Swapping from Sky to Freesat - can it be easily done?
Discussion
We very rarely watch TV so decided to give up Sky. We're left with a handful of channels and would have many more if we had Freeview, but we have no aerial.
Presumably Freesat gives the same channels as Freeview, but is it a simple case of ditching the Sky box for a Freesat box? Or does it need a new dish or pointing at a different satellite or something?
Presumably Freesat gives the same channels as Freeview, but is it a simple case of ditching the Sky box for a Freesat box? Or does it need a new dish or pointing at a different satellite or something?
Ari said:
We very rarely watch TV so decided to give up Sky. We're left with a handful of channels and would have many more if we had Freeview, but we have no aerial.
Presumably Freesat gives the same channels as Freeview, but is it a simple case of ditching the Sky box for a Freesat box? Or does it need a new dish or pointing at a different satellite or something?
We did this , you may have to have the disk repositioned (we did not) Presumably Freesat gives the same channels as Freeview, but is it a simple case of ditching the Sky box for a Freesat box? Or does it need a new dish or pointing at a different satellite or something?
Did this a few years ago. Re-used the same dish but had to have a new (twin) LNB and cabling from it to the Freesat box. Not sure if this was necessary to take advantage of the watch one channel and record another possibilities of Freesat, or it really was necessary to make it work at all. It was a few years ago so things might have changed.
daved said:
Did this a few years ago. Re-used the same dish but had to have a new (twin) LNB and cabling from it to the Freesat box. Not sure if this was necessary to take advantage of the watch one channel and record another possibilities of Freesat, or it really was necessary to make it work at all. It was a few years ago so things might have changed.
It is just to watch one while recording another daved said:
Did this a few years ago. Re-used the same dish but had to have a new (twin) LNB and cabling from it to the Freesat box. Not sure if this was necessary to take advantage of the watch one channel and record another possibilities of Freesat, or it really was necessary to make it work at all. It was a few years ago so things might have changed.
We don't need the recording facility, we just want to be able to watch TV occasionally. Ari said:
That's interesting because there are far less channels than Freeview, so does Freesat have much fewer channels than Freeview?
Little point changing if there is no difference.
Freesat has many more channels than freeview.Little point changing if there is no difference.
You simply need a freesat box to watch them. Ditch the sky, get freesat box, job jobbed.
steveatesh said:
Freesat has many more channels than freeview.
Ignoring the BBC, ITV and C4/C5 suites, how many of them would you watch?Also, Dave is on Freeview not Freesat..
http://www.freesat.co.uk/channels
You just need an updated viewing card for Freesat in a Sky box, the card used to be £10 from Sky and unlocks certain Free To View channels which are broadcast encrypted over satellite.
There are more Freesat channels (around 150) than Freeview (around 60) however due to Sky satellite contractual reasons you won't get the following on Freesat but will on Freeview:
Yesterday
Dave
Drama
Really
Quest
4Music
Motors TV UK
To get the best of both worlds you need Freeview and Freesat however you can watch the missing Free To View channels via online on-demand services such as TV-Catchup or via their individual websites.
There are more Freesat channels (around 150) than Freeview (around 60) however due to Sky satellite contractual reasons you won't get the following on Freesat but will on Freeview:
Yesterday
Dave
Drama
Really
Quest
4Music
Motors TV UK
To get the best of both worlds you need Freeview and Freesat however you can watch the missing Free To View channels via online on-demand services such as TV-Catchup or via their individual websites.
Freesat uses the same dish, cabling and satellite as Sky. You don't need to re-align the dish. Just buy a Freesat box and away you go.
A Skybox without subscription has limited channels, as the OP has found out. Sky do offer 'Freest from Sky' http://www.sky.com/shop/freesat/home/ A card for the existing box is about £25.00. This is different from standard Freesat though.
A Skybox without subscription has limited channels, as the OP has found out. Sky do offer 'Freest from Sky' http://www.sky.com/shop/freesat/home/ A card for the existing box is about £25.00. This is different from standard Freesat though.
megaphone said:
Freesat uses the same dish, cabling and satellite as Sky. You don't need to re-align the dish. Just buy a Freesat box and away you go.
A Skybox without subscription has limited channels, as the OP has found out. Sky do offer 'Freest from Sky' http://www.sky.com/shop/freesat/home/ A card for the existing box is about £25.00. This is different from standard Freesat though.
I would say that this is the cheapest and easiest option.A Skybox without subscription has limited channels, as the OP has found out. Sky do offer 'Freest from Sky' http://www.sky.com/shop/freesat/home/ A card for the existing box is about £25.00. This is different from standard Freesat though.
