Help! Complete novice! Installing Sky etc

[sky noobie]

Hi all,
Apologies for the dunce questions but I really have no idea how this will work, never had SKY before. We're moving in to a new build house this week and I have ordered SKY to come install the TV system. The plan is to have SKY in the main lounge and freeview on the other TV's in the house. Problem is we don't have an internal aerial as its a new build house, we'd have to install one to get Freeview, so in our position how does SKY work when you plug in another TV in another room?

I assume that SKY will come into one room to feed the main TV? As we have TV points in just about all the rooms, if we plugged in a TV to the aerial socket say in a bedroom, would we get SKY through that? Without the multi-room package I understand that you could only watch on another telly in the house whatever is selected on the main SKY box ie SKYSports in the main lounge then it will be the same everywhere else?

What are our best options to be able to watch different channels on different TV's in different rooms? SKY Multi room or install an internal aerial (how much would that cost?) as well to get freeview box/integrated TV or is there another way?

Also the house has one of those internal multi room systems (speakers, AV sockets in each room etc) that I believe can be controlled on a room to room basis. Would this mean we could stream SKY through the house and control it in each room without the need for mult-room package?

Any help much appreciated!! Thanks!

 

[Broadz]

You can't get Freeview without a TV aerial - Freeview is digital terrestrial television, and terrestrial television can only be received through a TV aerial - not a satellite dish or the internet or cable TV.

If you decide you want to watch satellite TV in all rooms, and forego terrestrial TV, then you have a choice between multiroom Sky (where you will have to pay an extra £10 for each extra Sky box), Freesat / FTA / FreesatfromSky in all rooms except your living room (where you will receive a wider choice of free channels via satellite than you would from Freeview - but you won't get Sky Sports News, Dave, Virgin 1 and a few other Freeview channels), or you can feed the output from your Sky box to other rooms using RF, s-video and the scart sockets - but then each room will be limited in only being able to view whatever the Sky box is watching.

 

[Member 354643]

Hi all,
Apologies for the dunce questions but I really have no idea how this will work, never had SKY before. We're moving in to a new build house this week and I have ordered SKY to come install the TV system. The plan is to have SKY in the main lounge and freeview on the other TV's in the house. Problem is we don't have an internal aerial as its a new build house, we'd have to install one to get Freeview, so in our position how does SKY work when you plug in another TV in another room?

I assume that SKY will come into one room to feed the main TV? As we have TV points in just about all the rooms, if we plugged in a TV to the aerial socket say in a bedroom, would we get SKY through that? Without the multi-room package I understand that you could only watch on another telly in the house whatever is selected on the main SKY box ie SKYSports in the main lounge then it will be the same everywhere else?

What are our best options to be able to watch different channels on different TV's in different rooms? SKY Multi room or install an internal aerial (how much would that cost?) as well to get freeview box/integrated TV or is there another way?

Also the house has one of those internal multi room systems (speakers, AV sockets in each room etc) that I believe can be controlled on a room to room basis. Would this mean we could stream SKY through the house and control it in each room without the need for mult-room package?

Any help much appreciated!! Thanks!

Sounds like you will have a rack in the house somewhere and the tv would be run over cat 5 from what your saying, Who installed it all? might be worth asking them

 

[sky noobie]

Thanks for your reply. Just to clarify does that mean if we get FreesatSKy as well as the standard SKY package then we could watch SKY on the main TV and in all other TV's in the house we could watch Freesat?

In other words SKYSports in lounge, BBC1 through Freesat) in the bedroom and say ITV2 (Freesat) in the kitchen all at the same time? Or do you need one box per TV to be able to watch different channels on each TV?

 

[961]

Unless you particularly want to watch different sky paid channels at the same time in different rooms multiroom is expensive. Remember also that with multiroom each sky box must be connected to the same telephone land line all the time, which may be inconvenient if you haven't got phone points all over the house

The sky dish will have 4 outputs. 2 will be used for the main sky box. The other two can be used to cable 2 other locations in the house which can each have a sky box, new or secondhand, or a freesat box if you prefer, and each of these boxes will get all the free channels from the satellite (but not the paid for channels on the main box)

The main box also has a feed that will distribute to a second location in the house and will provide that tv (no box needed) with the same programme that is on the main set

If you want to use the freeview tuner that is in most flat screen tvs, you'll need to install a roof top aerial and distribute that signal round the house (probably using the wall plugs that you say are installed)

It's likely, incidentally, that those wall plugs and the wiring that goes with them will not transmit the sky signals without modification. You're better using separate cables or removing the plugs and the transistors within them if you want to use those for sky

 

[Broadz]

In other words SKYSports in lounge, BBC1 through Freesat) in the bedroom and say ITV2 (Freesat) in the kitchen all at the same time? Or do you need one box per TV to be able to watch different channels on each TV?

One box per TV - unless you get one of the Panasonic or LG Freesat TVs, which come with built-in satellite tuners. But second hand Sky boxes can be bought on ebay for a fiver. Remember that each connection will need use of at least one output from dish - so make sure you get Sky+ rather than Sky to start with (so you get a quad LNB installed on the dish) then slip the installer a tenner or so to run cables to whichever other rooms you intend to feed the other satellite boxes. Or, if you are competent enough, purchase cabling and connectors yourself and run them once the Sky+ (or Sky HD) box is up and running.

 

[sky noobie]

Its becoming much clearer now! We wouldn't have a problem with phone lines, wehre a TV point is there is a phone line too so thats ok.

I think it may be the best option at the moment to get SKY HD+ to the main TV and maybe an 2nd hand SKY box to connect to one of the other ones and see how we go from there. I don't want to tie myself into a contract for multiroom if we don't end up using it much for the SKY channels.

 

[961]

It's worth asking the installer if the dish can be installed where it is possible for you or a friend to access it without miles of ladders etc. Mine is actually 6 feet (sorry, 2 metres) off the ground in a kid proof place. If there is a problem I can get at it to renew connections etc without having an expensive call out. So long as it can see the satellite it doesn't have to be on the highest chimney