Anyone Regret Cutting the Cord UPC or Sky

ronan45

Curious any feedback from people who had sky or UPC and cut the sub and went FTA only? Any feedback ? Any regrets? All good?

reboot

ronan45 wrote: »

Curious any feedback from people who had sky or UPC and cut the sub and went FTA only? Any feedback ? Any regrets? All good?

One thought is that Sky Atlantic have some very good drama, not available
on any other platform?
Its a bit like people on the Dab thread complaining about Dab/Fm,not discussing that people go to Dab for channels not available on Fm.

king size mars bar

Had upc and went to FTA , no regrets at all should of done it a long time ago!

Staplor

I've gone to Saorview, And Netflix. I've found myself happier, The house is cleaner, more time with the family, reading, don't have crap like Storage Wars tempting me any longer. And that kind of stuff maybe took up 2 hours a week, now I have that time.

Also, for kids Netflix and RTE Jr. don't have adverts. Electronic babysitter just moved up a gear.

macscoob

Was on sky and had a faulty box and they wanted €100 call out, so changed to UPC. Think I'll go back, just not feeling the UPC thing

excollier

I cut the cord with Sky in the nineties, about the time channel 5 first appeared on terrestrial - never missed it for a minute. It was in the process of going digital at the time - we had a dish pointed at 19.2e (analogue receiver) and the next door neighbours got a new- fangled 'digibox' and one of those new shaped dishes pointed at 28.2e.
Good riddance then as now. ONDigital / ITV Digital / Freeview & Freesat since inception.

FRIENDO

Got rid of Sky 8 years ago, saved lots of money.
Now have:
Freesat + HD recorder
Saorsat
Freeview
Netflix for €6.99 a month.

cerastes

NO,
no monthly bill, so cost halved, not lots of other channels that you hardly watch.
Still have kids channels with FTA and some films.
It kinda feels like you are pulling the plug on life support on yourself, but there is life after sky/UPC :pac:

fixXxer

We have netflix and Saorview and rarely if ever miss UPC. Maybe when my wife wants to watch Strictly or something but we've always found more than enough to keep us occupied. One caveat, we have a region switcher service set up for netflix.

To Elland Back

Absolutely not. Sky's interface is 2nd to none but I'm never paying that type of money for a TV set up again. Happy with what I got for the money I saved

samarillo

no regrets whatsoever got freesat and love it. can access itv player and bbc red button services. record whole series and the remote also controls the tv. heres a funny thing i had a problem with my broadband and while on the phone to server he said can i ask how you are recieving your tv signal i said i have FREESAT. he said oh you have one of those sky dodgy boxs. i hung up.

Technofobe

No Regrets
To be honest the only reason we got rid of sky was to save a few bob


Could not fault sky for picture quality
Just could not afford it anymore
with house tax
water tax
Carbon tax

Something had to go

got a combibox ( satellite and saorview ) and bye bye sky
Kids missed the disney and nick but I think the BBC childrens stuff is more educational the likes of winterwatch and stuff like that
Had it now for around 8 months and would never go back

bottlebrush

Used to have UPC. Went to FTA. Miss the recording functionality of UPC/Series Link and very hit and miss if setting to record on the Saorview box, sometimes it records, sometimes it doesn't!

DoYouEvenLift

If you're gonna cut you should plan ahead and setup a small HTPC with XBMC setup, and also learn how to torrent well. Other than that get Netflix setup. You won't miss the sky/UPC. I've been saying I'm going to get rid of sky for a while now but I'll probably keep it until I'm prepared to fully chord cut.

odckdo

Recently I got a new Humax freesat+ and the difference is huge. Although the Humax is more expensive, imo it really does have an interface better than Sky.

With Humax it can be set up to access On Demand like BBC iPlayer, 5 Demand, ITV Player and YouTube. Also there is FreeTime which gives you access to a large selection of the previous 7 days programmes on 20+ channels.

I also have a Triax for Saorview - I don't watch much Irish TV so I don't mind the extra remotes.

I think there's enough TV in that to drop Sky or UPC!

When I gave up Sky I missed the sports at the start but I got used to not having it. Now if there is any 'free' sport on saorview/freesat I enjoy it more - with Sky/Setanta/BT, I had too much of a choice so really wasn't getting value for my money. For example I never bothered with Football Focus or MOD before whereas now I do. (Also I think it might still be possible to use a NOW box to pay for a Sky Sports match on the day.)

