Satellite tv dome or dish.

carprus

Free Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2021
Posts
15
Likes collected
1
Funster No
83,266
MH
Coachbuilt
Hi , we were thinking about getting satellite tv but are unsure on which is better dish or dome , we would be predominantly in the UK but will venture further afield in time, I find it a complete minefield and do not want to waste my money , any thoughts or input would be greatly appreciated.

Rob
 
I wouldn't bother the cost of a dish buys years of data for streaming.
But if you do go for one the domes are very high I would stick with a dish.
The Snipe's are good value, early ones were a bit iffy my Snipe 2 is 4½ years old no problems. You can buy 3 or 4, Snipes for the price of an Oyster so not a disaster if they go wrong.
 
Upvote 0
Many thanks guys I am not techy at all so streaming means nothing to me sadly . Looked at the Snipe , bit confused as to single or 2 LNB whatever that means (lol).

Rob .
 
Upvote 0
Hi Carprus, streaming is basically watching stuff via the internet and you don't have to be techy to use it, if you have a Android phone and tablet you can get virtually all, the TV channels including "catch up". You will need a decent data package on your phone but it really is dead easy. We have an Oyster satellite system and TV on our van (it came already fitted) but we've only used it a couple of times in 3 years.
If you need any help or info on "streaming" I'm sure you'll get plenty.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Upvote 0
bit confused as to single or 2 LNB
If you have twin LNB's you can use a receiver with twin tuners and record one program while watching another or use 2 receivers so 'er indoor can watch a different program to you on her TV.
 
Upvote 0
Have had dish and now have dome which for U.K. is no doubt the best especially in any weather. As for streaming there are too many weak spots for signal so a no no for me.
My Hymer has a factory fitted aerial/booster and in addition to the dome I get all I want in U.K. neither of which are much good across the water where a dish is the only way but still very limited venturing further south and streaming is preferable.
 
Upvote 0
We've had both and each have benefits and drawbacks. A dome isn't susceptible to high winds - but then it has to be pretty windy with a modern dish. On the other hand, with a dome we had to watch very carefully a few times going under a low arch into a site.
We use our dish most of the time, but like others are far from sure whether we'd buy another now streaming is so easy.
 
Upvote 0
We have an Alden sat dish, but if I was speccing a new van tomorrow not sure I’d bother with a dish again. Would likely just go down the streaming route. We have the setup from ‘Motorhome WiFi’ (already had the Mifi router so they supplied roof aerial, cradle etc) which works well for us.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
We have an Oyster Vision 3 85cm with auto skew fitted to our motorhome. Whilst in the UK and northern to central France we can watch all the free to air channels using a pulsat box. Further south in Europe you go you will start to lose some channels. By the time you get to Spain it will be hit and miss as to what you can get. If you have auto skew fitted and you receiver is programmed for it you can change satellite to intellesat 907. This will give you BBC 1 & 2, ITV 1, Channels 4 & 5. We have managed with a mixture of both right around the med coast up through Portugal and back across central Spain. We also have a Vodafone data sim in our mi-fi which we use for watching movies etc through our Amazon fire stick. If you set the stick to the lower picture quality (720) you will use less data and less buffering. We used this set up extensively in 2019/2020. In France.Germany and Spain, wether things have changed in Europe re reception I am not sure as not been out of the UK this year.
you will be limited by a data cap on which ever UK sim you might have when abroad under the (fair) usage capacity. If you are mainly in the UK you could get and unlimited data sim such as we have from Vodafone we now no longer have a land line as unlimited mins on our phone contract so using the data sim when at home or away saves the cost of home broad band. We have a cottage 30 mins South of Limoges and get all the channels on our 85 cm dish fixed to the wall of the cottage via Sky Free Sat.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
Hi Carprus, streaming is basically watching stuff via the internet and you don't have to be techy to use it, if you have a Android phone and tablet you can get virtually all, the TV channels including "catch up". You will need a decent data package on your phone but it really is dead easy. We have an Oyster satellite system and TV on our van (it came already fitted) but we've only used it a couple of times in 3 years.
If you need any help or info on "streaming" I'm sure you'll get plenty.
Hi Geistguy, thanks for your input , this may be the way forward , can I ask if the streaming would work in Europe and remote areas.
 
