How do I: Set up my pay TV in another room?

 

Will Dean
Wednesday 02 May 2012 20:35 BST
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Sky Multiroom allows you to put another Sky box in another room, but charges £10.25 a month for the privilege
Sky Multiroom allows you to put another Sky box in another room, but charges £10.25 a month for the privilege

With most homes in the UK already set up with digital television, it's unlikely that the end of analogue has affected your main telly in the front room. But, for many, it's the old set in the bedroom or the den that's been rendered useless. Especially if it's one not connected to the house's main aerial and has been relying on a plug-in analogue aerial booster.

The most obvious solution is to buy a digital aerial booster with a Freeview box – you can get the aerial from Argos or Maplin for around £15 – but, if you've got a subscription digital set-up in your living room there are a number of ways to spread that multichannel fun around. Both of Britain's main subscription providers offer monthly paid-for options.

Sky's Multiroom allows you to put another Sky box in another room. But it's at the cost of an extra £10.25 (plus set-up and, if you want Sky+, box costs) so, unless you're in a house share, the extra cost may prove prohibitive.

Virgin Media is slightly cheaper with extra boxes on most packages coming in at £6.50 a month (set-up for the standard V HD box is free, and £50/£100 for the 500GB/TB TiVo boxes). Depending on your circumstances, you may be able to negotiate a better deal.

Another option comes in the shape of a wireless video sender (a good starter option is Nikkai's HQ+ 5.8GHz – around £50 from Maplin/ Amazon), which wirelessly transmits the signal from your source box to another television. You can watch only the same channel as the source, but it's not bad for a one-off payment. HD senders are available at extra cost.

And finally, if you're willing to ditch the telly, but still want to watch television in bed, Sky customers can always watch their channels on the firm's mobile-/laptop-friendly Sky Go service.

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