Techy advice needed

[rooster]

VPN's are getting useless for anything but standard TV streams, the subscription channels are just blocking them

[tomthefan]

VPN's are getting useless for anything but standard TV streams, the subscription channels are just blocking them

As I understand it the problem is that the ip ranges they have occur in blocs and so are easily recognised and blocked.
I don't believe there's any other way the channels have of knowing you're in the wrong geographical region.
I think I read somewhere that some services offer the opportunity to buy a fixed unique ip in a country of choice that should
get past this type of recognition.
I'm not techy enough to know but you'd think it might be possible to set up a scheme to route traffic through a mate's ip in another country and vice versa.

[FLIP]

VPN's are getting useless for anything but standard TV streams, the subscription channels are just blocking them

As I understand it the problem is that the ip ranges they have occur in blocs and so are easily recognised and blocked.
I don't believe there's any other way the channels have of knowing you're in the wrong geographical region.
I think I read somewhere that some services offer the opportunity to buy a fixed unique ip in a country of choice that should
get past this type of recognition.
I'm not techy enough to know but you'd think it might be possible to set up a scheme to route traffic through a mate's ip in another country and vice versa.

You can certainly buy yourself a Raspberry Pi and set that up as a VPN server, and get your mate to do the same. Probably what I'll end up doing.

[rooster]

VPN's are getting useless for anything but standard TV streams, the subscription channels are just blocking them

As I understand it the problem is that the ip ranges they have occur in blocs and so are easily recognised and blocked.
I don't believe there's any other way the channels have of knowing you're in the wrong geographical region.
I think I read somewhere that some services offer the opportunity to buy a fixed unique ip in a country of choice that should
get past this type of recognition.
I'm not techy enough to know but you'd think it might be possible to set up a scheme to route traffic through a mate's ip in another country and vice versa.

You can certainly buy yourself a Raspberry Pi and set that up as a VPN server, and get your mate to do the same. Probably what I'll end up doing.

Works as long as your mate has enough bandwidth and data is not capped

[TerenureJim]

Do people still torrent or is everyone on the streaming boxes these days?

[TerenureJim]

Has anyone purchased a Scart to hdmi converter? Do they work? I have an older DVD player/surround sound set up that I don't want to replace just because of some cabling connect issues with a new tv, which has no Scart socket.

[Dexter]

Has anyone purchased a Scart to hdmi converter? Do they work? I have an older DVD player/surround sound set up that I don't want to replace just because of some cabling connect issues with a new tv, which has no Scart socket.

I had the same issue but used the AV connection (i think it's called) - the one with 3 connections each end, red, white and yellow. That worked.

[fourthirtythree]

The Scart/RGB won't deliver decent quality video (or audio). If you are using it for sound only has it a digital optical link? Your TV almost certainly has one (though it may not have a Scart or RCA RGB any more) and you can route the audio through that in multi channel for better effect.

[Peg Leg]

The Scart/RGB won't deliver decent quality video (or audio). If you are using it for sound only has it a digital optical link? Your TV almost certainly has one (though it may not have a Scart or RCA RGB any more) and you can route the audio through that in multi channel for better effect.

This. Get a new dvd/blueray player. Connect it to the tv via hdmi. Use an audio (3.5mm or scart) from the audio out in your tv to the aux in on your dvd/amp.
You can programme the audio out socket on your tv to be "always on" (not like your phone where the speakers turn off when you plug in an audio jack).
Then you just use the old dvd player as an amp. All of this assumes your dvd has the usual dvd/cd/fm/aux settings typical to that type of system.

[johng]

Presuming you only want it for sound because..... Well who can be arsed with dvds these days.

Three possibilities. Standard analogue audio as Peggy has said. Toslink optical digital. Or SPDIF Coax with rca plugs.

You need the same one on both devices as you can't adapt from one to the other. The first 2 are most likely candidates. I have a very old (12 to 15 years) Sony surround system with all 3 on it. Telly has the first 2.

[Oldschool]

Any suggestions for connecting my Vodafone mobile to my TV. I need a wired connection, mini usb to HDMI.
Via Chromecast or some such won't do.

[johng]

Much easier if you have USB C rather than micro b.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/AmazonBasics-U ... GM76N7VQ1M

If you need micro B you will need to hunt through for one compatible with your device.

