Sky Q = bobbins

Foulthrow · Post by **Foulthrow** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 4:07 pm

Anyone else got Sky Q?

We have recently had it installed as part of an offer after having Sky+ for donkeys.

Now, when we first got Sky+ it was the revolutionary stuff. Really impressive, worked well and changed the way you watched TV. With the hype about Sky Q I was expecting similar.

Oh dear.

What a pile of poo it is.

It really doesn't seem to do much more than the old gear - unless I'm missing something. And many of the useful features of the old Sky+ have disappeared.

The most disappointing thing is the supposed 'multiroom' function. The connection drops out all the time. So it isn't multiroom at all.

Am I missing something or have others experienced similar?

Needless to say once the offer is up the Sky Q isn't being renenwed. I'd be sick to my stomach if I was paying the £95 a month that it is meant to cost.

conyoviejo · Post by **conyoviejo** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 4:13 pm

No,you are spot on.. Wouldnt give it house room after all the bad reports it's had.. Sky plus is perfectly good enough

Saxoman · Post by **Saxoman** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 4:17 pm

Who the hell pays £95 a month for TV? Life get a.

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 4:19 pm

I had a number of issues originally, BUT some of them were due to the new build estate we live on having problems with the cabling etc.

I've boosted the broad band and not had a problem since.

Used to drop out a lot and switch itself off etc.
Had the main house broadband connected replaced as that was faulty, waited for all the updates to be done and it's spot on now.

Wouldn't be without it, the missus gets all her rubbish recorded etc.

There isn't a choice now anyway, all new boxes are Q ones.

FactualFrank · Post by **FactualFrank** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 4:20 pm

I was going to go for this, but told there's no socket for Magic Eye. I have a standard Sky+ box, with a lead that runs through to my bedroom and then a Magic Eye which allows me to change the channel in the lounge and watch tv in bed.

Doesn't Sky Q allow you to record more channels at the same time? I think that's the only thing that appealed to me, but even though Sky+ can do 2 at once (and watch a recording at the same time), with all the +1 channels, I've never had a problem finding an alternative time to record a programme.

It sounds to me like Sky Q is still very much in its infancy.

1968claret · Post by **1968claret** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 4:21 pm

Had it about 6 months and not had any problems. Costs me 12 per month which is what I was paying for multiroom but now can watch recorded programmes on both TVs and other devices through the house. Really good when you have got to older kids who usually want to watch something different than others.

Did find the wifi drops out every now and then but nothing major. I believe if you contact Sky they will send you a wifi booster to fix this

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 4:22 pm

Depends which box you're using.

The 2TB box can record 5 programmes whilst you watch a 6th.

I think our 1TB is 4 channels.

The 2TB does 4K for the sports too.

Foulthrow · Post by **Foulthrow** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 4:31 pm

Saxoman wrote:Who the hell pays £95 a month for TV? Life get a.

Thankfully, not me.

Foulthrow · Post by **Foulthrow** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 4:33 pm

Sidney1st wrote:I had a number of issues originally, BUT some of them were due to the new build estate we live on having problems with the cabling etc.

I've boosted the broad band and not had a problem since.

Used to drop out a lot and switch itself off etc.
Had the main house broadband connected replaced as that was faulty, waited for all the updates to be done and it's spot on now.

Wouldn't be without it, the missus gets all her rubbish recorded etc.

There isn't a choice now anyway, all new boxes are Q ones.

So, I can't go back to the old Sky+ setup?

FactualFrank · Post by **FactualFrank** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 4:34 pm

Saxoman wrote:Who the hell pays £95 a month for TV? Life get a.

This is only a wild guess, so you'll have to excuse me, but I'll go for... people who enjoy watching TV.

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 4:37 pm

Foulthrow wrote:So, I can't go back to the old Sky+ setup?

Nope, all new customers are getting Q boxes and any existing ones will end up with Q if they need to replace their box.

They also change the cables and/or sky dish I think so it only works with a Q box.

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 4:38 pm

Saxoman wrote:Who the hell pays £95 a month for TV? Life get a.

I've got one.

I enjoy having the full sky package, including things like Sky Go.

Foulthrow · Post by **Foulthrow** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 4:38 pm

And, we do have the wifi booster from Sky to try to help. Not that it does.

It's laughable really. It is 'boosting' a signal from about 20 feet away. Just a couple of doors in the way. No solid wall.

So, we have the Sky set up at one end of the front room. At the other end is a booster. Go another ten feet and you have the second box. Which can't always pick up this signal. Maybe if I line up a series of boosters - one after the other - do you think that will work?

