SKY Q vs Stream

[Fretters]

My Virgin deal is up for renewal so I'm shopping around and looking at SKY.

SKY Q seems to be the equivalent of our current Virgin 360 box, which is great, but SKY stream seems so much cheaper and, other than being completely WIFI based, I'm not seeing much difference. I can get the stream for around £46 per month including broadband and that's multi-room too. We barely record anything these days so I think having a 100% streaming device would be fine, so long as you can bookmark your favourite shows and easily access them later.

Does anyone on here have experience of both and can advise on whether there's much difference?

Ta

[Goliath]

My Virgin deal is up for renewal so I'm shopping around and looking at SKY.

SKY Q seems to be the equivalent of our current Virgin 360 box, which is great, but SKY stream seems so much cheaper and, other than being completely WIFI based, I'm not seeing much difference. I can get the stream for around £46 per month including broadband and that's multi-room too. We barely record anything these days so I think having a 100% streaming device would be fine, so long as you can bookmark your favourite shows and easily access them later.

Does anyone on here have experience of both and can advise on whether there's much difference?

Ta

I wouldnt trust sky's Internet to be reliable enough for decent streaming. In fact I wouldn't trust the whole sky stream thing at all, not heard good reviews.

[Foshiznik]

Sky stream has horrific reviews for its unreliability and low quality.

[ClaretTony]

I have Sky Q and I’ve been totally happy with it for five years now. They are definitely pushing Sky Stream with offers but it’s not for me and I much prefer being able to record programmes and watch them whenever I like.

[Steddyman]

I have Sky Stream, but broadband via BRSK. I have had it 9 months now. It is mostly ok, and I don't want to go back to Virgin, I had the V6 Tivo box before.

It does a very good job of having a TV guide and letting you watch any channel, just like the Sky Q, even though it is all streamed. Recording programs means adding them to your playlist. How this works is Sky notes your preference then either records it on their backend servers for you to stream or streams it direct from the providers app backend. This gets around the issue with channels like the BBC and ITV that sometimes don't show certain programmes on their apps for 24 hours after they have aired, for example Match of the Day.

It has a few little funnies from time to time, but so did the Sky Q box. You also can stream quite a few of the sky channels in 4K UHD, and the Sky Sports+ is fully integrated so the main menu shows all the games that are live.

[Fretters]

I have Sky Stream, but broadband via BRSK. I have had it 9 months now. It is mostly ok, and I don't want to go back to Virgin, I had the V6 Tivo box before.

It does a very good job of having a TV guide and letting you watch any channel, just like the Sky Q, even though it is all streamed. Recording programs means adding them to your playlist. How this works is Sky notes your preference then either records it on their backend servers for you to stream or streams it direct from the providers app backend. This gets around the issue with channels like the BBC and ITV that sometimes don't show certain programmes on their apps for 24 hours after they have aired, for example Match of the Day.

It has a few little funnies from time to time, but so did the Sky Q box. You also can stream quite a few of the sky channels in 4K UHD, and the Sky Sports+ is fully integrated so the main menu shows all the games that are live.

Thanks. Maybe I'd keep Virgin broadband which is very good.

I have a 12 months Now TV membership for sports, do you know if that integrates with Sky Stream since Now is owned by Sky?

[Somethingfishy]

I was in a very similar position 12/18 months ago and I was considering going one step further and looked into Sky Glass. However I didn't like the specs of the tv that comes with it and it's quite chunky for a modern tv.
I ditched my Virgin Tivo box as the service was getting poorer and the cost was getting silly. I have ended up going with Sky Stream and to be honest have had very few issues with it. It can be troublesome around 5ish when it starts getting busy..usually when I'm watching The Chase and it stalls intermittently for a split second and this causes the sound to keep going on and off. I find going back a couple of minutes gets rid of this and gives it the space to keep up.
I find it very intuitive to use generally.
Oh and I kept Virgin for their broadband as it is faster (although not at the speeds they claim) than Skys own broadband. If you decide on Sky Stream you will need a fast and reliable broadband service...obviously.

[ChrisG]

I live in a small block of flats, so a dish wasn't an option. Got the Sky streaming service. No option for UHD here (Germany) but my TV upscales it anyway, so no real issue.

The only bone of contention is that the football can be slightly behind the satellite feed, so I sometimes get a notification if I forget to turn it off.