Here is an example. But I have no idea what your device is

https://www.amazon.co.uk/kwmobile-SlimP ... ds=m000346

[Oldschool]

Much easier if you have USB C rather than micro b.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/AmazonBasics-U ... GM76N7VQ1M

If you need micro B you will need to hunt through for one compatible with your device.

Here is an example. But I have no idea what your device is

https://www.amazon.co.uk/kwmobile-SlimP ... ds=m000346

Thanks I presume a USB C to "What I have" would do the trick?
My device is a Vodafone V8 (I didn't think I needed anything highfalutin until....)

[johng]

Much easier if you have USB C rather than micro b.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/AmazonBasics-U ... GM76N7VQ1M

If you need micro B you will need to hunt through for one compatible with your device.

Here is an example. But I have no idea what your device is

https://www.amazon.co.uk/kwmobile-SlimP ... ds=m000346

Thanks I presume a USB C to "What I have" would do the trick?

Not sure. Probably worth a look though.

[FLIP]

Much easier if you have USB C rather than micro b.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/AmazonBasics-U ... GM76N7VQ1M

If you need micro B you will need to hunt through for one compatible with your device.

Here is an example. But I have no idea what your device is

https://www.amazon.co.uk/kwmobile-SlimP ... ds=m000346

Thanks I presume a USB C to "What I have" would do the trick?
My device is a Vodafone V8 (I didn't think I needed anything highfalutin until....)

The V8 is a micro USB device. Attempting to find one compatible would be nigh on impossible in my eyes as it's a rebadged phone, and I have no idea what the original manufacturer or model is. But have a look on Amazon.

[jimbobjoe]

Talking about sound.. does anyone kow of any decent value (up to €110/£100) soundbars that are thin? New TV has a pretty low clearance and I'd like the soundbar to sit in front of it without blocking any of the screen.

Also, is an optical cable preferable to 3.5mm?

Thanks in advance!

[fourthirtythree]

No.

You pay for acceptable sound in soundbars. You can get a really, really cheap second hand surround sound which will deliver much better sound that a sound bar costing much, much more.

Sound bars tend to muddy sound with poor definition. There have been great advances in speaker design (and particularly circuitry and software) which make the existence of sound bars possible. Just not good and cheap ones yet. It's a bit like how amazing it is that phones can take such fantastic photographs given their minute focal length but everyone seems to have got used to looking at people with giant lopsided foreheads and noses because of them....

[jimbobjoe]

No.

You pay for acceptable sound in soundbars. You can get a really, really cheap second hand surround sound which will deliver much better sound that a sound bar costing much, much more.

Sound bars tend to muddy sound with poor definition. There have been great advances in speaker design (and particularly circuitry and software) which make the existence of sound bars possible. Just not good and cheap ones yet. It's a bit like how amazing it is that phones can take such fantastic photographs given their minute focal length but everyone seems to have got used to looking at people with giant lopsided foreheads and noses because of them....

thanks 433 - I'll definetely invest in a surround system when I buy my own place but for now looking for an improvement on the built in TV speakers which have no depth at all.

[johng]

He is right. Sound bars are a victim of their size. It is a massive challenge to make speakers sound good in a v small or flat space. Sound is basically vibrations of air and needs space to resonate.

This is why you could get good quality trinitron crt TVs sounding decent in stereo. Plenty of room inside.

The other factor is electronic technology. When the Beatles were playing live speaker technology was so sh1t that they could not build amps or PA big enough to be heard over their screaming fans. within 5 years technology had improved to the extent that huge stadium gigs with massive Marshall stacks and beefy PA systems were possible.

These days you can get almost acceptable quality coming out of a mobile phone. However you are still restricted by space. I have a decent quality soundbar with sub woofer in one room which is a couple of years old. I have a surround system in another room which is over a decade older and sounds better. But neither sounds even close to as good as my 1995 studio monitors with a pro amp driving them. Guess which ones have the most room inside.

[johng]

thanks 433 - I'll definetely invest in a surround system when I buy my own place but for now looking for an improvement on the built in TV speakers which have no depth at all.

If you are looking for quick and cheap get a set of good quality PC speakers or some form of Active speakers (i.e. Built in amp) Boxy shape is better.

Optical connectors are going to be better quality however analogue connector would be fine as the speaker(s) will probably be the weak bit.

You need optical or SPDIFF to carry surround sound. Analogue will only give stereo