FactualFrank · Post by **FactualFrank** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 4:40 pm

Sidney1st wrote:Nope, all new customers are getting Q boxes and any existing ones will end up with Q if they need to replace their box.

They also change the cables and/or sky dish I think so it only works with a Q box.

Strange. I had an engineer around here a few weeks ago because my box was playing up. He said I wouldn't be able to have a Q box here. I'm in a small block of apartments (3 levels).

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 4:40 pm

Use cabling then, the old fashioned way.

There are things to consider like where your router is.

It can't be placed next to houses main fuse box for example.
It also ideally needs to be plugged into the houses main broadband connecter.

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 4:41 pm

FactualFrank wrote:Strange. I had an engineer around here a few weeks ago because my box was playing up. He said I wouldn't be able to have a Q box here. I'm in a small block of apartments (3 levels).

Dunno what happens if your box goes pop then.

There are loads kicking around 2nd hand I suppose.

Jimmymaccer · Post by **Jimmymaccer** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 5:39 pm

I thought the picture was meant to be better than HD?

clarethomer · Post by **clarethomer** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 5:40 pm

We have Sky Q.

2TB box downstairs and a further mini q box in the attic which is our bedroom.

We have a further box on the first floor which purely helps strengthen the signal to the box in the Attic and also provides a wifi signal for that floor.

We pay about £50 per month which includes the telephone, max fibre and all the entertainment/family/music/documentary tv channels inc HD (everything except sport and movies).

I personally don't think thats a bad price considering that it would cost me £30+ for telephone and broadband. In terms of Sky Q -apart from 1 little error I get about HDCP which I can resolve fairly quickly without fuss, it has been brilliant.

The reason why I love it so much is that if I am watching Live TV and want to go to bed to continue watching, I can simply press 2 buttons, turn the tv off and know when I am in bed, I can pick up where I left off. That is not something you can do on Sky +

The other benefit to us is that if Im watching a film or something the other half doesn't fancy watching (easy now!) she can go to bed and watch something she has recorded on the downstairs box. Again Sky + would only let you watch things recorded on the box you were watching.

There is the UHD content also I can access but even though I have a UHD tv - rarely watch this as HD seems clear enough to me.

I remember when they installed, my installer said that my connection was probably at the bottom end of what he could get away with without having to install that additional booster but he did and he said it was about as high as he has seen it in terms of connection strength. Possibly some engineers may not have done that and i have got lucky but really can't fault it.

clarethomer · Post by **clarethomer** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 5:41 pm

Sidney1st wrote:Dunno what happens if your box goes pop then.

There are loads kicking around 2nd hand I suppose.

It could be because of the changes to the dish that they do. Maybe the setup and LNB that they install won't be compatible...

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 5:44 pm

clarethomer wrote:It could be because of the changes to the dish that they do. Maybe the setup and LNB that they install won't be compatible...

That's gone way over my head

Whitgord · Post by **Whitgord** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 5:49 pm

One issue is that you only rent the q boxes. I presume that they are then returned to sky if you cancel your subscription. Not an issue I suppose because if you don’t want sky then you don’t need the boxes. Problem is there is no option for just having the sky q boxes for the free channels. Another issue is that there is only one box doing the recordings (the mini boxes just stream from the main box). Because of this it is not obvious which person/room/mini box requested the recording. This can be an issue when deciding when to delete any recordings. Sky q only needs two cables from the dish (although our engineer left it so that we could revert back to the old multi room set up (4 cables from dish) if we wanted). The q program guide is not as clear as the old sky+ system. But it is designed more for catch up and streaming which seems to be the way ahead. Advantages of sky q - can record more programs at once, ultra 4K hd available, better sound.

Whitgord · Post by **Whitgord** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 5:51 pm

... also needed two boosters installed (free by sky engineer) to get wireless signal through two walls.

Saxoman · Post by **Saxoman** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 5:55 pm

Well I fill my boredom time by bugging all you on here for hours on end, and the money I save by not paying extortionate sky fees? That goes on my world travels come next summer time. That's a life.

Spijed · Post by **Spijed** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 5:56 pm

Sidney1st wrote:Depends which box you're using.

The 2TB box can record 5 programmes whilst you watch a 6th.

I think our 1TB is 4 channels.

The 2TB does 4K for the sports too.

How much TV do people really need to watch these days?

