How to get Freeview channels on a TV without aerial?

[Le Gavroche]

Excellent Wfii connection but no TV aerial feed in the particular location where I would like to install this TV. There is no way to add an aerial.

TV is 5 month old Samsung smart TV. Freeview Play app apparently not available for Samsung TV's for whatever reason. To see what the Freeview app was, I downloaded it to my phone. All it seems to do is show me all a live guide to all channels, but when you select any of them, it tells you to just download the app for that channel eg BBC iplayer.

So it appears that I have to have separate apps for every service such as BBC, ITV, C4, Five, etc all downloaded to the TV, and there is no way to simply browse all the channels together and click to watch one.

This, in 2024, seems bonkers and surely I am missing something? Is there not one single app or wifi-streaming box, or anything, that I can buy that simply shows you all the free UK channels in one long list, that you can watch live via Wifi?

Any suggestions welcome.

[Radec]

As far as I'm aware it needs a aerial to get live Freeview.

Is a indoor or set top powered aerial not an option?

[Mr Pointy]

Sadly not. There is a slowly developing service called Freely but currently it's only available as a built in part of certain TV sets:

https://www.freely.co.uk/products/televisions

Depending on where you are you might get enough signal from an indoor aerial, but it's far from guaranteed.

[Le Gavroche]

Mr Pointy said:

Sadly not. There is a slowly developing service called Freely but currently it's only available as a built in part of certain TV sets:

https://www.freely.co.uk/products/televisions

Depending on where you are you might get enough signal from an indoor aerial, but it's far from guaranteed.

Thank you for that, I have not heard of Freely before, but it appears to be a sensible solution to this problem!

If buying a new TV with Freely built in solves the issue, and keeps it simple, then I will probably do that.

[Mr Pointy]

Just note that without an aerial you'll get about 24 channels:

https://www.freely.co.uk/help/faqs/channel-list

There was another recent thread in which a couple of indoor antennae were suggested & being from Amazon you could always try them & return them if they don't work:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[Le Gavroche]

Thanks again

[OutInTheShed]

You can get a lot of TV through a PC or RasPi or whatever, via TV catchup and other services.
So, it's possible to put a NUC or Pi or other small 'puter behind your TV and just use the TV as a monitor.

Is there any merit to doing this?
Maybe!
It would work if your TV is ancient and the apps for various channels are not very good.
You can use the TV for other internet, or even as a big PC display.
You may be able to record stuff, in case you want to watch it offline, or in case the programme gets removed from iPlayer or whatever?
Or maybe even record stuff and fast forward through the adverts?

[Mr Pointy]

This repeately gets posted but it doesn't offer anything like the integrated UI that Freeview offers, which is exactly what a lot of people want.

[Pearcyy]

I’d just get virgin/sky stream basic think virgin was £5 a month for normal channels.

[alangla]

I had a setup with a Humax Freeview Play box connected to an aerial feeding to a Humax Espresso on the back of the TV with no aerial. It barely got used and eventually I ended up replacing the Espresso with a cheap Fire stick as the streaming options were a lot better. If you really, really want broadcast TV on the unconnected set and you’ve got an aerial elsewhere then a setup like this will work but it’s not a great user experience and probably not worth the effort.

Edit: manufacturers site- https://uk.humaxdigital.com/product/fvp-5000t/
Espresso at the bottom. You may be able to buy these used, I got mine from an auction house.

Edited by alangla on Friday 1st November 07:22

[xeny]

Mr Pointy said:

This repeately gets posted but it doesn't offer anything like the integrated UI that Freeview offers, which is exactly what a lot of people want.

I've seen people create a "launch page" in a local htnl file that points to the various streaming services. Obviously this isn't perfect, but can significantly increase the usability for less technical members of the household.

[Mr Pointy]

xeny said:

Mr Pointy said:

This repeately gets posted but it doesn't offer anything like the integrated UI that Freeview offers, which is exactly what a lot of people want.

I've seen people create a "launch page" in a local htnl file that points to the various streaming services. Obviously this isn't perfect, but can significantly increase the usability for less technical members of the household.

Maybe but I'd suggest that "creating a launch page" & "less technical" don't really go together. The truth is many people (admittedly maybe of the older generation) just want a simple interface they can scroll down & see what is on over all of the channels, which is what the Freeview EPG offers. In truth most of the streaming apps have poor UIs & very slow response compared to even a Humax Freeview EPG.

Some genius is now going to post that their 90-year old granny coded her own EPG from scratch so what's the problem, but that's hardly a commonn scenario.

[matjk]

There is a very easy way to do this, the down side is it’s not especially legal or free, but any of the IPTV services give you exactly this, with the added bonus of getting every single channel available, plus movies and PPV live sports events , shame there isn’t a legit way , but that’s the way it is

[xeny]

Mr Pointy said:

Maybe but I'd suggest that "creating a launch page" & "less technical" don't really go together. .

Create a launch page for other members who are less technical household . :-P

Mind you, anyone here who can use bold or italics is half way to the required skill set.

[blingybongy]

Fire stick, not Freeview branded but stacks of live TV

[Barchettaman]

Freesat and a Humax box?