My sky+ HD box has just died doing an unrequested s/w update. Sky want £65 callout and maybe more to repair. Outrageous! I've had enough and unless they change their mind very quickly, I will move to Freesat.
But:
If I canx sky, will they send a man in a van to take the dish, LNC and cables away and if not, will the Freesat HD DVR plug and play with the existing dish and LNC?
I think the answers are No and Yes, but would appreciate some expert advice before flash the cash.
The Freesat HD box worked fine with the Sky dish that was fitted to my property when we moved in, not much content at the moment on Freesat HD though.
if you have had sky for more than 12 months then everything is yours. I have just bought a t.v with freesat, just plugged the lead in from the dish and away you go.
not much content at the moment on Freesat HD though.
Quite true Ski. I'll miss Nat Geo HD, but I detest Sky with a vengence.
The satellite that Freesat use [Eurobird] is in the same orbital slot as the one Sky uses [Astra]
So the same dish is perfectly OK - I use one dish to run both services
Big plus for Freesat is BBC iPlayer
Thanks all. You've convinced me.
>Big plus for Freesat is BBC iPlayer
So how does this work ? If I understand it then you need to plug a broadband link into your Freesat decoder (or TV if integrated) and the iPlayer content is obtained over the internet and then played on the TV using iPlayer firmware running on the TV or Freesat box. Is that correct ?
If you subscribe to Sky then tell them you will cancel your subscription unless they fix it. Pretty sure you will get a replacement box!
So how does this work ? If I understand it then you need to plug a broadband link into your Freesat decoder (or TV if integrated) and the iPlayer content is obtained over the internet and then played on the TV using iPlayer firmware running on the TV or Freesat box. Is that correct ?
Pretty much - only available on the Humax at the moment but others are imminent
Ah OK, any ideas why that's a "Freesat" thing then as it would seem that a Freeview box could offer the same capability if the manufacturer licenced iPlayer, installed the firmware on a their freeview decoder and added an ethernet port. Just some "branding"/marketing b*llox billing it as a Freesat service ?
iPlayer is available for free to broadcasters in the UK
Not sure why Freeview haven't any plans although I guess they're quite busy with trying to sort out all the switch over stuff & the move to HD etc.
Interestingly Microsoft won't put it across their Xbox network because they can't handle the 'free' bit - it seems to screw them up when mentioned
😀
Ah OK, any ideas why that's a "Freesat" thing then as it would seem that a Freeview box could offer the same capability if the manufacturer licenced iPlayer, installed the firmware on a their freeview decoder and added an ethernet port. Just some "branding"/marketing b*llox billing it as a Freesat service ?
That's pretty much correct, however when they wrote the spec required to brand a satellite receiver as "Freesat" they included the above in the required spec
It is Humax only at them moment via the red button on a BBC channel and whilst still beta entering 5483 and pressing OK, but firmware apparently currently in testing for Panasonic etc.
Well the iPlayer has been available for years via the BT Vision which is essentially PVR albeit one that is tied to using BT as the ISP.
The satellite that Freesat use [Eurobird] is in the same orbital slot as the one Sky uses [Astra]
Not exactly true. Both Sky and Freesat channels use Astra 2A,2B,2C,2D and Eurobird, which are all in the same slot (actually Eurobird is .3deg away but that's not an issue).
For the most part, AFAIK, most of the channels on Freesat are exactly the same raw DVB-S channels as on Sky. Five is one exception... there's a completely free FTA version on the same transponder as BBC channels (ie for Freesat), but a handful of regional versions encrypted on another transponder (ie for Sky). Only thing you might notice is slightly different adverts.
So Freesat works off the same dish etc. because it's the same DVB channels from the same satellites, just different EPG overlay.
Not exactly true. Both Sky and Freesat channels use Astra 2A,2B,2C,2D and Eurobird, which are all in the same slot (actually Eurobird is .3deg away but that's not an issue).For the most part, AFAIK, most of the channels on Freesat are exactly the same raw DVB-S channels as on Sky. Five is one exception... there's a completely free FTA version on the same transponder as BBC channels (ie for Freesat), but a handful of regional versions encrypted on another transponder (ie for Sky). Only thing you might notice is slightly different adverts.
So Freesat works off the same dish etc. because it's the same DVB channels from the same satellites, just different EPG overlay.
Yup! that's cleared that up 😕
Translation anyone?