Sky Q

muffler

Chocolate girl wrote: »

Anybody's box make noise? Not all the time but sometimes like a whirring kind of noise. When I plug out it stops but that's not practical if I'm recording program.

Sounds like your hard drive

icdg

When I had UPC, I found that the hard drive used be extremely noisy, but it's never been a problem with Sky (Sky+HD rather than Sky Q though).

MarkAnthony

Time to come clean:

I've had my SkyQ a little while now, and I'm actually not that impressed! The TV experience has some nice touches it really does. I love being able to move from room to room and the app although it needs expanding is awesomesause. However it just doesn't flow like the Sky+ experience. I know Sky+ had been polished for 10+ years but I dunno, just not loving it. It's still a solid product and there is an element that has absolutely blown me away and that's the broadband!

The mesh network and boosters are simply amazing. When I have the SkyQ set up optimally (one box upstairs - looks like I need a third box) I go from being able to get Wifi at 1-2Mbits in spots to a solid 30+Mbits everywhere in the house and back garden. I was using UPC for years, thought I'd never switch especially given I can 'only' get 60 or so Mbits and I'm a very heavy internet user. Other than downloading steam games my broadband feels much faster, my pings are a lot lower and it feels really nippy. Add to that it's all on one network now rather than using access points.

All in all TV 7/10, broadband 9/10.

bk

MarkAnthony wrote: »

The mesh network and boosters are simply amazing. When I have the SkyQ set up optimally (one box upstairs - looks like I need a third box) I go from being able to get Wifi at 1-2Mbits in spots to a solid 30+Mbits everywhere in the house and back garden. I was using UPC for years, thought I'd never switch especially given I can 'only' get 60 or so Mbits and I'm a very heavy internet user. Other than downloading steam games my broadband feels much faster, my pings are a lot lower and it feels really nippy. Add to that it's all on one network now rather than using access points.

All in all TV 7/10, broadband 9/10.

To be honest you could easily get much faster then that with UPC/Virgin if you simply bought a better quality 802.11ac router for about €90 and stuck it on the UPC modem.

I get 200Mb/s throughout my house with Virgin and that is limited to the fact my laptop only supports 802.11n. With an 802.11ac client you can go much faster.

Virgins new 360Mb/s service actually comes with an 802.11ac modem/router so you don't have to buy a separate one. If your PC supports 802.11ac, you should easily get 300Mb/s from it.

I would agree that their new Sky Q hub is a really nice idea, with support for 802.11ac, ethernet over power and using the streaming boxes as AP's. However it is limited to the "upto" speed of 100Mb/s of FTTC, which can be as low as just 7Mb/s depending distance from the cab!

Virgins new 360Mb/s or the 240Mb/s service + separate 802.11ac router would give most people a much faster broadband service.

MarkAnthony

I'm always cabled in on my daily machine, I actually prefer the Sky broadband for gaming. Even with an Archer C8 I couldn't get decent Wifi all around the house. I just love the convenience of it all being done for me I have to admit. It was just a case of getting 'enough' for the wife and guests and sitting on the bog/in the bath watching youtube (and now TV I guess! I must have a bath )

I'll give Sky (almost) top marks on that one.

ffocused

I have the opposite opinion of MarkAnthony, I find the layout of Sky Q very easy & natural to navigate after getting used to it. I find the old Sky guide very slow & clunky now when I use it for Setanta multiroom.
My biggest gripe is the lack of decent fast forward controls on iPad app to skip ads.

The Q mesh messed up my wifi that worked flawlessly beforehand using an Eircom F2000 router. I used the Q router for a week before my Q install without any issues & found it to perform just as well as the F2000.
I have a lot of Apple devices which will connect to wifi but cannot connect to any web address including the router with the mesh active.
I managed to fix it by connecting the Q silver & mini boxes to Ethernet. I then disabled wifi completely on mini box & Q router, and I am using the silver box as my only wifi access point. (Siver box needs active wifi for iPad app to connect) My wifi now works like it did before the Q install but without the mesh.

