Hello everybody.

Please be advised that we are starting to get booked up for April, so if you think your PC has a problem, or you're considering taking up one of our other services then please contact us now or we may not be able to get you sorted before we go.

You might even miss out on our FREE telephone install offer available for this month only if you don't get in now! Check our Special Offer page for more details.

Please don't leave it until the last minute and miss out.

That's right, 100% discount - free - gratis - nada - nothing.

Now's the time to get your free phone installation (normally €59.95) when you sign up through us for your Tooway 26M (20M download 6M upload) satellite internet.

Never has it been easier to get connected with high speed satellite internet and a phone than it is today with installation starting as low as €169.00 + IVA. NO LANDLINE NEEDED.

Tooway satellite internet gives you a UK IP address meaning it's possible to use BBC & ITV catchup services without using a VPN or that horrible expat shield.

So why not check out our offers today and get your order in as time is limited to April installations only.

All brand names and registered trade marks acknowledged.

Over the past few months, I've been extolling the virtues of a wonderful website that allows all us ex-pats to view live UK TV without the need to do anything special, and without the need for satellite TV installations. This website is www.filmon.com. It seems that Filmon are now only able to offer live UK TV in the UK. This is probably down to licencing regulations and the fact that to receive licenced UK TV broadcasts, you should be paying for a licence.

This issue does NOT affect any of our Satellite Internet clients as they all have a UK Internet address.

Currently, anyone residing outside the UK should not be able to watch live UK TV. Scream and shout as much as you like, that is how it is. So why can other nationalities get away with it then - you ask. Well, that's because they don't have the same licencing regulations as the UK so as to provide you with honest and impartial reporting of world events (for most of the time, that is).

So, you don't live in the UK BUT, you want to watch live UK TV (shame on you ;-) ). How do you go about it?

You can always fork out for a satellite dish and receiver and buy a forged sky card, you can pay for an illegal card sharing setup, you can pay one of the many illegal re-broadcasters who pop up all over the place - and disappear just as quickly with your money or you can watch live UK TV through the Internet, either directly from the broadcasters website or from an aggregators website such as www.myiplayer.com.

When I try to watch TV on the broadcasters website, it tells me it's not available in my region. Of course it does, because it's illegal to watch it outside the UK - because it's licenced for the UK only! Please pay attention, I'm getting to that.

OK smart a**e, how's it done? I'll tell you. You use something called a VPN (Virtual Private Network) that fools the website into believing you are in the UK.

How can I get one? There are many free one available along with some relatively cheap ones (5.00 GBP a month). I have personally used a 5GBP one from www.my-private-network.co.uk and it works fine, and they give you a full setup guide with pictures. We have also used the free "Best UK VPN Service" and find that works very well also.

What I do find a lot of - and have to uninstall a lot of - is Expat Shield. Whilst Expat Shield may be free, it's backed by advertisers, it also installs a 'handy' toolbar. Anybody who knows me knows how I feel about third party 'handy' toolbars. They're very handy at breaking things (as many of my clients can testify) and should be banned.

To get the "Best UK VPN Service", it is available from the myiplater.com website on the "catchup" page.

In my opinion, the only thing handy about Expat Shield is the ability to click a few buttons and it installs itself, along with the c**p it comes with. I used it for a couple of days then got rid of it and it will never darken my PC again. Not to be totally negative about this product, I do have customers who think it's marvelous, brilliant and all sorts of other positive adjectives.

Oh, I forgot to mention this option - Slingbox. An ideal option for those with relatives in the UK with a Sky/Cable subscription.

How does that work then? Well, it's intended for people on holiday who would normally be paying for their UK licence but they're not currently using it because they're on holiday and no one is in the house watching TV. That way, you're not breaking your licence agreement and it's legal.

It works by connecting a Slingbox to a Sky/Cable TV box in the UK. You then connect the Slingbox to your internet router. Whilst you're (ahem) 'away', you can watch your Sky/Cable package on your laptop or you would take something with you called a Sling Catcher. Sling Catcher is like a set top box that plugs into the Internet and the TV you're going to be watching. It then transports all your programs from the UK to where you are.

If that all sounds like black magic then when you've got the kit from Currys/PC World, just drop Sling Media support a line from their website and they'll set it all up for you. So that's the Slingbox in the UK, and SlingCatcher over here.

If you would like any more info, please feel free to drop us a line or comment below.

I have no connection to any of the products mentioned in this article.

All brand names and registered trade marks belong to their respective owners - not me.

Tooway internet keeps on getting better.

Not only has the speed barrier been broken, so has the price barrier! Tooway internet now runs at speeds of 20Meg download and 6Meg upload ANYWHERE with prices starting as low as €29.90 including taxes.

Not only that, when you get your Tooway 20M internet for just €29.90, you're not even tied in to a contract and giving you the freedom to turn it on or off at any time.

Thought Satellite internet was expensive, think again!

Click here for more information and price list.

Well, it's started happening. The big Sky switch over is turning people off just as I predicted it would.

