SKY Q to Freesat box + Streamer box, a combo or other solution?? .. whats best way to go?

It would be , the TV is 13 years old , released in 2012 I believe , and most of its software is going to be out of date. I doubt its had an update in years.

Its most likely working on a very old version of the freesat software.

Note: FTA means free to air broadcasts , certain channels on the Astra Satellite are not encrypted , so are FTA or free to air , any satellite box can receive them.

Freesat is a UK EPG service , so it takes these FTA channels , and puts them in a nice order with a 7 day EPG and a recording service that uses the CRID system. It also automatically retunes channels when they occasionally move.

Its usually very nice , its big problem here is no RTE, which some cannot live with , but otherwise its a very good service.

It wont be so nice or usable on your TV because your TV will be out of date software wise and probably full of bugs when it comes to trying to use the modern version of Freesat , there have been numerous changes over the years.

Smart TVs , if they dont develop a technical fault , usually " die" because they stop getting software updates and the smart features become unusable , in which case the best thing to do is get a firestick or one of the many other boxes , that will give you your smart features back. It wont help with making the Freesat Service on that TV usable though.

Also note: and this may well be the case , unless your TV was set up with the UK as the country and you have inserted a UK postcode , then you wont be getting the Freesat service , instead you will just be receiving FTA channels , which will be shotgun scattered all over a very patchy EPG. Freesat has a logo , if you dont see that then you are in FTA mode as opposed to Freesat mode , the logo is at the top of the Wiki page here …..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freesat

If this is the case , then you would have to factory reset the TV and set up from scratch , making sure you set UK as country and insert a UK postcode. Any valid UK postcode will do , but note , regional variations of BBC and ITV depend on the postcode used , I usually pick London.

Octagon S8008 extreme is a very good box. Takes an NVME hard drive stick.

I have one , but its configured for one terrestrial and one satellite tuner.

If your not bothered with RTE then a twin Sat configuration is fine for FTA. Autobouquetmaker ( ABM ) and its EPG grabbers will add anything missing form an official " Freesat" box.

Note that these boxes come with Define OS , and the way you install enigma2 such as openvix , is via the internet and a download option within Define OS , whatever you do, dont wipe define OS off the system , its very good.

The box has unlimited slots for loading OS images , only limited by the size of the hard drive you install.

NOTE: When I first started with these boxes , Channel 4 HD was not on the " Freesat" EPG due to squabbling over costs , and this has been the case 2 or 3 times since. Enigma 2 has no such issues , and you will always be able to get some channels that are NOT on the freesat EPG.

I see my other two boxes ( VU+ 4K Duo SE ) are still number one ! Not surprised , they are very good.

BIG NOTE: Non of these boxes work with the Sky Q wideband cables , those are unique to sky and the official freesat boxes.

They will only work with legacy hybrid connector lines or a UNICABLE II LNB.

For the VU+ DUO 4K SE box , you will only get the best out of it by have a UNICABLE II LNB , otherwise it just behaves like a Sky HD box.

Regarding your TV and its inability to get Freesat , not really surprising , a lot of changes happened around that time , for example iphone and pretty much everyone else switched from 32 bit software to 64 bit software , I squeezed as much life out of my iphone 4 as I could , but in the end it was no better than a Nokia , texts and calls only , as all the apps had stopped working. Thats the " Issue " with smart devices , once they stop getting updates , thats it , a slow death awaits.

That for me is the big difference between Apple and Android , Apple will support for up to 7 years , whereas Android , especially Samsung , will only update for a year or so , so whilst on any particular release cycle , the android is better specced than the iphone , with a year or two the iphone will have overtaken it due to the constant updates.

Enigma2 boxes are cr*p for IPTV and you cant have plugins like netflix so avoid. These boxes are good for sport via iptv and if you really want one get no 3.

That thomson box is a better option for you. If you dont want to record can you re route cable from bedroom to TV room?

To get LNB changed could be pricey, can you say location roughly. Im clare.

That 4k box is £228.00 at amazon, 2 left free delivery with prime.

That Octagon is £150.0 but when it arrives you get stung for VAT at 23% and admin could push it to £200.00.

Best option 4k box and that thomson box.

Most boxes are lying when they say they can do Kodi , Netflix etc , or IPTV , with the exception of two , and even then there is a catch.

Octagon can do it through Define OS , but only through Define OS , you can load the usual apps , Netflix , disney , Amazon , etc.

For Enigma 2 , youve got to load an image into a slot ( lets face it , the only one worth bothering with is openvix ) and when you want to use that , you reboot the box into enigma , anything else you reboot back to define OS.

The one and only advantage of the NVME drive is rebooting is pretty fast.

VU+ Duo 4K SE is the same , but you have to boot between its Original OS ( VTi ) and Enigma 2 image. Also should note that its " Recovery Mode " only works with VTi , not with Enigma 2 images.

With both Octagon and VU+ , if you wipe the original OS in favour of enigma 2 with a USB stick , then all options for IPTV etc are gone.

Enigma 2 boxes should be looked at as FTA receivers only , dont expect them to do anything else and youll be fine.