Looking for Sky TV Help Please

[janp]

Ahoy there!

Wondering if anybody has had a similar scenario to me with regards to their Sky TV setup? I've tried the phone support a few times, emailed and their website isn't much help.

I've had Sky TV since the introduction of High Def, this consists of the following boxes/setup:

2x Sky dishes
1x SkyHD in the lounge (2 seperate connections for when furniture gets moved around)
2x Sky Standard Digitals in 2 of the upstairs bedrooms

Now I'd really love the recording ability of the HD box in one of the bedrooms but don't require additional HD.
I figured I could replace one of the standard boxes with a Sky+ but Sky have told me that this is not possible, over phone and email.
If I try to change my account via Sky's website, I'm quoted various prices for changing one standard box to a Sky+ box. The "one-off fee" varies from £99 to £272!! whereas the additional monthly cost changes from +£0, +£72, +£85! depending on which options I choose.

I'm just wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation and whether Sky allowed it and roughly how much they charges.

Thanks a lot for your time,

Jan

 

[lucid]

The general consensus of opinion is that the recording feature is a subscription service. The cost is roughly £10 per month. If you swapped an ordinary Sky box for a second hand Sky+ box then you should just be able to buy the recording facility without having a Sky package subscription. Of course, finding this info on the Sky web site is like searching for a needle in a haystack.

If your second box already has a Sky channel package subscription then I believe the recording feature is free as long as the box is capable. They dropped the additional charge for the recording feature back in 2007 if the customer has a channel subscription. Again a second hand Sky+ box is the route to pursue.

 

[janp]

If your second box already has a Sky channel package subscription then I believe the recording feature is free as long as the box is capable. They dropped the additional charge for the recording feature back in 2007 if the customer has a channel subscription.

Hi, thanks a lot for your advice, just abit confused with the above. What do you mean by the second box having a channel subscription? We've got the basic sky tv package + HD + Sports but this covers all boxes (multi-room) rather than independently.

 

[MissChief]

Whilst you can replace the standard box with a + recording capable box, in order to be used at it's full capacity you need two feeds from your dish into a plus capable box.

 

[lucid]

Hi, thanks a lot for your advice, just abit confused with the above. What do you mean by the second box having a channel subscription? We've got the basic sky tv package + HD + Sports but this covers all boxes (multi-room) rather than independently.

Your original post didn't specify what package you had, so I had to cover my bases. You could have had a subscription for the main lounge but be working on the Free-to-View channels (i.e. No subscription) on the other two boxes. Now you have said you have multiroom it's a little easier to deal with.

If you want Sky to supply you with a Sky+ box and come and fit it then it'll be expensive. Their website quotes £199 for a box + £60 setup fee*.

However, if you supply your own Sky+ box and fit it yourself then the cost to upgrade the service is just a £15 setup fee (for Sky switching on the plus recording features of your s/h box). The cost of having multiroom stays the same - currently £10.25 per month per room. It's the same price whether the box is a basic Sky box, a Sky+ box, or a Sky+HD box. It's all £10.25 per month per room.

see this page about box costs. You have to select your main box from the dropdown list and then the table changes to show the appropriate box costs for the extra rooms. I chose "Sky+HD box" *.

Next, read the bit in the paragraph lower down the page marked Set-up

" Standard set-up for a Sky+ box is £60 for existing customers (£15 for Sky+ customers selecting self set-up). "


Hope that helps

 

[Buchanan0204]

I was in the same position as yourself. I have the full Sky package including the HD mix.

I have multiroom, but in the bedroom only a normal sky box. I bought a secondhand sky+HD box for £40. Installed it. However when trying to view movies or sports, it informs you the card is not correct for the box. So I had to phone sky and get them to sync the viewing card to the sky box. The girl was quite happy to do this and a few hours later it was working fine.

However You can only record the channel you are watching as there is only one feed going into it, because it was initally a standard box. I then ran some coax cable from the dish to the box, put on the connector which can be had for around 69p.

That was it, second hand sky+HD box. Call sky to sync card to new box, run another cable.

 

[janp]

I was in the same position as yourself. I have the full Sky package including the HD mix.

I have multiroom, but in the bedroom only a normal sky box. I bought a secondhand sky+HD box for £40. Installed it. However when trying to view movies or sports, it informs you the card is not correct for the box. So I had to phone sky and get them to sync the viewing card to the sky box. The girl was quite happy to do this and a few hours later it was working fine.

