Has anyone actually lost their TV signal yet?

[Lyric]

Yes Wicksey but I think mine is slow today, but yours is like dial up therefore as Enrique says something wrong.

[firsttango]

[Mowser]

Just to let you know that mine is back to normal after the circuit board was fixed at the exchange.

[Mowser]

For anybody using FilmOn,this uses FilmOn but with an easier to use interface that is only for UK tv.
http://www.uktvzone.com/

Works well on desktop. Funnily enough, when I tried it on my tablet it said, "Not available in your country".
Strange as FilmOn works without any problem.

[El Cid]

I see from their website that the new front end seems to be available.
Looks promising.Await your findings when your box is upgraded.
Cheers
Gerry

The box arrived from the seller in the UK on Wednesday and I have been playing with it since then. It came configured in the way they sell it in the UK, which is mainly to young, technically aware, customers who want to explore the full potential of this sort of box, and the potential is huge but not exactly what we all need which essentially is a simple way to restore our lost channels. Yes, you do have access to all the UK TV channels, but they are not immediately apparent as that is hardly the requirement in the UK as they are all there on their TV already.

I have spent a lot of time talking to and emailing the vendor in the UK to get him to offer an alternative solution for all of us here, who essentially just want quick access to the channels we have lost.

I spent three hours on the phone with him this morning and at the same time, he had remote access to my box via the Internet. Between us, we have effectively developed a completely new front end to the box which I am now satisfied is exactly what we need.

There will be no setup required, plug it in, connect it to your wifi and TV and it is up and running. The screen you will see is very simple. A pretty picture with one row of icons at the bottom. These include BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio Player, ITV player, channel 4 on demand, channel 5 on demand, Mobdru (which has links set up for loads of other TV streams including those that we should not really talk about here, and many other). There is also a Filmon icon. Finally, there is an icon for access to the settings menu for setting up your WiFi etc. There is also a search box at the top with direct access to Google on the Internet.

Just like an iPad or Android tablet there are also hundreds of non TV apps available and you can download any you want. There is a selection of most of the popular apps preloaded. Think of a tablet with a very large screen! Plug in a USB webcam and you have Skype video calling. Facebook and Twitter are there and of course a full browser for surfing the Internet. Rear USB ports and a SD card slot, so if you have a record collection on your PC or loads of photos, you can copy them to a card or USB stick and play them all on your TV.

That should be enough for anyone, but if you want to delve the depths of what media streams are available then XBMC is preinstalled to enable you to do this.

The box comes with a built in VPN - this is a program which gets round any geographical restrictions on access to UK TV - without this the UK broadcasters would know you are in Spain and block access to their services.

The cost of the box, including postage to Spain by tracked, recorded delivery (mine took three days to arrive) is £140. This includes a VPN subscription, which is only £25 a year (usually this costs double that). After a year you can renew the VPN subscription for £25. THERE IS NO OTHER MONTHLY CHARGE, unlike most of the companies down here who are charging as much as €45 for the same service, and usually more than £140 for the box, sometime €299.

Support is first class and included in the price for as long as you need it. You can get telephone or email support, but each box is already set up for full remote access by the seller. As I said earlier, I spent three hours online today and the box was entirely reconfigured by the seller - who, incidentally is a very experienced IT and networking professional.

And, no, I have absolutely no commercial interest in this product, but I have spent months looking at various options that are appropriate to the problems we now face with regard to UKTV reception and this sems a very good option at a very fair price.

I would also be interested in how Beachcomber feels this compares to the Adtelly box he has been trialling - they both seem very similaar, especially as neither of them demand a large monthly fee.

Sid

[El Cid]

Works well on desktop. Funnily enough, when I tried it on my tablet it said, "Not available in your country".
Strange as FilmOn works without any problem.

Presumably because it is geo blocked, whereas Filmon is not.

Have you tried it with a VPN/SmartyDNS?

Sid

[Mowser]

Not yet Sid, but as my monitor is 22" and I only use FilmOn on rare occasions, it's not needed for the tablet.
If I do want to view on a larger screen, I use FilmOn. I was just curious to find out why FilmOn works on the tablet and UK Zone didn't as UK Zone is powered by FilmON.

[Mowser]

Sorry Sid. I should have said your previous post was excellent. Quick question. Is there a possibility that this system could be blocked?

