Leave Sky and go to Freesat - Any good?

[Deleted User]

almillar wrote: »

Yes - if you've cancelled your subscription, and left your card in, you've basically got Freesat from Sky. You CAN pay £10+ per month to Sky to get back the recording facility, but by the time you do that for a year or so, you could buy a Freesat recorder instead.

They'll be in exactly the same place on your Sky box, no matter what you pay. Freesat has different channel numbers.

You continue to use your old card, as long as it's not too old a card. Sky reserve the right to charge for another one though, any time in the future.

They've changed which channels you can get without the card in now.

Free-to-Air on the Sky platform doesn't require a sub or a viewing card, Free-to-view just requires a (non-cancelled) viewing card inserted and there's actually very few of them now.

Of the mainstream channels I think channels 4 & 5 used to require a card but that changed a long way back.

https://www.tvchannellists.com/List_of_channels_on_Sky_(UK_and_Ireland)#Key

GraceF125

I've just cancelled my Sky TV subscription,. I'm planning to get a NowTV entertainment pass for the few channels that we'll miss.

We will miss recording onto our Sky+ box (and its series link functionality) though, as that's how we watch most programmes. We've got a not particularly new Smart TV (and for some reason iPlayer struggles on it). So I'm thinking we maybe should invest in a PVR? Is that what we need and if so, any recommendations? It would need to be WiFi as we don't have a phone socket anywhere near the TV? Or can we make use of our Sky dish in some way now?

Sorry, bear with me if these are stupid questions, I'm not very up-to-date on all this as have been a Sky subscriber for a long time so just got used to its functionality.

Mister_G

Try one of these:

https://www.humaxdirect.co.uk/freesat/humax-hdr-1100s-freesat-recorder-black.html

Providing you are not on Sky Q (which I can see that you are not), you can just plug your Sky dish cables into it, and away you go.

If you are on Sky Q, then you will need to swap out the LNB on the dish.

GraceF125

That looks perfect (and easy to set up too). Thank you.

Carrot007

Mister_G wrote: »

Try one of these:

https://www.humaxdirect.co.uk/freesat/humax-hdr-1100s-freesat-recorder-black.html

Providing you are not on Sky Q (which I can see that you are not), you can just plug your Sky dish cables into it, and away you go.

If you are on Sky Q, then you will need to swap out the LNB on the dish.

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/tv-and-home-entertainment/digital-and-smart-tv/set-top-boxes/humax-hdr-1100s-b-freesat-smart-digital-tv-recorder-2-tb-10180840-pdt.html


Cheaper including delivery and with that you do not have to listen to them try to sell you a £50 hdmi lead.

sunflowersuffolk

Please can anyone advise me. We are stopping Sky as too expensive. We use it in rooms, and neither of our TVs is a smart TV. Also we live in the country with no cable, and not very fast broadband.

I would like to be able to record programmes from, say ITV3, and also to pause if possible. I am not sure of best option for us? Should we both buy a Humax, or will one work in rooms watching different programmes.

I see that John Lewis have Humax HB-1100S Smart Freesat HD Digital TV Receiver with Built-in Wi-Fi for £79. Would this be OK?

I have Netflix via my son, and watch it on my laptop.

I have tried to find answer myself, but am defeated!! Thanks

[Deleted User]

The Humax HB-1100S is just a receiver. You can add a USB Hard Drive if you want to record programs but that is an additional cost.
It only has 1 tuner so you cannot watch one program while it records another even if you add the USB Hard Drive.
This box would be useful on a second TV if you have a single set of leads from the dish to that set. And use that TV for watching live or recording for later use with the added USB drive.
But that of course increases the cost of this box.

If you want to record and watch programs at the same time, then you need 2 sets of leads from the dish and a Freesat box that has 2 tuners and a hard drive fitted by the factory.
Such a box is the Humax HDR-1100S , note the "HDR" for hard disk recorder in the title.

And do you currently have Sky Q?
If you do then the satellite dish needs a replacement LNB as Freesat isn't compatible with Sky Q. It is compatible with the older Sky HD/ Sky LNB though.

sunflowersuffolk

Thanks very much. So for 2 rooms, we are looking at £210 for the Humax HDR-1100S and another £79 for the 2nd room. Unless there may be better deals.

I am pretty sure we don't have Sky Q.

Cornucopia

If you are successfully watching Netflix on your Laptop via Wifi, then your Broadband is fast enough for video. You could therefore look at a streaming device that would allow you free access to the catch-up players of ITV and the other main broadcasters, and also to be able to watch Netflix on your TV.

There are various devices and brands between c. £15 and c. £50.

Maybe this would be an acceptable solution for your second TV?

[Deleted User]

The Humax HDR-1100S has several versions based on disk storage. John Lewis also have the smaller version (500GB) for £180. The £210 one has 1000GB (1TB) storage