TV in conservatory?

Posted by: dave marshall on 29 November 2015

Hi Guys,

 

I'm looking to run a smart HD tv in the conservatory, where, at the moment there's no aerial socket.

 

I realise that the simplest solution would be to install an aerial, but would appreciate advice as to alternative solutions.

 

I had a look at kit such as the Slingbox etc., but they seem more aimed at providing a signal to tablets, laptops and the like, so I'm slightly unsure as to how to proceed.

 

There are indoor aerials available, but it seems we are too far from the nearest transmitter for them to work.

 

Thanks,

 

Dave.

Posted on: 29 November 2015 by robgr

Cheapest and easiset option might be to get a Chromecast at aaround £30 and then cast to the TV via a phone/tablet

You then have the benefit of live TV, catchup TV and other services such as Netflix

Most of the key apps now cast

Posted on: 29 November 2015 by trickydickie

A Now TV box does a good job of getting catchup TV.

 

Be careful with your selection of TV if you are to reply on catchup. We found most didn't cover all services, except for Samsung which is what we ended up buying for our conservatory.

 

We also stream from our Humax Freesat box. There is some modified firmware available which allows wonky Twonky to be installed, which works well if we wanti to view our recordings.

 

Richard

Posted on: 30 November 2015 by robgr

Apols for my nonsense reply as I missed the word smart in the original post!

Posted on: 01 December 2015 by dave marshall

Thanks for the suggestions chaps.

 

This is being planned as a gift for a friend, who maintains that she doesn't want to run an additional coax from her aerial into the conservatory.

 

Having spoken to a couple of local TV shops, their advice is that this would, in fact both the easiest and best route, so it remains only for me to convince SWMBO! 

 

Cheers,

 

Dave.

 

 

Posted on: 01 December 2015 by Pcd

I think a lot will depend whether you have good Internet access available if so a smart tv could be the answer.

 

If you do decide to take this route and you are going to use a tablet as a control device check the compatibility of the tablet used with the tv purchased as some functions might not be avaliable unless you  use a chromecast dongle or something similar.

 

 

Posted on: 01 December 2015 by TOBYJUG

I have a friend of the family who uses Chromecast with 2 Smart tv's and usual wifi situation with lap top and tablet /phone and table top computer and has all sorts of problems, maybe a restriction of available bandwidth at any given moment.

Posted on: 16 December 2015 by dave marshall
dave marshall posted:

Thanks for the suggestions chaps.

 

This is being planned as a gift for a friend, who maintains that she doesn't want to run an additional coax from her aerial into the conservatory.

 

Having spoken to a couple of local TV shops, their advice is that this would, in fact both the easiest and best route, so it remains only for me to convince SWMBO! 

 

Cheers,

 

Dave.

 

 

Update.

It seems I have managed to convince her that a dedicated socket, fed from the existing rooftop aerial is the way to go,  and that most of the other solutions can come with problems.

Smart TV bought and gift wrapped for the 25th.

Phew!