Can I go from Sky to Freesat????

SteveABC

I'm looking to cancel my Sky subscription because after considering what I actually watch, I have realised I only need a freeview type service.

I have Sky+ HD box and a multiroom standard Sky+ box in my son's bedroom and have subscribed for well over a year.

My questions:

(1) If I cancel my Sky subscription, can I use the existing satellite dish to receive Freesat?

(2) Do I need to purchase two Freesat boxes to continue to receive TV in an additional room (my son's bedroom)?

(3) Do Freesat boxes do the usual with recording, rewinding, pausing etc.

Thanks! :cool:

EJG1982

evenin steve.. good questions as im wanting to go freesat aswell so will check back for response!

i think you can use same dish as this is the main reason im going this way, dont have aerial and have ditched sky already, just using the old box to pick up freeview. Miss the pause/rewind tho!

You can get boxes that do this, take a look on the freesat website as they list them. Also get HD channels etc

Just not sure on the multi room thing as ive only got infrared eye linked to spare room tv

[Deleted User]

SteveABC wrote: »

I
If I cancel my Sky subscription, can I use the existing satellite dish to receive Freesat?

Yes, but more to the point, you can use your existing Sky decoders to view Freesat (from Sky)!
When you cease to subscribe to Sky the digiboxes automatically revert to only showing Free To Air broadcasts.

The only reason to buy Freesat decoders is if you want PVR functionality. The Sky+ recording features are disabled on cancellation of Sky.

penrhyn

As I understand it their is a slightly different channel mix between Freesat and Freesat from Sky. But the main FTA and FTV channels are the same.

[Deleted User]

penrhyn wrote: »

As I understand it their is a slightly different channel mix between Freesat and Freesat from Sky. But the main FTA and FTV channels are the same.

I'm not aware of any significant omissions with Freesat from Sky. We were very happy with it for a number of years.

The biggest advantage is that the cost is nil if you've simply cancelled Sky and the only disadvantage is that Sky+ functionality is no longer available.

almillar

Moneyineptitude - there are differences, so please refer to it as freesatfromsky. Freesat is a different platform, with a different EPG, and different online abilities.
You can either keep your Sky boxes, multiroom won't work, you'll lose all recordings and the ability to record, pay Sky £10 per month to be allowed to keep your recordings and recording ability (on ONE box as far as I understand), or buy either one or 2 FreesatHD recording boxes to replace either one or 2 Sky boxes.
Freesat takes the same connections as Sky, to the same satellite dish, pointing in the same direction.
Freesat doesn't have 'multiroom' so generally you need 2 feeds to each recorder from a satellite dish (same as Sky+) to watch one/record one, or just one feed for a non-recording box.

[Deleted User]

almillar wrote: »

multiroom won't work,

It works identically. There is no subscription to replicate but the free to air channels are still available to view on the other boxes.


You can continue to pay Sky for the recording facilities (£10 a month!:eek:), but I'd say it's better for those who cannot do without this functionality to buy Freesat PVRs.

PollyOnAMission

I recently switched to Freesat; before this I was with Sky. I previously had a Sky+ box in the living room but not HD or multiroom; I had additional feeds from the dish going to the bedrooms in which I used old Sky boxes (pre Sky+) for the free channels.

Keeping the same dish and cables, I now have a Humax Foxsat HDR in the living room (for recording, pausing, rewinding etc), my old Sky+ box in one of the bedrooms (will not record etc but will view free channels) and one of the old old (pre Sky+) boxes in the other bedroom, also for the free channels.

As long as you don't mind your son's box being incapable of recording etc, you should be fine just buying a Freesat PVR in your main room. If you're not bothered about recording, you might be happy just cancelling your Sky subscription and keeping your current boxes as they are

[Deleted User]

PollyOnAMission wrote: »

If you're not bothered about recording, you might be happy just cancelling your Sky subscription and keeping your current boxes as they are

This is the most MONEY SAVING of course!

Foggster

Thank you for this thread. I have just cancelled my Sky sub and ordered a new Humax box. I was worried I was making a mistake but now feel very liberated!! LOL

prowla

If you switch off you Sky box, take out the viewing card, and switch it back on, that is what you will get for free.

(After you've tested it, you can then reverse the procedure to put your card back in.)