Sky Plus without subscription
Discussion
Evening all.
I'm trying to help my 79-year-old mother. She doesn't watch any Sky channels, she only views those available through her TV license, but she uses a Sky box to do so as she likes the Sky Plus features to be able to pause and record.
Paying over £300 per year to be able to do this seems ridiculous. Does anyone know if it is possible to use Sky plus somehow but not subscribe to Sky, or at least pay only for the 'plus' features, and not for the channels?
I'm trying to help my 79-year-old mother. She doesn't watch any Sky channels, she only views those available through her TV license, but she uses a Sky box to do so as she likes the Sky Plus features to be able to pause and record.
Paying over £300 per year to be able to do this seems ridiculous. Does anyone know if it is possible to use Sky plus somehow but not subscribe to Sky, or at least pay only for the 'plus' features, and not for the channels?
300sl-24 said:
That's what I had originally considered, but she's keen to keep the equipment she has as she struggles a bit with buttons and learning new stuff. Is there a way to do it by keeping the Skybox?
I am surprised sky plus still works as according to WP it was dissolved 6 years ago!
There are various options
If she wants to record I think digital box is way forward
These will have freeview channels as well with access to on demand. BBC I player, ITV hub, more 4, 5 on demand etc.
The cheaper option is to buy something like an Amazon fire stick, or Roku, which will have on demand but no record feature.
Depends what she likes to watch though. If she is based around series option 2 would work.
There are various options
If she wants to record I think digital box is way forward
These will have freeview channels as well with access to on demand. BBC I player, ITV hub, more 4, 5 on demand etc.
The cheaper option is to buy something like an Amazon fire stick, or Roku, which will have on demand but no record feature.
Depends what she likes to watch though. If she is based around series option 2 would work.
Jasey_ said:
Word of warning trying to help elderly women with technology changes can be stressful and anything going wrong after you get involved will be your fault 
Yes, this is my concern!I'm aware the box is likely to work after cancellation, but the ability to pause and record will disappear? I'm not sure how well she'd get on with having to learn anything new and deal with different buttons, etc.
paulguitar said:
Yes, this is my concern!
I'm aware the box is likely to work after cancellation, but the ability to pause and record will disappear? I'm not sure how well she'd get on with having to learn anything new and deal with different buttons, etc.
You will definitely lose any pause/record capabilities.I'm aware the box is likely to work after cancellation, but the ability to pause and record will disappear? I'm not sure how well she'd get on with having to learn anything new and deal with different buttons, etc.
I have to do remote IT/AV support for two 86 year olds (mother and m-I-l) and for £300 I would leave well alone !
Don’t change it - if she is happy with the Sky User Interface, and gets to watch / record what she wants then at 79, it is easily worth £300 a year to do so.
The last thing you want to do is make a simple change that results in her losing what she has today (the ability to happily interact with her TV).
When it comes to age and technology, there comes a point where any change is bad…
The last thing you want to do is make a simple change that results in her losing what she has today (the ability to happily interact with her TV).
When it comes to age and technology, there comes a point where any change is bad…
hungry_hog said:
I am surprised sky plus still works as according to WP it was dissolved 6 years ago!
Why are you surprised it still works? It's Sky HD and has millions of subscribers (minus me as of yesterday). Not every Sky+ subscriber will have upgraded to Sky Q when it superseded Sky+.OP - Without an active subscription the Sky+ box will allow you to view free to air channels but you lose the ability to pause/rewind live TV or view anything that you have previously recorded.
48k said:
Why are you surprised it still works? It's Sky HD and has millions of subscribers (minus me as of yesterday). Not every Sky+ subscriber will have upgraded to Sky Q when it superseded Sky+.
OP - Without an active subscription the Sky+ box will allow you to view free to air channels but you lose the ability to pause/rewind live TV or view anything that you have previously recorded.
You used to be able to pay Sky ten quid a month outside of a regular subscription to keep the PVR functionality of Sky Plus boxes (on FTA channels) but that was years ago. I doubt they even have the processes to enable that any more.OP - Without an active subscription the Sky+ box will allow you to view free to air channels but you lose the ability to pause/rewind live TV or view anything that you have previously recorded.
Probably the easiest way would be to get the cheapest sub possible. Though that might not even be activate-able on a Sky Plus box now and I've no idea what the cheapest possible sub would be.
Edited by Lucas Ayde on Friday 25th February 17:55
Lucas Ayde said:
Probably the easiest way would be to get the cheapest sub possible. Though that might not even be activate-able on a Sky Plus box now and I've no idea what the cheapest possible sub would be.
When I cancelled this week they told me I could rejoin any time just by phoning them up and they would re activate my subscription. The viewing card doesn't suddenly stop being compatible with the Sky+ box just because the subscription was cancelled. (Obviously if you want Sky Q features you'd need a new viewing card and new box)paulguitar said:
Just back to say thanks to you all for the advice.
I'm going to leave things as they are other than haggling with Sky on my mum's behalf to see if we can reduce the monthly cost a bit when her renewal comes around next month.
Cheers, all.
My Sky+ subscription which I cancelled this week was £31 a month. When you phone to cancel (they make you phone now, there's no longer a way to cancel through the online account) the retentions team try desperately to make you stay. I was offered a £10 discount for three months. You could do that then try cancelling in three months time to see if they offer you the discount again. But as others have said, for the sake of £300-ish a year it's worth just paying it to keep your mum happy and comfortable with something she is familiar with.I'm going to leave things as they are other than haggling with Sky on my mum's behalf to see if we can reduce the monthly cost a bit when her renewal comes around next month.
Cheers, all.
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