Slippin Jimmy

Sky Q can now be ordered by anyone with a different broadband provider.

peteeeed

ordered mine this morning , install on 15th april

Loughc

Slippin Jimmy wrote: »

Sky Q can now be ordered by anyone with a different broadband provider.

So much for Sky ringing/e-mailing me letting me know that they can! Thanks for the heads up, i think I'm going to hold off getting it as reviews have been very average for it. It just needs more time to iron out the kinks.

MarkAnthony

peteeeed wrote: »

ordered mine this morning , install on 15th april

Would you/others mind letting us know how it went. I'm really curious how they're going to use the existing wifi for the boxes.

Harcrid

Just ordered Sky Q silver with 2 mini boxes. Install date 19th April. I don't have Sky Broadband

I asked for a new sky dish as mine is rusting away and that was no problem. I also asked if I could get a hybrid LNB and the rep did not have a clue what that was, or at least he was letting on he didnt know. I'll ask the engineer when they arrive and see if i can wangle one that way.

digiman

Great news, does anyone know if this will work with a communal satellite dish system? The house I'm moving into has a brand new shared dish system as it is a new development. Looks like there is fibre going back to each house from the shared dish.

helimachoptor

digiman wrote: »

Great news, does anyone know if this will work with a communal satellite dish system? The house I'm moving into has a brand new shared dish system as it is a new development. Looks like there is fibre going back to each house from the shared dish.

yes it will work

MarkAnthony

Harcrid wrote: »

Just ordered Sky Q silver with 2 mini boxes. Install date 19th April. I don't have Sky Broadband

I asked for a new sky dish as mine is rusting away and that was no problem. I also asked if I could get a hybrid LNB and the rep did not have a clue what that was, or at least he was letting on he didnt know. I'll ask the engineer when they arrive and see if i can wangle one that way.

The problem is that unless you're an existing Sky customer there would be no need to fit the hybrid (assume you are as there is a dish but you've not confirmed it's in use), if you are the situation may exist. The engineer just asked me the question regarding it so be careful how you answer seemingly innocuous questions if you're an existing Sky subscriber.

I was very surprised how much oversight is going into these installs. The engineer's tablet has all the details of the job and everything has to be justified. I couldn't wangle a booster as the job had a report on my network once he had the boxes in place.

Whether that reporting and oversight extends to the hybrid LNBs I've no idea.

PS Also confirming that apartments can avail of SkyQ on the shared dish system. Give the agent some extra time to check things the process is fairly new so give the call about 30 mins IMHO. Don't forget you can live chat into them as well if you've not got 30 mins to spare and have to do rocket surgery or something while buying.

Edit: Don't expect the agents to know about the hybrid LNBs, they're gathering the info they need to know if one's required on the job. As I've said before it's a stop gap solution.

AMGer

Anyone else having issues with the red button on Sky Q? Doesn't seem to be working here

helimachoptor

havent used it today, but has been working ok for me

notahappycamper

So, has it been worth the extra cost of getting it? Any delays in streaming of programmes on the mini/multiroom boxes?

Slippin Jimmy

notahappycamper wrote:

So, has it been worth the extra cost of getting it? Any delays in streaming of programmes on the mini/multiroom boxes?

Have had it now for a couple of weeks. Haven't experienced any delays in streaming between boxes.

Regarding cost, for me it was worth upgrading. It really depends on each individual and their circumstances.

Loughc

Slippin Jimmy wrote: »

Have had it now for a couple of weeks. Haven't experienced any delays in streaming between boxes.

Regarding cost, for me it was worth upgrading. It really depends on each individual and their circumstances.

What are you finding are the best benefits of it and what have you enjoyed using the most since getting it?

Dave_Dublin

notahappycamper wrote: »

So, has it been worth the extra cost of getting it? Any delays in streaming of programmes on the mini/multiroom boxes?

Loughc wrote: »

What are you finding are the best benefits of it and what have you enjoyed using the most since getting it?

I've had it a month now and, yes, I've had some problems with "You cannot watch TV at the moment - there's a connectivity problem" on BOTH of my mini Q boxes.

