I cancelled my Sky subscription a couple of years ago, and ordered a Sky freesat card, and payed them (Sky) �20 for it.
When the notice time ran out and I called to ask them to start up the new card, I was told I didn't need one, just use the original Sky card and get all but the pay channels. I was told to send the new (Sky freesat) card back and was given a refund.
That's when the fun began. After a few days I started losing channels. This became progressively worse. The thing to do was turn it all off and back on again, but this became more and more frequent. Having called Sky, I asked them if they were doing it to me, they said "No, there must be something wrong with the box, you will need an engineer for �65". "No thanks", I said, "I'll get another box", and I did.
It worked fine, so threw the other one away. A few days later, same thing started again. Eventually, I signed up on a deal for Xmas at half price. The problem stopped, so I didn't cancel it. I realised they had me by the shorts.
I then find out that contrary to what the operator at Sky had told me, they alter the box's settings via the dish, not the phone line, so it really was them doing it to me.
I have just cancelled again, and this time I will buy the Freeview box from Dixons. Sky can go whistle. The dish should work on the new system, just plug it in, so I'm informed by my aerial man. We'll see.
�50 for Freeview is just over one month for Sky.