A Roku box with NetFlix will give a further selection of programmes.

Nino Brown

I went from UPC to just an android box, no regrets at all.

RGDATA!

ronan45 wrote: »

Curious any feedback from people who had sky or UPC and cut the sub and went FTA only? Any feedback ? Any regrets? All good?

no regrets ditching Sky - terrible value for money, now I'm €800+ a year better off (had sports etc) and don't miss it whatsoever.

Fiskar

odckdo wrote: »

Recently I got a new Humax freesat+ and the difference is huge. Although the Humax is more expensive, imo it really does have an interface better than Sky.

With Humax it can be set up to access On Demand like BBC iPlayer, 5 Demand, ITV Player and YouTube. Also there is FreeTime which gives you access to a large selection of the previous 7 days programmes on 20+ channels.

I also have a Triax for Saorview - I don't watch much Irish TV so I don't mind the extra remotes.

I think there's enough TV in that to drop Sky or UPC!

When I gave up Sky I missed the sports at the start but I got used to not having it. Now if there is any 'free' sport on saorview/freesat I enjoy it more - with Sky/Setanta/BT, I had too much of a choice so really wasn't getting value for my money. For example I never bothered with Football Focus or MOD before whereas now I do. (Also I think it might still be possible to use a NOW box to pay for a Sky Sports match on the day.)

A Roku box with NetFlix will give a further selection of programmes.

Can you record from the BBC iPlayer with the Humax?

Cantona's Collars

macscoob wrote: »

Was on sky and had a faulty box and they wanted €100 call out, so changed to UPC. Think I'll go back, just not feeling the UPC thing

Groupon have a half price for 12 months deal on Sky now.

My work hours mean I'm more selective in what I watch so an Android box with decent broadband is a godsend.If I had to depend on just FTA,I'd have very little worth looking at.
Sky is mostly used by me for sport and "sh1te tv" as the missus calls what she looks at.

FTA kids channels don't cut it in my house though-the power of Nickelodeon and Disney.

thickhead

could'nt justify getting saoirview/freesat thr quality of programming is muck. We did have it whilst waiting to get sky in before bought a combi pvr ready box for a tenner online. I just could not watch the stuff they where showing for longer than I had too.

thickhead

thickhead wrote:

could'nt justify getting saoirview/freesat thr quality of programming is muck. We did have it whilst waiting to get sky in before bought a combi pvr ready box for a tenner online. I just could not watch the stuff they where showing for longer than I had too.

Also I find netflix to be awful aswell.

odckdo

Fiskar wrote: »

Can you record from the BBC iPlayer with the Humax?

No.

Freetime on Humax, if that helps, also gives you access to the main BBC programmes shown over the last 7 days.

There is a *way* you have to set up your router to get On Demand on Humax.

Just to say, up to last week I had eFibre for broadband which allowed me to make those changes.

I have since switched to UPC broadband which doesn't directly allow you to do this. One would need to buy another router for this to work on UPC (I think) which I am not going to do. Now I only have ITV Player, YouTube and Showcase (highlights main programmes - with description - over next 7 days so you can plan future recordings).

Cantona's Collars

thickhead wrote: »

Also I find netflix to be awful aswell.

Anybody who says Netflix is great is codding themselves,the service they offer here is pretty poor.A neighbour uses it a lot and was demonstrating their set up,all they got from me was,"saw it,saw it,too far behind".Maybe I'm spoiled with Showbox and Kodi but Netflix is in their shadow.

If Sky offered a Sports only service,I'm sure they'd actually gain subscribers who could easily live without the other stuff on offer.Price is the big problem,you need a basic pack at least which is around €30 before you can get Sports which brings the price up to around €70 a month.

Nino Brown

zerks wrote: »

Anybody who says Netflix is great is codding themselves,the service they offer here is pretty poor.A neighbour uses it a lot and was demonstrating their set up,all they got from me was,"saw it,saw it,too far behind".Maybe I'm spoiled with Showbox and Kodi but Netflix is in their shadow.

If Sky offered a Sports only service,I'm sure they'd actually gain subscribers who could easily live without the other stuff on offer.Price is the big problem,you need a basic pack at least which is around €30 before you can get Sports which brings the price up to around €70 a month.

