Free to Air vs Freeview vs Freesat Satellite Receivers

OVERVIEW

The 3 terms widely (and often incorrectly) used to describe a 

receiver to get the free satellite channels are:

• Free to Air:  Generic Satellite receiver
• Freesat:  ITV/BBC patented range
• Freeview: NOT a Satellite receiver - its a Terrestrial Digital receiver

Below we give full details of the differences

Free to Air (FTA)

• This is a Satellite Digital receiver and is used with a satellite dish
• It is Free to Air meaning it is used to pick up free satellite channels
• but can come with a card slot to allow it to be used for subscription services
• It is capable of working with any satellite (so long as the dish is large enough)
• Manufactured by a range of up to about 120 different companies
• Boxes can come in the following formats
  • Standard definition receivers: No hard drive
  • High Definition Receivers: Option to add on external hard drive
  • HD+ Receiver: Twin feeds to allow you to record one channel & look at another
  • HD Satellite & Combo receiver: a satellite feed & a Digital terrestrial feed
• Good Points ?
  • It is non subscription
  • It is very versatile in terms of channel line up and satellite
  • huge range of different boxes
  • generally cheaper than freesat
• Drawback
  • Unlike freesat it does not automatically updates if their is a frequency change
  •  or a new channels becomes available
  • getting spare remotes etc can be a problem
• Main channels include (on astra 2, but totally flexible):
  • BBC 1,2,3,4,
  • UTV, ITV 2,3,4,
  • Channel 4, E4, More 4,
  • 6 News Channels, 7 Childrens, 8 Movie channels.
• TVTRADE.IE stock these in our free to air satellite receiver section

FREESAT

Main points

• This is a Satellite Digital receiver
  • Works a Satellite dish
• It meets the Freesat standards set out by ITV/BBC to work
• It will work anywhere in Ireland from a 60cm satellite dish
• It comes in range of types (and about 5 manufactures):
  • Freesat SD: SD with no hard drive
  • Freesat HD: HD with no hard drive
  • Freesat+:   twin feed, with hard drive, series link etc
• What makes Freesat special ?
  • It is non subscription
  • It has a standard channel line up (programme with a UK Post code)
  • it automatically updates if their is a frequency change
  • or a new channels becomes available
  • easy to get spare remotes etc (there is 10 million freesat boxes out there)
• Drawbacks
  • It is generally more expensive that free to air boxes
  • It is not as flexible - i.e. you can't decide the order of the channels in freesat mode
  • Only works off the Astra 2 (28 degrees E) satellite.
• Main channels include:
  • BBC 1,2,3,4,
  • UTV, ITV 2,3,4,
  • Channel 4, E4, More 4,
  • 6 News Channels, 7 Childrens, 8 Movie channels.
• TVTRADE.IE stock these in our Freesat Satellite Receivers section

Freeview

Main points

• This is a terrestrial Digital receiver (NOT a satellite receiver)
  • Works with UHF Aerial rather than a Satellite dish
• It meets the Freeview standards set out by ITV/BBC
• It does not generally work in Ireland (Except along border and East coast)
• It is not stocked by TVTrade.ie
• What people generally mean when they say Freeview is that they are looking for either:
  • Free To Air Receiver
  • Freesat Receiver