Speed concerns for HDTV streaming

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Ricasso
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Speed concerns for HDTV streaming

Postby Ricasso » Mon Oct 30, 2017 9:05 am

Hello all, I'd appreciate others experience on this one.

I'm buying a property in the Cómpeta area and the internet provider that the current owners use has a small dish and they subscribe to a package called 'Essential' which gives a download speed of 'up to' 10mbps.
Currently in Berlin, I'm receiving 'up to' 50mbps and receive around 45mbps when I do a download speed check.
That's fine for streaming UK TV catch-up. Even using a VPN service (with a UK IP address), which I know can slow the speed down considerably especially in peak hours, I get a way good enough speed for a buffer-free connection and good picture quality.
My concern is that if I take out the 'Essential' package and receive 'up to' 10mbps - also using a VPN, my guess is that the speed is going to go right down to anywhere near a useable level and as UK TV is all High Definition now, any chance of streaming TV is going to be hopeless! That's what I reckon, at least. As I'm up in the hills, fibre optics are just a dream.

Does anyone know of a solution or am I predicting the worse as I don't actually really know how streaming will work on this connection but I don't want to commit to a 12 month contract if I can't stream TV!!

I'm sure there are many people in my area who have the same predicament and hope have found a solution. Any workable options that are available, I'd love to know about!!

Many thanks for any help that you can provide.


The 'Essential' package currently available provides:

Wireless, no land-line required.
Up to 10Mbps download speed
Up to 1 Mbps upload
4/10 SLA Guarantee
Free UK Proxy (Normally €10/Month)
Free TV Streams 14 high quality streams
Unlimited data, no monthly limits
No usage charges
Unlimited web browsing
UK & ES IP addresses
Multi-language technical support
30 day money back guarantee
300Mbs WiFi router
Supports WiFi B,G & super fast N standards
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Wicksey
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Re: Speed concerns for HDTV streaming

Postby Wicksey » Mon Oct 30, 2017 11:22 am

If it includes a UK proxy and UK IP address then surely you won't need the VPN as well?

I subscribe to SmartyDNS to hide my whereabouts which does not slow down the system and I do not get over 4mbps but can watch catch-up TV in HD with no problem. I'm sure others will confirm that you can watch TV on a slower internet connection as there are many of us here in the campo that do get get as much as 10mbps. (The other solution to watching TV is via the Intelsat907 which does not need the internet .... do a search on here as there's loads of info. Depends on what you want to watch/do with TV.)

casita-bonita
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Re: Speed concerns for HDTV streaming

Postby casita-bonita » Mon Oct 30, 2017 1:43 pm

That looks like the spec of Broadband4Spain.

10mb is way more than enough to watch 720p definition streams along with Dolby sound with no buffering. You may find 1080p is a bit iffy though. Personally I find 720 more than adequate on my 42inch TV.

Their UK ip address is a little weird in that you have to go into a browser and enable it for a period of time, or that's the way it used to work when I was with them. They had a proxy for BBC iplayer, but that may have changed since they offer an ipTV service. May be worth considering subscribing to that rather than set up your own tv box. Depends what your needs are.

I find that if I run an openvpn client on my TV box rather than the router I lose very little speed, maybe 10-15% whereas with the VPN on the router I lose 50%, guess my router is a bit weak on processing power.

You can always settle for a DNS redirection service if you aren't overly concerned about hiding your location as the DNS service will enable you to view most UK TV. I use smartDNSproxy which also also gives you VPN within the package for a measly $34 for two years. Works like a charm.
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Bob

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Re: Speed concerns for HDTV streaming

Postby Chunky Monky » Mon Oct 30, 2017 2:16 pm

We have a maximum of 10Mbps download speed and use SmartyDNS too. Last night, for some reason, we couldn't get the BBC iPlayer using the DNS service so used the SmartyDNS VPN instead. We watched The Blue Planet II program without any problems.

casita-bonita
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Re: Speed concerns for HDTV streaming

Postby casita-bonita » Mon Oct 30, 2017 6:46 pm

Odd because we watched live BBC2 via the iPlayer app all yesterday eve with DNS redirection. No problems at all.
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Bob

Ricasso
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Re: Speed concerns for HDTV streaming

Postby Ricasso » Tue Oct 31, 2017 9:17 am

Yes, the spec is Broadband4Spain - (I was too afraid to mention brands as I believe you can get banned for advertising!!) Yes Wicksey, they do offer a VPN with that package. I currently subscribe to 'MyExpatNet' which is great but the UK directed IP does slow things down in peak hours and at 10mbps, I can't afford that. I don't necessarily need to hide myself per se but only for the purpose of watching UK TV.

HDTV is obviously better but if you can switch to standard definition (is that 720? - I should know all this as an Ex video editor), for a buffer-free viewing... can do that on ITV/BBC/Channel 4 catch-up sites?

I don't know anything about TV Boxes unfortunately or even what an 'open vpn' is Bob as opposed to what I subscribe to with MyExpatNet. I didn't really want to subscribe to a TV service but isn't an 'IPTV' service internet based anyway, therefore relying on a reasonable internet speed, the same as what's required from the catch-up TV channel websites?

Maybe I should look into SmartyDNS. With the BB4S package, perhaps it will stream ok. (?) :-/ .. or if all else fails, perhaps the IntelSat that Wicksey suggests might do it.

Many thanks for all your help..!! :-)
Ricasso,
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casita-bonita
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Re: Speed concerns for HDTV streaming

Postby casita-bonita » Tue Oct 31, 2017 10:08 am

I think that standard definition is 480, but stand to be corrected. 720p is considered HD and is what BBC, ITV etc provide in their streams., 1080p is even better and also referred to as HD, although personally they look pretty much the same.

OpenVPN is VPN client that you can install on your PC, tvbox etc. Confusingly openVPN is also a type of VPN connection. So there are various openvpn clients available of which Openvpn is one.

If TV is your main interest and you want it simple then why not just subscribe to bb4s' TV service in addition to their internet service? If they provide it it should be simple and one would hope reliable.

Don't think that mentioning the company name when asking for opinions would be against forum rules, whereas overtly promoting their service would be.
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Bob

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Wicksey
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Re: Speed concerns for HDTV streaming

Postby Wicksey » Tue Oct 31, 2017 11:09 am

It does really depend on how much you like to watch TV and whether you want services such as catch-up. When we lost the TV channels a few years back I couldn't cope with IPTV as our internet was really slow and it was early days with IPTV services. That's when I got the Intelsat installed as it was a one-off installation cost and didn't need the internet. It gives us all the BBC channels (including radio), ITV 1, CH4, Ch5 and Film4+1.

It was only after changing our TV for a Smart TV recently that I started looking into getting the DNS set up and now we get the dizzying heights of up to 4mbps we can watch catch-up via the TV apps which we are now beginning to use more often. A friend has the BB4S IPTV service which is very good and I think if I was starting out and was in their coverage area (which I'm not) I would probably just use that.

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GerryinCajiz
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Re: Speed concerns for HDTV streaming

Postby GerryinCajiz » Tue Oct 31, 2017 7:57 pm

The only programmes I watch 'live' are football matches and formula 1 (the sport, not the baby drink!). All the rest I watch whenever I want at a time convenient to me. On a recent visit to the UK I found myself continuing with this method. Smart TV's have changed the way a lot of people now use their TV's. For the better in my opinion.
Gerry


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