ntl vs sky tv - Page 2

Stuart · 21-09-2006, 13:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdean

No weather interference on NTL

Well. not quite true. NTL's service gets a little flaky if the street cabinets get hot..

However, it's not as bad as Sky. One of my mates has been trying for years to get me to get Sky, but when I was at his house on Sunday, he tried to turn the Sky box on and got a no signal message. Apparently, this has happened a lot recently and is caused by a neighbour's tree growing into the path of his sky dish.

He has now either got to get the neighbour to cut the tree down (unlikely from what I have been told) or get the dish mounted on a pole and moved up.

Also, bear in mind, I have seen Sky boxes fail to get a signal when the cloud is too thick.

Central · 21-09-2006, 17:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart C

Well. not quite true. NTL's service gets a little flaky if the street cabinets get hot..

However, it's not as bad as Sky. One of my mates has been trying for years to get me to get Sky, but when I was at his house on Sunday, he tried to turn the Sky box on and got a no signal message. Apparently, this has happened a lot recently and is caused by a neighbour's tree growing into the path of his sky dish.

Thats not skys fault though if a big tree is in the way. Plus i bet if a big tree grew in front of NTL uplink and downlink dishes they might lose signal to

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart C

He has now either got to get the neighbour to cut the tree down (unlikely from what I have been told) or get the dish mounted on a pole and moved up.

Also, bear in mind, I have seen Sky boxes fail to get a signal when the cloud is too thick.

Then the dish is not fitted properly.

The only time I lost signal was when there was a massive thunderstorm last week and that was only for 5 minutes

Chrysalis · 21-09-2006, 19:42

I went from ntl analogue to sky which is obviously a no brainer but here is what I like about sky.

Better quality picture on analogue I often had spotty pictures.
Better quality sound.
More channels.
Full interactivity.
Nice tv guide.
Ability to switch between widescreen and normal formats so can see widescreen on my 4:3 tv.
Subtititles
Cheaper.

I also used sky+ at my sisters house and its pretty much kick ass and will probably get it for myself now.

Stuart · 21-09-2006, 21:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Be*

Thats not skys fault though if a big tree is in the way. Plus i bet if a big tree grew in front of NTL uplink and downlink dishes thcey might lose signal to

No, it's not sky's fault. It *is* a design fault though. As for NTL's dishes, well, being considerably larger, it is considerably more unlikely that they will be affected by a blocked view.

Quote:

Then the dish is not fitted properly.

The only time I lost signal was when there was a massive thunderstorm last week and that was only for 5 minutes

What's a thunderstorm? A large cloud with electricity..

Funnily enough, I've never lost my ntl signal due to a storn.

Central · 22-09-2006, 01:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart C

No, it's not sky's fault. It *is* a design fault though. As for NTL's dishes, well, being considerably larger, it is considerably more unlikely that they will be affected by a blocked view.

What's a thunderstorm? A large cloud with electricity..

Funnily enough, I've never lost my ntl signal due to a storn.

My Father lost his Telewest signal once when kids opened the cabinet.

I would rather lost tv for a few seconds then 24 hours plus.

My father lost 3 days of TV because a tech could not get out to fix it. 3 weeks later it happened again. He switched to Sky

orangebird · 22-09-2006, 09:38

Snow has affected my Sky signal before...

Paul K · 22-09-2006, 11:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart C

However, it's not as bad as Sky. One of my mates has been trying for years to get me to get Sky, but when I was at his house on Sunday, he tried to turn the Sky box on and got a no signal message. Apparently, this has happened a lot recently and is caused by a neighbour's tree growing into the path of his sky dish.

He has now either got to get the neighbour to cut the tree down (unlikely from what I have been told) or get the dish mounted on a pole and moved up.

Also, bear in mind, I have seen Sky boxes fail to get a signal when the cloud is too thick.

