Leave Sky and go to Freesat - Any good?

prowla

almillar wrote: »

prowla, Moneyineptitude - have a read:

That's far fewer than it used to be, but having the card in, is better than not having it. OP is an ex-Sky subscriber. There's a card in the box. Should she:
a) leave it in
b) take it out
c) pay Sky £25 for another card?

Hint - the answer is a.
If you buy a Sky box, with no card, I would agree that no card is needed (or rather, it's a poor investment), but in the context of this thread, just leave the card in.

I've got a 2nd Sky box, with no card.

davehills

After being a Sky subscriber for many years I have just cancelled. I called up as I'm just coming out of contract and all they could save me was a measly £5 per year so I thought stuff it!

So, the upshot is I'm looking for a new broadband and possibly TV supplier, but there are so many options out there!

Any recommendations? (At the moment we have Sky Broadband unlimited, Family pack with HD.)

mwarby

Tv wise you'll have regular 50% off offers from Sky coming though, often with a gift or account credit

macman

You can still retain the phone and broadband while cancelling the TV. There is no requirement to take the latter as well. No one can really advise you what TV to take, as we don't know what channels you require, If you do not require any subscription channels, then just continue to use your existing Sky box and dish to get all the free to air channels-basically the same line up as Freesat.-this is known as 'Freesat from Sky'. However you will lose the PVR functions on your Sky+ box. If you require PVR functions, then buy a Humax Freesat or Freetime box. This is a straight box swap with no other work required, for a one-off cost.

speedyrite

If you still require access to Sky entertainment and/or movie and/or sports channels and your Sky broadband unlimited connection has decent download speed, consider NOW TV to continue watching those channels on a no contract, pay-as-you-go monthly basis.

[Note that NOW TV is a streaming service of both live channels and catch-up/on demand (including box sets) rather than recording on a PVR for later playback]

tom083

My question is two-fold having read a lot of forum posts with differing information. We have just cancelled Sky in favour of accessing super-fast broadband and streaming a mixture of Netflix, Amazon Prime and BT Sport through Chromecast/Smart TV. What these options don't give us is live HD channels or the facility to record. Therefore, the two questions I have are:

1) will my Sky box continue to work with freeview channels including free to air HD channels? If so, which ones?

2) will the facility to record these channels and other freeview channels on the Sky box remain?

Many thanks - if the answer to both of these is 'no', perhaps somebody could advise on the best freesat box that works with ou existing Sky dish!

mije1983

You will not get Freeview, but you will get Freesat from Sky. It's slightly different from standard Freesat.

You will lose the ability to record though (unless you pay Sky £10 a month) so you are much better off purchasing a PVR. Humax seem to get good press.

Browntoa

I've merged your thread into another similar one that has details about freest and Humax boxes

ChrisG399

Hi all,

Seeing as Sky are yet again increasing their subscription costs I want to start looking elsewhere. I was wondering if anyone could suggest a good alternative given the below?

• I have no TV aerial so any alternative would have to work with the Sky dish I have, or stream over the web.
• BT, Virgin etc (the other major TV companies) don't operate in my area, so are obviously a no-go!
• I'd like to still be able to record, rewind, pause etc - all the conveniences of the Sky+ box
• I'm most interested in being able to get the terrestrial channels (BBC, ITV, Channel 4 etc), plus Sky One, Sky Atlantic and Sky Living. These are the only "mandatory" channels I want - anything else is a bonus.

I don'd mind paying for a receiver, and I do have a smart TV also

Thanks,

jem16

ChrisG399 wrote: »

Hi all,

Seeing as Sky are yet again increasing their subscription costs I want to start looking elsewhere. I was wondering if anyone could suggest a good alternative given the below?

• I have no TV aerial so any alternative would have to work with the Sky dish I have, or stream over the web.
• BT, Virgin etc (the other major TV companies) don't operate in my area, so are obviously a no-go!
• I'd like to still be able to record, rewind, pause etc - all the conveniences of the Sky+ box

Easiest solution is a Humax Freesat box which just plugs into your existing Sky dish. Their refurbished models are great value.

http://www.humaxdirect.co.uk/refurbished.html?tv_platform=245

[*]I'm most interested in being able to get the terrestrial channels (BBC, ITV, Channel 4 etc), plus Sky One, Sky Atlantic and Sky Living. These are the only "mandatory" channels I want - anything else is a bonus.

I don'd mind paying for a receiver, and I do have a smart TV also

Thanks,

For Sky One, Atlantic and Living you could consider a Now TV box with entertainment pass at £6.99pm.

http://www.nowtv.com/