Free view through Sky box

pollyanna24

My daughter has been asking for Disney life and because I’m mean, I said, “Yeah sure, if we can cancel Sky.”

Generally, the only reason I have Sky is for Disney and nickelodeon channels, but recently they haven’t been watching them as much as watch a lot of Netflix and YouTube.

If I cancel Sky, can I still watch freeview through the box?

Also, I will miss the record function, but I have a smart tv, so assuming I can still watch iPlayer and ITV hub?

And finally, is there an app for Disney life so that it can be watched on the telly rather through an iPad?

teddysmum

You can watch a version of Freesat through your box or Freeview via aerial.


You can probably catch up with iPlayer,but some smart tvs have lost ITV Hub and Channel4 catch up. (Ours ,a Panasonic,has,but the small amount of ITV required I watch on my laptop).


ITV Hub is annoying as you get adverts which you can't fast forward past,but they offer a no ads service for, I think, £3.99 a month (not worth it).


It's easier to have something like a Humax and record, so you can forward through the ads.

HWW

Remove your viewing card - BEFORE you cancel SKY & after waiting 2 months after cancelation, re-insert your card - it should (after a couple of days) still record the Free channels & play Free channel recordings as well. It will not of course, play encrypted recordings.


It works, because at the point in time you ring up to Cancel, SKY transmit an off-air signal to "Kill" your card on a certain date. They may repeat this signal a few times, but then that's it! Remove your card & it cannot receive the signal. The same happens, if you simply stop paying for a SKY subscription.


You then have a SKY freesat recorder, in fact the card will work like this in ANY SKY box, not just the original one. As these boxes, are very well made, it is a real money saving bargain......

Inner_Zone

HWW wrote: »

Remove your viewing card - BEFORE you cancel SKY & after waiting 2 months after cancelation, re-insert your card - it should (after a couple of days) still record the Free channels & play Free channel recordings as well. It will not of course, play encrypted recordings.


It works, because at the point in time you ring up to Cancel, SKY transmit an off-air signal to "Kill" your card on a certain date. They may repeat this signal a few times, but then that's it! Remove your card & it cannot receive the signal. The same happens, if you simply stop paying for a SKY subscription.


You then have a SKY freesat recorder, in fact the card will work like this in ANY SKY box, not just the original one. As these boxes, are very well made, it is a real money saving bargain......

Are you sure?

While that did work for a few Blue cards years ago, never head of it working for White or Red cards.

HWW

Inner_Zone wrote: »

Are you sure?

While that did work for a few Blue cards years ago, never head of it working for White or Red cards.

Yes certain,
one I created myself ages ago - & two more I acquired (With BOX) from Car Boots (About £3 each) & one from a Cash Generator shop. They behave as if you are paying for the "Record & play only" £10 subscription - but your not! All White cards BTW.
It's most important to remove the card from the box BEFORE you phone to cancel your subscription.

pollyanna24

HWW wrote: »

Remove your viewing card - BEFORE you cancel SKY & after waiting 2 months after cancelation, re-insert your card - it should (after a couple of days) still record the Free channels & play Free channel recordings as well. It will not of course, play encrypted recordings.


It works, because at the point in time you ring up to Cancel, SKY transmit an off-air signal to "Kill" your card on a certain date. They may repeat this signal a few times, but then that's it! Remove your card & it cannot receive the signal. The same happens, if you simply stop paying for a SKY subscription.


You then have a SKY freesat recorder, in fact the card will work like this in ANY SKY box, not just the original one. As these boxes, are very well made, it is a real money saving bargain......

Thanks. This sounds great.

Do I just leave the card out for two months after cancelling (I'm assuming I have to give them a month's notice). Will the box work without the card?

Or do I just leave it out when I am ringing to cancel?

[Deleted User]

pollyanna24 wrote: »

Thanks. This sounds great.

Do I just leave the card out for two months after cancelling (I'm assuming I have to give them a month's notice). Will the box work without the card?

Or do I just leave it out when I am ringing to cancel?

You have to leave it out entirely for 2 months which means you wouldn't be able to record or play back recordings or access the paid for channels (Sky One, Sky Atlantic for instance) for the final 30 days of your contract.

This is because they could send the switch off signal at any time. I haven't ever tried this myself by the way so have no idea if it works. They could of course send the signal at any time in the future as well.

pollyanna24

Colin_Maybe wrote: »

You have to leave it out entirely for 2 months which means you wouldn't be able to record or play back recordings or access the paid for channels (Sky One, Sky Atlantic for instance) for the final 30 days of your contract.

This is because they could send the switch off signal at any time. I haven't ever tried this myself by the way so have no idea if it works. They could of course send the signal at any time in the future as well.

Thanks for this. That's fair enough. I don't watch any of them anyways. And my daughters have said they will forego Disney and Nickelodeon.

But freesat or freeview would still work without the card in the box?

I have looked up my bill for the next few months and it has gone up (still no letter), but only by 90p. Not the point though, right? I can still get out of my contract?

Inner_Zone

pollyanna24 wrote: »

Thanks for this. That's fair enough. I don't watch any of them anyways. And my daughters have said they will forego Disney and Nickelodeon.

But freesat or freeview would still work without the card in the box?

Post #2

pollyanna24 wrote: »

I have looked up my bill for the next few months and it has gone up (still no letter), but only by 90p. Not the point though, right? I can still get out of my contract?

Unlikely if your within the minimum term. You need to see what the letter states.

HWW

To see what you get for free, just pull the card out now! It is similar, but not quite the same that you get on Freeview. Probably give it 3 months after your contract has expired with SKY, to be safe. The cards I use, expired their contracts over 2 years ago & still record & play.
You will obviously have to subscribe to the end of your contract - SKY MIGHT even make you a very cheap offer for you to stay when you ring to cancel - your choice if you take it of course. As with Internet Providers "Better a tiny bit of cash from you, than none at all" is their logic - of course, they would much prefer it, for you to have a full subscription.
Good money saving.....

[Deleted User]

pollyanna24 wrote: »

But freesat or freeview would still work without the card in the box?

Yes, you don't need a card in the box for Freesat from Sky (well mostly).

It used to be the case that you needed a card for the likes of channels 4 & 5 both for instance but now there's only really the Sony Channel that still needs the card (there a handful of others but you'd probably never watch them).

The following link shows all channels (including upcoming changes) on the Sky platform. The Free-to-air channels don't need a card, the Free-to-view channels don't require a subscription but do need the card in the box.

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