Skyq

Author
Discussion

rscott

14,690 posts

190 months

Friday 29th January 2016
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That's correct - you can even get an additional mini for a one off £99 if you want it in another room too.


_Rich_

966 posts

171 months

Friday 29th January 2016
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I think when you break it down, it's very expensive for not a lot more than what we already get. New and shiney plus a lot of hype will equal sales but I'm disappointed and probably won't upgrade unless when it comes to renegotiating my sky package costs they throw it in 'for being a loyal customer'.

Johnny

9,652 posts

283 months

Saturday 30th January 2016
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For £99 as a current Sky customer I can't say no to it, certainly less that I was expecting to have to fork out.

Roll on the 9th.

VEX

5,256 posts

245 months

Sunday 31st January 2016
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Be warned,

Sky Q is not currently compatible with Apartment wired system. If you share a dish with other residents in your building or block there has not been a solution launched yet that is will work with.

I am talking to suppliers on Monday / Tuesday to see if there is an up date or hardware available to get out of this hole, but Sky really has screwed it for the majority of HNW individuals who want the best, but live in apartments.

Oh, one other thing, The remote is bluetooth, so whilst it will work with the box hidden in a cupboard it will not work easily as part of a wider house control system unless it has some cleaver IP system in it as well.

V.

F18RSC

635 posts

216 months

Sunday 31st January 2016
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Wow thanks Vex couple of my customers are looking at q could be fun with control then!

rscott

14,690 posts

190 months

Sunday 31st January 2016
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Not quite true - communal systems can be upgraded to work with Q. See http://www.newsontheblock.com/news-opinion/sky-q-c... for details.

Also, the boxes can be controlled by Bluetooth or infra red (using the existing Sky+HD commands), so integrating may be relatively simple .

VEX

5,256 posts

245 months

Sunday 31st January 2016
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Thanks Rscott

However, none of my distributor or even manufacturer contacts have had an answer for integrating it to an existing IRS system and nothing from Sky has indicated that the remote is both BT and IR, great if it is, but why not shout about it from day one?

I'll do some more digging over the next couple of days and see what other info is out there.

V.

Tycho

11,554 posts

272 months

Monday 1st February 2016
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VEX said:
Thanks Rscott

However, none of my distributor or even manufacturer contacts have had an answer for integrating it to an existing IRS system and nothing from Sky has indicated that the remote is both BT and IR, great if it is, but why not shout about it from day one?

I'll do some more digging over the next couple of days and see what other info is out there.

V.
The Touch remote is BT but there is another mini remote which is IR. You can also use the existing HD remotes. There is a possibility of a hybrid installation but I'm not sure how it works. Maybe another set of wiring may be required which while a ball ache shouldn't be too bad if it was installed well in the first place.


tankplanker said:
I've stuck multiple high end WiFi access points at the far corners of my house connected to my router via cat 5 to get around WiFi being generally rubbish and more important for me able to sustain heavy loading from my family. Anything I care about is connecting via 5Ghz and gets more than enough stable bandwidth for 4k video, even when the rest of the network is under load.

Unless you live in a house using thick stone for interior walls you can fix WiFi issues with application of cat 5 (powerlines if you really have to) connecting a mesh 5 Ghz WiFi network. As 5 Ghz has poor range its much less likely to suffer congestion problems from neighbours' WiFi, but you have to have way more access points in a decent sized property.

Having said all that Sky's routers are complete rubbish, no way I'd want to use their networking kit, I'd rather not bother with Q if they try and lock you into their network hardware for multi room.

The tech looks really good and when the 4k channels start rolling out I'll likely resubscribe to Sky. It does what I currently get with my multi room and device Kodi setup but with broadcast content.
The Sky Qboxes use powerline for networking and you have the option to turn on Wifi hotspot functionality so each one will become a Wifi extender.

My network:

BB > Sky Router (Wifi off, DHCP on) > powerline to Netgear router (Wifi on, DHCP off) > Devices

Sky Q boxes will connect to the Sky router via Powerline.

Edited by Tycho on Monday 1st February 11:50


Edited by Tycho on Monday 1st February 11:52

VEX

5,256 posts

245 months

Tuesday 2nd February 2016
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Ok, so the only product that my distributor knows of to work within existing IRS system is a Johansson DSCR box available in 4, 8 and 16's

Not available until March and others are looking to OEM them.

V

MissChief

7,095 posts

167 months

Tuesday 9th February 2016
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Couple of things mentioned.

Powerline isn't live yet and will be added later. You can connect the boxes via Ethernet if you wish.

_dobbo_

14,321 posts

247 months

Tuesday 9th February 2016
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OK so I've been searching for a bit but can't find anything... Does anyone know if the Sky Q silver box has RF out feature for use with a magic eye?

