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Television

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Post by chriscol Sat May 24, 2014 7:56 pm

We pay €50 per month, €600 per year for Sky TV at our house in Bagni Di Lucca.  We visit for approximately 12 weeks per year, so approximately 3 months. Does anyone know if Sky Italia are prepared to switch on/off a customers Sky subscription so that a customer only pays for a what they want to use?  Are there any other TV packages which would allow us to only pay for the time we are actually in Italy?  Seems mad to overpay.  If we could pay say €200 for our use that would free up €400 to enjoy eating out!  P.S. We don't take the sports package.

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Post by stevegwmonkseaton Sat May 24, 2014 9:05 pm

I'm sure it will be whatever it is in the UK! Once your contract period is up you can do what you want, in theory! Here in Italy you might find it just a little harder to get it sorted... Filmon seems to be the best bet here for TV (would not really know as we don't bother).

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Post by Vicino Sun May 25, 2014 7:09 am

Filmon.com is great, https://www.filmon.com/

you need obviously an internet connection. Are you wanting SKY Italia or SKY UK ?


A lot of Italian TV (Rai channels for instance) are available online

[url=http://www.rai.tv/dl/RaiTV/dirette/PublishingBlock-5d691044-de91-4942-8c9c-4b9bda4b8b79.html?channel=Rai 5]http://www.rai.tv/dl/RaiTV/dirette/PublishingBlock-5d691044-de91-4942-8c9c-4b9bda4b8b79.html?channel=Rai%205[/url]

also if you have access to a SKY package in the UK, you can connect to that from here with a VPN connection and SKYgo (the latter being free)

SKYgo:
http://go.sky.com/vod/page/default/home.do

VPN:
https://www.my-private-network.co.uk/

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Post by Chillout Sun May 25, 2014 8:49 am

Some good advice from Vicino above.

If you dont have Sky Tv in the UK, you can still get their online services through www.nowtv.com

You can purchase the online boxes that cost just 9.99 (one off payment) and select what packages you want on a monthly basis.

The only draw back is that the online boxes connect through wifi to your router so you will need to use a smartdns service such as overplay.net (when in Italy) as you are unable to configure the dns settings in the box itself.

All you need to do is add the smartdns server details into your router (not all routers have this option but many do) and they will tunnel the stream through their servers resulting that you are located in the UK.

I have been using it for quite a few months now and works really well. You can also have up to three boxes connected at the same time. (subject to your internet connection)

If you want the Italian Sky version then try www.skyonline.it I have not tried this as it seems more expensive than the UK version and you have to watch it through a PC or tablet.

Remember with both of these services, you get a stripped down version of Sky services but I still have found it to be good for it's price and no contracts. (apart from the sports package which is very expensive)

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Post by Flip Sun May 25, 2014 10:19 am

Pardon me if I appear rude but why oh Why do you bother with Sky TV for that short a period; a pure waste of money.
My advice for what it's worth (assuming you don't already have Internet connection) would be to get CloudItalia installed in the house [local supplier/installer Stormdrop in  Ghivizzano] which do intermittent use packages for Holiday Homes and use as previously mentioned Filmon, Rai, etc etc iPlayers.
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Post by chriscol Sun May 25, 2014 10:40 am

Thank you for your advice Steve, Vicino, Chillout, and Flip.
We have wifi courtesy of Stormdrop.  Perhaps what I need to do is to speak with them about the TV package available using the wifi capability.  When we bought the house in late 2011 the previous owners had Sky - we literally just carried it on, and carried on paying the Sky bills.  I think we were going through a settling in period before beginning to question exactly what we needed for our own requirements.
I must admit though the €50 a month is a driver for change so to speak!

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Post by chriscol Sun May 25, 2014 12:35 pm

Flip,  I think its Clouditalia that we've got.  Stormdrop fitted a dish on the side of the house and the way it works is that the wifi signal is bounced off various houses in the village/across the valley. Can't recall the name but Clouditalia sounds familiar.  It allows me to use my laptop in the house, plus any other laptops and phones we bring with us. We get UK Sky news and some films but thats about all.  I'm familiar with Rai and tbh we're out so much I wonder whether what we really need to do is to abandon the Sky package completely and just revert back to basic Italian TV and try a few add-ons (Filmon.com etc).

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Post by Vicino Sun May 25, 2014 1:06 pm

It sounds to me that you want FILMON...(live streaming UK TV channels ...FREE)  ..............fullstop!

IF you want more you need a VPN to get you into the UK, I'm GUESSING that you do not want Italian TV ?

If you take your SKY card out the receiver box, the programs that are left is what you would have if you cancel SKY

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Post by chriscol Sun May 25, 2014 1:16 pm

Thanks for that Vicino.  Sounds like Filmon would be ideal for us.  We want access to UK channels and Italian TV.  We have the receiver box with the Sky card in it, so next time we're out I might just take out the card, see what we're left with, and if the rest of the family are OK with it, use Filmon as a supplement to whatever we're left with after we take out the Sky card.  I could then cancel Sky.  I take it I need the wifi connection to use Filmon.  Do I need to stream it to the TV via my macbook.

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Post by Vicino Sun May 25, 2014 2:20 pm

Yup...............HDMI cable if poss..............or with the money that you save, buy a mickey mouse laptop to use just for the streaming. You could also consider the 'NOW TV' box that 'chillout' mentioned earlier.

