per gb, and if you have Netflix and Iplayer on the low quality setting, you can get about 3 hours of viewing out of a gig.
All in all it's always been a bit of a cat and mouse game, and certainly a pain in the arse sometimes. I do it for a hobby, but I know that many others just give up.
So that's the background - now I want to tell you about my latest solution, which I am extremely happy with. What follows assumes you have either a hotspot or wifi router in your van, with enough data for your viewing needs. My favourite 12v router is the Huawei B525 which has big antennas. I am not a fan of those tiny MiFi units - their antennas are too small.
So that's the background - now I want to tell you about my latest solution, which I am extremely happy with. What follows assumes you have either a hotspot or wifi router in your van, with enough data for your viewing needs. My favourite 12v router is the Huawei B525 which has big antennas. I am not a fan of those tiny MiFi units - their antennas are too small.
It revolves around the Amazon Firestick, which costs about £40, and plugs into the HDMI socket of any TV, and converts it to a Smart TV. Even if your TV is smart already, you still need a Firestick for this solution. Then you need to subscribe to a service called UK EXpat TV VPN. It's a few pounds per month. What is different about this service, vs all the other VPN services, is that they guarantee access to UK TV services - so that if UK TV services suddenly have a purge on VPN services and cause a problem, UK Expat make the changes at their end, so you have to do nothing at your end.
The other piece of the jigsaw is that they provide an app that you download to the Firestick, and this app only needs 3 clicks of the remote to start up.
So all you need to do, is switch on the TV, select the HDMI port, wait for the Firestick to start, click on the VPN, and you are then good to go - Iplayer, ITV Hub, Britbox, Netflix, Amazon and all the others, all work perfectly as they do back home.
So all you need to do, is switch on the TV, select the HDMI port, wait for the Firestick to start, click on the VPN, and you are then good to go - Iplayer, ITV Hub, Britbox, Netflix, Amazon and all the others, all work perfectly as they do back home.
All you need is enough data in whatever country you are in.
It is also a low power solution, which is important if you spend a lot of time on battery power.
I have been using it for several weeks now, and I am so impressed I decided to blog about it. I used to spend ages messing around with various VPNs and changing things around, but since I got this, it has been a doddle.
It is also a low power solution, which is important if you spend a lot of time on battery power.
I have been using it for several weeks now, and I am so impressed I decided to blog about it. I used to spend ages messing around with various VPNs and changing things around, but since I got this, it has been a doddle.
I am not saying this is the only way to get UK internet TV abroad - there are loads of ways if you are techy enough - but I am saying that this is the easiest and simplest I have ever come across - it just works and is easy to use.
This should be of particular interest to anybody who winters abroad in Spain or Portugal (or Italy even) - data is cheap in these countries. France is a bit more awkward, but your satellite system should work in France if you have one.
I should also say that I am am not claiming any originality or credit for this setup - only that I have found it the easiest and most efficient of the many I have tried so far, and that that should make it more accessible to non techy people.
EDIT - If you are using a UK sim card - roaming - then you usually don't need the VPN - the firestick will think it's still in the UK. But if you use a local non UK sim, then the VPN is essential.
This website is useful for getting data deals in different countries
https://prepaid-data-sim-card.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Europe
And this is UK Expat VPN - I daresay I could get a commission for linking them, but I can't be bothered - not many people read this blog anyway!
https://www.ukexpatvpn.com/
This should be of particular interest to anybody who winters abroad in Spain or Portugal (or Italy even) - data is cheap in these countries. France is a bit more awkward, but your satellite system should work in France if you have one.
I should also say that I am am not claiming any originality or credit for this setup - only that I have found it the easiest and most efficient of the many I have tried so far, and that that should make it more accessible to non techy people.
EDIT - If you are using a UK sim card - roaming - then you usually don't need the VPN - the firestick will think it's still in the UK. But if you use a local non UK sim, then the VPN is essential.
This website is useful for getting data deals in different countries
https://prepaid-data-sim-card.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Europe
And this is UK Expat VPN - I daresay I could get a commission for linking them, but I can't be bothered - not many people read this blog anyway!
https://www.ukexpatvpn.com/
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