One thing that surprised me, after following the link, was lack of Sky News on the list of channels available.
Apologies for reviving an old (but not that old) thread but I've got a similar question.
My in-laws have Sky. They don't really need all the channels - they only got it in the first place because they got poor reception via a roof aerial where they live.
They're about to move - they've sold their house and are going to rent a place for a while - and it's made them reconsider whether they really need their Sky contract as they feel it is a bit of a waste of £20pm. Plus, if they will only be in their rented place for 6-12 months they want to avoid being locked in to a contract.
I suggested they keep their Sky box (as they know how to use it - it's painful watching them try to use our Youview box when they are at our house) but convert it to Freesat from Sky for a £25 fee. The place they are renting has a dish (and an aerial) already installed.
They rang up Sky but were told that Freesat from Sky "does not allow any Pause, Rewind or RECORD. You have to pay monthly for that – about £11."
Is that right? Sky's website seems non-specific on that point. If it is true, I'll probably just pop down to Richer Sounds and buy them a Humax Freesat box - cheaper overall and a bit more flexible for when they move again.
Thanks for any help.
My in-laws have Sky. They don't really need all the channels - they only got it in the first place because they got poor reception via a roof aerial where they live.
They're about to move - they've sold their house and are going to rent a place for a while - and it's made them reconsider whether they really need their Sky contract as they feel it is a bit of a waste of £20pm. Plus, if they will only be in their rented place for 6-12 months they want to avoid being locked in to a contract.
I suggested they keep their Sky box (as they know how to use it - it's painful watching them try to use our Youview box when they are at our house) but convert it to Freesat from Sky for a £25 fee. The place they are renting has a dish (and an aerial) already installed.
They rang up Sky but were told that Freesat from Sky "does not allow any Pause, Rewind or RECORD. You have to pay monthly for that – about £11."
Is that right? Sky's website seems non-specific on that point. If it is true, I'll probably just pop down to Richer Sounds and buy them a Humax Freesat box - cheaper overall and a bit more flexible for when they move again.
Thanks for any help.
Hi,
Hopefully I can be of some help.
If they don't watch the sky channels then it's probably worth cancelling as there's so much available on the free platforms now it's not worth staying.
A cancelled standard sky box with card (white with no recording capability) will receive the standard set of freesat channels (BBC/ITV/4/E4 etc) plus a load of foreign / dating / shopping channels which aren't that great. A 'freesat from sky' card is literally exactly the same as a cancelled card and allows you to receive the same channels, so only worth it if you have a box with no card at all.
The use of a SKY+ or SKY HD box with a cancelled card will not allow any recording or live rewinding capability any more, and so will behave exactly as a standard sky box once cancelled. A very limited number of HD channels are viewable on an HD box such as BBC and ITV. Be sure to watch any programmes on the HDD before cancelling as they cannot be played once cancelled.
The 'freesat' service is simply a rebranded and reorganised way of receiving these channels, although there are a few which do not feature in the sky EPG. As with sky the service does lack some quite popular freeview channels such as Dave, Yesterday, Quest etc. If a freesat+ box is purchased these do allow recording of the freely available channels but you cannot receive the encrypted sky channels with these boxes.
The final and preferred option is simply to use freeview. Most TVs now have an integrated freeview decoder but freeview+ recorders are also quite cheap now.
Hope this helps,
Hopefully I can be of some help.
If they don't watch the sky channels then it's probably worth cancelling as there's so much available on the free platforms now it's not worth staying.
A cancelled standard sky box with card (white with no recording capability) will receive the standard set of freesat channels (BBC/ITV/4/E4 etc) plus a load of foreign / dating / shopping channels which aren't that great. A 'freesat from sky' card is literally exactly the same as a cancelled card and allows you to receive the same channels, so only worth it if you have a box with no card at all.
The use of a SKY+ or SKY HD box with a cancelled card will not allow any recording or live rewinding capability any more, and so will behave exactly as a standard sky box once cancelled. A very limited number of HD channels are viewable on an HD box such as BBC and ITV. Be sure to watch any programmes on the HDD before cancelling as they cannot be played once cancelled.
The 'freesat' service is simply a rebranded and reorganised way of receiving these channels, although there are a few which do not feature in the sky EPG. As with sky the service does lack some quite popular freeview channels such as Dave, Yesterday, Quest etc. If a freesat+ box is purchased these do allow recording of the freely available channels but you cannot receive the encrypted sky channels with these boxes.
The final and preferred option is simply to use freeview. Most TVs now have an integrated freeview decoder but freeview+ recorders are also quite cheap now.
Hope this helps,
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