Freesat Boxes

[Mr. Dazzle]

We're gonna stop paying for Sky and go to Free TV only. We only got Sky for the F1 when they switched from BBC, but we're just not watching it any more. Certainly not enough to pay for Sky!

We don't really have any conveniently located aerial sockets, so we'll get a Freesat box to use with our Sky dish instead. Are they are brands to absolutely avoid? I know there was a shit Sky+ box and a good one, but that was >10 years ago.

I'm not looking for 4K or anything fancy, we very rarely watch TV at all these days.

[DefTrap]

I just bought any old sky+ hd box off of gumtree. A tenner in the pub car park.

[Mussels]

I think sky have to offer a freesat option but they don't like to publicise it, you might be able to buy the Sky box from them for a small amount.

[KungFooBob]

You can use the sky box for freesat, you just need the right viewing card, which you might have to pay for (£10 iirc).

If you pay £10 a month you can still use the 'plus' features to pause and rewind, etc..

[Mr Moofo]

Why not just use Freeview, which will already be in you TV (as long as it is recent)

[Mr Nozzle]

I got a Humax freesat+ HD box from Amazon just over a year ago. Works perfectly. It took a while to get used to the menu having used Sky for years but I have no regrets. One off price for the box and then that's it.

[Mr. Dazzle]

We've had the same Sky+ box for >10 years, I'd be surprised if they want it back!

Freeview is not really an option cause there is no convenient aerial socket in our living room.

I did read about the updated viewing card thing but it feels a bit shit to be paying sky ten quid a month still for recording etc.

BTW the TV is new enough that we can watch Prime and Netflix etc. on it with no other boxes needed, hence the demise of Sky.

[Slenver]

Serious question (as I'm in a similar position with ditching Sky soon), but is there any need for Freeview/Freesat even these days? All our watching now is digital on-demand. I've not really given it any consideration, but what channels would I be missing out on?

[Mr. Dazzle]

Serious question (as I'm in a similar position with ditching Sky soon), but is there any need for Freeview/Freesat even these days? All our watching now is digital on-demand. I've not really given it any consideration, but what channels would I be missing out on?

Yep, very valid Q. We very very seldom watch anything other than streamed TV. That's also why I'm loathe to keep paying Sky even if its only a tenner a month. That said, what little TV we do watch tends to be recorded so I wouldn't want to lose that function.

[Slenver]

Yep, very valid Q. We very very seldom watch anything other than streamed TV. That's also why I'm loathe to keep paying Sky even if its only a tenner a month. That said, what little TV we do watch tends to be recorded so I wouldn't want to lose that function.

I think Netflix, Amazon and BBC cover 99% of our viewing these days. Certainly the kids are 100% Netflix and the missus 100% Netflix/BBC.

I don't watch a huge amount of TV but have to confess that I've watched a couple of things on Apple's TV+ too and we already have several Apple TV boxes from over the years, so I'm planning to switch to Apple entirely to replace the family's TV and music streaming in one, thus saving meeelions.

[Rockburner]

If you only watch recorded stuff, then IIRC every major 'broadcast' channel is also available after the initial broadcast online via a free* streaming service.

The only time you need to have an aerial or dish these days is if you HAVE to watch Eastenders at the same time as your mum.


* albeit you have to register

[Zimbo]

I've had a couple of cheap freest boxes and they work OK, no record function and the program guide / navigation can be clunky. I would definitely pay the extra for a Humax Freesat box, it's well developed in terms of interface, looks after all your streaming needs (Netflix etc) and has a really good record function.

[exportman]

I have a Humax box used it for a couple of years no issued bought a double tuner box so can record and watch at the same time.

Just disconnected the Sky box and connected this in its place, tuned it all in then all working fine

[Mr Moofo]

I thought that FreeSat no longer had channel 4 or 5 on... that was certainly the case a while ago. Just use you sky box - once you stop paying it still works as a free sat box

[Taff]

We had a Humax box for a while and it did the job perfectly well. When we replaced the TV we made sure to get one with Freesat built in. Between Freesat, I player and Netflix our viewing is well sorted

[the_priest]

I got a Humax freesat+ HD box from Amazon just over a year ago. Works perfectly. It took a while to get used to the menu having used Sky for years but I have no regrets. One off price for the box and then that's it.

Ditto. I've worked out that we have had ours for 15 years and it is still working find. Easy to use and setup for recording etc.

[Kneerly Down]

The Freesat EPG is good, especially on the Humax boxes.
Bear in mind that a condition manufacturers having the Freesat EPG is that the recordings can only be watched on the device that made the recording.

We have 7 satellite receivers.
3 are built into Panasonic TVs and are used for guests and are now rather clunky but they have HD channels and work fine.
1 is a Humax with an SSD attached for recordings that we have in our main lounge and gets used a lot. It is a joy to use.
The other 3 are non-Freesat receivers and although they are clunky to navigate, if you only watch FTA channels on them rarely then it's not much hassle really. They were all about £20-25 and can all have USB storage attached to record to.