However You can only record the channel you are watching as there is only one feed going into it, because it was initally a standard box. I then ran some coax cable from the dish to the box, put on the connector which can be had for around 69p.

That was it, second hand sky+HD box. Call sky to sync card to new box, run another cable.

That sounds perfect, I'll try and locate a 2nd HD or + box. I'm not really fussed about recording more than 1 channel so sounds like a perfect solution.

Thanks for all the advice everyone, much appreciated.

 

[edwardcasbon1]

That sounds perfect, I'll try and locate a 2nd HD or + box. I'm not really fussed about recording more than 1 channel so sounds like a perfect solution.

Thanks for all the advice everyone, much appreciated.

With only 1 coaxial feed to the box you will only be able to 'tune' one channel, meaning that you will only be able to record the channel you are watching. You will not be able to view one channel and record another. You have to have an additional feed to the box to do that.

Edward

 

[janp]

With only 1 coaxial feed to the box you will only be able to 'tune' one channel, meaning that you will only be able to record the channel you are watching. You will not be able to view one channel and record another. You have to have an additional feed to the box to do that.

Edward

To be honest I'm only looking to record the odd programme when I'm not at home, so as long as I can still record via the tv planner, rather than manually change channels and press record, I'm happy with that.

And luckily a work colleague is selling me his Sky+ box so looks like I'm all set!

 

[Buchanan0204]

To be honest I'm only looking to record the odd programme when I'm not at home, so as long as I can still record via the tv planner, rather than manually change channels and press record, I'm happy with that.

And luckily a work colleague is selling me his Sky+ box so looks like I'm all set!

Unfortunately with only one feed. You will have to be on the channel you plan to record. Because with the sky+HD boxes, the stream doesn't stop to the channel you are in when in the EPG. I would get someone to run another cable for you. It really does make life simpler.

 

[janp]

Unfortunately with only one feed. You will have to be on the channel you plan to record. Because with the sky+HD boxes, the stream doesn't stop to the channel you are in when in the EPG. I would get someone to run another cable for you. It really does make life simpler.

Are you sure this is the same for standard Sky+ boxes (i.e non-HD box), the friend that's selling me his old Sky+ box is adamant that it only requires one feed. I know your correct on the HD boxes as the one downstairs required 2 feeds.

Thanks again for your advice

 

[lucid]

Sky+ and Sky+HD both need two cables from the dish if you want all the features to work such as "watch one channel whilst recording another" or "record two channels at the same time". Both these style boxes have two satellite tuners - hence the need for the two cables for full functionality.

However, if you aren't bothered about those things then box boxes can be run off a single cable. You'll be able to use the box just like a regular Sky box - i.e. see all the channels in your multi-room subscription - and you'll be able to pause/rewind and record the channel you are watching. All with just a single cable What you won't be able to do is set the timer to record something and then watch another channel while that happens.

So, one cable = Sky features + pause/rewind/record what I'm watching

two cables = all the features of your HD box but just not in HD.

 

[janp]

Sky+ and Sky+HD both need two cables from the dish if you want all the features to work such as "watch one channel whilst recording another" or "record two channels at the same time". Both these style boxes have two satellite tuners - hence the need for the two cables for full functionality.

However, if you aren't bothered about those things then box boxes can be run off a single cable. You'll be able to use the box just like a regular Sky box - i.e. see all the channels in your multi-room subscription - and you'll be able to pause/rewind and record the channel you are watching. All with just a single cable What you won't be able to do is set the timer to record something and then watch another channel while that happens.

So, one cable = Sky features + pause/rewind/record what I'm watching

two cables = all the features of your HD box but just not in HD.

Understood, thanks! Looks like I better get me ladder out and run a cable

 

[Buchanan0204]

Understood, thanks! Looks like I better get me ladder out and run a cable

Definitely. If you see a sky van floating around. It's good to ask them for the cable and connectors, I've done it before and they just give you as much as you like and I gave him a tenner. It's no skin off their back and for the amount of cable they have, no one notices. It's expensive stuff from BnQ.

 

[Fr0dders]

i have a multiroom upstairs that only has one feed to it.

When we upgraded from Sky + downstairs to Sky HD we just moved the + box upstairs and registered the box with Sky ourselves. Works just fine with 1 feed, albeit you can only record one thing at once, and you have to be watching what it records. Just like the old VHS days