Sky/Freeview advice

[BensGrandad]

I stopped sky becauser it was too exepnsive and I didnt consider it to be VFM.

I have a freeview digi recorder box which does exactly the same as Sky+ but I am looking for the cheapest way to get sky sports or sky sports news any advice, short of streaming the laptop to the TV which is a bit of a chore.

 

[Mileoakman]

I stopped sky becauser it was too exepnsive and I didnt consider it to be VFM.

I have a freeview digi recorder box which does exactly the same as Sky+ but I am looking for the cheapest way to get sky sports or sky sports news any advice, short of streaming the laptop to the TV which is a bit of a chore.

You can get Sky Sports 1 and 2 through Freeview if you have Top up TV. Not sure of the price but I think its fairly expensive. I believe you need a CAM on your TV or Freeview Digi Recorder

 

[skipper734]

You can get it on Top up TV. Look through your channels.

 

[clippedgull]

You can get Sky Sports 1 and 2 through Freeview if you have Top up TV. Not sure of the price but I think its fairly expensive. I believe you need a CAM on your TV or Freeview Digi Recorder

Indeed

Sky and Top Up TV have agreed a deal that will allow Freeview customers to watch Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2.

The service will cost £22.99 a month for one channel, or £31.99 for both.

 

[BensGrandad]

That is quite expensive and appears to be a stich up by Sky. I would be happy with just sky sports news which if I remember was available on freeview free until fairly recently.

 

[Art Vs Science]

I heard that Sky Sports news is available through another package but cannot remember which package now(i maybe wrong though). I would happily drop Sky Sports until such times are a little easier on the pocket. Sky Sports news would be enough for me but it aint free anymore which is a shame

 

[Mileoakman]

I heard that Sky Sports news is available through another package but cannot remember which package now(i maybe wrong though). I would happily drop Sky Sports until such times are a little easier on the pocket. Sky Sports news would be enough for me but it aint free anymore which is a shame

I think its only on Sky and Virgin now, they took it off Freeview 6 montha ago I think.

 

[adrian29uk]

You can still use your sky box to get free to air channels, or just buy a Freesat box. If you buy a freesat HD box with ethernet port, you only need to swap the boxes over as the dish will still be pointing at the ASTRA sat.

You can then get BBC1 HD, BBC HD, ITV1 HD, and CHANNEL 4 HD, BBC Iplayer and coming soon ITV Player free of charge + all the other usual channels.

Problem with freeview is that this service requires your existing aerial to work.

If Freeview is not yet available in your area you wont get any channels until it comes online properly. I did have Freeview in peacehaven. I had to buy a new aerial and point in towards the racecourse.

But living 150 metres from the cliff edge the aerial eventually blew out of position, and of course being digital I lost all TV completely.

 

[Fef]

If you buy a freesat HD box with ethernet port, you only need to swap the boxes over as the dish will still be pointing at the ASTRA sat.

I'm thinking of going the Freesat route. Can I ask what's the advantage of an ethernet port on a satellite box?

More views, opinions and experiences would be most welcome folks.

 

[Art Vs Science]

Just phoned sky and have sky sports package free until mid-august. The important thing here is this, you CAN get Sky sports news on the news and events package which costs just a few quid a month compared to the Sky Sports 1 & 2 which costs £20 together. So if you still want SSN but cannot afford SS1 & SS2 i would advise you change your package and get the News & Events Package

 

[adrian29uk]

It means you can watch BBC Iplayer, and in the future ITV player.

 

[happypig]

I'm thinking of going the Freesat route. Can I ask what's the advantage of an ethernet port on a satellite box?

More views, opinions and experiences would be most welcome folks.

Yu can get iplayer and the like. On some boxes, you can also install Telnet and FTP so you can log into the box from another PC and watch recorded programs.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Just phoned sky and have sky sports package free until mid-august. The important thing here is this, you CAN get Sky sports news on the news and events package which costs just a few quid a month compared to the Sky Sports 1 & 2 which costs £20 together. So if you still want SSN but cannot afford SS1 & SS2 i would advise you change your package and get the News & Events Package

From September the 6 basic mixes will be merged into 2 packs , Entertainment £20 pm and Entertainment+ £25 pm but at the moment Sky haven't announced which channels are in the basic £20 pm mix. I guess for the extra fiver a month SSN will go into Entertainment+

 

[Mileoakman]

Yu can get iplayer and the like. On some boxes, you can also install Telnet and FTP so you can log into the box from another PC and watch recorded programs.

On the Sky box the ethernet port can only be used to download Anytime+ progs from Sky, can't be used for anything else.

 

[happypig]

On the Sky box the ethernet port can only be used to download Anytime+ progs from Sky, can't be used for anything else.

I've got a Humax box and can do it on mine.

 

[beorhthelm]

I've got a Humax box and can do it on mine.

glad you mention it. i have the humax with port, but iirc the box and sales details didnt mention it. is it live or do they need an update or something?
i could of course just try it...

 

[LowKarate]

I stopped sky becauser it was too exepnsive and I didnt consider it to be VFM.

I have a freeview digi recorder box which does exactly the same as Sky+ but I am looking for the cheapest way to get sky sports or sky sports news any advice, short of streaming the laptop to the TV which is a bit of a chore.

BT is positioning its Vision TV package (I have this service) as the cheaper alternative to Sky. If you have BT Line rental / calls and you upgrade to include, TV and Broadband, you can then add Sky Sports 1 for £7.20 per month. Overall it would be about £35 per month, but about £20 of that would be your line, calls and broadband, so the TV and sports element would be about an extra £15 per month. This might be worth moving to if you already have a similar line, calls and BB package.

You also get access to iPlayer through your Vision box rather than having to connect your PC to the TV, which I find quite helpful.

 

[happypig]

glad you mention it. i have the humax with port, but iirc the box and sales details didnt mention it. is it live or do they need an update or something?
i could of course just try it...

There's a package with the updates in them, it's a 5 minute job, just boot with a USB stick in and it's installed. PM me your email if you want it and I'll email it to you. if not, I will try and find the page I got it from

 

[happypig]

forget that. I seem to have lost it but I will find it again if you want it

edit, the one I installed is here Media File Server Bundle for the Foxsat HDR - AVForums.com

but that refers to a newer package

 

[BensGrandad]

Just tried my old sky box which was set up for my multi room and it doesnt show SSN.