Alternative Methods for TV service (1 Viewer)

[eetaylog]

I live in an area which has woodland next to our property and proximity of the taller oak and ash trees are making it very difficult to receive TV signals via satellite or aerial. Is there an alternative to receiving a TV service similar to Freesat/Freeview via cable? We have Virgin sockets in the house but dont pay for any of their services as we use BT for internet and phoneline, so im guessing i wouldnt actually be able to tune any free-to-air channels with a DVB-C pci card?

I dont want to have to pay for a TV subscription with either Virgin or BT as i begrudge forking out for something that would otherwise be completely free (apart from the bbc license fee) if we lived in the next street along.

TIA

 

[mm1352000]

Last time I saw a Virgin Media DVB-C service information dump (June 2015), it looked like the Freesat/Freeview channels were not encrypted. I wouldn't want you to take my word for that as I could be completely wrong. However if you were able to borrow a DVB-C tuner, I'd say it would definitely be worth a shot trying those Virgin sockets. Of course they may have disconnected or otherwise disabled service... but would be interesting to find out. Again, please don't expend money based on this advice. Just trying to share info.

 

[eetaylog]

Thanks for the info. Ive read online that Virgin broadcast a load of dummy channels with their unencrypted service to stop people from tapping in on their feeds, not sure how true this is though. Not really sure where i could borrow a cable card from though as im the only computer nerd in my group of mates .

Ill bear it in mind should i be able to come across one though

 

[Owlsroost]

Thanks for the info. Ive read online that Virgin broadcast a load of dummy channels with their unencrypted service to stop people from tapping in on their feeds, not sure how true this is though. Not really sure where i could borrow a cable card from though as im the only computer nerd in my group of mates .

Ill bear it in mind should i be able to come across one though

One suggestion for cheap DVB-C: https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/...nnot-find-channels.134788/page-2#post-1191082

 

[eetaylog]

One suggestion for cheap DVB-C: https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/...nnot-find-channels.134788/page-2#post-1191082

 

[mm1352000]

Having a closer look at the dump file...
It seems like only some of the "basic" Freeview/Freesat channels - BBC ONE, ITV etc. - are not encrypted. The high definition feeds of the same channels do appear to be encrypted...

 

[eetaylog]

Thats a shame, but thanks for the info.

 

[Jasmeet_181]

mm is right about everything, it's just BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four/CBeebies, BBC News, BBC Parliament, BBC Alba, CBBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 4 +1, S4C, Channel 5, Sky News, Challenge, Pick and the radio stations that are FTA (DigitalBitrate.com has more details). There are more channels included in the basic 'M pack', which are encrypted.

You would be able to receive the FTA channels, without being a customer, as long as the line isn't disconnected at the cabinet. The selection of channels on online services like TV Player and FilmOn is better than this though.

Ive read online that Virgin broadcast a load of dummy channels with their unencrypted service to stop people from tapping in on their feeds, not sure how true this is though.

It isn't true

 

[eetaylog]

mm is right about everything, it's just BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four/CBeebies, BBC News, BBC Parliament, BBC Alba, CBBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 4 +1, S4C, Channel 5, Sky News, Challenge, Pick and the radio stations that are FTA (DigitalBitrate.com has more details). There are more channels included in the basic 'M pack', which are encrypted.

You would be able to receive the FTA channels, without being a customer, as long as the line isn't disconnected at the cabinet. The selection of channels on online services like TV Player and FilmOn is better than this though.

Is there any way to get these to work through TVservice? Ive tried tuning iptv channels in tv server but dont seem to pick anything up, even though i used to be able to last year before we moved house.

 

[mm1352000]

Is there any way to get these to work through TVservice?

Not directly, because their streams are not compatible.
The only possibility would be via something like the VODServer "plugin":
https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/threads/vodserver-watch-internet-streams-as-tv-channels.121732/