Upvote 0
Hi Geistguy, thanks for your input , this may be the way forward , can I ask if the streaming would work in Europe and remote areas.
we have a roof mounted Maxview Roam 4G antennae and in many parts of the Alps we couldn't stream as the signal was very weak or non existent .
Had the same problem in some parts of inland Spain
Streaming the north of Scotland is also a hit or a miss with many parts of the Highlands not so good

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Upvote 0
Upvote 0
We have an Alden sat dish, but if I was speccing a new van tomorrow not sure I’d bother with a dish again. Would likely just go down the streaming route. We have the setup from ‘Motorhome WiFi’ (already had the Mifi router so they supplied roof aerial, cradle etc) which works well for us.
Hi, thanks for your input been looking at the Motorhome WiFi system it looks very good , we were thinking 4g smart flex ,as a package .
Would I need anything else only I see you mention a router.
 
Upvote 0
Hi, thanks for your input been looking at the Motorhome WiFi system it looks very good , we were thinking 4g smart flex ,as a package .
Would I need anything else only I see you mention a router.
I believe you should have all you need in that package, if you have any questions give them a call as they are very helpful. We have a bit of a hybrid concoction, already had a HUAWEI E5785Lh-22c CAT6 router, so bought everything other than the router from them ( 5G ready antenna, wall cradle etc).
 
Upvote 0
Hi again, so we are thinking Motorhome wifi and as a belt and braces we would like a satellite system , we are thinking Snipe 4 or a dome
MAXVIEW VUQUBE SELF SEEK AUTOMATIC PORTABLE SATELLITE ANTENNA, what do you think of either of these , one is quite a bit more costly so any advice would help TIA.

Rob .
 
Upvote 0
If you are thinking of going down to Spain you will need at least an 85 cm dish preferably with autoskew 😊
Do you actually get anything in Spain with that? I remember really struggling with 85cm Oyster on previous mh, in fact in Benicassim I was already out of the area and thats before the latest shrinkage.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Upvote 0
We have a Tracvision dome which is very good but if it rains very heavy or snow you can the loose signal but if you have dish string wind would be a problem and you may have to put dish down.
We have a Firestick for streaming if it rains heavy
 
Upvote 0
Do you actually get anything in Spain with that? I remember really struggling with 85cm Oyster on previous mh, in fact in Benicassim I was already out of the area and thats before the latest shrinkage.
Yes but I take a sky+ box get most channels except BBC & ITV.😊
 
Upvote 0
Buy a cheap satellite dish combo from Amazon £40 ish. with cables and lnb and attach it to the van somehow.
I put ours on the cycle rack or on the front row eye. Out tv has a receiver built in.
Use dish align app or similar to point the dish.
takes 5 min to set up.
As said above you will need a large dish for Europe as the footprint for the uk tv signal is quite small.
 
Upvote 0
we have a roof mounted Maxview Roam 4G antennae and in many parts of the Alps we couldn't stream as the signal was very weak or non existent .
Had the same problem in some parts of inland Spain
Streaming the north of Scotland is also a hit or a miss with many parts of the Highlands not so good
Most of our touring is north of Inverness and occasionally there is the odd place where there's no signal, EE are part of BT so coverage is pretty good. We camped in a very remote laybye last year and had terrific 4g and phone signal, I could clearly see a radius of about 5 mile, used binoculars and no mast to be seen, wierd. As for abroad, I've used 4g over most of Europe and even in remote places, they seem more advanced than us. Do remember though that you need to check useage limits abroad with your supplier.
 
Upvote 1
I can't speak for domes or dish but I have just fitted a wfi to the van and it brilliant. Went up to Scotland a couple of weeks ago and managed to get a signal all the time I was up there. the hole lot cost me £300.00 and £18.00 a month for sim card with unlimited data in uk

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Upvote 0
I can't speak for domes or dish but I have just fitted a wfi to the van and it brilliant. Went up to Scotland a couple of weeks ago and managed to get a signal all the time I was up there. the hole lot cost me £300.00 and £18.00 a month for sim card with unlimited data in uk
Who is your SIM card with please
 
Upvote 0
You could use the system whilst travelling if you have a dome (to listen to radio, say) but would need to watch the added height.
Dishes are much more compact, folded, yet can provide greater 'reach'.
If you want English entertainment, a cheaper solution is to take a few DVDs.
 
Upvote 0
Smarty. It's £18.00 a month and can be cancled any time. This is the second month I have had it and used it in Scotland okay. Next trip is france next week so time will tell.
 
Upvote 0
It’s going to be a lot more expensive using data in EU in the future🤔
 
Upvote 0
Hi , we have been looking at used domes , we have 3 in mind Road PRO WSTA-DP250 , Camo CSIA-1300 PL 1400 P, Oyster SAT DOM 50 ST .
My question is which should I go for if any or steer clear of , TIA

Rob .
 
Upvote 0

Join us or log in to post a reply.

To join in you must be a member of MotorhomeFun

Join MotorhomeFun

Join us, it quick and easy!

Log in

Already a member? Log in here.

Latest journal entries

Back
Top