Sky Stream

Author
Discussion

TEKNOPUG

18,948 posts

205 months

Tuesday 8th November 2022
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jinkster said:
Is it still possible to record ? I dont want to have to go back and try and find something - I can do that on iPlayer, 4OD etc.
No, it's a streaming service. Think of it as a Amazon Firestick, Roku or Apple TV, that has access to all the SKY channels. It does not have a hard drive to record. Shows you want to watch that are not live, you add to your watch list and you can then stream them at your leisure for as long as the host channel makes them available.

TEKNOPUG

18,948 posts

205 months

Tuesday 8th November 2022
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Auslander said:
Does Stream work better than a Q Mini box for garden rooms?

I just can't get my Q Mini to work consistently from my office, which is not much more than 5 metres from the Q Mini in the kitchen. It works with the office door open, but not with it closed.

(Powerlines won't work, I suspect because the office is on a separate 32A breaker to the mains ring).
Can you hardwire the connect?

Auslander

343 posts

18 months

Tuesday 8th November 2022
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TEKNOPUG said:
Can you hardwire the connect?
Potentially, but I shouldn't have to, as the wifi in here is very strong - I can stream Sky on my laptop.

It's just that the Q Mini boxes have shocking wifi performance.

number2

4,303 posts

187 months

Tuesday 8th November 2022
quotequote all
Auslander said:
TEKNOPUG said:
Can you hardwire the connect?
Potentially, but I shouldn't have to, as the wifi in here is very strong - I can stream Sky on my laptop.

It's just that the Q Mini boxes have shocking wifi performance.
Have you tried hard wiring it to a WiFi mesh extender - deco m5 type of thing?

It'll think it's connected by ethernet (and it is, but to the WiFi extender) and you'll benefit from your strong WiFi.

Auslander

343 posts

18 months

Tuesday 8th November 2022
quotequote all
number2 said:
Have you tried hard wiring it to a WiFi mesh extender - deco m5 type of thing?

It'll think it's connected by ethernet (and it is, but to the WiFi extender) and you'll benefit from your strong WiFi.
Doesn't work. I've even had Sky out to look at it.

number2

4,303 posts

187 months

Tuesday 8th November 2022
quotequote all
Auslander said:
number2 said:
Have you tried hard wiring it to a WiFi mesh extender - deco m5 type of thing?

It'll think it's connected by ethernet (and it is, but to the WiFi extender) and you'll benefit from your strong WiFi.
Doesn't work. I've even had Sky out to look at it.
You may have a faulty box if hard wiring doesn't work and you have strong wifi in your shed.

TEKNOPUG

18,948 posts

205 months

Tuesday 8th November 2022
quotequote all
Auslander said:
TEKNOPUG said:
Can you hardwire the connect?
Potentially, but I shouldn't have to, as the wifi in here is very strong - I can stream Sky on my laptop.

It's just that the Q Mini boxes have shocking wifi performance.
Can't help you with wifi I'm afraid. I had multiple network points installed in all the rooms that might host a TV in our new house. So the 4 TVs, SKY Q, 3 SKY minis, Blu-Ray players etc are all hardwired to a LAN and internet, as I assumed that the future would streaming. Don't think I've ever had a connection drop out or had to reboot a box.

Could you try a Ethernet to Wireless Adaptor? Is the issue the SKY Mini reception or the SKY Q transmission? If you tried and adaptor, you would still be connecting via Wifi but using the ethernet connection on the SKY mini.

number2

4,303 posts

187 months

Tuesday 8th November 2022
quotequote all
TEKNOPUG said:
Auslander said:
TEKNOPUG said:
Can you hardwire the connect?
Potentially, but I shouldn't have to, as the wifi in here is very strong - I can stream Sky on my laptop.

It's just that the Q Mini boxes have shocking wifi performance.
Can't help you with wifi I'm afraid. I had multiple network points installed in all the rooms that might host a TV in our new house. So the 4 TVs, SKY Q, 3 SKY minis, Blu-Ray players etc are all hardwired to a LAN and internet, as I assumed that the future would streaming. Don't think I've ever had a connection drop out or had to reboot a box.

Could you try a Ethernet to Wireless Adaptor? Is the issue the SKY Mini reception or the SKY Q transmission? If you tried and adaptor, you would still be connecting via Wifi but using the ethernet connection on the SKY mini.
Think you need to hardwire the main Q box to benefit from hardwiring the minis into a wireless point or otherwise. We don't know if the poster has done this/can do it.

I've hardwired all my boxes back to the main switch but have one mini wired into a Deco M5. Much more stable now. I had one mini three floors up, connected to a sky booster in the hallway and that was unstable. They don't have a very good wireless range. I'm not with Sky broadband for info.

somouk

1,425 posts

198 months

Tuesday 8th November 2022
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jinkster said:
Is it still possible to record ? I dont want to have to go back and try and find something - I can do that on iPlayer, 4OD etc.
Afraid not on the stream or glass. It all works on you using an online service.

They try and make this easier by giving you a ribbon called 'playlist' which remembers things you've been watching no matter where they were watched. In reality get used to searching for what you want, it searches across all the apps and makes it quicker to find stuff.

blingybongy

3,875 posts

146 months

Tuesday 8th November 2022
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somouk said:
jinkster said:
Is it still possible to record ? I dont want to have to go back and try and find something - I can do that on iPlayer, 4OD etc.
Afraid not on the stream or glass. It all works on you using an online service.

They try and make this easier by giving you a ribbon called 'playlist' which remembers things you've been watching no matter where they were watched. In reality get used to searching for what you want, it searches across all the apps and makes it quicker to find stuff.
And voice searching works very well.

i4got

5,653 posts

78 months

Tuesday 8th November 2022
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I'm obviously missing something. What's the difference between Sky Stream and a combination of NowTV Entertainment package with a Netflix subscription. The latter seems cheaper.

