Sky TV Without a dish?

[Dustydog]

I still erect our 66 cm eliptical dish enabling access to Sky TV whilst touring.
I see a new system came out a while back Sky Stream.
Is anyone using any of the Sky systems. Will Stream work without a dish? Do you need Wifi?

 

[otherclive]

My daughter has Sky Stream, it is a small box that uses domestic wifi and plugs into the tv. Her sat dish is redundant.

 

[Jcloughie]

Do you need Wifi?

Yes, in the same way as you would for Netflix or Prime, etc.

I think the Sky streaming box is the device that unlocks your paid-for subscriptions, sadly it does not allow recording so a WiFi connection is essential.

I don't know if you can get Sky on your phone. I used my phone to stream while away. Worked most of the time as WiFi is so much more available. But I had backups in the form of terrestrial TV and a hard disk.

John

 

[Dustydog]

My daughter has Sky Stream, it is a small box that uses domestic wifi and plugs into the tv. Her sat dish is redundant.

Therein lies the problem for the tourer . Wifi. Most sites it’s rubbish and I doubt it could cope with the Sky? Not sure it will help me

 

[Woodentop]

Oh come on Dusty! Use your phone (with large or unlimited data) as a wi-fi hotspot and feed the Sky unit from it. You may of course have to revert to an older phone (realistically 4G) or a mi-fi so that you can use SPs other than the one you use for your phone as not all SPs has the same coverage.

 

[Jcloughie]

Oh come on Dusty! Use your phone (with large or unlimited data) as a wi-fi hotspot and feed the Sky unit from it. You may of course have to revert to an older phone (realistically 4G) or a mi-fi so that you can use SPs other than the one you use for your phone as not all SPs has the same coverage.

That’s right, we had two 4G phones deliberately using two different services. Streaming in HD was possible even if we could only get a 3G service. 2G would not do the job though.

In the last couple of years we were hardly ever disappointed. In fact, the phones were often better than site WiFi. And just as good as a MyFi, but cheaper.

Jihn

 

[Dustydog]

Oh come on Dusty! Use your phone (with large or unlimited data) as a wi-fi hotspot and feed the Sky unit from it. You may of course have to revert to an older phone (realistically 4G) or a mi-fi so that you can use SPs other than the one you use for your phone as not all SPs has the same coverage.

I learnt tethering my I pad to the I phone a while back enabling internet access. However we have been on a number of sites where the phone signals were non existent eg parts of Shropshire. And no WiFi. I’ll look into the Sky Stream cost . 👍

 

[Buckman]

We had NOW TV which is the streaming service for Sky. For Cinema and Entertainment the cost is £11 a month, but you are locked in for 6 months so okay over the summer period when out and about in the caravan. No need to record if streaming.

 

[JTQ]

No need to record if streaming.

Though that again fails where as is being discussed there is no internet connection, be it via a mobile data network signal or local wifi.

Here, DD has to hang in with their dish and satellite system, and site dish where there is an unobstructed view of the satellite cluster.
Or go the prerecorded route where even that is an available option.

 

[otherclive]

I learnt tethering my I pad to the I phone a while back enabling internet access. However we have been on a number of sites where the phone signals were non existent eg parts of Shropshire. And no WiFi. I’ll look into the Sky Stream cost . 👍

Recently we have left EE were our phones were on a single account since 1999 (one2one) and my wife has moved to Tesco and I have moved to IDmobile. So now our basic signals come from two different providers, O2 and Three. It’s something we often discussed when away in the van but never got around to it as in some areas we were without a signal, but others had one. It’s also part of the strategy to improve my wife’s credit rating. So she even pays her own phone bill now with her own credit card. 👍

 

[Buckman]

Though that again fails where as is being discussed there is no internet connection, be it via a mobile data network signal or local wifi.

Here, DD has to hang in with their dish and satellite system, and site dish where there is an unobstructed view of the satellite cluster.
Or go the prerecorded route where even that is an available option.