How many of you were tempted to having the 1 metre dish installed because you were told that's all you needed to receive Sky. How many of you were actually told that this was purely a short term thing whilst Sky set up a new satellite so they could narrow the beam onto the UK so much tighter that the overspill we were getting here in Spain would be greatly diminished. Not many, I bet.

I have customers who are now reporting to me that they have no TV to watch apart from the local Spanish channels. Well, that's not exactly true. You see, on the links page on my website, there have been links to watch TV for free for nearly two years.

We have never had a TV system in Spain, we've always watched UK TV through the internet, originally using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) which also allowed us to watch the catchup services of BBC, ITV, Channel 4 & 5. Nowadays, the only need for the VPN is for the catchup service because the two websites you can just go to and watch TV are geared up so you don't need them. Best of all, it's FREE! What could be better than that?

OK, where do we find them? The first, and easiest, is www.filmon.com; you can watch loads of programs on there including 5 star, 5 USA, Dave apart from the 'normal' BBC & ITV and many more. If you did want to subscribe, then you can watch in HD AND record a program while you watch another.

As well as filmon, there is www.myiplayer.com. This website has programming from UK, USA, Australia, Canada, France, Germany and more. Not only that, you can even watch a plethora of sports channels including Sky Sports 1, 2, 3 & 4 without it costing you a penny. There is a slight downside to this website; it's advert driven and you get a load of adverts blocking the viewing area for up to one minute before you can view it but that's a small price to pay. Additionally, not all streams are available all day but many channels have multiple streams so if one isn't working, just try one of the others. One word of warning about the adverts is, the close buttons are not in the obvious places - you need to look at them carefully or you'll end up with page after page of adverts on screen.

Myiplayer also has details of free VPNs that allow you to watch the catchup services along with details of how to set them up.

.One thing to remember if you wish to consider streaming live TV, I recommend you have at least 6M reliable internet. That lets out the dodgy wi-fi purveyors (you know who I mean) It can work on lower bandwidth but at busy times, you will get buffering where the program stops because your internet cannot bring the signal in quick enough.

That's OK, I hear you say, but I don't want to sit in front of the computer to watch TV. Guess what, you already are. What do you think that big flat screen jobbie is that you watch now. There are ways to connect your computer to your flat screen TV so you don't have to sit in the spare room in front of your laptop or whatever pc you have there.

Bottom line is, why pay a fortune for something you are guaranteed to lose because it's illegal. Get it for free while you can.

Just a quick post to let everyone know we will not be taking calls from 5th May 2013 until 21st May 2013 inclusive as we will be on holiday. We will be open for calls again on the 22nd May.

We are having a well earned break, not having done so for over 2 years. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

We will, of course, still be monitoring our telephone networks and will be in a position to remedy any problems should there be any.

Please forgive the repetition of this article but it seems people read it then ignore it because I'm still getting calls from people who should know better.

The Microsoft scam is where you receive an unsolicited call from someone claiming to be from Microsoft, or some firm or other and they may even say they're Microsoft certified or working with Microsoft. THIS IS A LIE! They will go on to say something like your pc is sending them error reports and is about to have a major breakdown and they need to sort it out for you (for your credit card details). Check they're talking about a Windows pc.

One line of defence is to ask them which pc they're referring to as you have 3 running, ask them for the IP address of the one they want to inspect.. Even if they give you an IP address (they generally fall within a certain range but can vary by brand) tell them none of yours has that address. After you've got them tied up with that line you could then tell them that your pc is running Linux Ubuntu, not Windows so they must be wrong.

They are only calling because most people run Windows. 

They might even say they got your phone number from your pc registration but if you brought it from the UK, they didn't - did they!?!?!?!?!?

The best advice I can give anyone getting one f these calls is to tell them your phone isn't near the pc and can they call back on your mobile. Once they've called you on your mobile, just tell them you're going to your pc now and put the phone down somewhere but don't hang up. Leave them hanging on the line clocking up a nice bill.

Please use your intelligence, who is going to ring you up to tell you your pc is about to break down? I don't know of anyone because nobody really knows when your pc is going to break but if you want to pay me €180, I'll sort it out for you just like they will!

Microsoft will never ring you so don't be taken in by Kevin calling from India - he's a liar.

Remember, do not give your details to anyone who cold calls you for ANYTHING, it's probably a scam.

All brand names and registered trade marks mentioned in this article are the property of their respective owners.

Well, I hear many things but this is taking the mickey a bit.

I was asked if I have voip numbers for the Netherlands, which I do. This person wanted me to give them a number for free 'like skype do' so their friends and family can call them for free because skype don't do Netherlands numbers?!?! She uses skype because they're the cheapest and the quality is better than voip (oh yes?).

What does she think I am - don't answer that!

Oh, she seemed to think that once she has a voip number, it will automatically ring her landline telephone, not quite sure how that works, nor was she but that's what she wanted. She wasn't interested in how it actually works or what's involved but she believes it won't cost her money. Well she's on a quest because she refuses to listen.

Don't get me wrong, it can be done but not without it costing money because without the voip account (which IS free) the call has to be forwarded to a landline/mobile, which is the same thing as making a phone call and phone calls cost money.

