Freeview as an alternative to Virgin / Sky. Advice please.

[Flex Your Head]

My Virgin charges were initially £45 per month four years ago, and now they’re nudging £80.

We watch very little ‘regular’ TV, but do have Netflix. Our internet usage is no more than browsing the web, watching Youtube vids or BBC iPlayer, and downloading a bit of music every so often. Surely, I don’t need Virgin anymore?



I assume that all I need is an internet provider like Talk Talk or PlusNet, and a Freeview box? Anyone got any advice, tips or recommendations please?



Thanks in advance – I can’t access NSC at work anymore *sad face* so will check back later.

 

[seagully]

Search the thread on Kodi

 

[Notters]

You should easily be able to get your Virgin down to below what you were originally paying by threatening to cancel and giving it a few weeks, if that helps.

 

[Superseagull]

I'm ditching virgin soon. The money they charge is stupid even for the basic packages. For me they way forward is Freeview and an Amazon fire stick with a bit of Kodi thrown in. A lot of the Amazon original content is very good. Watching Highcastle series 2 now and it's as it's really well produced. Hopefully more like that to come in the future.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

I have Freeview + a NowTV entertainment monthly pass for Game of Thrones etc. ( £7.99 per month for the configuration option I chose ).

Any albion Sky football is on down the pub anyway.

 

[beorhthelm]

... Our internet usage is no more than browsing the web, watching Youtube vids or BBC iPlayer, and downloading a bit of music every so often

and Netflix, thats over the internet too. you could probably get rid of whatever premium services you have, pare it down to just the internet, which is probably worth keeping as its usually better than ADSL (assuming you on cable service)

 

[Jack Straw]

It's Freeview for me. Costs nothing. More HD channels will be added in time. If you've got a "smart" tv, you can as stated above, use Netflix or similar for films if there's one you have to watch. I just see what's on Film 4 or elsewhere. Streams for football on the computer or internet on your tv possibly. All free! (Apart from the Broadband).
12 months Virgin @ £ 80 = £ 960 a year!

 

[nordicgod]

V8S openbox and 12 month gift off eBay is your friend

 

[Wilko]

Surely both Sky and Virgin are going to have to trim their costs down soon, they must be losing customers by the day in favour of Kodi/Amazon firestick etc.

 

[See-Goals]

I would go freesat rather than freeview, more channels and better hardware so you can still benefit from recording, live pause, rewind etc. You can use your existing sky dish, small additional expense to buy and install if you're coming from virgin.

I've just ditched sky and moved to a Humax 1100S 500gb box, pays for itself in 5 months of no sky subscription and I'll just need a £7 a month now TV entertainment pass to carry on watching exactly what I watched before.

 

[nigeyb]

My Virgin charges were initially £45 per month four years ago, and now they’re nudging £80.

We watch very little ‘regular’ TV, but do have Netflix. Our internet usage is no more than browsing the web, watching Youtube vids or BBC iPlayer, and downloading a bit of music every so often. Surely, I don’t need Virgin anymore?



I assume that all I need is an internet provider like Talk Talk or PlusNet, and a Freeview box? Anyone got any advice, tips or recommendations please?



Thanks in advance – I can’t access NSC at work anymore *sad face* so will check back later.

Yeah, I'm in the same boat and don't really understand KODI though I daresay I could figure it out if I got it.

Thanks to everyone who has replied. There's some good tips here.

One question, does anyone use NOW TV? It seems like quite a good alternative to Virgin and Sky as there's no contract. Perhaps there are some downsides but I'd be very interested in anyone with an informed opinion. Thanks again.

 

[Stat Brother]

I would go freesat rather than freeview, more channels and better hardware so you can still benefit from recording, live pause, rewind etc. You can use your existing sky dish, small additional expense to buy and install if you're coming from virgin.

I've just ditched sky and moved to a Humax 1100S 500gb box, pays for itself in 5 months of no sky subscription and I'll just need a £7 a month now TV entertainment pass to carry on watching exactly what I watched before.

I keep talking myself into this then, for reasons unknown, backing out at the last minute.

This time I'm going for it, as I'm now motivated by Sky losing Eurosport (I loves me cycling).


I need to be able to tape programmes and obviously I want Eurosport and to tape that too.

Can I do that through Humax?
Or
Am I switching over to BT?

 

[1066familyman]

For football, cycling, iplayer/4od/youtube, hd bbc documentaries and kids recording some CBBC series, here's what we do:

Humax freesat box. Record and rewind live tv for freesat channels, full EPG and whole series record etc etc. We have an old 320gb one and it's more than suffiecient for our needs. You can pick them up dirt cheap 2nd hand off ebay. Get a Humax one and they go on forever.

Chromecast - Plug into hdmi and usb on tv, set it up in 5 minutes flat to your wifi and never worry about it again. Can connect android devices with ease and pc's and ithingies too (we don't do this). We cast Eurosport, iplayer, 4od, youtube etc etc onto big screen quickly and reliably. Connect anything else on your phone/tablet/pc that doesn't support cast by using miracast or screen cast on said device ( definitely works as far back as Android Kit Kat 4.4.2). Netflix can cast with Chromecast too I believe.

Kodi on android devices. Free download and pick a build from a youtube tutorial. Meets all my football and film needs. Can be a bit frustrating streaming live sport sometimes, but nothing I can't live with.

£19.99 one year Eurosport player subscription to meet my cycling needs. Unless you're a cycling, tennis or winter sports fan I really wouldn't bother with Eurosport.

So aside from my £19.99 Eurosport yearly subscription, everything is free once the hardware is in place. If you don't already have a satellite dish fitted then you'll need one of those for Freesat. I fitted the satellite dish myself easily enough and a kit with everything you need costs around £40.



