Slingbox in Dubai?

[deuce]

Hi.

I moved to Dubai almost 7 months ago and have not yet had satellite installed.

I was initially staying with family who had showcase, but have now moved.

I didn't find showcase very good, so I was thinking off buying a slingbox and hooking it up to someones Sky box in the UK.

However I came across an add earlier about watching satellite through your PC.

I wouldn't mind doing that as I could connect a VGA cable to my laptop and watch it directly off the main tv.

Before I go any further I just wanted to find out if it is worthwhile doing.

What is the quality like?
What internet speed do you need?

Thanks very much.

 

[Analoguesat]

Slingbox - You would need a fast upload in the UK - minimum of a meg for reliable streaming. Ive tried it with 380kbps and whilst its ok for testing proof of concept you wouldnt want to try watching it for any length of time.

 

[HB13DISH]

Hi.

I moved to Dubai almost 7 months ago and have not yet had satellite installed.

I was initially staying with family who had showcase, but have now moved.

I didn't find showcase very good, so I was thinking off buying a slingbox and hooking it up to someones Sky box in the UK.

However I came across an add earlier about watching satellite through your PC.

I wouldn't mind doing that as I could connect a VGA cable to my laptop and watch it directly off the main tv.

Before I go any further I just wanted to find out if it is worthwhile doing.

What is the quality like?
What internet speed do you need?

Thanks very much.

Perhaps you mean showtime?

There are few English channels that you can watch directly from Eurobird 9E and Hot Bird 13E, using a subscription.
- BBC Prime (Direct TO Home)

And Polish package Cyfrowy Polsat

- BBC Entertainment
- BBC Knowledge
- BBC LifeStyle
- BBC CBeebies

_http://www.lyngsat.com/packages/polsat_sid.html

Alternative to Slingbox might be the BBC IPlayer, but you will need to subscribe to a proxy server to show your IP as if it is from the UK
You can watch radio channels without any problems. Only the TV has this limitation.

 

[BM300]

An old thread but here is a new information regarding speed of net in Dubai - UAE.
Itisalat (the local comms service provider) is using fibre optic.
So speed is no longer an issue, since it chrged at a flat monthly rate (you select the band width) regardless of how much you download.
You should have no problem connecting your slingbox to UK.

If you can install an 8 feet dish, you can get a sidelobe of Astra at 28.2 degrees.