If not, I need to buy an additional Sky Q mini box pushing my cost up to £248 up front, which feels a bit on the steep side to watch TV in the bedroom on very rare occasions.

So it's either don't have sky Q at all, or pay £248 and have 3 boxes when I really only want 2.

scratchchin

Bit of a Unit

6,661 posts

196 months

Tuesday 9th February 2016
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_dobbo_ said:
OK so I've been searching for a bit but can't find anything... Does anyone know if the Sky Q silver box has RF out feature for use with a magic eye?

If not, I need to buy an additional Sky Q mini box pushing my cost up to £248 up front, which feels a bit on the steep side to watch TV in the bedroom on very rare occasions.

So it's either don't have sky Q at all, or pay £248 and have 3 boxes when I really only want 2.

scratchchin
G
I've just ordered and unless I've missed something a second mini box is included in the silver package. I have gone all in with broadband, movies and sports and my extra box is part of the deal. Viewing on two TVs, no extra cost.

_dobbo_

14,321 posts

247 months

Tuesday 9th February 2016
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Bit of a Unit said:
G
I've just ordered and unless I've missed something a second mini box is included in the silver package. I have gone all in with broadband, movies and sports and my extra box is part of the deal. Viewing on two TVs, no extra cost.
No, you're right, but my situation is a bit different.

Currently HDMI splitter to two TVs downstairs, RF out to TV upstairs, magic eyes everywhere.

If I go Sky Q silver I get what I wanted, which is different box in living room and family room allowing us to watch different channels in each, but I lose the RF signal to the bedroom so I lose sky upstairs altogether.

Which means to get Sky Q, I have to also buy an extra mini box at £99, just for the occasional bit of TV in the bedroom.

We have no TV aerial at all, so that's not an option. I guess in the scheme of things it's not that much, but the extra £99 makes it seem like much less of a good deal for the multiroom business.

rscott

14,690 posts

190 months

Tuesday 9th February 2016
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There's no RF out on the Silver or Mini.

Bear in the mind the £99 is a one off charge - there's no additional monthly charge for it.

Johnny

9,652 posts

283 months

Tuesday 9th February 2016
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Trying to buy at present but keep getting an error. Assume it's busy, I'll try later this evening.

Tycho

11,554 posts

272 months

Tuesday 9th February 2016
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_dobbo_ said:
Bit of a Unit said:
G
I've just ordered and unless I've missed something a second mini box is included in the silver package. I have gone all in with broadband, movies and sports and my extra box is part of the deal. Viewing on two TVs, no extra cost.
No, you're right, but my situation is a bit different.

Currently HDMI splitter to two TVs downstairs, RF out to TV upstairs, magic eyes everywhere.

If I go Sky Q silver I get what I wanted, which is different box in living room and family room allowing us to watch different channels in each, but I lose the RF signal to the bedroom so I lose sky upstairs altogether.

Which means to get Sky Q, I have to also buy an extra mini box at £99, just for the occasional bit of TV in the bedroom.

We have no TV aerial at all, so that's not an option. I guess in the scheme of things it's not that much, but the extra £99 makes it seem like much less of a good deal for the multiroom business.
If it's only occasional use in the bedroom you could just use the tablet app. It streams all channels and recordings from the Q box and works really well.

Chris Stott

13,182 posts

196 months

Tuesday 9th February 2016
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Placed my order... no brainer for £1.50 a month extra.

Install date March 4.

Welshbeef

49,633 posts

197 months

Tuesday 9th February 2016
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Chris Stott said:
Placed my order... no brainer for £1.50 a month extra.

Install date March 4.
Can you verify
1. One off cost
2. Total monthly cost
3. What package and any extras you have sky go unlimited calls highest level fibre etc.

So that we can all compare and ensure we get at least the same deal as you have negotiated.

rscott

14,690 posts

190 months

Tuesday 9th February 2016
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Sky Q includes Sky Go Extra as standard.
Sky have confirmed on Twitter (and elsewhere) that discounts on Sports/Movies will continue, but those on the main packs/multiroom won't. Don't think they're offering any new discounts though.
They're only taking orders from customers who either already have Sky broadband or are ordering it. Other customers (like me!) have to wait a few weeks.


356Speedster

2,293 posts

230 months

Tuesday 9th February 2016
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Strange...... After 30mins on hold, I've just finished talking to a chap and got a different view.

No upfront cost (apparently Sky own & maintain the box then have it back if you leave), I'd get a Silver SkyQ box plus one Mini box. Cost was about £78 (I forget exactly). I asked for a 2nd Mini box (we currently have Sky HD distributed to 4 TVs in the house) and was told I couldn't but the box, but could order as many as I liked for an extra £12 a month per box.

Perhaps there's still some confusion with Sky. I'd take a Silver & free Mini, then buy a 2nd Mini to start with, but that wasn't offered. Strange. I might try to call back tomorrow and speak to someone different.