Sky plus box question

[Jaroon]

Hello from the Middle Ages. I've got normal Sky, can I buy a sky plus box from ebay, plug it in and swap the cards around (I bet I can't)?

What will I have to do to make a new (2nd hand) sky plus box work?

I have heard some talk of "pairing" the box, I haven't had my phone line plugged into my sky box since an incident with the dog, will this make the upgrade a non starter?

Any help much appreciated.

[LordGrover]

Pretty sure it's a subscription service. Either subscribe to a minimum package or pay for the + service alone.
I think. Probably.


Other Boxes are available that'll record the free to air satellite services though. Humax Foxsat for one.

[illmonkey]

Sky+ is free, but ideally you need 2 feeds to your box.

You'd have to get the card paired to the box (no phone line required). Even if they ask you to do a test, can't you just run an cable across the room for 30 minutes?

[Tyre Smoke]

Purchase box from Flea bay (I have a Sky + HD box for sale as it happens) and ring Sky. Give them serial number of box and card number and they will get them to talk to each other.

If you are going from Sky to Sky + (and/or HD) then you will need two feeds from your dish - twin LNB and some cable also from Flea Bay and upgrade your subscription when they 'pair' box with card.

It is one of the more simple things to get sorted when you ring Sky.

[anonymous-user]

LordGrover said:

Pretty sure it's a subscription service. Either subscribe to a minimum package or pay for the + service alone.
I think. Probably.


Other Boxes are available that'll record the free to air satellite services though. Humax Foxsat for one.

Yep, If you don't have the minimum package Sky+ is £10 a month.

[Jaroon]

Thanks for the quick replies chaps.

So sky+ box with two feeds from the dish which I can accomplish with cables from fleabay. I can plug a phoneline in for a while if required for pairing, call sky with the serial number of box and my current card.

Differing info on wether sky+ is an extra paid service or free with the hardware?

Thanks again.

EDIT: I've currently got the minimum TV package with phone and internet.

[Furry Exocet]

I would buy a sky+HD box from either ebay or avforums.com classifieds (mine is still going strong a few years on) That way you can have the free HD channels.

If you already subscribe to a package then the recording option is free.

the HD box will also give you a bigger hard drive which we found very useful

[julian64]

Furry Exocet said:

I would buy a sky+HD box from either ebay or avforums.com classifieds (mine is still going strong a few years on) That way you can have the free HD channels.

If you already subscribe to a package then the recording option is free.

the HD box will also give you a bigger hard drive which we found very useful

Surely you have to pay them an extra £10 a month for the HD channels

[LordGrover]

There are free to air HD channels too.

[Furry Exocet]

julian64 said:

Surely you have to pay them an extra £10 a month for the HD channels

You only pay for the subscription HD channels, the likes of BBC HD etc are free for you. Once you have the HD box, Sky will offer you all sorts of deals to take HD, I took them up on the deals (free HD for 6 months) and then went back to my normal package. I now have Sky HD freeview (no charges) and a TiVo box from VirginMedia

[davek_964]

Even with the free to air channels, there is little benefit moving to sky+. Sky will charge you £10 a month if you want to be able to record anything - otherwise, recording is disabled with Sky freesat.

[Furry Exocet]

davek_964 said:

Even with the free to air channels, there is little benefit moving to sky+. Sky will charge you £10 a month if you want to be able to record anything - otherwise, recording is disabled with Sky freesat.

The OP has a sky sub, so should get the sky+ service free once they have a box.

[AerialAndy]

Furry Exocet said:

The OP has a sky sub, so should get the sky+ service free once they have a box.

He will need to make a point of changing his service subscription to sky+ but not paying the extra £10pm otherwise sky will add the extra charge. Quite honestly if you have a subscription already get an hd pack upgrade through sky as they will do the dish, lnb, cables and hd box for nowt usually and all you need to do is make the installer a cuppa. They were doing all that for £29pm a short while ago.

[MissChief]

A simple call to Sky will get that done though and as he has Sky subs already it won't cost him anything. Mind you by the time he gets an extra feed installed independantly he wouldn't be far off Asking Sky for a new box, with install including LNB change and 12 months warranty.

[AerialAndy]

Thats what I said wasn't it? Upgrade your pack with sky and you'll get brand new dish and hd box etc fitted for the sake of a phone call. Keep the subscription for a year then go back down to your old package and you've got all new equipment and not had to do anything and had the benifit of hd tv for a year.

[Morningside]

Or...buy a Sky HD model Why bother with standard + box? Install new LMB as it will be required for extra aerial feed. Actually while you are at it you may as well install a 4 or 8 way one for future proof.

Phone up Sky and they will ask you for its serial number and software version number. They will also need the card number. You do NOT need to install any phone line as its done over the air (pairing).

I think the phone line is needed for some services and also I believe its some contractual thing to have it connected for a year.

You do NOT need a HD subscription to watch (and record) stuff like BBC, ITV, CH4 and CH5.