We have a satellite dish as a back up and in the past few years we have never been on a site where there is no signal, but obviously they do exist. Anyway if there is no signal the Sky streaming box will not work either.

 

[mjh73]

We use PS4, with Sky Go app connected to phones hot spot - works a treat!

 

[ProfJohnL]

It is of course a matter of personal preferences, and I'm not criticising anyone in particular, But I do wonder why so many caravanners seem to want to take every home entertainment system with them on holiday.

For us one of the many joys of camping and later caravaning, was the getting away from so may artificial entertainments, and back to family time together perhaps playing Scrabble or some other board game where it was necessary to interact with humans.

I look back with pleasure at such times. We even played verbal word games at family meal times at home, it just got us all interacting together.

Ho hum times change - not always for the better.

 

[RogerL]

It is of course a matter of personal preferences, and I'm not criticising anyone in particular, But I do wonder why so many caravanners seem to want to take every home entertainment system with them on holiday.

For us one of the many joys of camping and later caravaning, was the getting away from so may artificial entertainments, and back to family time together perhaps playing Scrabble or some other board game where it was necessary to interact with humans.

I look back with pleasure at such times. We even played verbal word games at family meal times at home, it just got us all interacting together.

Ho hum times change - not always for the better.

My camping days were spent in a tent too low to sit up straight in, with a loose-fit groundsheet so the wind/rain came in, we had to light a fire to get any warm food and dig a hole as a latrine - so yes, times change and definitely for the better on balance.

 

[Buckman]

When we were young and fit we did not have TV broadcast in the country until 1975 and even after that there was no way you could take a TV with you anyway due to the size and weight of the TV!

I spent many nights living rough in the bush with the fire burning to keep wild animals away as did not fancy being eaten by a lion, leopard or similar! Now we are no longer fit and have mobility issues so watching TV in the evenings in the caravans is our way of relaxing after being out most of the day. Sadly going out almost every evening for drinks and meals in a local pub is just that bit too expensive!

 

[JTQ]

It is of course a matter of personal preferences, and I'm not criticising anyone in particular, But I do wonder why so many caravanners seem to want to take every home entertainment system with them on holiday.

To feed your "wonder", one angle some of us, ourselves included now, is going away in our caravan, generally for quite long is we are not "holidaying", but "living".

That's what we "do", we live away from the familiarity and general loneliness of home life.
Having lived here for 59 years, 24 of them now without the intense and differing interfacing our individual professional lives involved.
Now we "live" for periods in a bit more unfamiliar territory, with neighbours and with infinitely more opportunities to interface with others.

However, we do like to be informed, quite probably significantly more than like being entertained, so getting internet & TV derived news and informative, conversation provoking stimulus, is nearly as needed in the van as at home. Rarely I fail to get both.

 

[Elliott34]

Im prittyy good with technology but I wish some one would explain in detail how to tethere ,mirror and all the other things that are mentioned in the thtread becouse I am totaly lost sorry to sound so dumb

 

[JTQ]

"Tether", used in the context here, is putting a mobile phone into the mode it becomes a wifi "hotspot".
So where there is no usable/affordable wi fi, your phone can provide that.
It does this by consuming some of its Data allowance.
For watching TV etc, or things video, and very influenced by the quality of the video, standard, HD, 2K & 4K it needs lots of bandwidth, and consumes "lots" of data. With generous packages of data watching video this way is doable.


It could also be draining the phones power quite heavily, so you might need to consider using the phone coupled up to a power outlet.

There are devices that directly create a wifi hotspot from the mobile phone network, stand alone units, in which you place a data SIM card. These in the same way use the credit embedded or placed on that SIM card, using up data allowance and creating a wifi hotspot.
An example LINK

A hotspot, is a local transmitter of wifi, which normally is password protected, so only those who know that password can sap the owners credit up.