10761 UK telvision via Slingbox and broadband.

This might be of use to people wanting access to UK TV channels without a satellite dish.

A [url=http://uk.slingmedia.com/]Slingbox[/url] is a set-top box which will take an output from a satellite receiver, DVD or TV ariel and relay it over the internet to your own computer, wherever you are. You can either watch TV on your computer or, using a SlingCatcher, relay it from your internet connection to your TV. The software allows you to send messages back to your UK TV installation to change channels, view schedules and operate DVR's such as the Sky+ services. The system works from [b]one[/b] tv to [b]one[/b] computer; it is not possible to broadcast or share it among friends. It is legal too.

If you already have a home in the UK with a TV service, you only need to buy the Slingbox (around £200); there is no subscription fee. Obviously, you have to have a broadband internet conncetion at both the UK and the Italy end too. You can get a reasonable picture using about 500kb of bandwidth. If you have no UK home, but have a friend or relative who would host the Slingbox for you, obviously you'll need to get a seperate Freeview receiver, or you'll only be able to watch what they're watching, or vice-versa!

Finally, if you have no home in the UK, there are services who will provide and host a Slingbox for you at a cost of about £30-£60/month. One such service is [url=http://www.uktv2c.com/]UKTV2C[/url], but others are available. I'm not a customer of theirs and not sponsored by them in any way, but I thought I'd give them a mention because I asked for a free demo yesterday and the guy who contacted me, Mike Gamble, could not have been more helpful.

At present, we have Sky Italia at home and I don't watch much TV myself, so I'm not that fussed, but it could be that as Wimax rolls-out (here in Umbria it should be by the end of the year, they say) then the faster speed connection might tip the balance in favour of the Slingbox solution.