Firstly, I'm not a charity and she is not a charity either. If I was supplying numbers for a charity I would be happy to offer a discount but I need to make a profit.
Secondly, she wasn't interested in using my voip service because she has used, and had bad experiences with, the service from the 'free' voip ..... (voipcheap, voipstunt .....) range of companies so she knows all about it - not.
Thirdly, skype do not offer free numbers of any sort.
Fourthly, skype is not the cheapest . My rates are generally cheaper than skype and you don't have to pay a connection fee or add vat either (see below).
Fifthly, I have a customer who constantly looks out for the best/cheapest deal around and he has always been a skype addict for years, until he tried my service - saves him money and is better quality, see testimonials.

So there we have it, Skype is really cheap - Whooooppppssss, no it isn't, is it? Get over it!
Don't be fooled by all the hype or your friends who'll tell you skype's the best thing since sliced bread. It isn't!
Skype is now owned by our friends at Microsoft so that tells you everything.

prices correct as at 2/9/2012
Brand names and trademarks in this article belong to their respective owners - not Clive Gray Computers.

In case you've not been reading the newspapers or you've missed this wonderful piece of news I'll reiterate it here for you.

On 1st September 2012, the Spanish government will be raising the level of IVA (VAT) from its' current level of 18% up to 21%. This means that ALL electrical products and services will be subject to the new higher level of tax. OUCH!!

Unlike the UK, ALL businesses have to charge and pay IVA regardless of level of income - there are no exceptions.

Most businesses will pass on all of the increase regardless but we are looking at ways to see if we can absorb any of the rise in other areas of our operation.

We won't be able to absorb it all but we'll be keeping it to a minimum as we bit the bullet and took the full rise last time around in 2010. We found this to be a good move because we increased our business which meant we didn't notice the extra taxes we were paying which in turn meant our clients got a better deal which is what we're all about.

OK, bottom line. We cannot absorb the tax on your phone calls but as they cost so little to start with the rise will be negligible anyway, you will still have call rates starting at less than half a cent a minute. On everything else, we should be able to absorb all or some of the rise so you will find very little difference overall.

So, if you've been thinking about taking up any of our services, now is the time to take the plunge and beat the increases!

Dear ToowayDirect Customer,

Sorry for the very long email, but this is all important news so please read on! You may have read on our website that we’ve increased the speed and data allowances of our new Tooway products for new customers from July 1st. We’re delighted to inform you that from today, we are starting move our existing customers* onto the new products, seamlessly, free of charge. The monthly tariff you pay won’t change but you’ll get much more performance from your Tooway. No catch!

Essentially your Tooway connection will give you higher top ‘speeds’ and for the same monthly/annual fee you’ll be able to upload and download more data per month.

To check which tariff you’re on now, login to our Customer Portal, click ‘My products and services’ and it will show which product you’re on now and you’ll see whether your migration to the new products has taken place yet.

*N.B. Customers who signed up to the Tooway 10 and 10+ ‘Double Data’ Winter and Spring promotions won’t be automatically upgraded to the new tariffs. If you’re a customer who’s on these promotional tariffs, although the new products offer you twice your existing data allowance, and faster speeds, in theory if you go beyond your new monthly data allowance, your speed maybe slowed to a lower level than the old tariffs and therefore it’s a personal decision on whether you want to be upgraded. Up to the 1st August 2012, you can email us and discuss what you want to do, after 1st August we will be able to discuss this on the telephone with you. Customers on Tooway 10 and Tooway 10+ data promotional tariffs will not be migrated onto the new tariffs unless they confirm their desire to be migrated to the new tariffs by email.

Another positive change that’s taking place with the arrival of the new tariffs is that the old multi-level FAP (Fair Access Policy) has been has been superseded by a simpler ‘Flat Rate’ network management scheme intended to give all our users better performance through the duration of their monthly data allowance. Some satellite broadband networks will throttle you even if the network isn't that busy and the bandwidth to maintain services at full speed isn't being used by other customers. Our Tooway network won't do that. Our emphasis is on delivering you the best performance that the network can deliver within your chosen data allowance. Each customer will be allocated their chosen monthly data allowance on the day they’re first connected to the network, and then on that same date every month they remain connected to the service.

If you go over your monthly data allowance you will still be able to upgrade to the next tariff or buy a Volume Booster as before.
Of course we have to take steps to manage usage. If we don't customers can suffer from degraded or denied service when one user (or a small group of users) consumes a disproportionate amount of the network's resources. For instance during peak times, customers who are persistently very heavy users may find that non urgent traffic (like peer-to-peer networking) may be assigned a different priority level by the network to ensure other users receive a good quality service.
These changes have been made as result of customer feedback, and to ensure that Tooway remains at the technological front of alternative broadband technologies and we hope you’ll agree that these are all very positive steps forward for the Tooway service. Thank you for your on-going business.

Kind regards

The ToowayDirect Team



So there you have it, better speeds, more allowances, same money!!


What are you waiting for?


Call us now and get connected! We can have you up and running in three days with internet and phone service.