It's very cheap here though, 30€ for full package including every single PL game including 3pm k.o. and 90% of the Bundesliga games

[Claret Till I Die]

I have Sky Q and I’ve been totally happy with it for five years now. They are definitely pushing Sky Stream with offers but it’s not for me and I much prefer being able to record programmes and watch them whenever I like.

My parents have sky stream and you can bookmark programmes and watch whenever you like. It seems to work for them although my mum did prefer the old sky dish

[ISpeds00]

Skip sky altogether - rip off

[beddie]

I don’t have Sky Q, still the old Sky + which I’m keeping it until it’s no more. The reason being I can use magic eye. One thing I’ve noticed is that if we download programmes rather than record them the downloaded ones don’t have sub titles available which being a little deaf I find helpful.

[skibum84]

We have used both and the main difference and why I believe Sky are pushing Sky Stream, ADVERTS!

Sky Q, you record and fast forward through the adverts which is great for us but I guess means Sky can't sell advertising space for as much.

Sky Stream, unless you pay extra, you have to watch the adverts and this is why we sacked off sky stream. Far too many adverts.

[ClaretTony]

I don’t have Sky Q, still the old Sky + which I’m keeping it until it’s no more. The reason being I can use magic eye. One thing I’ve noticed is that if we download programmes rather than record them the downloaded ones don’t have sub titles available which being a little deaf I find helpful.

I was on Sky + for ages but went for Sky Q late 2019 which I haven't regretted. As for subtitles, you don't get them when downloaded on SKy Q either.

[dougcollins]

I was on Sky + for ages but went for Sky Q late 2019 which I haven't regretted. As for subtitles, you don't get them when downloaded on SKy Q either.

I think I must be misunderstanding something here. I'm on Sky Q but my signal is definitely via a satellite dish - not via wi fi streaming -and I can still watch Sky programming when when the internet is down.

It does have streaming capability, I watch Netflix (amongst others) via the box and the streaming quality is excellent.

[ClaretTony]

I think I must be misunderstanding something here. I'm on Sky Q but my signal is definitely via a satellite dish - not via wi fi streaming -and I can still watch Sky programming when when the internet is down.

It does have streaming capability, I watch Netflix (amongst others) via the box and the streaming quality is excellent.

That's exactly how it is, Sky Q with a dish, Sky Streaming from the internet.

[Jimmymaccer]

We’ve recently moved into a new build house and theres a covenant saying no satellite dishes so had no alternative but to switch from `sky Q to stream, also taking Sky Broadband.

Re Broadband they did the usual postcode check and said yep, ultrafast available. We now regularly get emails saying they’re not achieving the advertised speeds so we could opt out, strangely offering a more expensive, but slower speed package!?

Re Sky Stream - if you’re on your travels and want to set something to “record” on Sky go, because you forgot to do it before travels - you can’t - so you’re on catch up when you get back which in a way is ok, but you have to track the programme down which can be a pain.

Adverts - no, you can’t skip them like you can on Sky Q. Also there’s something strange regarding adverts in that frequently when the programme breaks for the adverts they aren’t shown, you just get a blank screen and you just sit in silence, hoping the programme resumes, which it does but it’s a strange experience.

[colne-claret]

Sky fitter who installed our Sky Q said not to bother with stream or the TV version they were offering. Said they are unreliable.

[skibum84]

I agree with the sky fitter, but he would say that, its doing him out of a job.

[Firthy]

Record on Sky Q and watch whenever you want and skip past the adverts. Plus you can watch it on a far superior OLED TV. You can also download a programme without adverts if you miss recording it. Play and pause is also far easier on Sky Q.

Sky Glass is old technology led and entirely dependent on wifi. If they ever replace the dish and box with streaming then I'll be binning Sky.

[Targetman]

We recently moved house and at our new property we can't get a signal to our sky dish because of 2 very big trees across from the house.

Before moving we had Sky Q and had been very happy with it and so we were reluctant to go with Sky Stream but had no choice if we wanted to keep Sky.

They offered us a 31 day free trial which we went along with, once we had got to grips with the working of the system we felt happy enough to sign up for a 2 year deal with Stream and 2 months later have had no problems at all.

[clarethomer]

Maybe a 3rd Option to consider - which is what I have done.

