Smart TV advice for use without internet

Vegastare

Thank you for this....she has BT Basic and only in the last few years as she always assumed the cost of phone was too much for her.  It works well as all family can get in touch.  I spoke with BT about broadband recently and was told that the BT Basic could have broadband added at a very low cost but the speed might not support  smart TV or Netflix etc.  
So the new TV for Xmas is on hold but glad to say her present TV works well and she is happy with it (just would like more variety)

iniltous

BT Basic broadband with BT Basic phone is around £10/month...it was made unlimited usage due to Covid , and remains so, it’s rated at 10Mb average, so must be  ADSL2 as ADSL Max is upto 8Mb , so whatever speed a  regular exchange based connection would provide at that location , is what BT  Basic broadband will provide ( 10Mb adequate Netflix) , it’s probably around half the price of cheap deals from other ISP’s , and as your mother qualifies for BT Basic, then she should be able to add basic broadband.

bouicca21

My broadband speed is circa 14 and that’s plenty for a smart tv and Netflix/prime.  But I suspect that broadband even without Netflix or prime might be enough because then she would get access to the free catch-up services as well as freeview. 

Personally I think the mouldy oldies channel on freeview 81 is great.  It’s fun to see how stuff you enjoyed watching 50 odd years ago has worn, some still enjoyable, some just creaky.  They even turned up a couple of episodes of No Hiding Place!

Vegastare

Thank you both for your replies, I spoke with BT several months back and there is no problem her getting it...it was just the question of speed supporting Netflix or catch up etc...the bloke I spoke to said that faster broadband would be recommended etc  at no time did he mention that it had been made unlimited because of covid - on the phone to BT to confirm this.  Iwent into Currys to look at TV's and  the woman in Curry's said it would be ok just would be longer to download etc.
At present we are once again in lockdown, so will need to delay - but I think BT Basic broadband is way to go.....as for the mouldy oldies channel she loves it....

Thank you both.

matelodave

theres a difference between streaming and downloading - streaming requires at least 3mbit/s for standard definition TV otherwise you'll end up with quite a bit of buffering to the point where it's unwatchable - we used to have that problem until we got a decent connection.Previously 2mbit/s, now 76 mbit/s.

Even an average of 2mbit's was useless, ideally 5-6mbit/s to give a bit of headroom for when all the kids get home or everyone else is doing it as well

Downloading and saving requires the use of a recorder and a slow connection can take ages - sometimes it would take us sveral hour or even overnight to download stuff.