Has anyone used Europa Network for internet and UK TV?

Hi TV TECH

Do you have a opinion on what Nigela is talking about on another thread ? - these seem to good to be true and we all know what that normally means

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-QUAD-CORE-RK3188-XBMC-TV-BOX-BEST-DEVICE-ON-THE-MARKET-FREE-MOVIES-SPORT-/200955779148?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Internet_TV_Media_Streamers&hash=item2ec9e5d84c

I have these type of boxes coming out of our ears....they do work, but the stream quality of these can be a little ropey and cannot always be guaranteed. Below SD most of the time - unless you happen to be lucky and have a fast internet connection. Whatever you do avoid the USB stick type as they are unreliable and Wi Fi connection slows internet down more - so hard wire connection generally recommended.

Fed up of hearing claims of full HD on 2 meg internet, it is simply not the case. Equipment supplied simply does not have the level of compression required for this. Since the beginning of the year we have been evaluating a number of systems - subscription based & subscription free solutions and some of the claims being made are exaggerated to say the least. As our post below - we've pointed out all the 'in's & out's' of IPTV on the link shown.

The problem with these (subscription free) boxes is they have to be well set up as are complicated (each is usually set up differently) and you have to go searching through streams - so not saying they do not work, just take a cautious approach. Interesting to use and do get a lot of additional content, but not as simple as just pressing the channel button on a standard set top box.  Also what has not been stated is the control mechanism used also a very important. A standard remote control is o.k for the basic menu navigation - until you find that you cannot enter text unless or go to other sections on the screen unless you have a mouse or keyboard - so chances are just after you have purchased, you'll need a secondary controller. The flymouse or airmouse (remote controls with gyroscopes which allow you to point controller directly at screen) - are a useless pain & the 3 or 4 i've tested have a number of buttons which don't work & unless you have the worlds steadiest hands, half the time you'll be selecting the wrong content. 

Personally i've spend nigh on a couple of months fiddling with software on these & unless set up will or you know you can get a reasonable level of support / aftersales - unless technically minded & patient, it may not be suitable. 

We will be offering these shortly (stock on route), but set up a little differently & will supply the correct controller options that make it as easy to use as possible, due to the nature of this type of equipment we'll be offering a specific support page with userguides & videos to make the transition across to this new type of equipment, as easy as possible.

Please also take note of a forum user hamiltoneos as this is UKIPTV company posting a recommendation for themselves and pretending to be a happy user - they have already been removed from a number of forums for this.

Generally if taking recommendations from other users, then choose a long term member, rather than one that appears after 1 or 2 posts to recommend a service..

In conection with the android box you are totally correct you do need a good internet connection.  I have 2 in england (for each of my daughters) - one I set up and doesn't work that well and one i bought which was set up for me with after sales service and works really well.  On the other thread the poster said he had good interent connection.  If that is the case then one of these boxes should be very good for him.  You do need some knowledge it is not as easy as a satellite box but if you can use a windows computer you should be ale to use one of thse boxes if they are set up for you.  If anyone wants to know who i bought mine fom on ebay then pm me and i wil give you their ebay account details.  They actually are very good for use in the uk - must cheaper than sky.  I only use them on 26 inch tv so I don't know what the quality would be like on a big screen.

Quality on a 26" inch compared to a 50" will be considerably different - however at the end of it all, if it's free people can't grumble too much. If you are looking for a good quality picture at that level, probably barking up the wrong tree. The live sports streams seem to be a lower quality than the likes of some of the films / series - again will be affected by your internet speeds - last time I check on 3 meg on a live football match, there was a considerable degree of stuttering - but with all of these things, it can be down to a number of things aside from your internet speed - such as the server you are receiving from - might be very busy.

Though it does beg the question, that if people want cheap / dodgy Sky Sports or Al Jazeera etc - you can do all of this in proper quality on a 1 metre satellite dish in most of Spain using card sharing system for €10 per month! With real HD to boot.

Additionally, noticed that a couple of the iptv subscription providers have 'slipped in' a few additional channels of this nature (though not officially) for their €20 a month or so service charge. Better quality streams than the free stuff, but then you are paying for it - you won't find on ebay as, they'll kick them off for any mentions of such channels. As we all know technically, it's piracy...

I think the big problem are that the internet is generally not so good in Spain as the UK and also a lot more expensive.  At the moment my Spanish property has no internet connection and is in the Almeria area - we probably will have no uk tv soon and I do not want to pay for internet connection as we are not there that much.  The community is trying to get internet for the whole community but it probably won't be good enough for streaming tv (unless you know better).  Have you got any good ideas of how to obtain some TV cheaply?

