The bill
A traditional pay-TV package typically runs from about £90 to £130 a month once sport and HD are added, on a term of 18 to 24 months with annual increases written into it.
An IPTV plan is pre-paid, from a few pounds a month on a longer term, with no contract and no price rise halfway through.
The hardware
Satellite needs a dish, a box and an installer, and the box usually stays rented. IPTV needs a device you probably already own — a stick, a smart TV, a phone or a laptop.
What the picture depends on
- Satellite: the dish alignment, the weather and the box.
- IPTV: your broadband stability and your Wi-Fi. A wired connection is the single biggest upgrade for 4K.
- Neither is immune to a bad evening, but an IPTV fault is usually fixable in minutes rather than waiting for an engineer visit.
Where satellite still wins
If your broadband is genuinely poor, satellite carries on working through a weak line, and it does not care how many people in the street are streaming at once. It is also the simpler choice for someone who wants one bill and no devices to manage.
For everyone else, the channel count, the catch-up and the price are usually the deciding factors.
Common questions
No card for the trial
Test it yourself for 24 hours
Message our team on WhatsApp and we will set the trial up on the device you watch on. Nothing renews on its own.