Sky HD throughout my house

[Ciaran]

I have bought a house and it's getting a lot of work done to it including rewired. I would like to have sky in 4 bedrooms, 1 living room, 1 play room and 1 kitchen. How and what do I need to put in? I would like to have the ability to watch different programmes in each of the room if possible.

Sorry if this is in the wrong section.

Thanks

[megaphone]

Then you need a Sky HD box for each room , multi-room. Each room will need a twin satellite feed back to the dish.

Plus cable for..

Aerial to each room via a distribution amp.
Extra aerial co-ax from main lounge back to distribution amp (to feed Sky to other rooms if needed.)
CAT5 to each room for Skybox (better than relying on WiFi)
Extra CAT5s to each room...just incase.

[NorthDave]

Yep you need four Sky boxes - either in the rooms with the TVs or centralised and distributed via Cat5e/6 cabling.

If going centralised then you need to work out if the sound from the TV is Ok for you or pull speaker cables and install ceiling speakers/sound bars in the rooms too. If you go with upgraded audio then you could also centralise music sources and use the same speakers for that.

[ASK1974]

^^ This ^^

Worth noting that if you use a local solution (Sky boxes in each room) you will need seven receivers. If you choose a central solution and add an HDMI matrix you'll only need one per user, I assume this is four or five based on the number of bedrooms. The matrix allows any Sky receiver to be viewed on any TV, as one person can only be in one room you only need buy one receiver per user. As you (a user) move around the house you simply select 'your' box in each room. Most of our clients start with two or three and add more as required but it very much depends on the age of each user - if you have mum, dad and three teenage kids then four or five is unavoidable.

This solution has a few distinct advantages; (1) allows recordings made in one room to be viewed in any other, so playback is not locked to the room the recording was made and (2) in the event a receiver fails you always have backup whist the issue is resolved (3) kids recordings don't clog mum and dad's libraries (4) other source such as Blu-Ray and Apple TV can also be shared on all TVs.

The catch is additional cost. An 8x8 HDMI matrix and accessories won't be cheap but it is the most versatile solution, if you're looking for system functionality and flexibility this is the route, if you want Sky in seven rooms and the features noted above don't interest you then seven receivers located one per TV with wiring as already noted.

[Ciaran]

Thanks everyone. A quick google tells me that and 8x8 matrix is £2700 plus the accessories and that is over my budget unfortunately. It sounds like a fantastic system but I just can't justify the expenditure. Kids are still young so mutli viewings isn't too much of an issue now.

I guess I'll have to go with the individual boxes. Being totally out of my depth, what should I ask my electrician to be putting in? http://www.kenable.co.uk/product_info.php?products... something like that I presume?

[ASK1974]

Ciaran said:

Thanks everyone. A quick google tells me that and 8x8 matrix is £2700 plus the accessories and that is over my budget unfortunately. It sounds like a fantastic system but I just can't justify the expenditure. Kids are still young so mutli viewings isn't too much of an issue now.

I guess I'll have to go with the individual boxes. Being totally out of my depth, what should I ask my electrician to be putting in? http://www.kenable.co.uk/product_info.php?products... something like that I presume?

All properties and system requirements are different but the following is a pretty good start. As you're connecting several TVs/SAT boxes I strongly recommend you find a local AV shop or CI company to assist, quite a few banana skins if managing yourself. The plates you linked to look OK for terminating HDMI (in wall) but I suggest you get one and let your sparks confirm it'll be suitable before ordering the others.

Are you sure you want Sky channels in each room? TVs have internal tuners so you only need local Sky if you want access to Sky movies/sports/entertainment channels everywhere. The following will do both so buys you time to decide.

Each TV

1x SAT grade coaxial (CT100 or WF100) to RF distribution for TVs Freeview / Freesat tuner
1x CAT5e data cable to network hub (location of your router) for Smart functions (can do WiFi but cables are best)
1x HDMI cable to location of SAT receiver in the room - I'd run a CAT5 to the same location as well

Each SAT receiver location

2x SAT grade coaxial (CT100 or WF100) to RF distribution. Fit a QUAD RF plate (2xSAT, UHF & FM)
1x CAT5e data cable to network hub for Sky on demand
1x CAT5e data cable to BT hub for Sky telephone connection

RF distribution hub

4x SAT grade coaxial (CT100 or WF100) to SAT dish.
1x SAT grade coaxial (CT100 or WF100) to Mast for UHF etc.

Make sure you get a proper aerial company to install a suitable sized dish, Quattro LNB and multi-switch. You'll need potentially twenty one (21) LNB feeds if you count the TVs as well.

Post up if you need further help.

[VEX]

The alternative (but still as costly at the moment) would be to use Freeview or Freeview HD Encoders that would take the Sky channel output and covert it into a Freeview channel that your tv's can tune into.

Then you are not limited on outputs, any tv can tune into the channel that is floating around the house as part of the TV channel line up.

V.

[Ciaran]

Brilliant, thanks for the advice. I'm off to search for local installers.

[ASK1974]

Ciaran said:

Brilliant, thanks for the advice. I'm off to search for local installers.

Good call...

[NorthDave]

Do your kids actually need Sky? TVs will have freeview decoders built in so they can still access a huge number of channels.

You need a good satellite installer. If you let us know where you are then maybe someone can recommend for you.

[Ciaran]

They don't need sky although I'm thinking of the future and getting cables put in while the building work is ongoing. I'm in Belfast.

[Qwert1e]

What I do is have HD in just one room and run the other sets on old-fashioned RF distribution co-ax cable. But to do this you need an older Sky box with an RF output. (I think they've dropped it from the latest boxes, no doubt to encourage sales of multi-room.)

[VEX]

There is an adapter available for the newer boxes that give you the RF2 functions.

Best one I have used so far is the Triax one which you can get with an additional psu for powering, which is better. I am having a nightmare with HDMI & RF2 powering issues on one project at the moment

V.

[JEA1K]

When you speak to an installer, get them to consider a 4 x 4 HDMI matrix and then price the rest of the rooms on standard coax.

HD really only comes into its own when on larger format TV's ... if the kids rooms or other rooms have TV's of 22" - 32", I'd not be worried about HD.

That said, having a matrix enables you to send other HD sources other than 'just' Sky HD' ...

[FarmyardPants]

+1, have a look at HDAnywhere 4x4 HDBaseT matrix, I have one and it works brilliantly.