DSTV without contract possible?

JenniferArden

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May 16, 2009
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Anyone know if its possible to have DSTV without a contract? I want to install DSTV in an apartment on our smallholding for guests that visit for a week/two. Want to buy DSTV only for 1 month as and when required. Place will be empty most of the year so not going to waste money on a contract.

Thanks

Jennifer
 

Dairyfarmer

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Apr 17, 2016
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Yes you can. You just phone and tell them what dates you want it active. You can even do it for a day. When I had DSTV I would often open my FIL's decoder for the rugby on a saturday.
 

Drifter

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Yes you can. You just phone and tell them what dates you want it active. You can even do it for a day. When I had DSTV I would often open my FIL's decoder for the rugby on a saturday.

Nope, you cant do that anymore. If you activate today, it has to be to the end of the current billing cycle. I tried the other day, they refused.
 

Luke7777

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Set it up as a holiday decoder, which you can activate/deactivate as needed. Assuming you have a existing DStv subscription, otherwise forget what I said
 

Sumen

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Yes you can. You just phone and tell them what dates you want it active. You can even do it for a day. When I had DSTV I would often open my FIL's decoder for the rugby on a saturday.
Not anymore, I think you can only upgrade and activate on the same day but can only downgrade or cancel in the next month.
 

R13...

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Not anymore, I think you can only upgrade and activate on the same day but can only downgrade or cancel in the next month.

Doesn't that restriction only apply to downgrading and not upgrading/activation/deactivation?
 

Sumen

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Doesn't that restriction only apply to downgrading and not upgrading/activation/deactivation?
But technically you already paid for 1 month so the service should run till the end of the month.
 

JenniferArden

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May 16, 2009
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Thank you for the information everyone, at least I now know i do not need to take out a contract which is good news.
I have no problem to pay a month's subscription, just dont want to pay for a year for something that might only be used 1 or 2 months out of the year.
 

JenniferArden

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May 16, 2009
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Over to something else,
I heard some decoders will not work in future as DSTV is changing their system to digital only.
Anyone know if this is true?
I have a small decoder, is either or looks similar to a DSD3U decoder, its a cheap low budget decoder and cannot receive / display HD channels.
 

Alton Turner Blackwood

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Over to something else,
I heard some decoders will not work in future as DSTV is changing their system to digital only.
Anyone know if this is true?
I have a small decoder, is either or looks similar to a DSD3U decoder, its a cheap low budget decoder and cannot receive / display HD channels.
Your decoder will work
 

Geoff.D

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Phew thats good news thank you :)

The 1110; 1131, 1132 decoders still work BUT the service is becoming increasingly slow to respond. Access to the EPG is very slow to load. All these decoders have RF modulators.

The replacement decoders are the 4136 (4U, 4S) which are the LAST small decoders with RF modulators.

The new 5 series model 4137 (5U,5S) DO NOT have RF modulators.

The decoder that becomes obsolete at the end of the month (March 2018) is the MNET analogue terrestrial decoder.
 
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JenniferArden

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May 16, 2009
Messages
100
The 1110; 1131, 1132 decoders still work BUT the service is becoming increasingly slow to respond. Access to the EPG is very slow to load. All these decoders have RF modulators.

The replacement decoders are the 4136 (4U, 4,S) which are the LAST small
decoders with RF modulators.

The new 5 series model 4137 (5U,5S) DO NOT have RF modulators.

The decoder that becomes obsolete at the end of the month (March 2018) is the MNET analogue terrestrial decoder.

Thank you for the info Geoff, I noticed on the small cheapy decoder it takes a long time for channel info to display on screen which is really frustrating. But the cheappy will do for use for 1 or 2 months a year. Ive been using cheapys for the past 6 years and am really chuffed with my Explorer 2 I picked up last week for R1K at Dion Wired. Its a huge improvement over my previous decoder.
 
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Geoff.D

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Set it up as a holiday decoder, which you can activate/deactivate as needed. Assuming you have a existing DStv subscription, otherwise forget what I said

To remove all doubt and to confirm the info posted by Luke777, NO MC service can be accessed without a contract. The holiday option is activated on an existing contract/subscription as a holiday decoder for a month at a time.
 

cobussc

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Mar 17, 2014
Messages
48
To remove all doubt and to confirm the info posted by Luke777, NO MC service can be accessed without a contract. The holiday option is activated on an existing contract/subscription as a holiday decoder for a month at a time.

If you use the self-service option, you can use the sliding scale in your holiday option to choose the number of days - I reconnected for 5 days today.
 
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