Sky bye bye. Now what?

Pottler

Hi lads, after about three months of doddering by Sky, during which they billed us for service we were not getting(new card didn't work, etc etc) I rang them today and cancelled it. Which was fun. So, the misus is hassling me to get somthing else.
Whats the best option,will we still be able to use the sky box and use saorview, should we get a satalite dish or what is the story with buying a smart tv and getting tv through the internet?
Dont have a clue so any suggestions welcome!!!!

Cantona's Collars

What kind of box do you have? If it's a HD box then you are stuck with a crippled EPG,if so get a FTV card.

The box will pick up FTA channels & then simply get a saorview box for Irish tv.

Possibly the best solution is to sell the box & spend the money on a combi box for both Irish & UK tv on one box with one remote.

Depending on where you live a cheap €2 aerial might do for saorview,even if it's not suitable,a decent aerial isn't too dear.Your existing dish is perfect for UK tv so no need to do anything with that.

Pottler

Many thanks for that
.
Where do i Get a combibox/ftv card?
Any idea which one to get?

Sorry if this seems a bit basic but have been with sky for years and hae absolutley no idea as to what is available now!

stephendevlin

Pottler wrote: »

Many thanks for that
.
Where do i Get a combibox/ftv card?
Any idea which one to get?

Sorry if this seems a bit basic but have been with sky for years and hae absolutley no idea as to what is available now!

Fergusun Ariva 250 combo seems to be a good box.

Cantona's Collars

You have a month to get sorted as Sky won't cut you off until the 30 day notice period is up,plenty of time to source a new box.Try the terrestrial forum for advice & links.

zg3409

Please note Sky will keep ringing you for better offers, both between now and after the 30 days. On day 30 all the pay channels (including RTE1 etc) will stop working but you still will have BBC 1 and other channels.

During the haggle process some people have gotten Sky down to 5 Euro per month, but more realistically the least they will allow you to pay is 20 Euro per month for the most basic pack.

So what to do, well if money is tight, and 20 is too much, they you need some sort of an aerial (an indoor one might work buy probably not) and a box capabile of getting Saorview (about 80 Euro)

Sky also stop the recording features of you box from working, so if recording is important to you you would need a box that can record.

Have a look on some of the trade websites for the types of boxes available and the optons. A combo box combines you exsting dish, and a aerial and gives you the basic Irish and UK channels (about 20 good ones and 200 bad ones). For the moment your existing box (even after they cut it off) will get the basic UK channels but no Irish.

So if serious I suggest getting and indoor aerial and some sort of a box in the next 30 days. If the indoor aerial does not work get a professionally installed outdoor aerial (will cost around 150 Euro), but the installer may take a week or two to get the job done.

Either way Sky can turn you back on in seconds if you change you mind so no need to panic. Take a week or two to look at your options.

You should try list your top 20 TV shows and see if they are only on pay channels or on free channels. This would help decide which channels you really need.

Let us know how you get on. Please ask questions if unsure on anything.

Capt'n Midnight

NB one gotcha with cancelling SKY+ is you loose access to any recorded stuff.
But you can play it back and record it externally before the 30 days is up.

Do you use the EPG much ?
Do you record much ?
Any foreigners or people learning languages ?
Sports ?

as yet there is no one size fits all box.
each has it's own niche depending on what you want to see (or record) and your budget.


some Options
Get a saorview box + Keep SKY box for FTA , but without recording or playback options.
Get a saorview box + FreeSat box - start at £28 in Argos - if get better box can get EPG, HD, recording, series link - everything except the encrypted channels
Get a saorview box + FTA box - NB. you loose the UK EPG unless you spend a lot, easy enough to get HD, recording timer is a little tricky since you only have now/next program listings

combo box - a saorview approved box will not have UK EPG.

Saorsat - costs more than a saorview box, but on some freesat receivers will allow you to have UK EPG and Irish programs (on others it's pressing a load of buttons to swap over)


Or you could use the SKY box for viewing , and a FTA box for recording


is Sony channel + ocassional Free to view feature on setanta worth having ?
do you want to eurosport ?