Optimising or getting rid of Sky Q
Discussion
Does anyone have any experience of getting rid of Sky Q and going back to their previous Sky HD set up? We were persuaded (lied to, it seems) that Sky Q would bring with it all sorts of advantages, and signed up for 1 'main' box and 4 mini-boxes to replace our previous hard wired independent 5 box set up.
As far as I can see, it actually offers no advantages whatsoever, but does have numerous disadvantages, as we're limited to only watching 1 x main and 2 x mini at the same time (for now, I've now been told), when the installation engineer told us it would be main + 3 x mini, which would just about work in this household. We have had engineers here twice since 'installation', but they've only been able to come into the house since Monday due to their Covid restrictions. We installed under their instruction (through open doors and windows - farcical!)
Nothing worked or connected properly/consistently after initial installation, in particular the two minis furthest away from the main or the Sky booster that they also installed, and work probably only 50% of the time, spending the remainder of the time with a frozen picture. The last chap, who was here yesterday, seemed to fix it, by moving a few things around, and showed me on his hand-held how all the connection statuses between all devices were green.
However tonight it's not working properly again, and the two furthest minis are refusing mostly to work due to a 'connectivity problem', despite nothing being physically moved. It also seems to be interfering with our 2.4GHz wifi, as performance there has worsened since installation.
Anyone have any ideas? I'm minded to ditch Q all together and return to previous set-up which worked consistently. Is that even possible?
I'm awaiting a call back from Sky, but we all know what their 'customer service' is like. And please don't give me grief for agreeing to Q in the first place, as that should be directed towards Mrs HH, I knew nowt about the decision as I really only watch footy on the TV, so don't involve myself in such stuff.
As far as I can see, it actually offers no advantages whatsoever, but does have numerous disadvantages, as we're limited to only watching 1 x main and 2 x mini at the same time (for now, I've now been told), when the installation engineer told us it would be main + 3 x mini, which would just about work in this household. We have had engineers here twice since 'installation', but they've only been able to come into the house since Monday due to their Covid restrictions. We installed under their instruction (through open doors and windows - farcical!)
Nothing worked or connected properly/consistently after initial installation, in particular the two minis furthest away from the main or the Sky booster that they also installed, and work probably only 50% of the time, spending the remainder of the time with a frozen picture. The last chap, who was here yesterday, seemed to fix it, by moving a few things around, and showed me on his hand-held how all the connection statuses between all devices were green.
However tonight it's not working properly again, and the two furthest minis are refusing mostly to work due to a 'connectivity problem', despite nothing being physically moved. It also seems to be interfering with our 2.4GHz wifi, as performance there has worsened since installation.
Anyone have any ideas? I'm minded to ditch Q all together and return to previous set-up which worked consistently. Is that even possible?
I'm awaiting a call back from Sky, but we all know what their 'customer service' is like. And please don't give me grief for agreeing to Q in the first place, as that should be directed towards Mrs HH, I knew nowt about the decision as I really only watch footy on the TV, so don't involve myself in such stuff.
To get the 4th box working I think you need to turn off the playback preview on the main box. It's the setting which lets you see whats on another channel when you scroll through with the arrows. Cant remember what its called but you should see it in the settings menu on your main box.
This counts as one of your allowance of four, once you turn this off and restart the box then your 4th mini box should work.
This counts as one of your allowance of four, once you turn this off and restart the box then your 4th mini box should work.
PD_400 said:
To get the 4th box working I think you need to turn off the playback preview on the main box. It's the setting which lets you see whats on another channel when you scroll through with the arrows. Cant remember what its called but you should see it in the settings menu on your main box.
This counts as one of your allowance of four, once you turn this off and restart the box then your 4th mini box should work.
WTF!This counts as one of your allowance of four, once you turn this off and restart the box then your 4th mini box should work.
paulrockliffe said:
PD_400 said:
To get the 4th box working I think you need to turn off the playback preview on the main box. It's the setting which lets you see whats on another channel when you scroll through with the arrows. Cant remember what its called but you should see it in the settings menu on your main box.
This counts as one of your allowance of four, once you turn this off and restart the box then your 4th mini box should work.
WTF!This counts as one of your allowance of four, once you turn this off and restart the box then your 4th mini box should work.
I was told by Sky that going back to Sky HD is not an option unless you have kept all your equipment or want to buy it second hand as Sky no longer produce or sell it.
I had lots of issues when first signing up to Sky Q as it would not work with my TV. I currently have to run a gen 1 box as the gen 2 and gen 3 both have the same issue of turning the display off
I had lots of issues when first signing up to Sky Q as it would not work with my TV. I currently have to run a gen 1 box as the gen 2 and gen 3 both have the same issue of turning the display off
xeny said:
paulrockliffe said:
WTF!
