Multiroom vs New Aerial

[shake]

At the moment i have a Sky hd box in the lounge and need a new aerial for a new tv in another room and I was thinking of getting Sky multiroom instead of the new areial.

I understand the multi room has a £10.25 per month charge but I would like to know if there is any charge for the new Sky box in the other room.

I was thinking of doing this as a new aerial would cost about £100 and if I could get a feed and box for the £10.25 monthly cost and cancel after one year that might be better.

However what would I be left with after cancelling. Could I keep any new box and use it to view free to air satelite programs. Could I also cancel the service to my main box and get free to air signals. Would i need to buy a freesat box?

Any help appreciated.

[Scubbie]

£100 for a new aerial?

Alright, I don't know where you are or what kind of set up you've been quoted for, but it is possible to run a feed from an existing aerial to your 2nd TV. You may have to add a booster to split the signal to both you main TV and the 2nd TV, but even this wouldn't cost £100.

If your 2nd TV has Freeview, then you could:

• take the feed from the 2nd output in the Sky STB, into the wall, through the loft and back down to your bedroom

or

• fit a booster in the loft and feed the existing aerial to the booster. One feed can the carry on down to the existing TV and a 2nd feed could go to the 2nd TV

As for the Multi-room solution, this would mean that your 2nd TV can receive all the same channels as your Sky subscription. You would be supplied the SkyHD STB or you could pay extra for the Sky+ HD STB.

Should you ever cancel your multi-room subs, then the 2nd box would be limited to receiving the FTA channels. See the link below for which these would be:

List of channels on Sky - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You will not be able to record any channels with the SkyHD STB. Whilst you have a Sky subscription, you can record any channels with the Sky+ STB, but when it is cancelled you will not be able to.

A Freesat STB will allow you to view and of the Freesat channels. A Freesat+ STB will allow you to record them as well. For a full list of the existing Freesat channels see this link:

List of channels on Freesat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Since you already have a Satellite dish, you may have some spare LNB ports (common practise with Sky now is to install a 4-port LNB), but do check. If this is the case, then it would be relatively simple to install the Freesat STB now.

[Isitme]

I understand the multi room has a £10.25 per month charge but I would like to know if there is any charge for the new Sky box in the other room.

If you take Multi room you will get a SkyHD box free, but this is just a basic box with no recording/playback facilities. If you want HD on it, it will cost an extra £10.25 at the moment, although this is being dropped. If you want a Sky+HD box, this will cost you £199.00. It is cheaper buying one of these on eBay. They are available from about £35 to £130, new. You could have the standard box for free, talk the installer into putting in 2 cables and buy a used box on ebay. You could even sell the standard box on ebay to offset the cost.

[shake]

Thanks for the replies.

I was only guessing at £100 for a new aerial.

The reason i did not want to take a feed off the existing aerial is that it is in the loft, over 25 years old and can only just cope with the TV at the moment. Breaks up a lot especially on ITV4 and all the programs on that multi plex or ??? what ever it is called.

The reason I was thinking about multi room was the possibility of using the Sky box as a freesat box/recorder but if I can't record after cancellation then I might just go for a freesat box now. Scubbie: are you saying that I can run a feed from the existing Sky dish to the new location and watch via a freesat box (if i go and buy one)

When the contract with Sky for my existing box (Sky+HD) is up do I have to do anything to recieve freesat, like retune or get permission from Sky.

I started out on the £19.50 deal, then add line rental, extra pack and HD and I am now over £40 per month and I may need the unlimited broadband at another £7.50 so it is getting expensive. This is the reason I am thinking of Freesat.

[Scubbie]

I was only guessing at £100 for a new aerial.

The reason i did not want to take a feed off the existing aerial is that it is in the loft, over 25 years old and can only just cope with the TV at the moment. Breaks up a lot especially on ITV4 and all the programs on that multi plex or ??? what ever it is called.

