SKY TV vs VirginMedia TV vs IPTV

TestLink

I am currently with VirginMedia for Phone and Broadband - 63 euro pm. There is no Fibre broadband available at my premise. I have a Satellite dish TV system (VU+ Solo2 box + Motorised Triax Dish) which I rarely use.I am thinking about adding paid TV as well to my home. I dont need Sky Cinema or Sky sports.

Currently shopping around and has seen few options below.
1. Sky TV - 25 euro pm
https://www.sky.com/shop/choose/build/package?irct=tp-bns-roi-tv-byob-deal-card-buytv

2. VirginMedia TV (The Bigger than Big Bundle) - 31 euro pm
https://www.virginmedia.ie/bundles/broadband-tv-phone/

3. IPTV- Cost?
Any reliable IPTV that you could suggest cheaper than the above two, considering yearly cost?

Which is the best option? Any leads highly appreciated.

icdg

Mod note:

Any discussion on the “IPTV” option on this thread (or any other) is on the basis that IPTV services are limited to services such as eir TV, Vodafone TV, Now, and catch-up TV/player services.

Discussion of services that carry pirated content is not allowed. 48 hour ban with no further warning for anyone disregarding this

dulpit

Suppose the big question is which channels are you looking for? I find that, unless you want sport or movies, most decent channels are FTA. The key ones I notice are the likes of Sky Atlantic, Sky Sports News, and a bunch of the FTA channels that are not HD, but are on Sky.

If you can clarify types of channels you would like we can help narrow down, but a FTA satellite box goes an awful long way.

TestLink

I am only looking for News channels (RTE, BBC, SKY, Bloomberg news) and Documentary channels (Discovery channels / National Geographic channels / Animal Planet etc). Dont need Cinema / Sports Pack / Music.

Have a valid subscription of Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Music, Youtube Premium etc. My current dish setup doesnt have Saorview channels.

Is Eir TV / Vodafone TV available as IPTV without their Broadband? Would I be able to use my existing BB connection for getting one of these?

What is the best option?

Thanks...

icdg

TestLink wrote: »

I am only looking for News channels (RTE, BBC, SKY, Bloomberg news) and Documentary channels (Discovery channels / National Geographic channels / Animal Planet etc). Dont need Cinema / Sports Pack / Music.

Have a valid subscription of Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Music, Youtube Premium etc. My current dish setup doesnt have Saorview channels.

Is Eir TV / Vodafone TV available as IPTV without their Broadband? Would I be able to use my existing BB connection for getting one of these?

What is the best option?

Thanks...

OP, your free to air satellite system allied with Saorview will probably give you all the news channels you want at no monthly charge. For the documentaries, add Discovery+ at €5.99 pm. Based on what you’ve said, I don’t think you need to look any further than that.

Unfortunately eir TV and Vodafone both require you to take their broadband.

Luker

I have a combo box for the Irish and U.K. free to air channels. One remote for the lot. Then I dip in and out of now tv and as someone mentioned the discovery+ app is great too. That’s all you need. No need to be paying high monthly bills

athlone573

National Geographic is included in Disney Plus.

Netflix has a reasonable selection of nature documentaries including some of the BBC / David Attenborough catalogue.

Don't forget the FTA history/documentary channels which are a bit random but have some interesting content (Smithsonian and PBS)

rostalof

One of these plugged into your Vu+Solo2 and connected to an aerial will give you the saorview channels. There are cheaper options but these are probably the easiest to setup. You will then have all the saorview channels and FTA channels completely free. As another poster here said, get Discovery+ along with this and you have all you need much cheaper than a full virgin or sky subscription.

https://www.satking.de/en/sat--co/plugplay-accessories/tuner/vu--turbo-se-combo-dvb-c/t2-hybrid-usb-tuner

All FTA channels,

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_free-to-air_channels_at_28%C2%B0E

TestLink

Is there any single paid app with which I can get both Discovery and National Geographic channels?

For Irish channels, do I need an extra aerial + Saorview box?

Or is there any way to use my existing dish + Vu+ Solo2 OpenVIX box?

rostalof

TestLink wrote: »

Is there any single paid app with which I can get both Discovery and National Geographic channels?

For Irish channels, do I need an extra aerial + Saorview box?

Or is there any way to use my existing dish + Vu+ Solo2 OpenVIX box?

That's what I was talking about above. The satellite dish will only give you FTA satellite channels on your Vu+ box. To get saorview you need to connect an aerial to a usb terrestrial tuner, like the one above, which is in turn connected to the box.

lertsnim

TestLink wrote: »

Is there any single paid app with which I can get both Discovery and National Geographic channels?

Now TV has Discovery and National Geographic but it is only the main channel for each. Sky Documentary, Sky Nature and Sky History are also there.