Ordinarily, given the choice, I'd simply get a virgin media package however the place I'm moving to in a few weeks doesn't have virgin media available.
Unfortunately its also fair distance from the local exchange so the only realistic broadband option is BT Infinity...
I've got an LCD TV which I'm pretty sure has built in freeview - though it isn't currently used as a TV but just hooked up to my PS3 and used for games and movies. The apartment I'm moving into has a communal aerial and satellite dish on the roof so I was wondering if freesat was perhaps worthwhile? Seems to have a few extra channels I wouldn't otherwise have...
i have had freesat for about a year and some decent stuff is shown at times , you even get cbs reality and cbs drama and cbs action . see what you get below and even a few HD channels
http://www.freesat.co.uk/
I've got a freesat HD box, it is ok but I wouldnt really recommend it, I only have it has it is the only way for me to get HDTV out here in the iddle of nowhere.
It lacks quite a few of the channels that freeview does, although it does give you some that Freeview dont have but they are all rubbish.
I would get Freeview HD if the signal was better here.
hmmm
actually just thinking the main differences (for me) are you can get Dave, FiveR and 4 music on freeview whereas you can get bloomberg, al jazeera and some CBS channels and few more music channels on freesat.
I guess I just need to find out if the built in freeview decoder on the TV is compatible with the freeview HD channels or whether I'd need a freeview HD box.
I guess if that isn't the case then it would make more sense for me to get a freesat HD box (same price range as I don't need a dish due to the communal one) than a freeview box as I could still get the other channels Dave, FiveR etc.. via my TV's inbuilt decoder and just use the freesat box for HDTV and maybe bloomberg and the CBS channels if they're any good.
I've got no need for sky due to no interest in football and a big dvd/blue ray collection so no requirement for movie channels.
more movie channels on freesat than on freeview , some are not thet great but it depends what your into . 4HD is coming this month to freesat hd and more news channels if that floats your boat lol
Can you not get Virgin Media over BT Network or 02?
I'm not quite following?
The idea behind me getting virgin media would have been to have TV/Phone/Broadband all in 1 - probably the most cost effective solution for what I'd require (would only need the most basic TV package).
Unfortunately that isn't an option so I'm going to have to get a BT line(£10 a month) & BT infinity subscription(£28 a month), I'm likely not going to bother with a sky subscription on top of this as would already be forking out £38 a month for phone line and broadband.
I'm paying 35 for 30mb, phone and basic TV (it's very basic) with Virgin
Quote from: Dave on April 04, 2011, 01:15:57 AM
I'm not quite following?
The idea behind me getting virgin media would have been to have TV/Phone/Broadband all in 1 - probably the most cost effective solution for what I'd require (would only need the most basic TV package).
Unfortunately that isn't an option so I'm going to have to get a BT line(£10 a month) & BT infinity subscription(£28 a month), I'm likely not going to bother with a sky subscription on top of this as would already be forking out £38 a month for phone line and broadband.
I was under the impression that O2 use the BT network for Broadband, and it works out cheaper than BT i believe, you can check it out yourself:
http://www.o2.co.uk/broadband/
I thought someone also said back along that Virgin can offer their services over BT as well, i know this doesn't sound right but i'm sure someone said it :P
Yeah they can, they told me that.
if you got broadband, get a dreambox & hook that up to the dish.
Then find someone who will share you c line in cccam & get the full sky package
for £10-£15 a month.
Quote from: Bacon on April 04, 2011, 04:26:09 AM
I was under the impression that O2 use the BT network for Broadband, and it works out cheaper than BT i believe, you can check it out yourself:
http://www.o2.co.uk/broadband/
I thought someone also said back along that Virgin can offer their services over BT as well, i know this doesn't sound right but i'm sure someone said it :P
I don't see how that would work - looking at the link there isn't a cable to box (BT infinity equivalent) solution offered by O2 so it isn't going to work for me
If virgin can offer the same package/pricing AND make use of BTs optical fiber network (i.e. deliver it via cable to box rather than over standard phone line) then it is an alternative if not then it won't be. Distance to the exchange will mean I'd get < 1MBPs via ordinary broadband which means something as simple as watching BBC iPlayer wouldn't be possible without it stopping every minute.
Quote from: Dave on April 04, 2011, 09:30:18 AM
Quote from: Bacon on April 04, 2011, 04:26:09 AM
I was under the impression that O2 use the BT network for Broadband, and it works out cheaper than BT i believe, you can check it out yourself:
http://www.o2.co.uk/broadband/
I thought someone also said back along that Virgin can offer their services over BT as well, i know this doesn't sound right but i'm sure someone said it :P
I don't see how that would work - looking at the link there isn't a cable to box (BT infinity equivalent) solution offered by O2 so it isn't going to work for me
If virgin can offer the same package/pricing AND make use of BTs optical fiber network (i.e. deliver it via cable to box rather than over standard phone line) then it is an alternative if not then it won't be. Distance to the exchange will mean I'd get < 1MBPs via ordinary broadband which means something as simple as watching BBC iPlayer wouldn't be possible without it stopping every minute.
My sister has the upto 7mb service (the basic one i believe), and at the weekend we had to wait like 5 minutes for a 1 minute Youtube vid to buffer, so the 1mb service would be a complete joke.
Have you considered moving to a better house? :P
If I was moving to a house it wouldn't be an issue and I'd simply get virgin media.
I think that we've now concluded what I was pretty sure of in the original post - that BT infinity is my only option for broadband.
Back onto the original topic freesat seems to be worth a look but also I've heard its possible to buy some German decoder boxes online that basically give you all the (free) channels they can find - has anyone ever bought one of these at all?
arrr
I've done a bit more research this evening and it seems that there is little point in me getting a non-freesat FTA box as I'd be using a communal satellite dish pointing at the astra 28.2e satellite and there aren't any *extra* channels I'd be able to obtain. The main use of these other boxes seem to be when you've got a motorised dish or multiple dishes and want to pick up other satellites and/or use dodgy cards etc... (apparently sky & anything else on astra 28.2e is near enough impossible to crack) - not sure about eggs suggestion but the card sharing seems to be a bit of a faff.
The freesat boxes have the ability to pick up all the other unencrypted free to air (FTA) channels even though they don't advertise this and they only lack the card reader (which I'm not fussed about any more due to fixed communal dish) basically they are effectively the same as FTA boxes but also get the 7 day EPG for all the channels that have paid to be included on the freesat service (something that would require a hack on an FTA box).
I guess it just makes sense for me to get a freesatHD decoder - I've since found out that my HD TV's freeview decoder won't do the HD freeview channels so I'd be forced to get one of a freeview HD box, FTA HD box, skyfreeviewHD box or freesatHD box. As I won't be missing out on dave and fiveUSA, fiver etc.. as i already have standard freeview built in then freesat HD seems to be the best option.
For 10 quid a month do you really care about messing around hacking the box?
nah as there is nothing hackable on the astra 28 satellites anyway
Anyway try £20 a month minimum for the variety pack which contains naff all....
free sat box definitely seems to be the way to go if you're not too fussed about football
There is always vipstand for footie :P