I like Netflix, I'm pretty sure I'm not "codding" myself. I use it mostly for movies not a fan of TV series, when I get sick of Irish offerings I switch my proxy server and check out other countries, I haven't ran out of stuff to watch yet, and I've had it for about 5 years now.

sasta le

Thinking if going this route paying 67 a month with UPC that includes internet

lertsnim

I've had both and do not regret getting rid. I'd say 90% of what I watched is available FTA. Entertainment and Documentary sections are full of absolute rubbish these days. It is a far cry from the early days of Sky Digital.

odckdo

The OP hasn't mentioned anything about the types of programming they prefer.

The main reason I got rid of Sky was the cost. The first time 3 years ago I set up with saorview and freesat. I stuck it out for 18 months but then tried Setanta/BT and got sucked back into Sky mainly for the sports.

Dropped Sky again before Xmas after 1 year - again for cost reasons.

The first time I used freesat I bought a cheap box which I hated using. Much better this time with Humax. So OP if you are going to make the change you need to research which box suits you better. This time I think I can go longer without Sky because the Humax is a joy to use. With my setup there might be too many remotes for some so a combo might suit you better. But in terms of EPG and recording the Humax would be hard to beat.

I also tried NetFlix and I got bored with it after 2 months. I still have available a 1 month free trial with NetFlix and Sky Movies on NOW but I couldn't even be bothered setting either of them up. In saying that NetFlix might suit the OP and its cheap enough at €7.99/month.

Also this Android TV streaming lark might work for them.

It is hard giving up the programme selection from UPC/Sky initially. It all depends on whether you are happy with BBC/ITV/C4/C5. But if you are big into say Sky Atlantic/Sky 1/Nat Geo/Sky Sports you might not be able to do it.

If you do make the switch picking the right equipment that suits your needs should mean you will stay away from paid TV for a while anyway - maybe forever. What is the worst that can happen? Invest in a new fta/freesat box and after a while Sky/UPC make a better offer with a bigger discount to get you back - store new box till next time.

kooga

I've been clean and sober since august 2012, went fta with a multi sat set up. my only vice is a setanta sub for €9.99 a month and I only reactivated that today.

malachy47

The whole TV or streaming or media or whatever the experience is called these days is very personal, in that what suits one may be a disaster for others. So you must cut your own cloth to suit your individual needs (and perhaps those you share/provide for) accordingly.

In my own case I am thrilled with my Saorview OTA and 28.2 FTA satellite setup. But I know with certainty that would not be suitable for a pal of mine, who for whatever reason is into "paranormal" programming. And that is in abundance on pay-outlet Sky.

Other things to consider are room size, tv size, number of rooms connected, family size, family age, social gatherings, money, privacy, to name but a few.

It's whatever works for you, no one can tell you.

adox

zerks wrote: »

Anybody who says Netflix is great is codding themselves,the service they offer here is pretty poor.A neighbour uses it a lot and was demonstrating their set up,all they got from me was,"saw it,saw it,too far behind".Maybe I'm spoiled with Showbox and Kodi but Netflix is in their shadow.

It's nonsense to say people are codling themselves. Having s neighbour show you it and actually using it and finding stuff on it are two different experiences altogether. Throw in a DNS region unblocker and you have absolutely tons of stuff to watch.


I think it's fantastic value.

airuser

Got rid of UPC many years ago. Have Sky now.

Service from UPC (Chorus) was very poor and have several problems with charging and trying to get service.

Sky, although it was late into the Fibre side for Internet. I have always had excellent service from them.

IT is the reason I have stayed.

For additional viewing I Have a Humas box for Saorview and FTA viewing.

I now can watch the rugby in peace. If needed I can record what I want on Sky Box.

westcorklad

have an old sky box and polish sat dish. get bbc channel4 more 4 itv film4 news channels + loads more and costs zero! no rte but have that on line. not paid for channels in years:)

decor58

never had a sub, my wife was against tv when my son was younger, went fta ( sat & aerial)over ten years ago, just got used to it, you don't miss what you never had. not into sports, have Netflix as an extra. mainly watch rte, tv3, bbc, c4, anyway, enough choice without marginal channels.

icdg

Moved to Broadcasting

Banjoxed

Saorview and Freesat. Couldn't be happier, having RTÉ and BBC.