In summary, I'd recommend the Freesat, Kodi, Chromecast route.

 

[1066familyman]

I keep talking myself into this then, for reasons unknown, backing out at the last minute.

This time I'm going for it, as I'm now motivated by Sky losing Eurosport (I loves me cycling).


I need to be able to tape programmes and obviously I want Eurosport and to tape that too.

Can I do that through Humax?
Or
Am I switching over to BT?

Ah, recording Eurosport. That's my weak link in a set up I'm otherwise very very happy with. Get in quick btw if you need to go down the Eurosport subs route as that £19.99 a year offer ends on 31st Jan.

I know of no way to record Eurosport on a freesat box as Eurosport isn't on Freesat. I watch Eurosport on the tv by casting it from a device with Eurosport player, so no way that a freesat box can record that.

Eurosport claim that with Eurosport player you can rewind live tv by 3 hours. I've yet to find that feature unfortunately I'll see how it pans out when the cycling season gets underway proper, but I'm hoping to avoid results and watch whole race coverage back via their video section later in the evening, or watch highlight programmes.

 

[Stat Brother]

For football, cycling, iplayer/4od/youtube, hd bbc documentaries and kids recording some CBBC series, here's what we do:

Humax freesat box. Record and rewind live tv for freesat channels, full EPG and whole series record etc etc. We have an old 320gb one and it's more than suffiecient for our needs. You can pick them up dirt cheap 2nd hand off ebay. Get a Humax one and they go on forever.

Chromecast - Plug into hdmi and usb on tv, set it up in 5 minutes flat to your wifi and never worry about it again. Can connect android devices with ease and pc's and ithingies too (we don't do this). We cast Eurosport, iplayer, 4od, youtube etc etc onto big screen quickly and reliably. Connect anything else on your phone/tablet/pc that doesn't support cast by using miracast or screen cast on said device ( definitely works as far back as Android Kit Kat 4.4.2). Netflix can cast with Chromecast too I believe.

Kodi on android devices. Free download and pick a build from a youtube tutorial. Meets all my football and film needs. Can be a bit frustrating streaming live sport sometimes, but nothing I can't live with.

£19.99 one year Eurosport player subscription to meet my cycling needs. Unless you're a cycling, tennis or winter sports fan I really wouldn't bother with Eurosport.

So aside from my £19.99 Eurosport yearly subscription, everything is free once the hardware is in place. If you don't already have a satellite dish fitted then you'll need one of those for Freesat. I fitted the satellite dish myself easily enough and a kit with everything you need costs around £40.



In summary, I'd recommend the Freesat, Kodi, Chromecast route.

You've been incredibly patient with me over this, over the years.

Cast?

Recently my PS3 went kerblammo so I bought a Roku stick thinking I'd need Now TV for Albion games - is that relevant?
Not to mention Netflix.

I'd only be able to tape Freeview programmes with a Humax box - yes?

 

[1066familyman]

You've been incredibly patient with me over this, over the years.

Cast?

Recently my PS3 went kerblammo so I bought a Roku stick thinking I'd need Now TV for Albion games - is that relevant?
Not to mention Netflix.

I'd only be able to tape Freeview programmes with a Humax box - yes?

1) Cast - Chromecast is a dongle thingy that plugs into your hdmi port on tv and powered by a usb via mains plug or usb port on tv. Many sites support Chromecast, such as all the catch up players like BBC, 4od, ITV etc. Also youtube, netflix, eurosport player and many many more. Cast is easy to use as any supported site will give you a little cast icon on the video to press and a direct link with your tv is now established. Not to be confused with screen mirroring, which isn't quite as good but does mean you can literally mirror anything from a device (phone/tablet etc) onto your tv via chromecast.

A Roku stick can apparently cast or mirror, but is best for using the 'apps' that come with it.
With Chromecast you know you can definitely cast and mirror really well. It doesn't have any apps or remote controls, it's just for casting/mirroring and you access the apps via the device you're casting from. Brilliant device for just working really well and forgetting about I've found.
If you can work out how to cast/mirror reliably with the roku stick then no need for also getting Chromecast.



2) "Recently my PS3 went kerblammo so I bought a Roku stick thinking I'd need Now TV for Albion games - is that relevant?
Not to mention Netflix". - Kodi is your friend here. If you can mirror a device to your tv using the Roku stick then just do that. Albion games and films galore on Kodi.

3)" I'd only be able to tape Freeview programmes with a Humax box - yes?" - Yeah. Your Freeview box will need to be a PVR though (able to record) and not just a receiver box.

 

[Fungus]

Yeah, I'm in the same boat and don't really understand KODI though I daresay I could figure it out if I got it.

Thanks to everyone who has replied. There's some good tips here.

One question, does anyone use NOW TV? It seems like quite a good alternative to Virgin and Sky as there's no contract. Perhaps there are some downsides but I'd be very interested in anyone with an informed opinion. Thanks again.

NOW TV don't do HD, apparently. Show-stopper for my wife.

 

[1066familyman]

NOW TV don't do HD, apparently. Show-stopper for my wife.

Up to 720p apparently. So yes it does, unless you're hell bent on 1080p or more.

 

[See-Goals]

NOW TV don't do HD, apparently. Show-stopper for my wife.

Now TV stream in 720p (HD ready) I have no complaints over the picture quality and I'm used to full HD through sky on a decent Samsung 1080p TV.

Had a free Now TV movie pass over Xmas and watched a lot of movies and will always use for our televised away games, streamed through a PS4 quality has been excellent for both.

 

[nigeyb]

A Roku stick can apparently cast or mirror

Am I right in thinking that a Roku Stick is the same as an Amazon Fire Stick?

Is one better than the other?