Sky+ Box - Will it work "offline" at different address
Sky+ Box - Will it work "offline" at different address
Author
Discussion

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

77 months

Tuesday 11th September 2012
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Hi all

I will be moving house soon - and am curious if my sky+ box will work in my new place.

The box has a fair few films which I have recorded but not gotten around to watching yet. I will get Sky (probably HD) in my new place, but not immediately. If I just plug my current box in at the new address (not connected to phone line or internet) will it boot and allow me to watch the recorded programs? The box is currently used as part of a multi-room deal, the principle box will continue to be paid for after I move (if this makes any difference).

Anyone know either way?

If the box won't work, is there any way to easily transfer my recordings to another medium - a USB drive for example?

Thanks

VEX

5,259 posts

269 months

Tuesday 11th September 2012
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No they usually need a satellite signal to be able to even just play recorded stuff.

V.

RedTrident

8,290 posts

258 months

Wednesday 12th September 2012
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I just unplugged my box and took it with me when I moved. As long as you've not cancelled your subscription then you can plug it straight in at your new place (providing it has a satellite dish or the plugs in the wall) and it'll work fine.

maxfan

1,622 posts

166 months

Wednesday 12th September 2012
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I believe it will
For the simple reason i bought one s/h from cash converters (yes know and I shop at asda too !!) and was pleasantly surprised to find it had on some films the guy had recorded - these were from BBC 1 and ITV not from sky channels - that may make adifference I dunno. I was able to watch them on my own TV

petecowie

190 posts

250 months

Wednesday 12th September 2012
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buy an LNB without a dish, connect short cables to the back of the box, doesn't need to get a signal and you should be good to do.

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

77 months

Wednesday 12th September 2012
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Thanks guys, sounds pretty promising smile

Morningside

24,146 posts

252 months

Friday 14th September 2012
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maxfan said:
I believe it will
For the simple reason i bought one s/h from cash converters (yes know and I shop at asda too !!) and was pleasantly surprised to find it had on some films the guy had recorded - these were from BBC 1 and ITV not from sky channels - that may make adifference I dunno. I was able to watch them on my own TV
Interesting. I wonder if anyone can expand on this.

maxfan

1,622 posts

166 months

Friday 14th September 2012
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Morningside said:
Interesting. I wonder if anyone can expand on this.
http://www.cashconverters.co.uk/store-locator/

Anything to help smile

Morningside

24,146 posts

252 months

Friday 14th September 2012
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maxfan said:
Morningside said:
Interesting. I wonder if anyone can expand on this.
http://www.cashconverters.co.uk/store-locator/

Anything to help smile
Thankssmile But I mean do old BBC programmes remain playable even when box is offline.

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

77 months

Friday 14th September 2012
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There is a theory that Sky only send out the signal to remove the recording ability from a box for a certain period of time (6 months is the best guess). So if you downgrade your subscription to Freesat and leave your box switched off for over that period of time then you will retain the ability to watch and record. Not sure how much if any truth there is in that.

maxfan

1,622 posts

166 months

Friday 14th September 2012
quotequote all
Dunno to above but I seem to remember the dates of these recorded films and programmes were quite some time before maybe upwards of 6 months, also have no idea how long cash converters would have had the item in shop for

aclivity

4,072 posts

211 months

Friday 14th September 2012
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Nyphur said:
The box is currently used as part of a multi-room deal, the principle box will continue to be paid for after I move (if this makes any difference).
It used to be that all multi room boxes had to have phone line connected at all times - so that Sky could confirm they weren't being used to get a cheaper deal for a family member. Is this still the case?

bristolracer

5,877 posts

172 months

Saturday 15th September 2012
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Bluequay said:
There is a theory that Sky only send out the signal to remove the recording ability from a box for a certain period of time (6 months is the best guess). So if you downgrade your subscription to Freesat and leave your box switched off for over that period of time then you will retain the ability to watch and record. Not sure how much if any truth there is in that.
No sky send stay alive signals to viewing cards NOT kill signals, no subscription no signal no viewing. You must have a sky subscription to use the plus facility on the box or pay them £10 to record

Op as long as you have a subscription for that box and a connection to a dish you will be ok , if you take out an upgrade to hd your card will be transfered and you will lose recordings on old box, you may be better watching films and joining sky as new customer at new address maybe get a friend to refer you and get some m and s vouchers to boot

MissChief

7,835 posts

191 months

Sunday 16th September 2012
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aclivity said:
It used to be that all multi room boxes had to have phone line connected at all times - so that Sky could confirm they weren't being used to get a cheaper deal for a family member. Is this still the case?
Yes, but IMO they don't have the capability to check them all, all the time. They pick a few hundred people each month to letter and/or charge.

Rick101

7,146 posts

173 months

Sunday 16th September 2012
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aclivity said:
It used to be that all multi room boxes had to have phone line connected at all times - so that Sky could confirm they weren't being used to get a cheaper deal for a family member. Is this still the case?
We have a multi room and very very very big house.


FiF

47,917 posts

274 months

Sunday 16th September 2012
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MissChief said:
aclivity said:
It used to be that all multi room boxes had to have phone line connected at all times - so that Sky could confirm they weren't being used to get a cheaper deal for a family member. Is this still the case?
Yes, but IMO they don't have the capability to check them all, all the time. They pick a few hundred people each month to letter and/or charge.
We had multiroom and while the person was away at uni the box and all the other equipment was switched off. Sky used to send us a letter EVERY month, and we had to switch stuff on and do a seris of dialback operations. It doesn't take long but it gets to be a real pain in the arse frankly.

When discussing this with them they were quite snotty about it and maintained that I had to have the box continually connected to a working phone line. I pointed out that it was connected but that the box was powered down to save energy as it wasn't being used during term time and their Tand Cs say nothing abot the box having to be powered up continually.

We reached a complete impasse, they kept sending the letters and I kept telling them to feck off, finally cancelling the service. It's no loss frankly. That room now uses a freesat.

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

77 months

Wednesday 26th September 2012
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To follow this up - the box was plugged in at the new address Saturday, and is still working.
It has not been connected to a phone line (the line is dead at the flat), but works fine (live programming, recording and watching existing recordings).

Sky+HD on its way soon though smile

mattdaniels

7,362 posts

305 months

Wednesday 26th September 2012
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As you've probably noticed, when you boot the box up you get a message saying "To access the full range of services connect to a phone line" and you just press "Back Up" to exit.

Sky will tell you that you need a phone line and a router to completely set up the HD package and Anytime+ but you won't need either.

Assuming you picked "self install" when you ordered the box, just follow the instructions in the pamphlet for setting up the box then when it asks to make sure it is connected to the phone line, just phone up Sky and tell them you are doing a manual install with no phone line and all you will need to do is give them some information from the System tab in the guide such as software version number and serial number. They'll then tell you to keep the box plugged in (standby is ok) for the next week to complete any set up. You'll then probably get texts / emails asking you to plug the box in to the router to complete the Sky Anytime+ set up but you can ignore that if you don't have a router set up yet.