What is going on? We have lost 3 channels since Yesterday Friday, Disc Health, BBC AMerica and now History channel...............What is happing? WHY?

What's with the Barney Channel? I need the Food Channel before April 15th. Also is it Showtime or HBO that is out. Phooey to this company.

While we were there this past Feb-March.. Several stations would come and go. Some for days at a time. I wonder if it has anything thing to do with with the weather in the area. maybe it affects the satilite transmissions.

It said they had no permission for these channels and it went out while I was watching one of them, it happened with Disc Health and then History today same message.
So what happened didn't pay the bills?

Well, it seems that Flamingo can't keep the bills due in the right box.
Months back it was the Curacao group that didn't pay up - now it's finger pointing time.
We're signed up with Flamingo for Internet -( fortunately we also are on with Telbo)
They just can't get it together somehow - D'money she come in but somehow D' money no go to pay the bills - so Flamingo she go up, she go down...
But you'll notice that the big boys at Flamingo are all driving nice cars.
There are some options in the winds - principle of which is Dish
Maybe soon, but until then you get what you get and the folks at Flamingo TV don't care.

Brian

I don't think they pay for the channels. It's my impression that they steal them and when the sat company changes the code the have to crack the code again. Just my opinion.

I will say that UTS/TDS does a much better job of keeping their channel line-up. The trade-off is that you get a separate box that is a little flakey (sometimes you have to unplug it and plug it back in, other times, it reboots and goes back to channel 2 by magic). You also get Latin America versions of many channels, which feature Spanish subtitles and commercials, as well as slightly different programming.

For the premium channels, they provide Spanish and English language feeds.

Flamingo TV lost more than 3 channels - HBO (5), Lifetime (15), and than 37 - 44 --- channel 31 to 33 are only on sometimes as is 22 ...

According to FTV's website http://www.flamingotv.com, we should be getting 41 channels. I am currently getting 25. Of those 25, I would say that only 16 have a normal picture at my house. Hopefully others of you have better reception; picture quality has been an ongoing problem in my neighborhood.

Perhaps we all need to email sales@flamingotv.com to register our complaint and threaten to pay for what we're getting. Or call or pass by (although I've not found these methods very satisfactory in the past). But the more complaints they receive, the more likely they will actually do something about it...we can hope anyway

I would suggest to write to the topman Riccardo Vos - email Riccardo@flamingotv.net ... I did it yesterday and also sent him the link to this discussion.

Thanks, Brigitte. I had not emailed Riccardo because I thought he was just in charge of the internet side of things.

If I am not mistaken, a few months ago some things changed at Flamingo and Riccardo is now in charge of both, Internet and TV

Brigitte,

That's very good to know, thanks!

My father just checked and we now seem to have everything back except HBO...wonder how long it will last ?

Channel 5 (HBO), 29 - 33 and 37 are still missing... ok, I can live without 29 + 30 but the other ones I would like to have back ....

I urge everyone to contact Riccardo. I am tired of being complacent. If you have a series you follow, it's nearly impossible on Bonaire. HBO has been in and out. If I lose Showtime now that I started The Tudors, man I will be mad. Still miss the Food Channel.

You know, I hadn't thought of it that way but I bet the observation is correct.. Flamingo is stealing the signals.
All in favor? We can cause Flamingo to be blocked out .. just happen to have contacts on that end of the spectrum.
Only takes a couple of calls.
The poor quality service - or complete lack of any service at all should be dealt with.
We can have a tag put on Flamingo - it'll take a couple of weeks (through another cycle) but we can determine quickly thereafter if they are pirates.
Also - suggest you pay only for what you get.. We are supposed to be seeing 40+ channels PAY FOR WHAT YOU ARE RECEIVING.
Those that are not in favor of putting tracers on Flamingo.. speak now

Brian

Pay what you get....sounds nice but they will just disconnect you. Bummer.

I do agree though that both TV and internet service is terrible. We might switch soon.

OKAY, as of last night, now the sound is gone on 36 (PBS). I sent an email to Riccardo this morning. I am sick of this!

Riccardo wrote several of us lovely replies..a long email really but the facts were he is getting 24 customer service, all regular channels will be back. I got Food Channel and HBO and Weather Channel back for a day then nada for FC and WC. Phooey...

If you have access to a computer in the states you can get a product call SlingBox. It allows you to watch T V from your high speed internet site.??

Most of the TV/Internet thingies check to make sure you are inside of the US. Even if they didn't, no one on the island has what an American would call high-speed. It maxes out at about 512K for businesses.

Actually, with a fast enough connection, the Slingbox works great, even on Bonaire. And 512Kbps, if it can be sustained, will work for that.

See http://blog.richterscale.org/index.php/weblog/sling_that_media_slingbox_pro/

Kevin - Telbo is offering residential ADSL with 1Mbps down peak at NAF 149/month and NAF 299/month will apparently get you 3Mbps down.

I just installed a Slingbox and a TiVo at my in-law's in NH because the Slingbox I had in Texas is not responding for some reason, though.

Jake

Jake, is Kevin correct and could that be the problem with your Texas connection??

I hadn't realized that the Slingbox sat in the remote location. But, as for bandwidth, Jake and I are both right. Telbo sells a 3Mbps residential service, and a 1Mbps business service, now. When I bought, 512K was the fastest. The real difference is that the 3Mbps residential service is traffic limited, and won't support a sustained signal anywhere near that. My understanding is that it is limited to about 256kbps average (that's not bad, actually ... Verizon used to limit their 1.5Mbps service to 84kbps sustained), but will, indeed, burst to 3Mbps. The business 512kbps service will actually deliver 512kbps consistently, but won't ever go faster than 512kbps, either.

Nope - the problem with the Texas connection is something completely different (I'm in NH right now and still can't connect, nor could I connect via a VPN which originates in the U.S.) - it's a hardware issue, but I won't be making it back to my office in Texas to fix for some months, so it was easier to install a new Slingbox at my in-laws. Added benefit is that it allows my wife to watch a different channel from her family while she recuperates here for the next month plus :-)

As far as the Telbo ADSL service goes, Kevin, I have the 1Mbps service over in my storage unit and it was running close to 1Mbps sustained for a couple GB download (that's also on the residential plan for NAF 149/month).

At my house I have a dedicated 1.5 Mbps bi-directional leased line (not cheap), and that is 1.5Mbps sustained, in each direction. That's a business connection. I also have the business FTV cable connection there as a back-up, but almost never use it.

BTW, Telbo has indicated that they are considering offering IPTV service over ADSL, so that would require high sustained bandwidth, at least locally.

Jake

Jake
So what I'm hearing is that with the 512k service slingbox will work on Bonaire??

I have some friends who use FTV cable up in Hato (north of the northern resorts) that view TV off a Slingbox in the western U.S., so I assume that it works. I've not tried it with anyone's 512Kbps service on Bonaire myself.

Jake

Well, I had been waiting for the Food Channel Awards for months (I know I am a geek). Food Channel was up all day and voila right in the middle of the awards it went OFF. Same with Weather Channel. The NE has a huge N'or Easter and I have clients arriving today so needed that channel for weather info. Sure enough, it too went off. So much for getting it together. I feel like I am living in Antigua again in the 80's. Phooey..