TV & wifi home and abroad

plbj5

We are planning to spend 6 months in the UK and 6 months in Portugal. We currently have Virgin Media home broadband internet (70mbs) and Sky TV Q package, both of which we are paying for the whole year.

So we are looking for a setup that we can use in the UK and Portugal for both Wifi and TV.

For wifi our research so far has taken us to the EE 4GEE 30GB Wifi Mini (up to 60Mbs) - although we don't know how far the signal from this device will extend within a building.

Assuming we dump Virgin Media and Sky (we can make do with Freeview in the UK) are we correct in thinking that to watch TV in Portugal in addition to the EE wifi mini we will also need a VPN such as ExpressVPN?

Advice and guidance VERY gratefully received!

System

Yes and you'll need a whole lot more than 30GB a month data allowance as well. Netflix in full HD 5.1 surround sound uses 5Gb/hr.

Here's the data for Youtube usage:

240p ~ 150 MB
360p ~ 250 MB
480p ~ 400 MB
720p ~ 800-900 MB
1080p ~ 1.2 -1.4 GB

All you do need to do to watch Freeview for the UK in Portugal is a satellite dish pointing at the correct satellite and a Freesat set top box.

Alter_ego

I've watched UK tele in Portugal using an old sky dish and a satellite receiver from Maplins. Depends what channels you want really.

plbj5

Just shows how naive we are about the amount of data we'll need! Sounds like we'll need a package offering unlimited data download. EE do such packages but only up to 30Mbs - will that be sufficient?

plbj5

We already have our old Sky dish on the roof in Portugal but had thought it was now redundant. For us to use the same dish for Freeview will we need to get the dish adjusted?

Chino

OP, you keep saying "Freeview" but you mean "Freesat":
https://www.freesat.co.uk/

There's also "Freesat from Sky":
http://www.sky.com/shop/freesat/home/

wongataa

plbj5 wrote: »

We already have our old Sky dish on the roof in Portugal but had thought it was now redundant. For us to use the same dish for Freeview will we need to get the dish adjusted?

You shouldn't need to. The satellites are in the same part of the sky.

unforeseen

plbj5 wrote: »

We are planning to spend 6 months in the UK and 6 months in Portugal. We currently have Virgin Media home broadband internet (70mbs) and Sky TV Q package, both of which we are paying for the whole year.

So we are looking for a setup that we can use in the UK and Portugal for both Wifi and TV.

For wifi our research so far has taken us to the EE 4GEE 30GB Wifi Mini (up to 60Mbs) - although we don't know how far the signal from this device will extend within a building.

Assuming we dump Virgin Media and Sky (we can make do with Freeview in the UK) are we correct in thinking that to watch TV in Portugal in addition to the EE wifi mini we will also need a VPN such as ExpressVPN?

Advice and guidance VERY gratefully received!

How much of the data package will EE allow you to use when roaming?

ETA

EE limit you to 15GB per month after which you pay £7.80 per GB

However if you spend less than 60 days in any 120 day period in the UK then they can disable your SIM.

For a 6 month period in Portugal you are better off getting a local SIM.

plbj5

Thank you so much everyone! We had no idea about Freesat or the EE conditions for use outside the UK - really helpful to know.

I_have_spoken

Have a look at Slingbox http://www.slingbox.com/en-GB to make your home Sky TV available as a stream; your 70Mbps Virgin will have enough upload bandwidth to stream video.

In Portugal you'll need basic internet & a device with app to receive the Slingbox stream and send the commands to change channel etc., no need to set-up Freesat.

plbj5

Apologies 'I have spoken' for the delay in picking up your post. Slingbox looks like an attractive option.

My initial thinking was to carry my MacBook Air out to Portugal and then connect that to our TV or a monitor, but I notice that (assuming our Portugal TV is up to it) I should be able to achieve the same through Airplay on my iPad or iPhone.