Freeview / Freesat & leaving 'subscription TV'.

B0bbyEwing

Been a long long long time since I entertained the idea of this so things could've changed for all I know.

I only use Netflix myself so I have no BBC, ITV, so on & so forth & no TV licence.

My mother is currently in an out of contract deal with Sky where she has Sky TV, the landline & broadband. I asked her if she needs the Sky channels (as she's concerned over money too) and she said she didn't know - she just pays it because she's always had it.

So she's currently going to look at whether she can chop the TV part of the trio. If so then I know of Freeview & Freesat. I get the view is aerial & sat is satellite.

Someone (we suspect the roofers she had out) has chopped her aerial, so that'll be a cost to put right.

She has the old Sky dish from when Sky was sky digital & none of this Q or glass or whatever the latest thing is even existed. Could that dish be used if she went with freesat or does she need a modern type of dish?

And installation - do you need someone to do that or would it be just connecting the sky cables in to the freesat box (assuming the sky dish which will be years old can be used)?

Recording ability is an absolute must for her. She'll probably need the option to record one thing and watch a different thing.

I think that covers the TV side of things. She's also considering ditching the landline but isn't sure about it for 'in case' purposes.

I remember when I went to ditch mine BT offered me a no use-no pay deal to keep it, which I accepted but on the renewal they were going to charge me for it just being there unused so I said forget it.

Is there any company which offers a landline only deal on a no use-no pay deal or does that sort of thing not exist? Do you basically have to pay a rental fee no matter who you're with?

As if she decides to go free view/sat and broadband then that's fairly straight forward but if she wants free view/sat, broadband & landline but no Sky TV then I'm not sure if anyone does broadband & landline but no TV deals.

oldernonethewiser

If she has broadband and her TV is capable she could potentially watch TV using Freely.

Doesn't sort the recording part but means no need to reconnect an aerial.

john1

AS far as I know, as I also am looking around for online only solutions

Assuming no external TV aerial then currently I can only find the EE set top tv box (via subscription only) is able to physically record and locally store TV programs from "on line" source. Catch up services like BBC i-player or itv X are the only "recorder play back " options for none EE subscribers

If an aerial output is available then apparently the EE box can record 2 separate programs via aerial and 2 via the internet simultaneously.

Somewhere "along the line" because of licensing, Digital Rights Management, and broadband stream restrictions on the Freely platform, standard retail boxes are technically blocked from recording live IP television streams. If you want a box that records live UK television, you have to choose between adding a physical aerial, or paying a provider subscription,

Unless someone knows differently which I personally would be appreciated to know this is the current situation

B0bbyEwing

Wow, seems to have changed some since I last looked at it then as I remember back then one of those I mentioned you could record with. You just buy the box with x-amount of storage & it would record.

Her TV is at a minimum 15yrs old. Possibly more 20.

Also with the aerial, while this has been chopped, someone could sort this if an aerial was needed.

JSmithy45AD

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82127946#Comment_82127946

First thing to check is what the inputs are on her TV, if it's a scart socket rather than an HDMI socket then she's going to have to replace that for starters. What Sky box does she have right now?

Rodders53

The only currently made Freesat recorder is the Manhattan S4R. It will likely be a direct plug in replacement for the $ky box. It works with legacy LNBs and the latest Q wideband as well.

The $ky box must have HDMI and be a high definition version as older scart SD boxes stopped working years ago… but some HD boxes could downscale to SD for scart outputs so TV make and model plus $ky box model is vital.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82128134#Comment_82128134

There is the freesat own branded one made by CommScope, plus older Humax boxes are available secondhand and still work

B0bbyEwing

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82127995#Comment_82127995

I'd have to check with her but to call it right now I think it's Sky Q. I'm sure she mentioned something about that last time she renewed.

oldernonethewiser

Sky Q outputs video via HDMI so if that's what she is using she will have an HDMI input on the TV.