Thinking of ditching Sky.. Options?
Hi. Just need some advice from those in the know. Thinking of downgrading my service, mainly because I'm just not watching much Sky output anymore, plus I'm getting a "no-signal being received" message, warranting a £65 call out charge. I just want to know my options.
Currently have a Sky Entertainment pack, which have
had for years. Also have the Unltd broadband and the HD add on (£10 pm). Therefore, paying something like £45 pm.
If i cancelled my Sky package, could I;
- keep the Sky Box? I'd still need a PVR of sorts. Do i own this?
- keep the broadband as standalone? For wifi/PS3 and Amazon Prime use?
- if i cancelled the Sky package and kept the box, would I still be able to view Freeview? Would I need to keep the HD surcharge, to watch Freeview in HD?
Im really not that into On Demand movies, Sky Movies, Sports anymore and the only thing I'd miss out on would be Game of Thrones... but I'd live.
Thanks for any replies received.
Currently have a Sky Entertainment pack, which have
had for years. Also have the Unltd broadband and the HD add on (£10 pm). Therefore, paying something like £45 pm.
If i cancelled my Sky package, could I;
- keep the Sky Box? I'd still need a PVR of sorts. Do i own this?
- keep the broadband as standalone? For wifi/PS3 and Amazon Prime use?
- if i cancelled the Sky package and kept the box, would I still be able to view Freeview? Would I need to keep the HD surcharge, to watch Freeview in HD?
Im really not that into On Demand movies, Sky Movies, Sports anymore and the only thing I'd miss out on would be Game of Thrones... but I'd live.
Thanks for any replies received.
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Comments
You would get to keep the box with a Freeview type service that you wouldn't need to pay a HD charge for, however you won't be able to record or playback any recordings on the box without a subscription.
You can keep the broadband as standalone but there may be charges for not having both.
You can't get Freeview on a Sky box. Freeview is not a satellite service. You are probably thinking of Freesat. But even that is not strictly available on a Sky box without sub. You won't get the Freesat EPG and some of the channels may be different.
There are number of free HD channels on satellite that you will still be able to watch without a sub.
To be honest if you want all the functions of a PVR but no subscription then a Freesat box would probably be a better option.It should be more or less unplug Sky box and plug in Freesat box and away you go. Though if you have dish problems getting Freesat won't change that.
You can get Sky broadband without the TV if you so wish.
If i lost the PVR function, is there a similar alternative? I've been with Sky forever so not really looked into what else is out there. Is Youview a safe alternative? Just recall the ads..
http://www.freesat.co.uk/get-freesat/recommended/freesat-plus-with-freetime (uses the same satellite dish)
http://www.freesat.co.uk/channels
http://www.freeview.co.uk/get-freeview#freeview-box-with-tv
http://www.freeview.co.uk/what-we-offer
http://www.freeview.co.uk/whats-on/channels
You could always supplement those options with Netflix for £6 a month https://www.netflix.com/?locale=en-GB if you wanted more entertainment and film variety and you could check out Plusnet's broadband http://www.plus.net/ options as an alternative to your current provider. Good luck in whatever you decide to do!
Blame it on a long day, but can't see the difference between Freesat and Freeview. If I got the Youview box, according to Amazon description, it allows twin recording, 7 day roll back and rewind/record live TV.
But there's also a Humax Freesat with 'freetime' which suggests the same thing. More adamant than ever to get rid of Sky now, because I don't watch the shows as I used to and could save myself a few hundred in the process.
I just want Freeview in HD (if its not an extra sub.,), subscription free, recording function, can connect to broadband for On Demand stuff. Would this suffice?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B009T36CYW?cache=4f187029710a2a4b50fc1bbfd1dd48b6&pi=SX200_QL40&qid=1405545357&sr=8-1#ref=mp_s_a_1_1
Freesat and Freeview are very similar services and PVRs for each can have almost identical features - however the channel line-ups are different each having some channels that the other does not have. Do you have anexisting terrestrial aerial if so and you have a fairly recent TV then you should be able to view Freeview channels on it and then by connecting a freesat PVR to your dish (if it is working correctly which it may not be with the symptoms on your Sky box) you would the best of both worlds - getting the most from subscription free TV.
Yes, I've a fairly recent TV with Freeview built in. Have had to use this, tonight to watch bits n bobs.
Ok,so looked at channels availability via Freeview. (Youview box) and Humax Freesat and the Freesat HDR 1000S has a lot more channels. Think I will go for this option, ultimately. But stupid question... Does the Humax Freesat 500gb just run off a normal terrestrial aerial? Because on Amazon, the 1TB version makes a distinct point of saying "satellite dish required".
Freesat works through a satellite dish, like Sky.
Freeview works through a terrestrial aerial.
So, assuming that you have an aerial, it is also possible to get a Freeview HD twin tuner TV recorder. As someone else has said, having a Freesat HD recorder will also give you a greater choice of channels & can be simply connected to your old Sky dish. (When you had the no signal message, it could simply be that one of the wires has worked loose going into the back of the box. They have screw type threads on them. Check the connections before you pay for people to come out).
I'm gonna call Sky and cancel the engineer visit and purchase the Humax box. Thanks Eston Bleu on how it connects - satellite dish it is. Given my changed viewing habits, i can manage w/o Sky now. Just a shame that Sky News and Film 4 isn't in HD via Freesat.
Which channels do you lose?
Because, if it is a dish problem, chances are, you will lose the same channels on your Freesat box, and i might cost more than £65 to fix it with an independent installer (id new cabling or dish is required).
Just a thought.
If you cancel your TV, Sky broadband goes up by £2.50
Heat can affect the signal in several ways. Different materials expand at different rates with heat and this can cause connections to disappear in three different places - the cable connection to the lnb, internal connections/components within the lnb or a break within the cabling - all of which need access to the dish to check out.
Have called them and was advised that the BB would go up by £2.50, so my line rental + BB would be £25 odd p/m. But guy reduced to £17p/m for the lot if I committed to another year for phone & BB. Which was fine.
So, will look to get the Humax for mid August, when my Sky TV package comes to an end.
Thanks all.
The modern Humax boxes do allow changing the remote code. This article is from YouView but it applies to virtually any of the current Humax boxes
http://support.youview.com/articles/Self_Service_FAQ/How-do-I-stop-my-other-Humax-devices-responding-to-my-YouView-remote-control-1370864294232
BTW in step 5 of the above link you can actually use 1 to 6 to change the code.
Thanks for that.
What about the problem you have with the dish, as stated above, you will get the same problem with Freesat, if it affects any of the free channels, which will probably cost a lot more to sort out that Sky quoted you.
What channels were you getting no signal on, or was it everything when it went?
It's happened occasionally over the last few months, but only for 5/10 mins or so and I've managed to resolve it by pulling out the plug.
Guess it could happen again, but still glad I've cancelled. There's Sky at my Mum's, so Game of Thrones still on the cards in 2015!