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EWmums

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TV options

487

Posts

EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 10 May 2011 - 12:05

I know this has been done before, but we all know about the issues with the search facility!

We live on Al Messilah and currently our only source of TV is through the computer (BBC iPlayer etc). I would like to be able to just pop the telly on without going through all that hassle - I'm not fussed about having too many channels, just access to the news from Al Jazeera would do me,

Can someone explain what my options are as I am really confused? The Compound Manager gave us the number for Rukhan Al Khala Co. (Cablevision) but I would like to understand things a bit better before contacting them.

I have heard of the QTel Mosaic thing but apparently it's not very good? What is the difference between that and Cablevision? Are there satellite services too?

Also does anyone understand what Apple TV is? I have heard of it but don't really know what it is. The other option I thought about would be to stick a Slingbox on my Mum's telly back in the UK but I don't really understand that either!

I must be getting to that age when technology starts to pass you by :D

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Anonymous (not verified)

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Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 11 May 2011 - 21:00

Weekirst I think the best you could hope for on average would be 2MB, so probably only worth paying for that package. Hope your move goes well....BTW the 'peckers' are still at it there during the day, digging to China or somewhere.....:\:

171

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 11 May 2011 - 16:51

Thanks for that...in West bay right now we have 4MB..and yes we do actually have that during the day at least..slows down at night when more people home. Have no issues with skype , use it a lot, so gutted to hear others say it is not working. I am in old house, was sure it had cables put in by Noah....and was moving to a newly built compound with fibre optic state of the art cables so it would all be better....how wrong was I....did not factor in the exchange location. Still, hardly like we are living out in the boonies??!!

Anonymous (not verified)

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Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 11 May 2011 - 15:03

Weekirst, I'm not a computer geek by any means, but I know we are on the 2MB package & we have 3 computers at home often running simultaneously on wireless in the evenings. It seems a tiny bit slower now & then compared to when we lived in Duhail, but it's really nothing to moan about. I have only used Skype once here & it worked fine. 8MB in Doha????? I doubt it! Edited to add that I think we lose the connection now & then due to the age of the infrastructure in Al Messilah...I'm sure they still have to climb up lamp-posts here to connect the lines LOL!! <em>edited by kimmac on 11/05/2011</em>

171

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 11 May 2011 - 13:02

Kimmac...moving up to that new al rayyan compound soon beside you...now thinking about the internet connection...Qtel said we are so far from an exchange that the top speed will be 2MB...yet they told someone else it will be 8MB....in doha?!!! What kind of speed do you get, compared to what you pay for? People who are already up there are on 1MB right now until they take on the Qtel contract and are able to upgrade. Browsing is fine, but skype not working well, possibly due to low speed/bandwidths. I am not willing to pony up for higher speed and then never get it for the contract term. TIA

Anonymous (not verified)

0

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 11 May 2011 - 09:48

Our Showtime reception at Al Messilah is fine - so far no problems with it. I have noticed that some of the dishes on the other houses are up on 10 foot poles, so obviously it's a bit hit & miss. Our internet connection is a bit glitchy tho.... :~/

374

Posts

EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 11 May 2011 - 09:00

Amy, with the Humax box you can tune into BBC World News + some other BBC Channels in the region, CNN, Al Jazeerah, Euronews, France 24 (with an English channel and Arabic Channel), Euronews, Dubai One together with some music channels + MBC 2, 4, Action, Max, Persia (which all have some good movies at times), Al Jazeerah Sports 1 & 2, Dubai Sports, channels from all neighbouring countries, Spain, Italy, etc - endless depending what takes your preference. If you are into football and want the Al Jazeerah Sports + channels, then a card bought separately fore either 6 months / a year subscription (a one off) and popped into the box, does the trick. Hope that helps ;).

121

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 11 May 2011 - 00:46

When we lived in Messillah compound my husband went to Qtel to subscribe to Mosaic and they told him it was impossible, no Mosaic in that area.... that was only a year ago by the way! Amy you sound like me, I would also be happy with a couple of news channels. So if I were you I would just get the free to air channels (Hotbird or Nilesat, depending on the languages you understand), no need for Showtime! After months of looking for a TV guy we finally found one, he came to the house, installed a dish on our roof, programmed the receiver, we paid him a couple of hundred and voila, an hour later we had all we need, no monthly fee, no need to deal with Qtel or OSN, I'm very happy with the outcome.

