Moving home and a newbie

[sticka]

Hi all,

Please be gentle with me as it's my first time on here!

I currently have the basic SKY digital (not +, not HD and not multiroom) and have a BT line.

I am moving to a new home that has NO BT line, NO Satellite Dish and NO terrestrial aerial. It only has NTL phone and NTL DTV.

I could stay with SKY who can get a new Dish for me in about 5 days at a cost of £40.00 but there's no BT Line and BT have a current lead time of 3/4 weeks and it would cost £125.00 to have a BT Line installed.

Given that I've been with SKY for years, will I need to have a BT Line put in or will the existing NTL phone line do?

For that matter, does the SKY set-top box even need to be connected to a phone line? If not then I don't have to be in a hurry to get the phone sorted out either.

Please help as I don't know what to do for best. I've tried reading reviews of NTL vs SKY but can't seem to find out if NTL has all the bells and whistles that you get with SKY, e.g. interactive servies, digi text/red button, personal planner, series link, subtitles, etc. The single most important factor is that I must have all the Sky Sports channels - can't live without them - sad but true.

[Jules]

Firstly welcome to the forum
To the best of my knowledge you do not need your box connected to your phone line after the first year but would they class this as a new installation and as such start the first year thing off again? Something that may be worth asking them.

I am with NTL and I am happy with it but from what I have heard Sky beats NTL hands down if you want the all singing all dancing stuff with it, NTL do how ever have all the sports stuff that you want.

Now on to BT I wouldn't give them house room, I would rather crawl through a patch of nettles to make a phone call than go back to them but that is just my personal opinion

[Rob]

As far as I'm aware a Sky box just needs a phone line, brand doesn't matter. However you can pay a premium to Sky and do away with the phone line bit.

As for comparing the differences between Sky and ntl:telewest TV services, both have good and bad points. If you need a PVR (SKY+) then Telewest areas can do the same, but ntl areas is "coming soon". HD services are partly available on Telewest areas, not at all on ntl so Sky again gets the thumbs up, for now. However ntl:telewest generally has VOD, Sky doesn't have an equivalent. All main channels Sports, Movies etc you can get on Sky you can get on ntl, but the package bundles may not directly compare between the two so budgeting may be awkward. Interactive theoretically should be better on cable, due to the direct connection, rather than Sky's need for a phone line, but I don't think either platform has really got to grips with it.

[Central]

Originally Posted by Jules

Firstly welcome to the forum
To the best of my knowledge you do not need your box connected to your phone line after the first year but would they class this as a new installation and as such start the first year thing off again? Something that may be worth asking them.

I am with NTL and I am happy with it but from what I have heard Sky beats NTL hands down if you want the all singing all dancing stuff with it, NTL do how ever have all the sports stuff that you want.

Now on to BT I wouldn't give them house room, I would rather crawl through a patch of nettles to make a phone call than go back to them but that is just my personal opinion

Cable phone prices are to high

6p connection and 3p per min. So first minute is 9p alone. An hour on a Telewest line would cost £1.86 and thats to a landline

On BT in the evening its 5.5p for a hour

Moving home with sky is not a new contract. It just carries on as if you had never moved

[sticka]

Back again.

First of all, thanks for the welcome and the replies from everyone so far.

I may consider going to a PVR but I'll wait until NTL go live with their version. NTL tell me that it'll take time but the rollout should start in Jan 2007 and that their PVR will have 3 hard drives whereas the SKY+ has 2.

I'm not that bothered about HD yet. I'll wait until it's time to get a new TV and then look again.

I don't know what programmes are covered by VOD but it could come in useful so I'll bear that in mind.

The Sky Sports is the biggie and now I know I can get it with NTL that's another tick.

I'm not wedded to interactive but as a week-end walker, I do like BBCi for the regular local weather updates. I also like the Sky News and BBC News interactive services. Do you get these with NTL?

As for the phone calls, NTL tell me that I have free evening and free week-end phone calls to all UK landlines. Not a big phone user anyway so I can't imagine that the phone costs are going to be significant.

Bottom line, I'll probably say "good bye" to the SKY/BT combo and move over to NTL. I guess I'll give them 12 months and if it's no good then I'll go back.