Also, yesterday I had a new one : "This mini box cannot be used right now - there's a network proximity error"

Apart from those errors, which have happened less frequently in the last couple of weeks, I've no real problems.

The thing I REALLY HATE is that I cannot watch "Other Channels" anywhere except the main Q box -- the menu structure is all there and it lets you go to "manual tuning" on both mini boxes only to say "Please go to your main sky Q box to watch these channels"

--- Why is that menu on the mini boxes if we can't use it???

--- Other features exclusive to the *main* box do not show up in the menus of the minis (e.g. checking the satellite signal) so why does "manual tuning" show up???

Slippin Jimmy

Loughc wrote:

What are you finding are the best benefits of it and what have you enjoyed using the most since getting it?

Before I had a recorder box and just a normal hd non recorder in the second room. I used the catch up service and on demand only on the main box previously and it used to cause problems with other people trying to watch it.

Now I have the choice of viewing on either box and we can schedule a number of recordings at once.

I like the feel of it overall. There are some things that could do with being improved like been able to go straight to the tv guide without going through the menu. But it's only new and I'm sure it will receive updates to allow this to happen over time.

Harcrid

Dave_Dublin wrote: »

The thing I REALLY HATE is that I cannot watch "Other Channels" anywhere except the main Q box -- the menu structure is all there and it lets you go to "manual tuning" on both mini boxes only to say "Please go to your main sky Q box to watch these channels"

--- Why is that menu on the mini boxes if we can't use it???

--- Other features exclusive to the *main* box do not show up in the menus of the minis (e.g. checking the satellite signal) so why does "manual tuning" show up???

Not happy to hear that. It could be a deal breaker for me. My wife likes to watch the ITV channels in the bedroom which will have a mini box in it. Very surprised to hear that the other channels won't be available.

Slippin Jimmy

Harcrid wrote:

Not happy to hear that. It could be a deal breaker for me. My wife likes to watch the ITV channels in the bedroom which will have a mini box in it. Very surprised to hear that the other channels won't be available.

I'd imagine that they will be available in the future. Well at least I hope so.

It's a legal requirement so I'd guess they'll have to implement it.

Harcrid

Can someone else here with Sky Q check it on their minis out of curiosity?

byte

Karsini wrote: »

It's a legal requirement so I'd guess they'll have to implement it.

It might be only a legal requirement on the satellite receiver itself though? I don't know, just wondering. The other boxes are really just streaming devices, so maybe not required?

byte

byte wrote: »

It might be only a legal requirement on the satellite receiver itself though? I don't know, just wondering. The other boxes are really just streaming devices, so maybe not required?

That's a good point, I really don't know either.

icdg

Dave_Dublin wrote: »

I've had it a month now and, yes, I've had some problems with "You cannot watch TV at the moment - there's a connectivity problem" on BOTH of my mini Q boxes.

Also, yesterday I had a new one : "This mini box cannot be used right now - there's a network proximity error"

Apart from those errors, which have happened less frequently in the last couple of weeks, I've no real problems.

The thing I REALLY HATE is that I cannot watch "Other Channels" anywhere except the main Q box -- the menu structure is all there and it lets you go to "manual tuning" on both mini boxes only to say "Please go to your main sky Q box to watch these channels"

--- Why is that menu on the mini boxes if we can't use it???

--- Other features exclusive to the *main* box do not show up in the menus of the minis (e.g. checking the satellite signal) so why does "manual tuning" show up???

Presumably the reason it doesn't work is that the Sky Q mini box is not, in fact, a satellite receiver at all, and all channels are provided via streaming, either from the main box or via the Internet. But if that's the case, why is the option there at all? An odd one.

Harcrid

Sky Q getting installed at the moment. After giving the installer a mug of coffee and my best biscuits I asked him about the possibility of getting a Hybrid LNB installed and he duly obliged. He has one in the van. :pac:

Loughc

Harcrid wrote: »

Sky Q getting installed at the moment. After giving the installer a mug of coffee and my best biscuits I asked him about the possibility of getting a Hybrid LNB installed and he duly obliged. He has one in the van. :pac:

Complete Non-Techy here, but what's the benefits of getting a Hybrid LNB installed?