[El Cid]

I can't see any reason why it could be blocked unless the providers of the streams get really clever and block the IP addresses that the VPNs are using. TV Catchup is a good example of that and most VPNs fail to connect but they had some legal challenges from ITV and I think they have tried harder to block access since then.

The box I have tested is just as likely to have blocking problems as any other box, but it's down to which VPN they use. So far their VPN solution unblocks sites I have never been able to access.

Sid

[gerryh]

Support is first class and included in the price for as long as you need it. You can get telephone or email support, but each box is already set up for full remote access by the seller. As I said earlier, I spent three hours online today and the box was entirely reconfigured by the seller - who, incidentally is a very experienced IT and networking professional.


Sid

Hi Sid
Thanks for the comprehensive report.
Certainly agree with you about David Latham, the seller.
Had an email conversation with him last night.
He also offers a service for 30GBP to upgrade an Android box which hasn't been purchased from him.
Now that the front end has been sorted and it looks OK to you I will use his upgrade service for my Android box.
Cheers
Gerry

[El Cid]

Hi Sid
Thanks for the comprehensive report.
Certainly agree with you about David Latham, the seller.
Had an email conversation with him last night.
He also offers a service for 30GBP to upgrade an Android box which hasn't been purchased from him.
Now that the front end has been sorted and it looks OK to you I will use his upgrade service for my Android box.
Cheers
Gerry

Yes, that's a really good option. I think a number of people who have signed up for one of these rip off solutions will be beating a path to his door and cancelling their ludicrously expensive monthly deals.

Sid

[northandsouth]

Thanks Sid great bit of info.

[firsttango]

Fantastic comprehensive summary Sid, I have just one question and that is does the box support "Bluetooth" enabling the use of the far easier and user friendly "airmouse" whilst navigating??

[El Cid]

No, there is no native BT but I understand that a USB dongle could be available, however there are loads of other keyboard/air mouse options out there that use 2.4 MHz communication via a dongle.

If you really want to navigate seriously round these boxes then a remote is hard work even though there is a basic cursor option. The air mouse keyboards gave a gyro built in, a bit like the Wii controllers and you just point at the screen.

I am looking at some options at the moment and this is one worth looking at

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Android-Wireles ... EMMAENQ29Z

Sid

[firsttango]

The one I use and gave you the details you asked for in a previous post I think maybe ideal, it really is very user friendly and comes complete with the usb reciever. I think without one even the simplest of navigation between channels etc would be a very top heavy arduous process much like trying to use search on a smart t.v purely by the remote keys and would quickly drive you mad. It took about 2 days to get used to this particular airmouse and now feels very easy and second nature.

http://www.geekbuying.com/item/Tronsmar ... 17283.html

[El Cid]

Yes, but it is a US site and I have no wish to buy from the US with all the attendant potential customs and postage problems, apart from the delay in getting it.

Have you a more useful EU sourced link?

Sid

[firsttango]

No but it's all shipped from Honk Kong and mine arrived in 5 days, alas did have to pay about 2 euros import duty, but the shipment was trackable and have ordered on at least half a dozen times and have never had any issues, its available on ebay spain.
But can understand people may feel more comfortable ordering from within the E.U

Simply recommended it as have first hand user knowledge

http://www.ebay.es/itm/Tronsmart-TSM01- ... 1411519628

[firsttango]

Just had a quick look, you can get it from U.K, but a quick look payment by secure paypal only

http://theandroidboxshop.weebly.com/sto ... Games.html

[Bugwap]

Hi Everyone,

I thought I would introduce myself in a gentle, non promotional fashion. I am David Latham, Android developer & Chief Nerd at Android TV Solutions.

I am quite happy to answer all questions on related IPTV topics etc as well as my offerings.

A big thank you to El Cid for his tireless input over the last couple of weeks.

We are all very happy with the outcome & look forward to some feedback.

No to the blue-tooth question sadly.

Amlogic 8726 doesn't support blue-tooth. It does support 2.4ghz wireless solutions which work just as well. We are testing a bunch of them at the moment & will feedback in due course.


David

[El Cid]

Just had a quick look, you can get it from U.K, but a quick look payment by secure paypal only

http://theandroidboxshop.weebly.com/sto ... Games.html

Thanks, I will have a look.

Sid