Satellite/TV options in Riofrio, Loja area

[jamesbowker]

Firstly, my apologies as I can almost hear a virtual groan as I'm sure this subject has been covered many, many times.
My Mother has a property in the RIofrio area near Loja. The house is river side, ie bottom of the valley mountains encircling. No radio reception (though 3g is fine). Is there any feasible Freesat type satellite option available do you think? Or is it an internet solution we're looking at?
Am grateful for any advice/tips/comments.
Thank you.

[gerryh]

Hi James
Welcome to the forum
What speeds do you get with the 3G signal?
If you get at least a stable and consistent 4Mbs download speed and you don't have a low, less than about 40Gb per month, data cap with your provider, then 3G will be OK for TV viewing via the internet.
Another option is TV via the Intelsat 907 satellite provided the dish can be mounted with a clear view of the sky in a 27.5 deg West direction. This will only give you BBC1, BBC2, BBC4, BBC News, BBC Parliament, CBBC
Cbeebies, ITV1HD, Channel 4 HD and Channel 5.
Cheers
Gerry

[jamesbowker]

I'm very grateful for your quick and informative reply Gerry. Best wishes, James

[happyh]

To add to Gerry's advice,the 907 solution also has all the BBC radio stations so really is quite a good solution for a Brit.

[gerryh]

It also has Film4 which I forgot to list.
Intelsat 907 is a once off payment for around 150-300€ for the dish and receiver. Then nothing more to pay.
Also I mentioned, for a 3G solution, need data allowance of at least 40Gb a month, this would give you about 120 hours of viewing, in SD quality, per month.
Cheers
Gerry
Corrected for my appalling mental arithmetic and memory.
40Gb a month, this would give you about 120 hours of viewing

[bbobandannie]

Gerry

Im in a similar situation and you have already advised re my WIMAX and 3g options on a different thread but I have now been offered a much cheaper Excom wimax/4g solution. I cant see any coverage maps that shows whether Excom have 4g in my área. Do you think it uses both existing WIMAX plus 4g when available or is this a different technology? It offers 5Mbs which should be enough for IPTV and surfing?

[gerryh]

Have you got a link to what you are being offered?
Cheers
Gerry

[bbobandannie]

Gerry

Hopefuly this Works. I submitted my post code and this appeared as an option:
http://www.conexionrural.es/producto/ex ... 3mb-malaga.

Thanks for your help

[gerryh]

Must confess Wimax/4G has got me confused.
Wimax and 4G are different technologies.
From the link you gave it is not clear where the 4G comes into the offering.
Also notice they mention navigation limited but do not mention what the limit is.
1 Gb would give you about 3 hours of viewing, in SD quality, via BBC iPlayer.
The link only mentions packages with speeds of only 3,2 or 1Mb
Cheers
Gerry

[bbobandannie]

Gerry thanks again. Confused me as well. I will probably wait until I can check my Movistar 3g coverage and opt for the 3g router. I look straight across the valley towards their tower so should be okay. A couple of questions though:
I currently use an Amazon firestick for Kodi and all that the system provides. However I am currently on fibre in Madrid. when we move to a rural location, probably on 3g with a max advertised speed of 12mb, will the fire stick still work?
And, apart from the usual signal bars on my phone, is there a way to check the actual 3g speed on a phone?
All probably silly questions but its just not my field. Any info would, as ever, be greatly appreciated.

[gerryh]

Yes your Firestick should be OK on 12Mbs.
Use Speedtest from http://www.speedtest.net/ to check your Movistar 3g signal speed.
How do you know it is the Movistar tower you can see?
I can see a group of towers opposite me but my Vodafone 4G signal comes from a totally different tower that I cannot see.
If you know any body near where you will be living who use Vodafone or Orange get them to check the signal speeds they get.
One of them might , or might not, be better than Movistar.
Cheers
Gerry

[bbobandannie]

Gerry

Thanks again. I gues you are right about the mast, though i have an App "open Signal" which identifies the masts so I will check it all out when we get there next month. Thanks again for all your help.

[bbobandannie]

Assuming I get a decent Movistar 3g signal, does anyone have any expereince of the Movistar Radio + fusión package? It looks a decent deal with free calls, mobile as well, but are the major American channels bi lingual?

[jamesbowker]

Hello again, could Gerry or any other contributor kindly be able to suggest any agents/installers for an intelsat 907 satellite and receiver in the Riofrio, Loja area? Ideally, my Mother would need someone English speaking which would be a struggle locally (she's got the basics covered but I think something of this nature would be too much to handle by signs and gestures ) Given it's a 50 minute drive from the coast/Malaga airport perhaps someone would be prepared to make the drive inland? Thanks again, James.

[gerryh]

Hi James
Don't know of any intelsat 907 installers in your area or in my area come to that.
I bought a TM 5402 box from http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Technomate-TM ... T#shpCntId other suppliers available but this one will set it up for Intelsat 907 so it's just plug and play.
I already had a spare satellite dish mounted on the roof.
I got a local, Spanish, satellite installer to come and align the dish, he could have fitted a new dish if I had needed one. He had never heard of Intelsat 907 but looked up the alignment data in his satellite database and aligned the dish.
I would suspect if you found a Intelsat 907 installer he would be an expat who might well charge you an excessive amount for installation of the system.
Be aware the intelsat 907 is coming to the end of it's life and the replacement satellite might not carry the UK TV channels.
Personally it is a risk I would take to have it installed and enjoy trouble free and no additional cost, viewing until it did disappear.
Cheers
Gerry

[olive]

Hi James,

have sent you a PM with a recommendation of installer.

olive