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Dan52
Scholar

Using now tv with existing skyplus box

Hi I am new to Now TV and have a question about using the now TV box and still keeping a sky plus box running alongside.

 

I have signed up for both Now TV fibre and The Sky sports packages. I have just left sky after many years which I had broadband and sky entertainment plus sports.

 

I am wondering if I can only use the Now TVbox to watch sky sports or other packages if purchased but still use my sky box to watch standard freesat channels?

If so can I plug the network cable into the sky and then feed another to the now TV box? Also would the hdmi have to use 2 x hdmi cables, and from the now TV box and one from the skyplus to the TV. It's quite complicated to use both. Or would it be easier to use the stick version?

Any help would be appreciated because if we lose certain channels my wife will be giving me earache lol

 

Regards Dan

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION
Anonymous User
Not applicable

You should be able to connect both up with seperate hdmi cables, then switch between the 2 via your tv depending on which one you want to watch. 

 

If you dont have sufficient hdmi ports in your tv, you can purchase a hdmi splitter for around £15 (mine came with a remote), plug both into the splitter and then the splitter into the tv. 

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10 REPLIES 10
Anonymous User
Not applicable

You should be able to connect both up with seperate hdmi cables, then switch between the 2 via your tv depending on which one you want to watch. 

 

If you dont have sufficient hdmi ports in your tv, you can purchase a hdmi splitter for around £15 (mine came with a remote), plug both into the splitter and then the splitter into the tv. 

Dan52
Scholar

Thank you for your reply.

 

I have enough Hdmi's.

 

Which do you recommend the now tv box or the stick?

 

I'm guessing the box has more capabilites as it is more expensive?

Regards

 

Dan

Anonymous User
Not applicable

I might be wrong but I’m pretty sure you can still pause/rewind live tv if you are watching it through sky. Losing the ability to record is obviously a nuisance, but I find with the entertainment pass you can watch pretty much all the decent stuff on catch up/box sets if you miss it live. 

 

I dont have the box so can’t comment on any difference. But I do have 3 sticks (1 for each bedroom) and would definitely recommend them. For instance if you only wanted to buy 1, it’s easily portable and plugs in to any tv with a hdmi port (connects over WiFi). Also means that if you go away for a few days or on holiday then you can easily take it with you and continue watching providing suitable tv and WiFi are available. 

 

One other thing il add about the stick - the reason I have one for my bedroom is because with the entertainment pass you still get a few decent channels you can watch live too. Means if I’m tired I can get into bed and watch certain programs comfortably rather than waiting up on the sofa for it to come on

Dan52
Scholar

Thank you.

 

I am thinking of getting a box for the front room and maybe a stick which i can plug in upstairs and transfer room to room.

 

Dan

schnapps
Legend 5
Legend 5

Hi @Dan52 

 

If you have flakey wifi reception where you are going to locate the stick behind your TV then i would look at the NowTV box over hard wired Ethernet.

 

Do you own a 4K TV ?

 

The only real difference apart from an Ethernet port on the NowTV 4K smart box and a higher price is that you can watch 4K YouTube, Netflix 4K if you have a premium Netflix sub and BBC iPlayer can play in 4K (content permitted where there has only been one TV show so far which was Dynasties which is no longer available to watch in UHD on iPlayer) on the NowTV smart 4K box.

 

Just be aware currently both the NowTV stick & NowTV 4K smart box only streams NowTV content on their passes in 720p.

 

If you own a 4K TV, then you may already have these 4K Apps on your television.

Dan52
Scholar

Thank you for your reply.

 

I have a 4K smart tv.

 

However is is a panasonic and apparently doesnt support now tv. Only had the tv a few months so should of looked into this earlier, but at the time i wasnt thinking of getting rid of sky tv.

 

Regards

 

Dan

schnapps
Legend 5
Legend 5

Hi @Dan52 

 

I also own a Panasonic 4K TV and like you i am disappointed that no NowTV App has ever been added to the FireFox platform Smiley Sad

 

Obviously you are covered with Netflix and YouTube in 4K from your Panasonic TV.

 

Personally i can't ever see 4K ever happening in the short or mid term on the NowTV streaming service Smiley Sad.

 

When there is deals around you can pick up the stick for around £15 (SRP £20) with a bundled voucher pass included or the 4K NowTV smart box with bundled voucher passes for around £25 to £30 (SRP £50).

 

If you decide go with the stick and you find the wifi is poor with dropouts then take the stick back and swap it for the slightly more expensive 4K box and try the box over both wifi or my preferred method over Ethernet if you can practically run a Ethernet cable or use Powerline Ethernet plugs in your home environment.

 

Also, just to let you know the NowTV Hub 2 router that NowTV provide in their Broadband & Telephone package has only two Ethernet ports.

 

Should you need more than 2 number Ethernet ports, then look at adding a multi port Gigabit Ethernet Hub switch, this is what i have done in my home setup. 

 

 

Dan52
Scholar

Thank you for your help Schnapps.

 

I have set up the router and now found it only has the 2 ethernet ports which is now occupied by my sky box and my WD My Book Hard drive. 

When I get the now tv box I will unplug sky because I will no longer require it connected to the internet as I doubt it will have any use. I will avoid the hub as just another box and another plug socket. I think I will go for the box as not much more if I get a pass deal with it. 

 

 

 

I've only just set up the router so not sure how good the wifi will be. I 

RoyB
Legend

Have you got both a NowTV router and a NowTV box?  We have seen some confusion on here about this, and you will need both.

 

The NowTV router will replace the router you got from Sky, and the NowTV box will do the job for NowTV that the Sky box did for Sky, except that the NowTV box only gets its programmes off the internet, and it doesn’t record.

 

The Sky box will (I am told, I don’t know from personal experience) continue to show you the Free To Air satellite channels from Sky (technically, these are not Freesat, but I know what you mean) at no cost and with no subscription, based on your existing viewing card. And the box is yours to keep.

 

But it will no longer make recordings, nor play any existing recordings, even those from FTA channels.

 

You will need an HDMI cable from each device to your TV. I don’t know why that would be complicated, as long as your TV has enough HDMI inputs to leave everything plugged in always; you just choose which HDMI input you want to use from your remote. And, depending, some devices will automatically switch the TV to the correct input when you put it on.

 

As regards Ethernet cables, your router should support about four devices that way, including the Sky box.

 

The NowTV box can run over WiFi, so won’t need such a cable; indeed, if you discover from above that you haven’t actually got a NowTV box, and buy a Stick instead, then that only uses WiFi. But it still uses an HDMI socket, though it plugs in it directly. It is no easier to use than a box, and indeed no harder, though you might save a mains cable by powering it off a USB port on the TV.

 

You will note though, from the above, that you will no longer have any recording capability anywhere. If this matters to you, then you can buy a Freesat recorder, which will replace your intended continued use of the Sky box.

 

If you have a terrestrial TV aerial as well as a dish, then you have further options, but I won’t go into those unless you report back that you do.

 

 

Set a Payment PIN on your account so that no-one but you can buy memberships on it. Check your bank accounts monthly for any other unexpected payments to Now. That way you can at least nip them in the bud, while you and Now figure out whose fault they are.