Might want to get him to check his signal strength first, we were getting that message with full signal strength for a while due to a failing LNB. If signal strength is poor though I would suggest a chainsaw

BillyDrago · 22-09-2006, 13:45

I recently switched from NTL to Sky and find Sky far better. I'd rather I didn't tbh because I resent giving money to Murdoch, but there you go...

Picture quality - not much in it at all. Sky is better on some channels (mainly Sky Sports, Film4, five, Paramount), NTL maybe had a very slight edge on BBC channels. Not much in it either way though. Sound quality is better on Sky.

Reception - again nothing in it. I occasionally had problems with skipping / freezing on NTL, and I occasionally have it on Sky. Very infrequently on both. I've never experienced any weather related interference on Sky.

Interactivity - VOD was good on NTL. Apart from that, it's Sky by a mile. Red button functionality that works, EPG that is usable, plus the extras such as NHS Direct etc. Apart from VOD, any interactive content on NTL was so slow as to be unusable.

Content - much, much more on Sky. Most of it is of course rubbish, but there are some channels I want - this is in fact the main reason I switched to Sky. BBC regions + S4C (good for the rugby), ESPN Classic, more music channels. Of course a lot of people won't care about these, but I do. :-)

Price - Sky is cheaper, even after the opening offer.

Plus I get Sky+, optical out, better remote etc etc

22-09-2006, 14:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdean

Oh dear oh dear what tosh

Better service - no not really same channels mostly with a few more bells and whistles. I don't have a sky set up any more - only thing to be missed is sky news interactive. Might get a free sat to get this

I have moved recently and NTLs service was shockingly poor - but I was messed about by sky in the past

No weather interference on NTL

NTL now have VOD - better than sky's with free BBC content - easy to use- and you can order the channels how you like through favourites

Better deals/ prices - this is just plain tosh - when you cost in the cost of a BT phone line NTL are a bit cheaper (call costs are becoming an issue)

I came to NTL to escape the awfall red button - we get it a bit - but not on Sky sports thank god

You get no more screen freezes on Ntl than sky

I find posts like the one above so pointless - there is not that much difference for me at the moment NTL wins for the reasons mentioned

---------- Post added at 20:53 ---------- Previous post was at 20:50 ----------

As if that is a good thing- it is a curse

What planet are you receiving your NTL pictures fella?

I had massive issues with NTL, Vod? do me a favour, find a vod box that works

In my time with NTL I certainly had a lot of screen freezes, more in the same time period than with sky.
What is wrong with the red button? atleast sky's one does what its meant to.
NTL are better than bt? when you factor in the call charges bt wins hands down for my needs.
No weather interference on NTL? but loads of freeze and poor volume levels, their boxes need serious sledgehammer treatment.
So for me sky+ is miles ahead

---------- Post added at 14:32 ---------- Previous post was at 14:29 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by orangebird

Snow has affected my Sky signal before...

Thank god for global warming, no more snow

James79 · 23-09-2006, 09:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by ntluser

Just got my NTL bill and think I need to make some changes.

Currently, I have telephone, TV ( including a spare STB) and 4MB broadband from NTL but it's costing about ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£94 per month.

Ideally, I would like to reduce this by keeping the telephone and broadband with NTL and getting my TV from Sky.

I'd also like to swap my main NTL STB for a modem in preparation for the higher speeds, when they become available.

I was thinking of getting Sky Multiroom with all the packs plus the sports and movies channels.

I'm not sure if all this is possible.

Just wondered if anyone had done anything similar and could give me some idea of the costs.

Would also like to know what the advantages and disadvantages are particularly with regard to the nature of the installation, the quality of service, hidden costs etc.

Any information greatly appreciated. TIA.

Have a look here: http://www.home.ntl.com/icat/valuepacks.

A little known fact that you actually can get this as an existing NTL Customer (Its in the New Customers Section!!??) - I just phoned and asked if it would be possible to have my package changed!

Give it a go! Let us know how you get on!!