HD : sky multiscreen - virgin alternative

[loll_l]

I posted the following in the sky section but I'm interested to see if there is an alternative using virgin tv.....

I own 2 houses next door to each other and I’m wondering whether I can share my sky subscription between the 2 houses. I am guessing sky wouldn’t be too happy about this and I assume they would expect each household to have its own subscription, nether the less, I would be interested to know if the following is possible….

My current Sky subscription includes one Sky HD box and one Sky + box (none HD) in another room. I am hoping to change this to 5 or 6 HD boxes (2 in my current house and 3 or 4 next door)…. The reason for so many receivers in the house next door is that I will be renting it out to students….

The questions I have are as follows…

1- Considering I will be paying the bill for all of the extra multiscreen boxes (£11.25 per month per box) - would sky allow me to share the subscription between 2 houses?
2- If, as I suspect, the answer to the above in ‘no’ could I set this up with a non-sky engineer but still using sky equipment? Ie. If I pay for the extra multiroom subscriptions but tell sky I do not need an engineer because I will set it up myself – is there any way sky could find out that the subscription in being used in 2 houses?
3- The normal sky HD multiscreen boxes do not have the facility to record. If I decide to get a normal box to begin with but then decide to upgrade to a box that can record at a later date – is there anything that needs to be done with regards to the installation or can I just disconnect the coaxial cable from the back of the old one and plug straight into the new one?
4- I already have an extra Sky HD box (with the facility to record) that a friend gave to me. Could I replace one of the standard HD multiscreen boxes with this one?
5- Could I deactivate the extra multiscreen subscriptions whenever I like? Eg. When one of the rooms next door is not occupied.

I am likely to have more questions but that’s enough for now!

[RobboEdin]

...so you're looking to run a business based on residential services?

[jb66]

all boxes would have to be connected to the one phone number/wifi

[ocav]

Simple answer, no. While theoretically this could be done it wouldn't be installed by Sky and they sure would be suspicious of the extra boxes.

As the install would be after the 18th December, the boxes wouldn't require a phone line connection so no cables need to run between houses. However this doesn't mean that in the future you won't have to connect the boxes together.

Virgin will not offer other boxes to different houses; there is also a maximum number with Virgin.

If you are to tell Sky about what you want to do, they will say no.

Each property needs a seperate subscription as well as a TV License.

Regards switching to + boxes it is a simple cable switch however +Boxes need 2 cable feeds from the dish to record 2 things at once.

[Kymmy]

Originally Posted by ocav

Regards switching to + boxes it is a simple cable switch however +Boxes need 2 cable feeds from the dish to record 2 things at once.

Actually it needs two cables due to horizontal/vertical polarities which is switched at the LNB but that's a whole other techie discussion

[muppetman11]

It's a breach of the Sky Multiscreen T&C's , I wouldn't want my Sky+HD box connected on the same network as a load of students next door anyway.

[ocav]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

It's a breach of the Sky Multiscreen T&C's , I wouldn't want my Sky+HD box connected on the same network as a load of students next door anyway.

Not anymore. Since 18th December, all new installs of Sky Multiscreen do not require a phone line. All existing installs require the phone line to remain.

Originally Posted by Kymmy

Actually it needs two cables due to horizontal/vertical polarities which is switched at the LNB but that's a whole other techie discussion

No. It needs two as there are two tuners, nothing to do with the polarity at the LNB.

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by ocav

Not anymore. Since 18th December, all new installs of Sky Multiscreen do not require a phone line. All existing installs require the phone line to remain.



No. It needs two as there are two tuners, nothing to do with the polarity at the LNB.

I'm well aware of that I was referring to boxes at another property

Originally Posted by ocav

No. It needs two as there are two tuners, nothing to do with the polarity at the LNB.

At the risk of sidetracking. I believe you're wrong. A sky+ box or other twin tuner device can record two channels from one LNB (if wired correctly) except if they are on different polarities.

I've read discussions of people who have both a Freesat and Sky box on one LNB feed. It works, and both can be viewed on different channels at once. The problem arises when one box changes the polarity, meaning that the other box can no longer watch the channel it was watching (or only has a 50% chance of being able to). There are also issues (some fatal) with the LNB command signal if 2 are sent at once, but it works.

Strange subject for a cable forum though, sorry.