514

Posts

EW GURU

Latest post on 10 May 2011 - 21:02

We've got both Mosaic and Showtime and in our old villa Showtime reception was "fineish" but in the new one - which is on Al Waab a stones throw from Villagio so not out of the way or anything - it is appalling. Every few minutes the screen just blanks out for a second. Mosaic is fine - drops out every now and then but no where near as much as Showtime. Also, I think that Showtime programming is just awful these days - whats with repeating a Greys episode for example one week later and still in prime time??!!! There is hardly anything on to watch these days and half the time I end up watching the free to air stuff on the mozaic tv.

15

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 10 May 2011 - 20:20

Just to clarify - Mosaic and OSN Showtime are 2 different things - Mosaic is QTel's cable TV, OSN is a separate satellite system. Mosaic reception is poor here - probably for the same reasons the internet is so hit and miss. OSN's reception is excellent. Hubby says he subscribed to OSN at a booth in Virgin Villaggio, then a couple of days later had a phone call to arrange for the men to come and connect. He pays a monthly subscription. I think there are other satellite TV options available but can't think of them off hand!

487

Posts

EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 10 May 2011 - 18:11

Ooh thanks guys, that's really helpful. So Apple TV and Slingbox is a no-no for me for various reasons - and we already have a laptop wired up to our TV but I am looking for something more instant than having to boot the laptop up every time etc (call me lazy :D) Kimmac is your Showtime the same as Hyacinth's? (i.e. an add-on to a Mosaic package?). Do you get problems with it too? I have noticed that our internet connection is sometimes slow, and also we are paying for 2MB but only ever record up to 1MB speed. CSM I think I might just do what you suggest for now and get a box from Carrefour or somewhere then leave DH to sort anything else out, although I am reluctant to pay the exorbitant prices that QTel charge! Are QTel the only cable/satellite TV suppliers out there?

Anonymous (not verified)

0

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 10 May 2011 - 16:48

Hi Amy We've also just moved into Al Messilah & we already had an existing Showtime subscription. The dish was already up on the roof from the previous tenant (plus another 2 dishes from who knows when!!) so my DH just plugged the Showtime box into the cable coming from the roof dish & hey presto (well it actually involved drilling through walls etc... but let's not get into that now!). DH also has Al Jazeera Sports on a separate box & it all works fine. HTH.

15

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 10 May 2011 - 16:21

Hi Amy, we're on Al Messilah too and have Mosaic and OSN(Showtime). The Mosaic tv doesn't work well here at all - lots of interruptions and "this channel is currently unavailable" messages - apparently something to do with the area of Doha we live in! Hubby got it purely to watch premiership footy on when Showtime lost the contract last summer. OSN is fine....I think that's a satellite option! I wouldn't advise anything that relies on good internet service - I don't know if you've had time to notice yet how often there's no signal strength here!!

117

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 10 May 2011 - 15:57

I can chime in on AppleTV and SlingBox as we have had both for years. AppleTV basically broadcasts your shared iTunes content through the television. You can purchase iTunes content from it like renting movies or buying TV. It wouldn't offer you any 'live' television options. We have a lot of kidsTV in iTunes and use the AppleTV to play that. SlingBox is another story. When you plug a slingbox into the TV in the UK you will have complete control of that television through a computer here in Doha. With out a SlingPlayer (which is a piece of **** that I don't think they sell anymore... ours literally blew up) you need to a computer plugged into the TV in Doha to view the SlingBox content on the television. We always hooked a laptop up to the television. You CAN NOT conveniently hook the SlingPlayer up to the main television in Mum's house. If you changed the channel to watch something different it would change their channel. Does that make sense? You are literally controlling the television, so it needs to be a TV that people aren't watching most of the time. When we left for China we had an extra cable line installed in my parents guest room. We didn't even hook a TV up to it, just a SlingBox and it worked great. With SlingBox you are also limited by internet speed. If your connection is slow your picture will start to pixelate and break up. You will be able to watch live, UK television, but it will still be through a computer. We have since purchased a Mac Mini that acts like a media hub for us. It uses our living room television as its monitor and we run SlingBox and iTunes from it. Keeps us from having to run cables and computers all over the house. hth care

52

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 10 May 2011 - 15:05

Al Jazeera is free-to-air, so if you already have a dish on your roof, you just need a satellite receiver (the black box I think we got ours from Jumbo) to pick it up at no cost. BBC and Fatafeat are also free and there's the limit of my tv viewing I'm afraid :-)

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