New Pad - Sky+ or NTL

[TheBlueRaja]

Hi All,
Okay - i am moving into my new pad in about a month (start of December) - but i would like to get Sky+ over NTL beacuse its cheaper and Sky+ rocks.

But whats involved in getting Sky regarding a dish going up etc? Im going to be staying in a block of flats 4 stories high (inc basement), and im on the 1st floor (Basement, Grnd, 1st, 2nd).

Do i need to get permission etc?

Also, once i place an order for Sky - how long would it take to install and would they sort out a phone for me too?

However, broadband is a real requirement for me to have almost immediately (within 1st 2 weeks) and this might sway me to NTL bizzarely as i need broadband for work. Now with NTL i can get broadband almost immediately and use my Wireless Access point to connect to the ethernet port on the back of the box and not need to buy an ADSL modem, saving time and money (initially). But if i was to go ADSL - would that take long to set up and get running? I assume i would need to order it the day i get my (bt?) phone connected.

And if anyone has already moved from NTL to Sky is it worth it in your opinion?

Oh - anyone know of any special offers at the mo from either company?

[paulyoung666]

you may well need to get permission for the dish , best to check first

[TheBlueRaja]

Thats the thing - but who would i ask for permission? (Council?)

[paulyoung666]

if it is a council flat then yes the council , have you had a look on your local council website , it may tell you

[TheBlueRaja]

Hehe,
Hell no i was hoping you would - actually just looked at the sky website and they want 10 quid a month subscription for Sky+ on the Family pack - i think NTL are back on - they can feck off if they think im paying 99 quid for the box plus 10 quid extra a month.

[paulyoung666]

you need to have either movies or sport for the free sky+ , £34 / month for all the sport channels and 4 of the movie channels , you have to prompt them for the movie channels though

edit :- have you got the link for the £99 offer ???????

[TheBlueRaja]

http://www.ordersky.com/howtoorder/onlineoffers.asp

All yours...

EDIT: the cheapest option where you dont pay the 10 quid a month for Sky+ is the Sky sport World and Family pack at £31 quid a month - still seems pricey though.

[andygrif]

Why are you not considering the standard Sky box? There is no extra fee for this and you can have your Family Pack without the Premium Channels like Sky Movies and Sky Sports.

Also to answer one of your original questions, I would not expect them to sort out the phone line for you, but hey you can always ask!
Don't forget with Sky you get the option of having SkyTalk, which saves quite a bit on phone calling.

On the other hand you can go to BT who will sort out a Sky installation for you....details here:

http://www.bt.com/digitaltv/index.jsp

or a BT line with Freeview here:

http://www.bt.com/btdigitaltv/ed_det...K&obsOID=94262

HTH

[TheBlueRaja]

Originally Posted by andygrif

Why are you not considering the standard Sky box? There is no extra fee for this and you can have your Family Pack without the Premium Channels like Sky Movies and Sky Sports.

Also to answer one of your original questions, I would not expect them to sort out the phone line for you, but hey you can always ask!
Don't forget with Sky you get the option of having SkyTalk, which saves quite a bit on phone calling.

On the other hand you can go to BY who will sort out a Sky installation for you....details here:

http://www.bt.com/digitaltv/index.jsp

or a BT line with Freeview here:

http://www.bt.com/btdigitaltv/ed_det...K&obsOID=94262

HTH

Hmm,
Well i wanted Sky for Sky+ simple as that really, but i absolutely refuse to pay a subscription charge for hardware (ala TiVo) especially when im paying 99 quid for the box to start with - but i followed your BT link there which says "subscribing to any monthly channel package costing £19.50 or above and get your first month half price along with FREE standard installation."

But you get that anyway if you order onlive via Sky. NTL actually offer about 3 months half price sooo....

Ta Anyway.

[themelon]

ntl were doing an offer for family pack for a year for £19.50 in this area, not sure if they still are however.

I managed to blag it when I moved house because there was a mistake installing the broadband so I threatend to leave.

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by themelon

ntl were doing an offer for family pack for a year for £19.50 in this area, not sure if they still are however.

I managed to blag it when I moved house because there was a mistake installing the broadband so I threatend to leave.

They are still offering Family Pack for £19.50 on http://www.home.ntl.com/icat/television . What they don't say until you try to order it is that you must also have the £9.50 telephone line.

[themelon]

Originally Posted by ianathuth

They are still offering Family Pack for £19.50 on http://www.home.ntl.com/icat/television . What they don't say until you try to order it is that you must also have the £9.50 telephone line.

We had a leaflet stating this also included 'Phone Line Rental' so I presume it was an offer but its often done by regions so might be a Northwest thing

[andrew_wallasey]

I would go with NTL. I would not give sky another penny of my money. They are the biggest rip off merchants in the world. Not to mention if my NTL box stops working they credited back the week my box was not working. My sky went off for 37 days before they fixed it and did not allow me to have the months subscription back. Sky refuse to admitted when boxes are not working and are very reluctant to swap.

[Chris T]

Originally Posted by themelon

We had a leaflet stating this also included 'Phone Line Rental' so I presume it was an offer but its often done by regions so might be a Northwest thing

NTL is confused as hell over this issue. They want to say the phone line is included in the price because that sounds like you're getting a good deal, and in fact they used to say that a lot, but then when you look at the comparable NTL and Sky packs, sky is about a tenner cheaper ... so now NTL uses £19.50 as a 'headline' figure and then puts in the small print that you are obliged to rent a phone line at the same time as you order the TV, pushing up the cost by £9.50 a month.

For the avoidance of doubt:

THE NTL PHONE LINE IS NOT FREE. IT COSTS £9.50 A MONTH AND YOU ARE FORCED TO SUBSCRIBE TO IT WHEN YOU BUY ANY TV PACK FROM NTL.

Hope that clears it up.

[TheBlueRaja]

Fug!!!!

I cant get NTL - because its not been wired into my building yet - its in the street but not the building.

What the???

Is this normal?