TV/Internet

Toffeecat

Full Member
Posts
649
Likes
1,411
Hi all. I had a good trawl around youtube for advice on TV for a vw transporter. Theres loads of advice and I do love my telly. Given its small the advice so far is varied. A TV and aerial but they use a lot of power was one option. Another was laptop which I have Sky Go on connected via my phone. And many other bits of advice. So given its small, can anyone point us in the best direction for TV in a van? I was up in Scotland in a glamping pod recently I used the laptop and it worked but reception was variable.
 
I use a netgear nighthawk 5g router, it always works but as you say speed can vary. Worse I’ve had was 6 Mbps best 400 plus.

I use a 14” usb powered screen with a usb media player for films etc, but for TV I use the laptop with a HDMI cable, I through I don’t watch TV much anyway.
 
75% of the time we use laptops with downloads or for streaming. I do have a massive auto sat dish on the roof and a small 16" TV which only uses 14watts but the dish was on the van when we bought it. If I had my way I would take it off and never watch live TV Again. It has its uses I suppose over the water. Laptops and streaming seem to be the way to go though. We like to watch long running series though so I tend to just download them before we go so no data or aerial needed.
 
Netgear nighthawk 5 plus fire stick.
Love my live sport and news when out and about, to date in the uk I’ve always had internet thro the nighthawk.
 
I have a 12v tv but requires 13.5v to get a picture, so i built a buck converter/little blac box above tv which has a varable voltage ajustment on the board, so i have it set to 13.8/14v nomater what the battery is at, but below 11.6 it switches of to save the battery if we nod of, tv was bought at boot sale for £25, CELLO make and can run all through the night on 2/ 90ah lead acids, solar boosts them up next day or a we drive.
van beds.jpg
 
Streaming is fine if you're in the UK and have a good mobile signal on whichever network(s) you use. However, I have been in remote locations (usually, but not exclusively, mountainous regions) where there is no mobile signal whatsoever (on any network) and sometimes no terrestrial TV signal. If outside the UK for any length of time, if you are relying on streaming, you are likely to need to buy a local SIM (though one or two UK providers may be sufficiently generous) and use a VPN, but still face the problem of lack of signal in some remote areas. In my view (but others will disagree), satellite is still the way to go, with terrestrial and streaming as backup in case there is no line of sight. Ultimately, it depends on where you're planning to go and just how much you love your telly. :)
 
For our mwb van we used to use a laptop but charging it was more onerous than what we do now. We use a 10.5cm tablet and a gooseneck clamp. As the van is small we can position it very close and find that the signal is better than with the laptop and we can plug it in to the usb while using it so it stays charged. The screen is perfect for us and easier to download things onto it...iPlayer Netflix and prime all allow downloads to tablet but not all to laptop. We get over the signal which we find often fluctuates in the evening by downloading in the daytime. A better router and aerial as suggested by ops would be a good option for long term use though.
 
TJBi said:
Streaming is fine if you're in the UK and have a good mobile signal on whichever network(s) you use. However, I have been in remote locations (usually, but not exclusively, mountainous regions) where there is no mobile signal whatsoever (on any network) and sometimes no terrestrial TV signal. If outside the UK for any length of time, if you are relying on streaming, you are likely to need to buy a local SIM (though one or two UK providers may be sufficiently generous) and use a VPN, but still face the problem of lack of signal in some remote areas. In my view (but others will disagree), satellite is still the way to go, with terrestrial and streaming as backup in case there is no line of sight. Ultimately, it depends on where you're planning to go and just how much you love your telly. :)
Click to expand...

As I said previously we have both but I wouldn't personally invest in a satellite system now. Its likely by the end of the decade it could be gone anyway and that dish on my roof costs over £2000 new!

rxtvinfo.com

Uncertain future for satellite TV - What next for Sky Q and Freesat users? - RXTV

The satellites used to transmit TV and radio services to viewers in the UK and Ireland only have a few years left. Meanwhile, all major broadcasters
rxtvinfo.com rxtvinfo.com
 
barryd said:
As I said previously we have both but I wouldn't personally invest in a satellite system now. Its likely by the end of the decade it could be gone anyway and that dish on my roof costs over £2000 new!

rxtvinfo.com

Uncertain future for satellite TV - What next for Sky Q and Freesat users? - RXTV

The satellites used to transmit TV and radio services to viewers in the UK and Ireland only have a few years left. Meanwhile, all major broadcasters
rxtvinfo.com rxtvinfo.com
Click to expand...
No idea if any problems with satellite signal . But just using phone hotspot and firestick is virtually trouble free in UK and EU
 
Should add (particularly for Barry) I've massively exceeded my normal use on Tesco sim without being cut off . Orange esim doing job too
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who viewed this discussion (Total:71)

Back
Top