Freesat from Sky question.

knightstyle

Looking here it seems you can make a one off payment but how long does the payment last? In the small print it seems Sky can switch off the card and demand another payment.
Is this correct?

Neil_Jones

The box, a standard box the same you'd get on a full Sky package, is yours, same as Sky+ HD.

Which.co.uk says the viewing card lasts between 5 and 10 years.

knightstyle

Thanks, we have the box and a viewing card, currently paying £20 for the Sky basic package, think a £25 one off payment will be a good saving.
Will we still get all the record and catch up features?
Don't like the way Sky can cancel the card at any time though.

TadleyBaggie

You don't need to pay £25 for a card, once cancelled your existing Sky card will work just fine to get Freesat From Sky (which is a different service from Freesat). Recording and catchup will cease once subscription is ended, although you can pay £5 a month to keep the recording feature.

Alternatively you could purchase a Freesat box and then get the recording and catchup features for free.

teddysmum

If you cancel your tv package,you are very likely to be offered 50% off, straight away. I got 50% off plus £50 credit, making it about £6/month, but I do have phone and broadband, too.

brewerdave

I got the 50% plus £50 credit offer WITHOUT having phone and broadband - about 10 days after I'd initially cancelled.

[Deleted User]

brewerdave wrote: »

I got the 50% plus £50 credit offer WITHOUT having phone and broadband - about 10 days after I'd initially cancelled.

Are you locked into a 12 month contract?

jem16

Deleted_User wrote: »

Are you locked into a 12 month contract?

I'm not locked in with the same offer. Still on a rolling 30 days contract.

C_Mababejive

Last year i bought a Blade media BM5000s HD sat receiver and dish, fitted it,,fab...it isnt a sky box,it just receives whatever is available out there and the box does have a card slot plus other capabilities which i dont use. Save faffing about with sky boxes and contracts/cards..

almillar

TadleyBaggie is spot on.

Thanks, we have the box and a viewing card, currently paying £20 for the Sky basic package, think a £25 one off payment will be a good saving.

Don't make that £25 payment. The card in your box right now basically becomes a freesatfromsky (FSFS) card when you cancel your subscription. I do wonder how much Sky make out of this confusion.

Will we still get all the record and catch up features?

No. Recording, and viewing those recordings, needs the Sky+ sub. You CAN pay this on FSFS if you want, but that's £120 per year, for which you could have a Freesat recorder. I THINK that the catch up will still work for the 'free' channels - no Sky1 etc obviously. Don't like the way Sky can cancel the card at any time though.

To be fair, it's for their own security and they haven't abused it - only once or twice in the last 10 years have people needed a new card. Subscribers get them free.
Looking here it seems you can make a one off payment but how long does the payment last?

Forever, theoretically, but you've already spotted the caveat that they can disable old cards.Most people find Freesat to be a better way out of subscription than FSFS.

jem16

almillar wrote: »

I THINK that the catch up will still work for the 'free' channels - no Sky1 etc obviously.

Catch up doesn't work at all unless you have an active sub.