Subscribing to Sky TV
 

I currently spend 99% of my time in Spain, and would like to subscribe to UK Sky TV. I have a dish already installed and it is capable of receiving the free-to-air satellite channels perfectly.

I do own a small flat in the UK, and could subscribe to this address, alas things are not so simple:

First problem is that there is no phone line installed at this flat and the sky website indicates i need one in order to complete the installation, not an insurmountable problem but obviously an unwanted/unnecessary cost to have a phone line fitted and pay line rental just for this.

Second is that there is no dish fitted at the flat, and the owner of the building will not let me have one installed. As such, if a sky engineer were to come round it's likely he would suspect something and refuse to complete the install.

There are a number of websites which appear to offer sky cards for people living outside of the uk, however they usually charge a significant premium. I assume they have some method of getting around the phoneline and engineer-visit requirement imposed by sky?

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

If you buy your own SKY box off ebay then you dont have to be connected to a telephone line

My UK address is a flat, no SKY engineer has been to my flat. There is no dish there.

If you have a subscription in the UK, then you can keep it running (as if from your UK flat) and just buy a new dish here in Spain and use your box. So just buy a card from SKY. Stick it in your box in Spain. Ring them on SKYPE from Spain to pair it, but obviously dont let them know you are in Spain.

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

I have a sky box already, how do i get them to send a card to my UK address?

All of the signup options on the sky site seem geared towards activation via phoneline and an engineer coming to do the physical install.

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

A telephone connection is generally only required for "Multiroom Contract" cards, and for NEW Sky TV installs, where Sky provide a new box and dish.

If you just want a card, then a telephone connection is not required.

Contact Sky by phone and tell them you just require a card...no install, and you have a box already. The card will come in the post within a few days.

The issue is activating the card. Either get the card sent over to Spain, pop into your box, and call Sky on a UK mobile or Skype. Or take the card and box to someone in the UK who has a dish, contact Sky, and get the card activated that way.

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

What he said ...

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

Thats exactly what I did. They will, however, charge you a one off payment of 25 pounds if you cant connect to a phone line.

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

When we downsized in UK to come out here 99% of the time I told SKY I was moving in UK and that being retired I could no longer afford a new landline and was just keeping my mobile, they removed my old land line No. from my account and substituted my mobile No.

I brought my old box and card out here and also bought a SKY + box on ebay told them about the purchase and they paired the old card to the new box and I bought a Freesat from SKY card for the old box. All this I did on my registered mobile phone and they have sorted other problems as well. On one occasion when the connection was bad I apoligised for the quality and the SKY operator said don't worry a lot of customers did not have a land line and called me back and we were on the line for 30mins + at their cost.

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

Depends on who you speak to, and how you talk to them.

Normally for a card only NO phone line is required and they do not charge anything extra. They normally only charge if you have a new box and dish install and dont want a phone line.

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

Hi Bert

Just to clarify, that you do not need a land line and you will have to pay 25 pounds, insist when you call up that all you need is a card, sometimes you may need to hang up and call again, And say that you will go with Virgin media if you have no luck with them.

They are not all trained in all aspects of the system, when calling as already been suggested you can either use skype or just add 067 before the 0044 then this will hide your caller I/D.

The card will have to be sent to a valid Uk post code and then onto Spain, you are allowed 9 cards to one address! so no worries if someone there already has a sky account.

kindest regards,

Carl.

(SNIP)

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

Normally you are only allowed ONE Sky account at a UK address. On that account you can have a number (5 being the max last time I asked them) of cards - ie Multiroom.

You can , sometimes get two or three Sky accounts at one address, but it does get tricky explaining to them why there are multiple accounts at one address, as they will try their hardest to get you all onto a Multiroom contract.

In addition to your "Sky subscription" cards, you can have around 5 "freesatfromsky" free to view cards. These FSFS cards are totally seperate to the Sky subscription cards process and database.

In my dealings, not once has Sky asked for £25 for a card not to be connected to a phone line. This is only required if you do not want to be part of the "Sky Interactive" agreement, which is the 12 month part of a NEW Sky installation, and is part of the deal where Sky offeres"free installation and sky box" that applies in the UK only. Telephone line connection for a single card IS NOT required if you already own a Sky box and dish. The box and card are yours and are not being "discounted" by Sky.

I do know of people who have tried to get a second discounted subscription card on a Sky Multiroom contract, and then they have paid £25 for the "no phone line" connection...something not really covered / mentioned in the Multiroom T&Cs

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

They didn´t charge me.

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

What for?

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

Hi
Ive just upgraded to a skyhd + box bought for 40gbp from ebay

Im on costa Blanca, and now get all the 5 terrestrial channels 24/7 on HD, which i am very pleased about
i paired the card to the hd box while i was in the uk, i left the hd box and card turned on in spain, and the n called sky while in uk, think they only needed serial number etc, which they had told me about via email, so no need to be in front of sky box at the time of calling

so i now have HD, 24/7 ,, very happy

rob

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

Would of been easier plugging a Spanish ariel into the tv and got HD channels that way. ;);)

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

Well, BBC1HD, BBCHD, ITV1HD and C4 HD dont need a viewing card to watch anyway, as they are free to air.
Neither is it essential for reception of Five HD either, as ANY Sky card in ANY Sky box will get Five HD.
You really only need to pair the card tot he box for Sky Sport, Sky Movies and the recording functions of the Sky+ boxes.

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

All I get is an 08442 415161 phone number to call for info on how to receive this channel, spill the beans please. :thumbup:

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

Hi Jdr

You never said which channel you refer too.

Regards,

Carl.