FactualFrank · Post by **FactualFrank** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 5:57 pm

Whitgord wrote:One issue is that you only rent the q boxes. I presume that they are then returned to sky if you cancel your subscription. Not an issue I suppose because if you don’t want sky then you don’t need the boxes. Problem is there is no option for just having the sky q boxes for the free channels. Another issue is that there is only one box doing the recordings (the mini boxes just stream from the main box). Because of this it is not obvious which person/room/mini box requested the recording. This can be an issue when deciding when to delete any recordings. Sky q only needs two cables from the dish (although our engineer left it so that we could revert back to the old multi room set up (4 cables from dish) if we wanted). The q program guide is not as clear as the old sky+ system. But it is designed more for catch up and streaming which seems to be the way ahead. Advantages of sky q - can record more programs at once, ultra 4K hd available, better sound.

So this SURELY means, if there's a problem with the box, you don't have to pay to get it fixed?

Sky can be ethically hurrendous. They've added things to my account without my consent twice in the recent past.

Sly sky - always keep an eye on your account. There's every chance you'll see things being added which you simply did not add.

Whitgord · Post by **Whitgord** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 5:57 pm

... I always get a good deal from sky by haggling. I certainly couldn’t travel the world for the amount I pay per year. But you pays your money and takes your choice.

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 5:58 pm

Spijed wrote:How much TV do people really need to watch these days?

Or it's a case of programmes we like on at the same time as other stuff we also like.

Whitgord · Post by **Whitgord** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 6:00 pm

Yes factual, that is one advantage of not owning the q boxes. Mind you I have always found sky willing to replace the sky+ boxes if they are faulty (for free).

FactualFrank · Post by **FactualFrank** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 6:03 pm

Whitgord wrote:Yes factual, that is one advantage of not owning the q boxes. Mind you I have always found sky willing to replace the sky+ boxes if they are faulty (for free).

Not sure how you managed that. For it to be replaced, they insist that an engineer comes out to check it which they charge you for - they then might replace the box, but you've still paid for the engineer.

Whitgord · Post by **Whitgord** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 6:03 pm

If you have 4 adults living in the house (as I do) who like different things, and you are losing the multi boxes of a multi room setup, then I can imagine you might very occasionally need to record 4 or 5 programs at once. Hopefully no more of the old recording clashes. And yes I am aware that you can find programs on at other times (like +1 channels). Like I said I think the whole future of tv watching is to not record as much but to watch things streamed live. It is just a case of needing a fast enough internet connection.

Whitgord · Post by **Whitgord** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 6:06 pm

Factual, they have replaced my sky+ box twice just by me telling them over the phone that it was faulty. Perhaps I sound genuine on the phone. Or maybe just fortunate. Anyway that is what happened.

Spijed · Post by **Spijed** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 6:09 pm

Whats wrong with making do with Freeview?

HatfieldClaret · Post by **HatfieldClaret** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 6:10 pm

Foulthrow

What Sky+ features are lost ?

Been seriously considering Sky Q but not too sure now.

clarethomer · Post by **clarethomer** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 6:10 pm

Sidney1st wrote:That's gone way over my head

Basically because it uses new technology the sky dish and/or LNB (The bit that sticks out from the dish to catch the satellite signal needs upgrading)

So if you had normal sky HD, you used to have an LNB that had 2 wires running from it I believe. When you got multi room, they needed one with 4 on it so they would upgrade it so you could watch different channels at the same time on diff boxes.

The sky Q technology needs a new LNB.

When you live in a flat, they location of the dish and how that is set up could be the issue. You may have a communal dish set up so if you need to change the LNB then it could impact on other users so that could be why you cannot have it.

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 6:11 pm

HatfieldClaret wrote:Foulthrow

What Sky+ features are lost ?

Been seriously considering Sky Q but not too sure now.

My old Sky+ R2-D2 remote is now obsolete

beddie · Post by **beddie** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 6:36 pm

I would contact them and ask for it to be removed as its not what you expected, they may do that or offer you a further discount in the hope you keep it. The more people that complain about it the more chance there is that it will be reduced overall.

ClaretAL · Post by **ClaretAL** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 6:54 pm

Sorry mate but I disagree, absolutely fantastic set up from my point if view. In FACT just finished furnishing my lift convection and put a sky q minibox up there with no wiring required apart from power due to if using the mesh Wi-Fi produced by the main box and it doesn't miss a beat. The only thing I did do was change my router to broadcast Wi-Fi 5ghz on channel 40 as the main sky q box broadcasts it's mesh Wi-Fi on channel 36 so was getting interrupted.

Joe14 · Post by **Joe14** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 7:04 pm

Works fine in our house. No more clashes and great being able to watch whatever wherever. £50 including broadband telephone etc. If you don't like the price ring up and complain or threaten offski's and hey presto they come up with a better price.

