Lost your signal? Satellite issues, your questions answered

Satellite Astra 2E has now reached its final position with all UK channels making the change early last week. It’s taken a week for everything to settle properly, but we can now report on the following:

The confirmed footprint for Astra 2E features below with the numbers 45 and 60 referring to the satellite dish size required to obtain the signal.  This is not guaranteed 100% for those living in France, but for the most part seems to be correct.

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So what are the options for those who have lost signal throughout the rest of the country?

The first and potentially easiest fix is to check the quality and potentially replace your low-noise block downconverter (LBN).  For more information on what an LBN is, click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-noise_block_downconverter

If this doesn’t help, then the next step is to increase your satellite dish size.  The map below highlights the size of dish used with success in various parts of France.  For the most part, all channels are fully recoverable and with good reception by installing a 80-150cm dish.  The exact size is very much dependent on your location.

Key – Yellow – 85cm dish, Red – 100cm dish, Green – 120cm dish

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As with Astra 2F, Astra 2E is likely to change seasonally, decreasing from April to September, meaning the dishes that work now, may not work then.

Other alternatives to installing  a larger dish:

  • Get UK SKYTV installed by a registered provider in France, such as www.astrasat.tv.  Monthly plans cost the same as in the UK, with an additional £120 + vat per year for the viewing card and installation costs.  This is a guaranteed fix and provides you with all the UK programming permanently with no loss of signal.
  • Use a proxy or VPN server to obtain a UK IP address and watch UK programming on demand via BBC iPlayer, ITV player, 4 on demand etc
  • Watch via internet tv using sites such as http://www.filmon.com – signal is not great via the free service but is significantly improved through subscription.
The last two options require a reliable, high speed internet connection which unfortunately, is not available in many areas of France.  If ADSL is not available or unreliable in your area, we recommend looking at getting satellite broadband installed (https://www.astrasat.tv/satellite-broadband/) and selecting a package with a 20mb/s download speed and minimum data limit of 10GB – this will ensure a fast, reliable internet connection enabling you to watch all your favourite programming online in HD.
You can also watch through your television by connecting with via a set top box or HDMI cable.  For more information, contact us today on connected@astrasat.tv.

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