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

Like I said, you do not need a card to view BBC1HD, BBCHD, ITV1HD and C4 HD as they are free to air. They can be receive on ANY HD receiver - either a Freesat HD receiver, or even a Sky HD receiver with no viewing card.
Five HD does need a sky card - either a one off payment £25 freesatfromsky card from freesatfromsky.co.uk, or a sky subscription card - min of £19.50 per month.
If you are getting that number, then you are trying to watch a HD channel on a non HD Sky box, or you do not subscribe to that HD channel, or you have the HDMI warning message in which case, switch everything off, unplug and replug the HDMI cable intot he TV and Sky box, reboot.
So it depends on what channel you are getting the message on, and what the messages actually says (there are a variety of message that can display that number)

EDIT just seen where you may be confused.
i should have typed:
Neither is it essential for reception of Five HD either, as ANY Sky card in ANY Sky HD box will get Five HD.

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

Cheers guy, you are right, can`t get HD on Sky cos I only have an a non HD one, but can get some on my Bush freesat box and all the Spanish ones through the aerial. :thumbup:

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

Hi Jdr

You have it spot on, Your only missing channel 5 HD, No big deal, But you get the other 3 channels in HD on the Freesat box,

Regards, Carl.

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

I think you mena the FTA 4 HD channels....BBC1HD, BBCHD, ITV1HD and C4HD....
;)

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

Correct, I omitted the BBC preview channel on purpose as its not a proper channel!

Regards, Carl.

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

Of course it's a proper channel. Just because it shows previews and repeats doesn't mean it isn't a proper channel.

For example, The Great British Menu is on BBC2 and BBCHD - it isn't on BBC1HD so if you want to watch it in HD you can only watch it on BBCHD. There are many more examples.

If you wish to regarded as a TV expert please get your facts right.

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

Hi Fred.

I only meant to omit BBC HD as its not available on Freesat! This is what my last post was referring to!

I do find some of the replies irrelevant sometimes on this forum!

Its supposed to be informative! Not back and forth with derogatory replies!

Kindest regards,

Carl.

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

I. only have HD through my Panasonic Freesat TV and 108 is BBC1 HD and 109 is BBC HD I also get ITV and CH4 HD channels so far no CH5

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

Sky's a rip off anyway, you're better off getting an Abu Dhabi box. Not only for the football but there are plenty of English language films also on MBC & Fox etc

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

Yes it is.
BBC 1 HD is on Freesat HD channel 108
BBC HD is on Freesat HD channel 109

See the freesat channels lis at _http://www.freesat.co.uk/files/1113/0329/4479/Large_Print_Channel_Guide_19.04.11.pdf

Many programmes on BBC2 and BBC3 and BBC4 are shown on BBC HD. It may be a preview channels for some of the day but it is a full channel from early evening. You can watch Top Gear in HD on BBCHD at the same time as it is on BBC2 in SD!

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

Your quite correct, Just testing the response! Lol

I should not post whilst stressed and not thinking! And I have both systems in my office, and hopefully one day Channel 5 HD will come over to freesat!

And Badr @ 26 east, is a better option for this part of Europe, And you will pick up as you said, fox series/Fox movies and the MBC series!

And its available via Nilesat @ 7 west, An Abu Dhabi box is not needed, Any free to air satellite receiver will work.

Regards, A told off un stressed Carl.

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

All depends if "Dirty Desmon", who now owns Five, can get out of the multiyear contract Five signed with Sky for Five HD carriage before he arrived. He is trying to get out of the Sky News contract for Fives news programmes, so there may be a slim chance.

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

I would like to access Sky Player here in Spain but will it be able to tell I am here?

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

Yes.
Like all the UK broadcsaters Iplayer services, they are geoblocked for "non UK IP addresses", due to broadcast rights and contracts those broadcasters have with the programme makers / content owners.
So you will need to subscribe to a VPN to "by pass" this geoblocking, and make the iplayers think you are actually connecting from the UK.

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

Any recommendations?

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

Dont have the fish.....???:D

There are too many around these days...all offering about the same service for varying prices. Try a search of "VPN" in these forums and ghave a trawl through those....

But there is "Expat Shield" a little programme (stuffed with popups and adverts - but what do you expect for free!) that allows you to "hide" you IP address...it works with BBC and ITV Iplayers, sometimes with 4OD, but dont know about Skyplayer...

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

Hi

Expatshield does work, and its free! www.expatshield.com. Its free like yahoo and hotmail as they advertise,

I don't think it works witj MAC though, or if the adverts annoy you pay €5 per month for a VPN or Proxy server.

Kindest regards,

Carl

(SNIP)

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

I have used this in the past but then I started getting problems with my computer and thought it could have been the Expat Shield - wasn´t as it was my modem. But the adverts are awful.

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

Hi

I have used it but not had any problems, And the adverts are tedious, I agree, but i usually close the page and continue to watch, Or you have to pay for a VPN or Proxy service,

Not too bad for us in Europe as we can receive via satellite and record if we want to, Not the same for Ex-Pats outside of Europe though, they rely on services like this, and i have had clients telling me they prefer to pay as they were not happy with Ex pat shield,

Good luck with which ever way you choose to go,

Kindest regards, Carl.

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

I just missed a couple of episodes of Game of Thrones and wanted to catch up.

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

Hi

I have had many a good time working in Chiclana over the last 10 years, Superb place,

And your correct, iPlayers are great for missed episodes. And of course you can connect your computer to the laptop or PC,

Kindest regards,

Carl.

SNIP

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

Brilliant but you wouldn´t like it this year - just continual levantes. Not sure what you meant about "connect your computer to the laptop or PC?"

Re: Subscribing to Sky TV
 

If you use Firefox or Chrome as your browser just install Adblock Plus and that will stop the ads.

If you are still using IE then just use FF or Chrome for use with iPlayer and Expatshield.