Auslander

343 posts

18 months

Tuesday 8th November 2022
quotequote all
number2 said:
Think you need to hardwire the main Q box to benefit from hardwiring the minis into a wireless point or otherwise. We don't know if the poster has done this/can do it.

I've hardwired all my boxes back to the main switch but have one mini wired into a Deco M5. Much more stable now. I had one mini three floors up, connected to a sky booster in the hallway and that was unstable. They don't have a very good wireless range. I'm not with Sky broadband for info.
My main Q box is hardwired into the Sky router. Box in the kitchen is on the wifi mesh from the router and the office Q Mini is connected to the mesh via the kitchen box.

The 2.4G and 5G networks in the pod are very strong, but the Q Mini just can't maintain a stable connection - even though using Sky Go on a laptop is stable. My work mesh is totally separate, although hardwired to the Sky router - I'm reluctant to put Sky kit through that separate, prioritised, mesh.

Swapped the office and kitchen boxes to see if I could find an issue - same result on both. Looks like hardwiring from the kitchen to the pod is the only way to do it. Alternatively, I just stick the office Q Mini in the spare bedroom and use my small media PC to run Sky Go on the TV.

number2

4,303 posts

187 months

Tuesday 8th November 2022
quotequote all
Auslander said:
number2 said:
Think you need to hardwire the main Q box to benefit from hardwiring the minis into a wireless point or otherwise. We don't know if the poster has done this/can do it.

I've hardwired all my boxes back to the main switch but have one mini wired into a Deco M5. Much more stable now. I had one mini three floors up, connected to a sky booster in the hallway and that was unstable. They don't have a very good wireless range. I'm not with Sky broadband for info.
My main Q box is hardwired into the Sky router. Box in the kitchen is on the wifi mesh from the router and the office Q Mini is connected to the mesh via the kitchen box.

The 2.4G and 5G networks in the pod are very strong, but the Q Mini just can't maintain a stable connection - even though using Sky Go on a laptop is stable. My work mesh is totally separate, although hardwired to the Sky router - I'm reluctant to put Sky kit through that separate, prioritised, mesh.

Swapped the office and kitchen boxes to see if I could find an issue - same result on both. Looks like hardwiring from the kitchen to the pod is the only way to do it. Alternatively, I just stick the office Q Mini in the spare bedroom and use my small media PC to run Sky Go on the TV.
Yeah, looks like if you don't want to hardwire it to your mesh it's a case of the alternative you put forward.

Shame isn't it, how weak the mini boxes are?

Auslander

343 posts

18 months

Tuesday 8th November 2022
quotequote all
number2 said:
Yeah, looks like if you don't want to hardwire it to your mesh it's a case of the alternative you put forward.

Shame isn't it, how weak the mini boxes are?
I don't think it's that they're weak, as other devices using the Mini mesh work absolutely fine.

It's that they appear to be over-sensitive and / or use the available bandwidth really inefficiently.

mikef

4,870 posts

251 months

Tuesday 8th November 2022
quotequote all
TEKNOPUG said:
Could you try a Ethernet to Wireless Adaptor? Is the issue the SKY Mini reception or the SKY Q transmission? If you tried and adaptor, you would still be connecting via Wifi but using the ethernet connection on the SKY mini.
This. My Sky box is connected through one of these: https://www.linksys.com/support-product?sku=WUMC71.... Dixons or Curry’s used to sell them for about £25 and I have a couple, they seem to work better than most devices’ built-in wifi. This kit is well out of date but I imagine there’s a more recent alternative

rscott

14,752 posts

191 months

Tuesday 8th November 2022
quotequote all
i4got said:
I'm obviously missing something. What's the difference between Sky Stream and a combination of NowTV Entertainment package with a Netflix subscription. The latter seems cheaper.
Far more channels on Stream, plus the option of UHD/HDR and Dolby Atmos for Sky's entertainment and sports content.


i4got

5,653 posts

78 months

Tuesday 8th November 2022
quotequote all
rscott said:
i4got said:
I'm obviously missing something. What's the difference between Sky Stream and a combination of NowTV Entertainment package with a Netflix subscription. The latter seems cheaper.
Far more channels on Stream, plus the option of UHD/HDR and Dolby Atmos for Sky's entertainment and sports content.
Found a pretty comprehensive comparison of Sky Stream vs Now TV (plus Netflix). For me (with no requirement for Kids TV, UHD/HDR, or Freeview (I have Freesat), it seems pretty conclusive that NowTv/Netflix is preferable. For others the choice is not so clear cut.

https://www.cordbusters.co.uk/sky-stream-vs-now-tv...


ajprice

27,470 posts

196 months

Thursday 1st December 2022
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Here we go. Current Glass and Stream users will keep the advert skipping feature for free. For new users from now on it's a £5/month add on. https://www.cordbusters.co.uk/ad-skipping-no-longe...

somouk

1,425 posts

198 months

Thursday 1st December 2022
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ajprice said:
Here we go. Current Glass and Stream users will keep the advert skipping feature for free. For new users from now on it's a £5/month add on. https://www.cordbusters.co.uk/ad-skipping-no-longe...
This was mentioned it was free for 12 months when I subscribed, not sure I have ever benefitted from it though.

blingybongy

3,875 posts

146 months

Thursday 1st December 2022
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somouk said:
This was mentioned it was free for 12 months when I subscribed, not sure I have ever benefitted from it though.
Pretty sure you got 18 months free, I did.
I also think it's a superb way of watching TV.