We use Apple TV device (https://www.apple.com/uk/apple-tv-4k/)

I pay for Now TV and have the sports/entertainment/movies package with Boost. (I think the entertainment package is £6.99 a month for me or £12.99 with Boost to remove adverts and breaks).

On the apple tv, we also have apps like iPlayer, ITVX, C4, 5, Netflix, Prime ETC..

There is an app that gives you a tv guide and it works like a dream if you don't need to record.

Apple TV device may easily be replaced by a firestick or Now TV dongle/box and be cheaper etc. However it may work for you.

You can easily move the box to different TVs if you "multi room" in the sense you can be watching tv in different rooms around the house - but don't need to watch on different tv's at the same time. If you do need multi room for the fact you have the need to watch tv in different rooms at the same time, you could easily buy additional devices and many of the apps will allow multi device log ins such as the now tv package I have offers 3 or 4 devices from memory.

Honestly not really missed Sky Q since we got rid. Saving a bit of money too on what we were paying and at the end of the day, I know I can always get a flash sale price on Sky Stream if I wanted to return to them.

[Jimmymaccer]

And right on queue …………last night Sky Stream wouldn’t work, just a black screen with “Sky” briefly appearing……………….on “My Sky” it said “ some Sky glass/stream customers are experiencing technical issues when switching on their devices -our technical teams are working hard to fix this. We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused and remember you can watch on Sky go right now “.

Still not working today…………….(and we’ve done all the switch on/off malarkey…………..).

[Firthy]

And right on queue …………last night Sky Stream wouldn’t work, just a black screen with “Sky” briefly appearing……………….on “My Sky” it said “ some Sky glass/stream customers are experiencing technical issues when switching on their devices -our technical teams are working hard to fix this. We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused and remember you can watch on Sky go right now “.

Still not working today…………….(and we’ve done all the switch on/off malarkey…………..).

You and plenty of others.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy0lnxgnjkno

[ClaretDiver]

I was still working for Sky when they launched Glass….I actively steered customers away from it, would do the same with Stream. One of Sky’s USP’s at the times was that if internet went down you could still access TV services unlike Virgin…..

[Steddyman]

Thanks. Maybe I'd keep Virgin broadband which is very good.

I have a 12 months Now TV membership for sports, do you know if that integrates with Sky Stream since Now is owned by Sky?

No, they are completely separate. But if you have Sky Stream, you get Sky Go for free so can watch all the channels or sports on your mobile devices.

[Steddyman]

Record on Sky Q and watch whenever you want and skip past the adverts. Plus you can watch it on a far superior OLED TV. You can also download a programme without adverts if you miss recording it. Play and pause is also far easier on Sky Q.

Sky Glass is old technology led and entirely dependent on wifi. If they ever replace the dish and box with streaming then I'll be binning Sky.

Sky Stream is just a little streaming puck you can use with any TV. Same UI as Sky Glass, but in a tiny box. You can also have lots of them in different rooms and they all sync up with recordings and playlists.

[SingaporeClarets]

Sky Stream is just a little streaming puck you can use with any TV. Same UI as Sky Glass, but in a tiny box. You can also have lots of them in different rooms and they all sync up with recordings and playlists.

I guess the delay on live sports is another issue now ?

Back in the day when Comms cam was live on YouTube I think the club was achieving a 4s live latency which was quite impressive.

[Fretters]

No, they are completely separate. But if you have Sky Stream, you get Sky Go for free so can watch all the channels or sports on your mobile devices.

Thanks. Do you know if subtitles work on Now TV?

[Steddyman]

I guess the delay on live sports is another issue now ?

Back in the day when Comms cam was live on YouTube I think the club was achieving a 4s live latency which was quite impressive.

At the most a few seconds, and that is on a 4K stream. No worse than watching illegal streams. I just enable Do Not Disturb on my phone.

[Steddyman]

At the most a few seconds, and that is on a 4K stream. No worse than watching illegal streams. I just enable Do Not Disturb on my phone.

Yes, just tried it on my Ipad on ITV in the Sky Go app and it gives me the option of None or English for subtitles. Enabled them, and they work fine.

[Fretters]

Right, I've taken the plunge an cancelled Virgin. I wanted to go down to broadband only, but they're quoting me £42 a month something new customers can get for £24.

So, now I'm looking for broadband provider recommendations! Ideally I'd go with someone who's router can be switched into modem mode as I use a mesh system to give good signal around the house.