Technology

Technology Satellite TV and Internet by Stuart Wallace

It’s amazing the little things I can think of to annoy Mrs W. Since the 22nd of June I’ve been telling her daily that the nights are starting to draw in and we need to prepare for winter. She seems to think this is unnecessary and potentially even unhelpful. I disagree. I tell her that it’s a good job that we’re all different, otherwise life would be boring. She kindly replied that if ‘different’ is a synonym for me being an ‘annoying ugly xxxxxxx git’, then she was in total agreement. Potty mouth that one…

Anyway, how are you all doing? Keeping well and bearing up in the heat I hope. Still, we mustn't grumble I suppose. We will though because most of us reading this are British and the weather is what we grumble about. So, without further ado, reference to the farcical comedy that is the UK government, the fact that Cliff Richard sang (again!) at Wimbledon or so much as a nod to the weather, let’s crack on shall we?

It must be down to the summer heat, so maybe I can let it slide, but please remember that Freeview is NOT the same as Freesat. Please do NOT buy a Freeview box for the reception of UK TV via satellite. It just won’t work. It still happens. The poor item descriptions on the likes of Amazon don’t help however. So, if you’re not sure, please drop me a line before ordering. I’m happy to see if it’s suitable for your needs.

For those of you with a TNTSAT receiver, should you be interested, you can also receive all the other free TV and radio channels from the Astra 1 (19.2°E) satellite. You’ll need to go into the menus and do a full search but in addition to the French channels, you’ll find a whole bunch of other European language stuff. Some good, some bad, and some, er, interesting (if you know what I mean). Viewer beware.

Talking of TNTSAT, I have been told, but have not verified, that for those that have lost their Orange TV service by satellite, Orange are currently offering a free TNTSAT box as a replacement. This works from the same satellite meaning that you’ll not need to adjust your satellite dish.

I don’t work for them, but the Starlink satellite internet system really is superb. Mega fast speeds and relatively easy to install. Expensive but worth it when compared to Neosat. Cool looking WiFi box as well.

I’m hearing more and more stories of people with Tooway satellite internet that no longer have any sort of service and cannot get any help from the supplier. This is unlikely to change I’m afraid. Since they stopped taking on any new customers in the summer of 2020, customer service has been dropped faster than my trousers around Charlize Theron.

So, essentially, your two choices for satellite internet are Neosat from Nordnet (Orange) or Starlink. The former is far cheaper and offers an adequate service, the latter is very expensive but very fast. If you have purchased a new Freesat+ receiver (the recording one), please be aware that you don’t need to have a ‘wideband’ LNB fitted to your satellite dish. It’ll work perfectly well from a standard twin or quad output LNB. The only slight drawback is that you can record fewer channels at the same time, but how much Murder She Wrote or Vera can you really watch?

If you find that the connector on your digibox has gone rusty, then the chances are that you have cracks in your satellite cable from the dish. When the cable gets very old and brittle, water can get inside the outer layer and find its way down the cable. Last stop is where it connects onto the digibox.

As always, please feel free to get in touch if you would like any further information or would like to discuss your requirements. Contact details can be found on the advert. Have a great month. By the way, I’m 50 this month!!! I know, me neither…

Stuart runs The French House Satellite TV tfhsatellite@gmail.com Other contact details in his advert in the Buildings & Renovations section of the magazine