CrispyClaret · Post by **CrispyClaret** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 9:14 pm

Had it 3 months, no issues at all. Very pleased with it to be honest. Just the 1tb box plus a minibox, needed the extra router but it was free and works fine.
Lucky really as we have no cable options where I live and small chance of fibre.

FactualFrank · Post by **FactualFrank** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 9:24 pm

Spijed wrote:Whats wrong with making do with Freeview?

Eh?

FactualFrank · Post by **FactualFrank** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 9:25 pm

Whitgord wrote:Factual, they have replaced my sky+ box twice just by me telling them over the phone that it was faulty. Perhaps I sound genuine on the phone. Or maybe just fortunate. Anyway that is what happened.

I think it'll be down to the problem you explained to them. Some things they'll have noted from previous customers.

ColneMonkey · Post by **ColneMonkey** » Sun Oct 08, 2017 8:00 am

Sidney1st wrote:Depends which box you're using.

The 2TB box can record 5 programmes whilst you watch a 6th.

I think our 1TB is 4 channels.

The 2TB does 4K for the sports too.

I struggle to even find one program I want to watch amongst all the adverts, repeats and yet more adverts on TV these days. I can't see how anyone would ever need to record 5 programmes what are on at the same time while also watching a 6th!

Although, technically, that's quite an achievement.

piston broke · Post by **piston broke** » Sun Oct 08, 2017 10:25 am

Recently set up the daughter for multiroom.
Hardwired from a sky+ box. Found there is no RF out on later sky+ boxes. Had to use the AV out and buy an adaptor. Why can't they just leave stuff alone?

Foulthrow · Post by **Foulthrow** » Sun Oct 08, 2017 12:09 pm

HatfieldClaret wrote:Foulthrow

What Sky+ features are lost ?

Been seriously considering Sky Q but not too sure now.

I really wouldn't get SkyQ.

Features lost that I've found frustrating are...

You can no longer see how far you are through a programme. (Well, maybe you can, but it isn't as obvious).

This means you often click on a programme in a series and it is the end of the last one. When you go to delete it stays on this option - invariably I end up deleting the next programme and have to go into another menu to recover this.

Burt · Post by **Burt** » Sun Oct 08, 2017 12:30 pm

Foulthrow wrote:I really wouldn't get SkyQ.

Features lost that I've found frustrating are...

You can no longer see how far you are through a programme. (Well, maybe you can, but it isn't as obvious).

This means you often click on a programme in a series and it is the end of the last one. When you go to delete it stays on this option - invariably I end up deleting the next programme and have to go into another menu to recover this.

Its quite simple, just pause and unpause

I've had it over a year now, initial problems with mini boxes connecting but all sorted with latest firmware updates

Its not cheap but I think its the best out there and the new soundbox for £250 will be a steal

Sean Dyche's Watch · Post by **Sean Dyche's Watch** » Sun Oct 08, 2017 1:30 pm

Foulthrow wrote:
You can no longer see how far you are through a programme. (Well, maybe you can, but it isn't as obvious).

Do you use Sky Q with a touch remote? If so, just swipe up to see how far you are through a programme.

TractorFace · Post by **TractorFace** » Sun Oct 08, 2017 1:37 pm

I'm glad we still have Sky Plus. Sky Q sounds like a right hassle, especially for those of us who live in rural areas and have iffy broadband at the best of times. Hopefully, by the time ours needs replacing they will have come up with a better option, or at least one which incorporates the best of Sky Plus - like not relying on wifi for Sky Multi.

Rileybobs · Post by **Rileybobs** » Sun Oct 08, 2017 1:46 pm

It’s obviously an upgrade on Sky plus but it takes a little bit of getting used to. I don’t think there’s any features that have been lost and some of the new features like voice search I’ve found very useful. The touch remote can be annoying though as I constantly seem to be accidentally rewinding or fast-forwarding when I pick up the remote.

yTib · Post by **yTib** » Sun Oct 08, 2017 2:57 pm

wouldn't give murdoch ten bob.

FactualFrank · Post by **FactualFrank** » Sun Oct 08, 2017 2:59 pm

Rileybobs wrote:It’s obviously an upgrade on Sky plus but it takes a little bit of getting used to. I don’t think there’s any features that have been lost and some of the new features like voice search I’ve found very useful. The touch remote can be annoying though as I constantly seem to be accidentally rewinding or fast-forwarding when I pick up the remote.

I've not used it, but it doesn't sound like an upgrade to me. It sounds like it will be an upgrade, once Sky have done their beta testing to customers and fixed all the errors. Microsoft do the same thing with Windows. They release a new version but instead of testing it, they send it out to buyers and let them report the problems back to them. Then - they fix them and release an updated version.