No problem. Argos sell some reasonable TV aerials. I didn't think much of the outdoor coax supplied with the kit a friend purchased & I helped her to install last summer. The outer sheath broke up as it was handled, not very good at keeping out the rain.

The aerial itself is just fine though and sits in the loft, with the bracket that came with it.

They cost from around £20, but this one might be of interest to you:

Buy High Performance Outdoor TV Aerial with Integrated Booster at Argos.co.uk - Your Online Shop for Television aerials and boosters.

The coax itself is easy to get from many places.

If you are in Huyton-with-Roby, then you'll probably be having your Digital Switchover soon. When this happens, they will increase the signal strength as well, so the multiplexers which are giving you a problem might be better anyway.

The reason I was thinking about multi room was the possibility of using the Sky box as a freesat box/recorder but if I can't record after cancellation then I might just go for a freesat box now. Scubbie: are you saying that I can run a feed from the existing Sky dish to the new location and watch via a freesat box (if i go and buy one)

When the contract with Sky for my existing box (Sky+HD) is up do I have to do anything to recieve freesat, like retune or get permission from Sky.

I started out on the £19.50 deal, then add line rental, extra pack and HD and I am now over £40 per month and I may need the unlimited broadband at another £7.50 so it is getting expensive. This is the reason I am thinking of Freesat.

Should you cancel your Sky package once you are out of contract, then the Sky STB is yours to keep.

You'll automatically be limited to the FTA channels and you will not be able to record anything or play anything that has been recorded. The only way around this is to pay around £10 per month for the Sky+ subscription.

If you swap out the Sky STB for a Freesat+ STB, then you will be able to watch & record the FTA channels for free. Freesat uses that same satellite group as Sky does, so you won't need to muck around with the dish.

With regards to running additional feeds, I would suggest that you examine the LNB first. Just to ensure that there is a free LNB-Port or two. Twin coax cable can be bought from places like Maplin.

Make sure that you measure the required length a few times before purchasing it. It isn't cheap and it isn't a good idea to have too many joints.

Maplin will also sell you the F-Plug connectors, which you'll need 4 if you go for the twin coax so that you can record & watch with the Freesat+ STB.

As for the Freesat STB, the Humax Foxsat appears to be one of the better ones available. Which? done a review of many of them recently, I'd suggest that you take a look at their website and see what they say there.

What type of digital TV recorder is right for you? - How to choose a digital TV recorder - DVD recorder reviews - TV & DVD - Which? Technology

PVRs - Which?

[Woodster]

£100 for a new aerial, supplied and fitted is very reasonable. With Argos and the like types of aerial, you get what you pay for, a poor quality aerial without a balun which will fall to bits in no time. A good quality aerial will retail for £40 up (Trade price from £15), then you'll need a mast £5-£10, brackets £5-£30, cable @approx 60p per metre and then you've got to get on your roof and fit the thing. For fitting you will need a half decent meter (£300 minimum and no upper limit!!), a decent set of ladders (£190 +) and if you're quick, an hour of your time, say £20 per hour. You do the maths!

You should expect to pay anywhere from £80 to £200 depending on where you are in relation to a transmitter and what aerial and mast height you need.
If you went for Multiroom, you'll have to buy an STB, from sky or wherever you can get one. From sky would be a better bet as it will be brand new and comes with an install. E-bay etc and you take a risk and will have to either install it yourself, or pay a local engineer to install it for you.

[shake]

I finally got an aerial for £65 and the TV signal meters are showing 100% quality and 97% strength.

Got the aerial from a Liverpool installer who advertised the price on the internet, he turned up on time, did a good job and charged the price quoted with no attempt to sell me something more expensive.

[MartinP]

That's good news but for anyone who fancies DIY, avoid the expensive High Street stores and DIY warehouses and order from a mail-order specialist:
Indoor or outdoor best aerial
Aerial Performance Reports Log Periodic, FM & DAB