Sky, FreeSatFromSky or FreeSat?

positron

Hi,

I have recently moved into my first ever own home, and now slowly getting around to sorting out the box.

After reading this forum for days, my plan so far is to take a basic sky subscription (four mix - 13x4 + 26x8 = 260 euros) and do a DIY job of putting in a quad LNB, wire it up to two bedrooms and the kitchen/diner, and get secondhand sky or FTA boxes and cards on ebay (over a period of time, 3 x 50 euros + 3 x 30 = 240 euros).

However I just came across Sky's own freesat website, which basically gets me started for £150 approx 220 euros.

http://www.freesatfromsky.com

Now I am not sure which way to go. Should I stick to the original plan, or go with the FreeSatFromSky option, or just get a better dish + box + card altogether!

Any thoughts?


PS: At my gf's house, ex-tenants have left one of those Lidl dishes mounted on the wall - anyone know which would be a good value decoder to use that dish? Thankuuu!

PSS: Not sure if location is important (may be for dish size etc) - I am in South side of Drogheda.

Blaster99

That FreeSatFromSky service is only available in the UK and it's not a very good deal seeing as you can get a 2-mix basic sub for the same price for a year and then keep the equipment.

I can never figure out Sky's deals, but I'd say your idea about a subscription and then DIY the rest is fine. You can get the digibox(es) and FTV cards (which is effectively what FreeSatFromSky is) on eBay. Sky does a multi-room viewing option but unless you want all the subscription stations in the other room I don't think it's worth paying for. You're paying, what is it, €10 a month for a year for a digibox basically and you can get a used one for a lot less than that.

A digibox will work with that Lidl dish.

watty

A basic sub is two mix packs.

What ever you get to get cheapest install you can downgrade with one month notice.

see http://icdg.bytelive.com/

As Blaster says, some of Sky's deals defy logic.

65cm and larger is fine.

Basically any Digital receiver (Sky or not) will work on any dish big enough, or on any "Universal" type LNB, Sky or not.

For adding a 100 Euro Motor a 80cm is really minimum (Up to 20 Satellites). Sky receivers only work with a fixed single LNB dish.

bk

BTW you can only downgrade the Sky packages after the initial 12 months contract is up, but it is still the best way to go about it.

If you go to a local installer (instead of through Sky) and ask nicely (buy him a beer) he would likely put up the quad LNB and cable it into your extra rooms, leaving you to buy and install second hand boxes/FTA boxes, for a few euros more. FYI in case your not good with DIY.

watty

No, you can downgrade within the twelve months, but not cancel. No notice is required for upgrades, these are nearly instant. Though again contracts can vary.

bk

watty wrote:

No, you can downgrade within the twelve months, but not cancel. No notice is required for upgrades, these are nearly instant. Though again contracts can vary.

Sorry I should have said you can't cancel or go FTA during the first 12 months.

You need to be subscribed for at least oine month though before you can downgrade your package don't you?
Or has that changed?

watty

I'm not sure if that is simply the normal one month notice, i.e. if you ask to downgrade, it is a month before it happens and bill reduced.

Normally too, if you cancel after the year the minimum contract is 1 month if you renew. However if at renewal you take a special offer like 1/2 price package or free new digibox or free upgrade to Sky+ (none of which is automatically available), then minimum contract is 3months or 6months.

positron

Thanks guys, I will talk to the local sat-man and see if he can do me a good deal on a quad LNB and cables, otherwise thats another Saturday's job for me!