Page 1 of To anyone with Sky- Questions

Hi
At the moment, I have analogue cable.
The picture quality is pretty ropy & I am thinking of getting Sky installed.
If anyone reading this already has Sky, can you please answer a couple of questions for me please?

At the moment, my cable is my only TV signal.
I do not have any aerial fitted, does the Skybox need an external TV signal for me to be able to watch say BBC 1 while taping something from the box?

Regarding the phone line into the skybox
Can I disconnect the phone line after installation?
I can't see me paying for pay per view movies if the monthly bill for 2 boxes is going to cost me about £52 a month.
Is the phone line connected to the box used for anything else?
My phone bill is high enough now without adding any more to it.

Thanks for your help
pat-w

I don`t personally have Sky, but I know enough to say:

Yes, you do need an external tv signal to watch non-satellite channels.

The phone line connection is in your contract. It`s the box`s connection with home. You can disconnect it, but don`t be surprised if everything stops working and Sky get cross with you.

J Mark Oates

My Dad got Sky two years ago and as soon as the engineer left unplugged the phone cable from the socket. They`ve never said a word.

You do not need a tv aerial to enjoy SKY.All the terrestrial channels are there,BBC1 and 2,ITV and C4 and C5.You will get perfect digital pictures with your minidish.
There are 2 howevers;first it does mean if you want to record off a different channel to the one you are watching,you can`t(unless you get SKY+),as no VCR`s have tuners that work on anything other than your normal aerial.Second,you will most likely not be able to receive regional news from the BBC,but this is changing this year.A bonus however,you will be able to receive all 15 ITV regional channels on your SKY box-for what thats worth these days.
Disconnecting the phoneline only means you will not be able to order PPV,or go online for the interactive stuff.SKY do claim that sometimes you will not receive updates for your box,but there seems to be no evidence of this.

I`m glad to hear you can disconnect the box from the phone line `cos that was one of my ain objections to the system and why I got a Teleworst Inactive Digital box (ptui!!)

J Mark Oates

for what its worth I can tell you that my engineer didnt even connect the phone line to the sky box, and he said that as long as you have agreed that you have the capability to do so then its fine....he left us with the phone wire for us to use if we wanted to later on...in my case the wire wont go from the back room to the phone box in the dining room!

Is it true that they need you to have the phone line connected to the box because they download new software into your box without you knowing it??

And is that why my Sky occassioanlly goes strange??? I dont get program info and some other stuff occassioanlly!

This item was edited on Saturday, 21st June 2003, 11:37

Quote:
Is it true that they need you to have the phone line connected to the box because they download new software into your box without you knowing it??

No - the phone line is used for box office orders, interactive shopping, that sort of thing. It may also be used to transmit information to Sky about what programmes you`ve been watching (!) - I`m not sure about that. I wouldn`t put it past them, as such data is incredibly valuable from a marketing point of view.

While it`s true that Sky can update the software in your box without your knowledge, this is done over the air (i.e. via satellite), not through the phone line.

Mike

This item was edited on Saturday, 21st June 2003, 11:45

I would argue that the phone connection is a bit more important than some of you seem to think.
SKY do say that the box is called upon to contact SKY for reasons unknown during nightime.When some listings disappeared from my SKY+ I phoned SKY and after chatting to technical they said sometimes,particularly with a new installation,the phoneline activates something.When I did not bother to connect it I was stuck with 12 times fast forward( this was when 30 times was just starting) but less than 2 minutes after connection it was upgraded.
It`s also important to mention that phone connection is part of the contract for a cheap install and SKY may not give a warning before sending out a bill for XXX000`s of pounds for you leaving it unconnected.I have not heard of them doing this-but there`s always a first time.

Thank you to all who posted an answer- I appreciate it

This item was edited on Sunday, 22nd June 2003, 12:40