SMJSF

I currently have UPC since 2012, and I realised that I was wasting 30 euro a month on a very small amount of programmes I was watching (11 out of "50"), so I changed over to sky on Thursday, and I cant wait to get it in this Friday. I seen that all the channels I would watch are on SKYs lowest costing deal.

I don't think I could just have saorview.... I had to put up with it for a 11 days when my UPC was down, and I nearly cracked by day two without any documentaries and proper tv!

Banjoxed

SMJSF wrote: »

I currently have UPC since 2012, and I realised that I was wasting 30 euro a month on a very small amount of programmes I was watching (11 out of "50"), so I changed over to sky on Thursday, and I cant wait to get it in this Friday. I seen that all the channels I would watch are on SKYs lowest costing deal.

I don't think I could just have saorview.... I had to put up with it for a 11 days when my UPC was down, and I nearly cracked by day two without any documentaries and proper tv!

You never watch BBC Four then?

varuka

I got rid of Sky about 2 years ago and got a Smart TV with built it Saorview + Freeview + recording + Netflix and happy with that all in one telly.

jakdublin

Just cut the cord from Sky recently. I held off before as I didn't have a saorview TV but picked up a new full HD 32' in Aldi for €210 that has it. I hooked up a ROKU box with Plex installed and stream content from my PC, mostly box sets and movies. Got a UK Sky card and stuck it in the Sky box so I get all the free to air channels too. Only downside is I can't record with the set up I have but I can live without it - it's not worth €33 a month. Had Netflix but ditched it after the free month. There's lots of stuff on YouTube that I add to 'Watch Later 'and watch on the Roku. Having Plex and the Roku really make it worthwhile. I favour Plex over XBMC for simplicity. XBMC promises a lot but it's a head wrecker in comparison IMO.

Alun

I did it ages ago.

I built my own HTPC based on MediaPortal with 2 x satellite tuners for all the FTA satellite stuff (BBC's, ITV's and Channel 4 etc.) on Astra 28.2 and also a second LNB for German and Dutch TV on Astra 19.2. Handy for watching F1 on RTL with the sound turned down and BBC Radio 5 (live) via Hola Unblocker when the BBC aren't carrying the races. Also 1 x terrestrial tuner for Saorview which we hardly ever use really.

I don't miss UPC at all really, the only thing I'd like is maybe Sky F1 occasionally, but as said, I have a, albeit messy, workaround for that. Last year I could also watch it on Setanta on UPC analogue as I have UPC broadband, but not sure if they're showing it this year.

livEwirE

I dropped SKY 6 months ago and have never looked back.

My Setup:

Humax 1000s Freesat Freetime+ box for TV watching - 7 day EPG and series link, also on demand catchup/Freetime+ for BBC/ITV/C4 via UK DNS.
HTPC with Kodi under the TV for watching live RTE1/2 streams and of course 'other' channel streams.
Not bothered with NetFlix as I use BT for everything else

ShamrockAir

I ditched my skybox this week when my new Amiko Alien 2 Triple plus arrived flashed with enigma2. I have quiet literally spent the last 12 hours on it and really regret my decision at the moment.

After all my time on it i have nothing to show for it only a chunk of my savings gone .

To be fair to sky there picture quality and layout are fantastic. Hopefully i can get this box working correctly or may be reconnecting the SKy box.

Technofobe

ShamrockAir wrote: »

I ditched my skybox this week when my new Amiko Alien 2 Triple plus arrived flashed with enigma2. I have quiet literally spent the last 12 hours on it and really regret my decision at the moment.

After all my time on it i have nothing to show for it only a chunk of my savings gone .

To be fair to sky there picture quality and layout are fantastic. Hopefully i can get this box working correctly or may be reconnecting the SKy box.

And in that 12 hours did you not come across the amiko alien 2 threads here on boards
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057246289&page=201
or here


http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057378184
you can download precompiled images for same where all the work is done and all you need do is a scan of local terrestial channels

There's even a version with a sky like skin ( fresh potts backup ) for the sky addicts :-)

ShamrockAir

CHeers Technofobe

I was reading through those threads but still no luck. I have all the sky channels but have had no luck with oscam or mgcamd. I know i cant talk about these on the forum.

It seems like the flashed version of enigma that came with the box is causing these 2 to clash.

icdg

Back on topic please

Technofobe

slow day