You could obviously try it all in the UK before you come here. You do not need a VPN for FILMON, but you would need one for pretty much anything else from the UK. What you see using FILMON in the UK should be exactly what you would get here !

If you do go down the VPN route, this would enable you to download anything from the BBC via their superb iPlayer, then watch it offline for up to 30 days after downloading.

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Post by chriscol Sun May 25, 2014 2:34 pm

Vicino thank you very much.  You, Chillout, Flip and Steve have increased my 'TV in Italy' knowledge considerably.

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Post by Flip Sun May 25, 2014 4:01 pm

Chriscol, if you only use your internet for 12 weeks of the year then maybe investigate changing your contract with them (have a chat with the nice lady at Stormdrop she speaks fluent English) as you can get an on demand service through them.
We have the full internet package with them and use Filmon for UK TV and Rai, Mediaset online streaming for Italian TV it covers anything and if it's Sky Atlantic shows you want then StreamAllThis is what you need to look at; all FREE by the way. Use an HDMI cable to connect your PC/Laptop to the Telly and Roberto is your Zia.
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Post by chriscol Sun May 25, 2014 4:29 pm

Thanks Flip.  I think we might have the on demand service already.  When we get to Bagni I usually go to the Tabacchi opposite La Primavera.  I give them some euros and an account number and they pay the cash into our wifi account set up by Stormdrop.  We then log on for the duration of our stay, and log off when we leave. It provides us with  telephone and wifi.  Does that sound like the on demand service?  I think ive heard enough on this forum to convince me that Filmon/Mediaset/Streamallthis  is the way forward. Thank you again.

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Post by modicasa Mon May 26, 2014 4:54 am

At  the risk of sounding .... etc.  You come to ITaly for 12 weeks a year and you sit inside watching UK TV - you might as well stay at home!  Read a book.  Visit places. make yourself so tired you just want to go to bed,  and you'll save money.!

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Post by chriscol Mon May 26, 2014 8:11 am

Absolutely right Modicasa.  But I have 2 teenagers and there's usually some sort of TV fix required (even if its only for a short time) each day or evening. We watch Italian and UK TV. The Italian we find helps with the language skills.  I'm a reader, which is probably why i'm being reluctantly forced to address this issue now rather than 2 years ago when I should have had it all sorted!

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Post by modicasa Mon May 26, 2014 8:40 am

Ah the teenager problem!  then you are exempt from my rant!

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Post by chriscol Mon May 26, 2014 9:17 am

Thanks.  Tbh it baffles me when I look outside then look at my children looking at the screen and think what the hell.  I mean re-runs of teen soaps versus the great Italian outdoors, no competition.

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Post by lancashire lass Fri May 30, 2014 8:37 am

Thanks for the tip about about stormdrop Flip, what a lovely couple they are? so helpful and informative. Unfortunatley we cannot get a signal for clouditalia where we live so we will have to keep looking for another solution.

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Post by lancashire lass Fri Jun 27, 2014 12:06 pm

Well I think we have explored all the options now and we haven't resolved anything! We have a 1.2 metre dish and we can't receive any of the uk channels. We have visited the satellite people and they have said that to receive anything we would need a dish the size of the roof!! So that's out. In order to stream via the internet we would need broadband, satellite broadband is out of the question as we cannot receive a signal where we are. So what's left? any suggestions?

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Post by Vicino Sat Jun 28, 2014 7:34 am

Hi LL,

You have no internet of any significance OR none at all ? If you are in the none at all position, you may have to go down the gongle route ......assuming you can get a signal ? A wi-fi gongle could be an option but they tend to have data usage limitations?

If you have a slow internet connection, you can try downloading programs overnight to your laptop? At least then you would have something ?

I assume Filmon.com is also not an option ?

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Post by ghiro Sat Jun 28, 2014 12:48 pm

I have an English skybox with a sky freeview card in Italy. We also have a 1.2m dish and get excellent reception of the non-encrypted channels on Sky.

I thought I could 'activate' the card online but this turned out (mainly because we already have a Sky subscription in the UK) to be impossible.  So next week, when there are people in Casa Ghiro, I'm going to try to 'activate' the card by telephone in the UK.


I'll let you know if I succeed!!
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Post by lancashire lass Sat Jun 28, 2014 12:51 pm

We have  mobile wifi (dongle) with Vodafone which is ok for email and surfing the net except when the weather is bad(a lot recently) but it is not sufficient for downloading programs or using filmon

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Post by Carciofo Sun Jun 29, 2014 10:27 pm

I think it will depend on where the telephone exchange is in relation to Bagni di Lucca (and I suspect this solution will not be cheap) but you could investigate whether it is possible to put in a land line and then get your broadband via ADSL.

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Post by Admin Mon Jun 30, 2014 1:25 pm

Hi Lancashire Lass - why can you not have satellite broadband? I know you said "satellite broadband is out of the question as we cannot receive a signal where we are" but have you checked with the satellite broadband company or are you presuming. I'm only asking as I would be very, very surprised if you can't have satellite broadband.
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Post by lancashire lass Mon Jun 30, 2014 1:41 pm

Yes, we have checked. There is a hill between the transmitter and us.

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