Can I use my ex-contract sky digital satellite receiver to get Freeview channels
Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV You can get the following Freeview channels on with an ex-contract digital satellite receiver (once it is connected). Items marked with a star require either a Freesat from Sky (fSfS) card, or a expired Sky subscription card to view.
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Tuesday, 28 February 2017
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StevensOnln110:20 AM
eden: You should be able to cancel Sky if you are still within the cooling off period, however if you've had it for a month then you are probably outside the cooling off period and will be stuck with it for the length of the minimum term that you agreed to when you upgraded to Sky Q. I doubt Sky would refund the subscription charges you've already paid as you've already had the use of it for that time. You can watch BBC iPlayer on your laptop at BBC iPlayer . Netflix is a subscription service which offers many different movies and TV shows but has nothing to do with watching programs on BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, All4, My5 or any other service.
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eden: I think you should perhaps talk to Citizens Advice and then Sky, but we can lay out some basics for you, although my knowledge of Sky is very limited.
You had Sky multi-room, and Sky have convinced you to upgrade it to Sky Q. I dont know what they did with your dish, but since Sky Q has a lot of extra tuners, they might have just upgraded it.
By the sound of it, all you actually want is to just watch normal Freeview channels (is there any particular reason you wanted or got Sky in the first place?), plus stuff like Iplayer, and possibly the chance to record stuff as well.
I would certainly advise you to keep your TV - watching TV on a 15in laptop screen is rubbish, and in any case, if you want to use Iplayer, your going to have to pay for a TV licence anyway (there is a discussion about this right now!).
Unless you really want to use Sky, then you could either just use an aerial (if you have one) and a recorder, or carry on using your dish, and just get some like a Humax Freesat recorder, http://www.johnlewis.com/…lack , which just fits to your dish in exactly the same way as your current Sky box, and also allows you to watch Iplayer, etc. At about 200, thats a good machine, easy to use, and is of course just the cost of the box - other than your TV Licence (which you'd be paying anyway), you'll pay nothing for any subscription, etc. If you want Netflix, thats possible as well with that recorder, but of course you will pay a monthly subscription.
Sky dont have their own broadband network - they rent it from BT or possibly another provider, so as long as a company can supply you, you can go anywhere. Often the biggest problem with changing broadband supplier is that you've got to change your email, plus the possibility that they cannot get you what you need, but there are lots of companies around. I understand that Plusnet (actually owned by BT) is good for service, and at least contact them to find out costs and their packages.
I would go to Citizens Advice, and explain to them what happened, and take your paperwork from Sky along. They might be able to help you, especially if you've possibly been mis-sold a package by Sky, or its one thats not right for you.
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MikeP
8:55 PM
8:55 PM
Eden:
Further to that said by StevensOnln1 and MikeB, you can watch programmes via the internet if your TV is a 'smart' type and your broadband is reasonably fast, anything over 8 Mbps would be good for SD but faster is usually needed for HD.
Note that to watch any programmes live on a TV set requires a TV Licence, see Official TV Licensing website - Home and Official TV Licensing website - Home check-if-you-need-one. It does not make any difference if you use an aerial, a dish or the internet.
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Friday, 3 March 2017
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scott dunbar2:40 PM
I'm using my old sky+HD box for viewing Freesat but with no recording facility.
How do I connect a dvd player to record tv programs? Presuming that it will!
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scott dunbar: A DVD player is just that - a player. It wont record. If you want to use the Sky box to record to a VCR/DVD recorder, then the manual should tell you how to set it up.
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Monday, 3 April 2017
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May10:48 AM
I am trying to use sky box but screen says no satellite signal is being received? Can you help?
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StevensOnln17:36 PM
May: Check the cables from the dish are securely attached to the back of the box and that they aren't damaged on their path to the dish (if it is possible to follow them). If the cables look ok, unscrew them from the back of the box and check that no strands of the outer metal braid are touching the centre pin causing a short circuit.
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Thursday, 13 April 2017
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Colin Powley9:43 PM
I am on free sat and I have a sky + box and I want to record thing on to a VCR how do goo about setting it up
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Saturday, 27 May 2017
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a w bates11:30 AM
I want to cancel sky which is sited upstairs if I run a internet cable from my broadband unit downstairs to the sky box will I get catch up on the tv
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a w bates: I dont know anything about Sky, but I doubt it, since they dont allow you to watch what you've already recorded or record at all if you stop subscribing. Do Sky boxes actually do catchup in the way that you just use Iplayer, etc?
If you want ctachup on a TV, just get a streamer - Amazon Fire sticks, Ruku's, Chromecast or just Now TV (owned by Murdoch) will all do it relatively cheaply, and need no wires. Or a Blu ray player or games machine. Humax do a freesat receiver with catchup functions, as do Manhatten (but I dont think they are wified)
If you want to watch and record, plus catchup, then swap out you existing Sky box for a Humax Freesat box, which will do the lot and is an easy swapout - about one ninety plus for one.
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