Satellite dish installation & repairs in Cambridge

Sky and Freesat dishes across Cambridge

Satellite TV relies on a dish pointing very precisely at a satellite parked high above the equator. Cambridge’s flat landscape helps, since there are no hills to block a dish’s view to the south-east, but trees, chimneys and the new buildings going up around the city often do. A dish that worked well when it was fitted can lose its picture years later because a neighbour’s tree has grown into the line.

We install Sky and Freesat dishes, realign dishes that have drifted, replace failed LNBs, move dishes for loft conversions and extensions, and fit multi-room and communal systems across every CB1 to CB5 postcode. If you’re thinking of changing to a broadband TV service, we’ll explain which boxes rely on a dish and which don’t.

Satellite services in Cambridge

Sky dish installation

Dishes for Sky Q, which needs one, fitted with an LNB suited to the number of boxes. Sky Glass and Sky Stream work over broadband with no dish, so if you’re moving to one, we can take the old dish down or repoint it for Freesat.

Freesat installation

Freesat gives you hundreds of channels with no subscription. It’s a useful option in streets where trees or tall buildings make the aerial signal from Sandy Heath unreliable.

Dish realignment and LNB replacement

Signal dropping in every shower, or one recording tuner dead while the other carries on? Either the dish has shifted a fraction or the LNB, the small unit held out on the arm, is failing. A meter puts the dish back on target, and a fresh LNB sorts the rest.

Moving a dish

A dormer, a rear extension, new render or a row of PV modules can leave a dish in the way or in shade. We relocate it to a spot that still sees the south-east sky, re-run the cable and seal the wall.

Multi-room and communal satellite

One dish, one multiswitch and a cable to every box or flat in the building. Useful in the city’s converted houses and new apartment blocks, where one tidy dish replaces a cluster on the walls.

Foreign-language satellite

Cambridge’s university and research community comes from all over the world. We align dishes to Hotbird and other satellites for channels from Europe and beyond, alongside your main dish if there’s room.

Satellite repairs and ‘no satellite signal’ messages

A ‘no satellite signal’ message almost always has an outside cause. The dish may have been knocked by wind, roofers or a ladder, a tree may have grown into its view, or the LNB may simply have worn out. Indoors, a connector that has worked loose at the back of the receiver, or a dead multiswitch in a block of flats, gives exactly the same message.

Before ringing, switch the box off at the wall for a minute and check the dish isn’t covered by snow or caught in a downpour, because both clear by themselves. If the message comes back, we can usually find and fix the fault on a single visit.

No signalCheck your aerial connection

Signal

Turn up the signal

35%

No signalBreaking upOdd blockPerfect

Finding a place for a dish

Your dish has to see the south-eastern sky without anything in the way, which rules out most north-facing walls and spots shaded by big trees. In most of Cambridge you don’t need planning permission for a dish, but the controls are stricter inside conservation areas, which cover large parts of the city such as Mill Road, De Freville, Newnham Croft and the Historic Core, and for listed buildings. There, a dish on a wall or roof facing the street may need consent. We’ll suggest a less visible spot, often a rear wall or a low bracket, and tell you when it’s worth checking with Greater Cambridge Shared Planning first.

Areas we cover in and around Cambridge

Satellite installations and repairs across Cambridge and the villages around it.

Nearby towns we also cover

• Harlow
• Epping
• Braintree
• Chelmsford
• Colchester
• Loughton

Cambridge questions