Get a satellite dish and a freesat box

Its now expected that the new satellite will be operational from late November, just in time to lose channels for Christmas.

http://www.uksatellitehelp.co.uk/2013/08/14/new-launch-date-for-astra-2e-the-new-uk-tv-satellite/#more-657

Note Satandpcguy's response in comments to this

I had heard from someone that it was likely (but not definite) if you lost Channel 5 when the last satellite went up then you probably would lose BBC & ITV when this one goes up.  I think Satandpcguy is correct in that you won't know until it starts to broadcast but the probability is that if you have lost channel 5 then you will probably lose the rest.

 On another thread Nigela was most helpful with regard to android boxes. Further research reveals that this system may not be right for us.

IPTV seems to be verging on the illegal and may be cut off at any time.

I have therefore researched "TV catch-up" which together with a uk VPN maybe the answer. However I assume that uk tv will be streamed through our pc and the only way of transfering this to the tv is via a hdmi cable and wifi will not be possible. Therefore the tv chanell will be on both the pc and tv.

We want a system whereby tv chanells are streamed to our router and then straight to a  tv set top box by wifi with a remote to operate the chanells.

Would a xbmc box connected to the tv give us what we want.

Apologies for these dumb questions but my pc expertise barely extends beyond switching the pc on !!!!!

Go onto a site called Mr Sky, I haven't used them yet, will next time, they paint a very good picture of whats happening about the satellite world in Spain.

Hi Baz, thanks for that. We live on the costa del Sol so I think a dish will be out of the question.For us future uk tv will probably be internet based.

xbmc does work - but is nothing like using a regular set top box & some learning will be required. It is also important to choose the correct hardware to use it with (there are 100's of options) as well as using the right choice of input (user interface) mechanism. This type of software can be customised & user experience will vary depending on how set up, combined with the equipment supplied. For example we do not recommend the small Wi Fi sticks, as streaming is slower via Wi Fi and these seem to get very hot & reliability in some cases is not good. Conclusion a box with hard wire connection (or both options) and more room for cooling seems to provide more stability, Performance will depend on the chipset & memry of the box itself.

Other considerations outside of watching the TV for this type of equipment, include web browsing, games, calendar, email and other applications - almost turning this type of equipment into a 'PC Light'.

If you are going to do yourself (from scratch) - be prepared to spend some considerable time with this. My belief after months of testing this type of equipment, is that this will not be practical or easy for the average person to set up themselves, for the technically minded / or hobbyist, yes.

Most of the remote controls supplied with these boxes do not offer all functions that you will need & either a mouse or wireless keyboard will also be required for the multimedia stuff.

We are in the process of putting together 'everything you need to know about IPTV' which should answer most peoples questions, covering all aspects - internet speeds, wifi, what to expect from different types of equipment etc.

http://tvtech.sharepoint.com/Pages/IPTVCostaBlancaUKTelevision.aspx

Agreed - presently those in Costa Blanca North & South + Costa Calida, seem to be picking up the Astra 2F UK spotbeam, with satellite dish.

Based on SES Astra statements 2E, 2F & next year 2G all are the same generation of equipment and have the same footprints. Based on this statement if you are receiving (example) channel 5 now (on Astra 2F), theory says you should be o.k with existing satellite dish size. If you are not, then this is being used an early indicator that you will not be able to receive all the UK channels with a dish, when they switch all over to 2F / 2E in the next month (launch of 2E tommorrow, around a month before operational).

Generally we would recommend satellite reception as a preference to IPTV, it is a more established technology, the boxes are better & it does not have quality or bandwidth quality / restriction issues that IPTV has.

However for those that cannot receive via satellite - the only option will be IPTV - in which case there are two clear options - either the subscription based, easy to use IPTV (which you pay monthly / annually subscription for). Or a subscription free Linux / Android based systems - both have their pro's & con's with ultimately the answer being which is more suited to the specific end user. 

"As a matter of interest in an area like Mojacar where we have lost channel 5 reception would there be any chance of a small community of 70 houses getting together and having a large community dish? If so what sort of size and cost are are talking about?"

As the new satellite has yet to launch (now delayed to September 30th or after) - cannot determine accurately dish size (or if at all possible), until 2E operational. You may be o.k with a 1.9 metre dish, based on previous reports in Almeria 2F spotbeam.

If is the case without viewing layout of community etc, difficult to be exact - however as a guideline probably between €180 - €250 per connection (not including set top box) final figure depends on overall numbers requiring initial connection vs amount of equipment required.

I have just bought an IPTV box and had it set up by a professional tv engineer. I switched from one internet provider to Europa who promised me 5 MG Wimax. the first three days -fine but since then for the last 17 days I have been receiving between 0.09 and 2.85Mgs which is absolutely useless for watching tv. I have been on the phone to them almost daily for the past 2 weeks and nobody will call me back. They now say it is something running on a PC here which is causing the problem. RUBBISH

They promise you everything to get you signed up then once they get the money they could'nt care less. That is my experience with EUROPA NETWORK SPAIN.  Tomorrow morning I will be back on to them trying to get a solution but hey the've got my money now so why should they care.

Moraira, Costa Blanca