Tiscali TV - how is TV provided ?

howard.bates · 25-03-2008, 21:52

Apologies if this is a dumb question. If you take the Tiscali TV service, how is the TV delivered ?

I note that Tiscali supply you with a set-top box, and they state "to multi record you will need to have a TV aerial connected to your set-top box and be able to receive digital terrestrial television through that aerial. ... If you cannot receive the digital terrestrial channels you will be able to record and view 1 channel at a time."

In the absence of a DTT feed, where does the single channel come from ? Down the ADSL link ? Thanks in advance for any enlightenment you can offer.

**Matt D** · 25-03-2008, 22:55

Tiscali TV (previously "Homechoice") uses IPTV (Internet Protocol Television).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiscali_TV

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPTV

howard.bates · 25-03-2008, 23:17

Thank you for your reply. I didn't realise such things were possible over ADSL ...

slowcoach · 27-03-2008, 22:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by howard.bates

Thank you for your reply. I didn't realise such things were possible over ADSL ...

Having had ADSL in the past I would say it more than likely isn't possible.

dragon · 27-03-2008, 23:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by slowcoach

Having had ADSL in the past I would say it more than likely isn't possible.

Such things are possible if you live close enough to the exchange
I used to have BT vision which used the ADSL for the VOD.

NO ONE · 29-03-2008, 00:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by slowcoach;

Having had ADSL in the past I would say it more than likely isn't possible.

yes it Possabile on Adsl it depands on You I s p Provder I am Sky BB and i get up to 16mbs from modam if was Bt or Orange BB up to 6mbs so havaing tv thouge Adsl is Posable it depends on who you Withe

superbiatch · 29-03-2008, 00:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by dragon

Such things are possible if you live close enough to the exchange
I used to have BT vision which used the ADSL for the VOD.

So how close approximately would you need to be? I'm on VM ADSL up to 8 meg and average 1-2meg generally, think i'm about 1.2km away from my exchange.

Druchii · 29-03-2008, 00:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by superbiatch

So how close approximately would you need to be? I'm on VM ADSL up to 8 meg and average 1-2meg generally, think i'm about 1.2km away from my exchange.

You may be 1.2km from the exchange, and in theory you could still achieve higher speeds than 1-2Mb from an 8mbps product, if, of course, your line went straight form the exchange to your house. In reality then line is probably double that length, and as such this degrades performance noticeably. (And not to mention copper degradation etc... How old is that piece of wiring?

)

I'd say anything upto a Km is fine on ADSL. As for IPTV, don't you need a fair whack of bandwidth anyway? So programs can buffer?

superbiatch · 29-03-2008, 00:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Druchii

You may be 1.2km from the exchange, and in theory you could still achieve higher speeds than 1-2Mb from an 8mbps product, if, of course, your line went straight form the exchange to your house. In reality then line is probably double that length, and as such this degrades performance noticeably. (And not to mention copper degradation etc... How old is that piece of wiring?

)

I'd say anything upto a Km is fine on ADSL. As for IPTV, don't you need a fair whack of bandwidth anyway? So programs can buffer?

Just as I thought Druchii, think i'll go with sky (if i can get them to waiver the installation fee).

Out of interest on IPTV, is it any good? Does anyone have experience good or bad to share? I don't know anyone who has it as yet, so purely for information purposes.

Druchii · 29-03-2008, 00:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by superbiatch

Just as I thought Druchii, think i'll go with sky (if i can get them to waiver the installation fee).

Out of interest on IPTV, is it any good? Does anyone have experience good or bad to share?

Friend used to have Homechoice, i.e. Tiscali TV, loved the content apparently, but hated the waiting around and hit and missness of the service. He was on about 1.5Mb out of his 8mb though, on an aluminium line :/

dragon · 29-03-2008, 01:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by superbiatch

So how close approximately would you need to be? I'm on VM ADSL up to 8 meg and average 1-2meg generally, think i'm about 1.2km away from my exchange.

Depends on the quality of the line.

I sync around 19 - 23Mbit on ADSL2+ (heck I can get 24Mbit down on AnnexM using a 3db SNR profile but its a tad unstable) and always used to get 7616- 8128kps on the upto 8mbit adsl max (and it was only 7616 because someone forgot to turn interleaving off)

Then again my line is under 1km long.

I know of people who have 2-4 Km lines and get pretty decent speeds and then I know of people with lines under 2Km that give rubbish speeds.

Depends on the quality and condition of the Cables used to supply the service.