Watching TV and recording with no aerial

[Pevans14]

Hi I have a KD-49XE8005.

I am in an apartment which only has access to Hyperoptic and Virgin Broadband and no aerial. Nobody here seems to know why.

With the increased cost of Virgin which I have been using for Broadband and TV, I was hoping to find an alternative. Hyperoptic is cheaper but doesn't offer any TV packages. 

I can't seem to find a TV box that will give me access to Freeview and the ability to record. The BT TV Pro box apparently can but you have to have BT broadband to access it.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

THanks

[royabrown2]

@Pevans14 

I think Freeview over the internet is coming, but it’s not here yet 😢

The BT Pro box is getting there, but it’s not quite all the way yet, and yes, you need BT Internet and a BT TV subscription, which rules it out for you.

I think the next nearest thing is from Sky’s new internet-only offerings, Sky Glass and Sky Stream; with Sky Glass they supply the TV, but if you just want the streaming service, you get a puck (box) from them, and use your own TV.

It can’t record in the sense of putting your own personal copy of a programme in storage on their device, as the satellite-delivered Sky Q can do, but Sky are apparently keeping copies of most of what they broadcast that you can access, as a sort of ‘virtual recording’. You would have to investigate if this would meet your needs here or not.

You will also have to compare the cost of Sky Stream plus Hyperoptic versus the cost of Virgin; I think you might well find that Virgin is still the cheaper option here.

[daveyh64]

Have you thought about an indoor aerial.

I live in a tenement and the old roof aerial fell off during a storm.

Bought an indoor aerial from John Lewis (no longer available)

Lots of options on Amazon.

Aerial is about the size of a smart phone and sits on the window ledge.

Aerial provides Freeview to two PVRs and two TVs.

All devices have strong signal and 100% picture quality, and all available Freeview channels

from a transmitter that is 40 miles away.