Sky v Freesat in a nutshell

aaf

Been trawling the threads here for a god while but can't find the info I'm looking for. I have NTL/UPC TV and BB at the moment. Have never been happy with the quality of the signal from NTL on my Pioneer 43" plasma, which has inbuilt DVB-T mpeg2 tuner. I know NTL/UPC send a heavily compressed signal down the line and it looks crap on my tv. I also have a Sony RDR-HXD870 160GB hard disc recorder, which has inbuilt DVB-T mpeg4 tuner. I would like to switch to either Sky or FreeSat (I read there's a Humax HD box out next month). I'm based in Dublin. I have a few questions which I was hoping to have cleared up

1. Can I subscribe to Sky Sports when using Freesat box? (I'm pretty sure I can't)
2. I have no phone line so if I choose Sky, is it possible to get it? I read that I might be able to get it if I pay €37 or something like that to waiver the phone line setup part of install?
3. If I go with Sky, should I go with Sky+ or just basic Sky - remember I have a Sony hard disc recorder. I'm thinking I'd probably be best off going for Sky+.

Am leaning towards Sky+ for now. Don't need or want multi-room. Might be the best option as we wait patiently for Irish DTT and freesat/freeview to become more commonplace in Ireland, which will hopefully happen inside the next year. Would also like to hook up box to my amp to accommodate dolby digital etc should I want to.

Any info would be greatly received.

copacetic

aaf wrote: »

1. Can I subscribe to Sky Sports when using Freesat box? (I'm pretty sure I can't)
2. I have no phone line so if I choose Sky, is it possible to get it? I read that I might be able to get it if I pay €37 or something like that to waiver the phone line setup part of install?
3. If I go with Sky, should I go with Sky+ or just basic Sky - remember I have a Sony hard disc recorder. I'm thinking I'd probably be best off going for Sky+.

1) no


and thats end of it really Freesat alone isn't an option if you love sports.

2) yep, might get away without paying extra if lucky too

3) Have a sony similar to yours, sky+ is a lot easier and handier to use.

podgeandrodge

aaf wrote: »

Been trawling the threads here for a god while but can't find the info I'm looking for. I have NTL/UPC TV and BB at the moment. Have never been happy with the quality of the signal from NTL on my Pioneer 43" plasma, which has inbuilt DVB-T mpeg2 tuner. I know NTL/UPC send a heavily compressed signal down the line and it looks crap on my tv. I also have a Sony RDR-HXD870 160GB hard disc recorder, which has inbuilt DVB-T mpeg4 tuner. I would like to switch to either Sky or FreeSat (I read there's a Humax HD box out next month). I'm based in Dublin. I have a few questions which I was hoping to have cleared up

1. Can I subscribe to Sky Sports when using Freesat box? (I'm pretty sure I can't)
2. I have no phone line so if I choose Sky, is it possible to get it? I read that I might be able to get it if I pay €37 or something like that to waiver the phone line setup part of install?
3. If I go with Sky, should I go with Sky+ or just basic Sky - remember I have a Sony hard disc recorder. I'm thinking I'd probably be best off going for Sky+.

Am leaning towards Sky+ for now. Don't need or want multi-room. Might be the best option as we wait patiently for Irish DTT and freesat/freeview to become more commonplace in Ireland, which will hopefully happen inside the next year. Would also like to hook up box to my amp to accommodate dolby digital etc should I want to.

Any info would be greatly received.

The DVB-T mpeg2 tuner has nothing to do with the NTL signal. It's a tuner for receiving british freeview channels. Also, I don't think the Sony RDR-HXD870 has a DVB-T mpeg4 tuner, just a DVB-T mpeg2 tuner - but will go and check mine just in case! However, it does PLAY mpeg4 files i.e. divx and xvid's. If it had an Mpeg4 tuner you would probably already receive the Irish DTT trials now.

Dman001

I would recommend going for Sky+ because you can watch one programme and record another at the same time which you can only achieve using a Sky+ DVR.

aaf

Suppose I kind of answered my own questions there. Yep, watch Sky Sports alot so thats that then. Suppose I'll try to get Sky+ and see what my options are this time next year. Cheers for the help.

copacetic

podgeandrodge wrote: »

The DVB-T mpeg2 tuner has nothing to do with the NTL signal. It's a tuner for receiving british freeview channels. Also, I don't think the Sony RDR-HXD870 has a DVB-T mpeg4 tuner, just a DVB-T mpeg2 tuner - but will go and check mine just in case! However, it does PLAY mpeg4 files i.e. divx and xvid's. If it had an Mpeg4 tuner you would probably already receive the Irish DTT trials now.

meant to say that, I have a 970 and it doesn't have a mpeg4 tuner afaik, just mpeg2 so doubt the 870 does. Unless having to set country before tuning defaults it to mpeg2 and there is an mpeg4 hidden in there somewhere?

artvandulet

aaf wrote: »

2. I have no phone line so if I choose Sky, is it possible to get it? I read that I might be able to get it if I pay €37 or something like that to waiver the phone line setup part of install?

I may be wrong here and others can correct me if thats the case but they don't check your phone number or your line when installing. They do ask if you have a land line, ust say yes. They also ask for a contact number but this doesnt have to be the land line number. You can just say that the land line is in an upstairs room and you are getting it ran into your sitting room if installer asks where it is.

watty

If you have two sky boxes with a Mirror sub, you *REALLY* have to have them on the same working phone line (or very good VOIP connection).

aaf

watty wrote: »

If you have two sky boxes with a Mirror sub, you *REALLY* have to have them on the same working phone line (or very good VOIP connection).

I have 10MB NTL BB and have been using Blueface VOIP for 2 or 3 years now. Only problems I have with VOIP service is when NTL BB craps out. So I tell them I have a phone line when asked and they won't need to look for it when installing. Will they install if I tell them I don't have a phone line but have VOIP?

@ copacetic and podgeandrodge

Got my wires crossed. Tried to google the 870 last night and thought I saw mpeg4 tuner. As mentioned it only plays mpeg4 files and does not have mpeg4 tuner.

watty

no.
Also you can get NTL's phone (A different more relaible VOIP) built into Cable Modem.

As long as you have a phone number to give them.


Your VOIP or non-eircom phone service has to support G711 with low jitter and less than 0.5% packet loss or the Sky box modem won't connect.