The short answer to the above question is NO. There has been a warning on my FAQ page about multiroom contracts for many years but of course not everyone reads that page. Unfortunately in 2011 someone fell into a trap that will cost him a lot of money to get out of. So I decided it's time to give the warning a bit more prominence by writing a separate page on the topic.

The guy concerned had arranged for Sky to install a 2nd digibox in his flat and then shipped it out to his second home in mainland Europe!  I advised him he needed to get the box shipped back again fast, before Sky increases his Direct Debit payments. (Or worse still, discovers it's outside the UK and cancels his entire contract and switches off both cards.)

Sky's multiroom contract is a concession, and as such it comes with Terms & Conditions attached. For an extra £10 per month, you get all your subscription channels on a separate digibox in another room. However, Sky long ago recognised that such an arrangement is a fraudsters' charter, in that neighbours could get together and defraud Sky out of 2 full-price contracts. To prevent that, the T&Cs say that both boxes must be connected permanently to the same phone line so that Sky can check they are where they're supposed to be. What's more, Sky monitors those phone connections rigorously and people who don't comply are likely to find they're suddenly paying for 2 full-price contracts instead of the reduced multiroom one.

You can't even take the viewing card out of the box to use in another box away from home because Sky will detect its removal and act accordingly. So basically your options for using satellite TV in your caravan are restricted. Your choices are

1. Buy a separate digibox with a £25 FreesatFromSky viewing card and leave your multiroom boxes to record at home as required, but you won't get any subscription channels on that digibox, nor will you get HD.
2. Buy a freesat box which will give you recording facilities away from home, and HD, without incurring a subscription charge (again you won't get any subscription channels).
3. Wing it! If you take one of the multiroom boxes away from home (or remove the card out of it), you run the risk that Sky will run its monitoring process while you're away and will assume the box isn't where it should be. You'll then get a snotty letter from Sky telling you to comply with the T&Cs. If you get home again in time to plug the box back into the phone line, the only damage is that Sky might increase the frequency at which it monitors your equipment. On the other hand if you don't, you'll find your Direct Debit payments rising to double the level of a single subscription (backdated to the date of the letter).

How often and at what intervals Sky does its monitoring is a closely guarded secret, for obvious commercial reasons. So it's entirely up to you whether you're prepared to take the risk. All I can do is flag up the consequences of ignoring that risk.

Even amongst caravanners who are aware of the restriction, it annoys many. They argue that if they leave both boxes at home, they won't be used anyway despite the subscription still being paid, so what difference does it make? The answer of course is that it's the only method Sky has to prevent fraudulent use of the boxes by neighbours. One might argue that the caravanners' case is a legitimate one and that Sky should make an exception, but it's never going to happen - it would be impossible to distinguish between 'legitimate' and fraudulent situations.

It's also worth pointing out that if it's not physically possible to connect both digiboxes to a landline phone, then you're simply not entitled to a multiroom contract. Many people for example don't have a landline phone at all, preferring to use a mobile exclusively. Others might not be able to wire in a suitable extension. But the responsibility is yours - an inability to comply doesn't mean that Sky will relax its rules.