Any alternative to Sky/Virgin TV?

chouglez

chouglez

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Thinking of getting rid of high horse costs of Sky/Virgin and was wondering if there are any other alternatives etc? Hearing a lot about Kodi etc?

Any recommendations?
 
Freeview?
Or BT and talktalk both now have TV offerings. They are both still fairly costly though.

Not sure if you are allowed to discuss kodi on here
 
Didn't know Kodi was something taboo :)

Ops Oops! :)
 
Ahhh .. telly. I saw that once or twice ... That Was The Week That Was. Wasn't it?
 
Netflix £6.99 per month also amazon prime streaming. £79 a year or £39 if your a student like me :) Netflix is far superiour imo. If you need the latest movies then an occassional monthly subscription to now tv. Or amazon dvd/bluray rental. I believe thats about £6.99 a month too.
 
If you already have a dish for Sky then Freesat is another alternative. I use Freesat and have an old laptop permanently connected to the TV for Kodi/TVMC/TVaddons.
 
MickG said:
If you already have a dish for Sky then Freesat is another alternative. I use Freesat and have an old laptop permanently connected to the TV for Kodi/TVMC/TVaddons.
Click to expand...

I still have my out of subscription Sky set up, lots of available Freesat channels.. I only use it for BT Sport as even though it is non subscription I can still have my BT Sport(BT Infinity customer) through it.

so yes if you have Sky and can cancel then leaving it hooked up will still give you better than Freeview channels.. then add a streaming service jobs a good un.

do you have a Smart TV? depending on brand they can make streaming services a doodle as no extra box needed, I have LG Smart and the 3 majors are on it (Netflix, Prime, NowTV) as well as a wealth of PPV movie services.
 
MickG said:
If you already have a dish for Sky then Freesat is another alternative. I use Freesat and have an old laptop permanently connected to the TV for Kodi/TVMC/TVaddons.
Click to expand...
I have a sky dish and a built in freesat tuner in the TV... how do I get this running?! Do I need to reposition the dish and just tune in the TV? is it that simple?
 
RacingSnake said:
I have a sky dish and a built in freesat tuner in the TV... how do I get this running?! Do I need to reposition the dish and just tune in the TV? is it that simple?
Click to expand...

No, you need to use the Sky box to get the Freesat from Sky service.
 
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Dave1 said:
No, you need to use the Sky box to get the Freesat from Sky service.
Click to expand...
really?

http://www.freesat.co.uk/get-freesat/using-current-dish

"Freesat uses the same dish and satellites as Sky, so if you already have a satellite dish and cabling, whether you are currently receiving satellite TV or not, in most cases you can simply connect your Freesat digital box or TV using your existing cabling - it's that simple."
 
chrism_scotland said:
If you cancel Sky they'll pester you with 50%/60% offers for coming back once you've left.
Click to expand...

Yep very true, i cancelled my sky and just had netflix and a free 3 month now tv subscription, then last nov sky called and gave me everything back including movies and boxsets for half price for a full year, we still don't watch it much favouring netflix and amazon so chances are i shall probably get rid again
 
neil_g said:
really?

http://www.freesat.co.uk/get-freesat/using-current-dish

"Freesat uses the same dish and satellites as Sky, so if you already have a satellite dish and cabling, whether you are currently receiving satellite TV or not, in most cases you can simply connect your Freesat digital box or TV using your existing cabling - it's that simple."
Click to expand...

I gather you don't actually read before replying?

If you had bothered you might have noticed I posted links to that exact website after making the point that "Freesat from Sky" requires a Sky box while his built in Freesat receiver would work with "Freesat".

Dave1 said:
There is an alternative Freesat service that you might want to research (I don't think it has all the channels of Freesat from Sky) but it might work with your built in tuner, they use the same dish and so it should work without any retuning.

http://www.freesat.co.uk

http://www.freesat.co.uk/get-freesat/recommended/freesat-plus-with-freetime
Click to expand...

Never mind, don't let facts get in the way, you just blunder on...
 
I use freesat with you view on a humax box, this gives me recording and catch up facilities. I then use NowTV app to watch movies. Costs £10 a month.
 
Dave1 said:
I gather you don't actually read before replying?


Never mind, don't let facts get in the way, you just blunder on...
Click to expand...

Now I remember why I left this place for quite a long time.......
 
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Well b****r me.
It worked!!!
Dave1 said:
It should work fine if your dish is still in alignment, if your built in system is "Freesat" you only need a single input. If "Freesat+" you would need both inputs (I don't think many built in systems are + though).
Click to expand...
I do actually have 2 inputs in the TV - but I guess than means running a second cable around the house?
 
Dave1 said:
I gather you don't actually read before replying?

If you had bothered you might have noticed I posted links to that exact website after making the point that "Freesat from Sky" requires a Sky box while his built in Freesat receiver would work with "Freesat".



Never mind, don't let facts get in the way, you just blunder on...
Click to expand...

would you like a hug?
 
RacingSnake said:
Well b****r me.
It worked!!!
I do actually have 2 inputs in the TV - but I guess than means running a second cable around the house?
Click to expand...

You would have needed to have 2 outputs from the dish, did you have Sky+ on your old Sky setup? Normally Sky run a single cable which is actually 2 separate inputs to the box. The second input would allow you to have similar functionality to Sky+, if you only want to watch what's on the screen it isn't needed.

neil_g said:
would you like a hug?
Click to expand...

No, just for people to read threads before posting ;).
 
Dave1 said:
You would have needed to have 2 outputs from the dish, did you have Sky+ on your old Sky setup? Normally Sky run a single cable which is actually 2 separate inputs to the box. The second input would allow you to have similar functionality to Sky+, if you only want to watch what's on the screen it isn't needed.
Click to expand...
We had sky+, but only ever had 1 cable poking through the wall?
 
Dave1 said:
Were you able to record while watching another channel?
Click to expand...
Ok... :coat:
I found the second cable taped up in the corner of the room :D
lol
I'll poke that into the Tele now too (y)

Edit
Hmmm... that second cable doesn't seem to have a signal... will go and investigate!

Edit again
Ok, we're cooking on gas, had to redo the f-type connection at the TV end, and we're all up and running.
Can record and watch another channel

Thanks All, and sorry OP for stealing your thread!!
 
Last edited:
RacingSnake said:
Ok... :coat:
I found the second cable taped up in the corner of the room :D
lol
I'll poke that into the Tele now too (y)

Edit
Hmmm... that second cable doesn't seem to have a signal... will go and investigate!

Edit again
Ok, we're cooking on gas, had to redo the f-type connection at the TV end, and we're all up and running.
Can record and watch another channel

Thanks All, and sorry OP for stealing your thread!!
Click to expand...

lol

At least there was a happy ending ;).
 
RacingSnake said:
I have a sky dish and a built in freesat tuner in the TV... how do I get this running?! Do I need to reposition the dish and just tune in the TV? is it that simple?
Click to expand...

Connect the cable that use to go to the sky box to the sat dish connection on the back of the tv. That is all I did to mine. A bit of set up in the menu for the region progs and it was done. Can even add a hdd to the master usb socket and set it up as a dedicated recoreer to record tv prog but only one channel as there is no twin tuner in the tv.
 
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