Presumably the master box has a total of 4 "tuners", so there is a limit. Didn't most NLBs top out at quad?
te I suppose.Get them in to hardwire the mini boxes if it's logistically possible. They did for me using cat5e. You'll have to wait (as I am as we;ve just moved) until after lockdown though. I have the same issue with boosters, they may help if you have tissue paper walls but if theyre solid they're hopeless.
The win there is that you can put a unmanaged switch either end and use them for mesh/APs/ethernet connections etc.They will wire it point to point, you just connect a switch in when they've left.
The win there is that you can put a unmanaged switch either end and use them for mesh/APs/ethernet connections etc.They will wire it point to point, you just connect a switch in when they've left.
Edited by TimmyMallett on Thursday 11th March 13:13
Sky no longer offer Sky HD boxes to domestic customers, they are keen to move everyone to Q . Did they take the old HD boxes away? You could switch back if you have the boxes, or can get some used ones (there are loads floating about)
The LNB on the dish would have been swapped for a Q version, you'll need to get that swapped back to a standard octo LNB, hopefully they left all the cables in place?
Next problem will be viewing cards, you'll need to ask Sky to send out new cards for all the boxes, they may not do this.
The LNB on the dish would have been swapped for a Q version, you'll need to get that swapped back to a standard octo LNB, hopefully they left all the cables in place?
Next problem will be viewing cards, you'll need to ask Sky to send out new cards for all the boxes, they may not do this.
The Sky Q mesh is certainly problematic if your boxes are not 'close enough' together. Solutions are boosters (although I think Sky only provide these if you have Sky Q internet as well), wiring the boxes via ethernet or using a WiFi bridge to cable the boxes if your WiFi is strong in the relevant rooms. I've done a mixture of the second and third options and now it is rock solid. Our house has solid floors and walls and so the mesh always struggled.
CharlesElliott said:
The Sky Q mesh is certainly problematic if your boxes are not 'close enough' together. Solutions are boosters (although I think Sky only provide these if you have Sky Q internet as well), wiring the boxes via ethernet or using a WiFi bridge to cable the boxes if your WiFi is strong in the relevant rooms. I've done a mixture of the second and third options and now it is rock solid. Our house has solid floors and walls and so the mesh always struggled.
Finished this off yesterday - main Sky Box is at one end of the house, our single Sky Q box is right at the other, and the signal was seriously flaky via Wi Fi, even with a booster box in the middle.Wired it with Ethernet and its all working fine. I did have the cables dropped quite a while ago during a redecorate which came into its own
Thanks for the responses everyone, very much appreciated.
Hard wiring the boxes isn't really an option without huge cost and disruption (originally an 18th century house with solid walls, now extended, we have 3 floors, and the rooms with Sky kit (kitchen/family room is main, minis in lounge and 3 x bedrooms) are fairly well distanced.
What I can't understand is the inconsistency, the engineer on Monday got it all working fine, showed me the 5GHz 'mesh' connections all good/green on his device, etc, etc. Nothing has changed since then, so why does it now only work on the boxes sometimes, and other times not?
The last engineer said Sky could only deploy 7 bits of kit in a Q installation, so with 1x Wifi Router, 1x main, 4x mini, and 1x booster, he couldn't add another booster. I assume that's a cost issue though, rather than technical, so procuring another couple of Sky 5GHz boosters @ £70 each may be an option. He also warned against using other brand boosters (NetGear, etc) as they could cause 'compatibility issues' and do more harm than good - but given the lack of consistency of advice from the engineers, this could be bullst I guess!
I suspect a hybrid of many of the great suggestions above will be where we end up. I'll get Sky back to give them one more shot and put the questions above to them. Going back to HD doesn't seem realistic given need to reverse dish changes and get new cards.
Hard wiring the boxes isn't really an option without huge cost and disruption (originally an 18th century house with solid walls, now extended, we have 3 floors, and the rooms with Sky kit (kitchen/family room is main, minis in lounge and 3 x bedrooms) are fairly well distanced.
What I can't understand is the inconsistency, the engineer on Monday got it all working fine, showed me the 5GHz 'mesh' connections all good/green on his device, etc, etc. Nothing has changed since then, so why does it now only work on the boxes sometimes, and other times not?
The last engineer said Sky could only deploy 7 bits of kit in a Q installation, so with 1x Wifi Router, 1x main, 4x mini, and 1x booster, he couldn't add another booster. I assume that's a cost issue though, rather than technical, so procuring another couple of Sky 5GHz boosters @ £70 each may be an option. He also warned against using other brand boosters (NetGear, etc) as they could cause 'compatibility issues' and do more harm than good - but given the lack of consistency of advice from the engineers, this could be bulls
t I guess!I suspect a hybrid of many of the great suggestions above will be where we end up. I'll get Sky back to give them one more shot and put the questions above to them. Going back to HD doesn't seem realistic given need to reverse dish changes and get new cards.
had ham said:
What I can't understand is the inconsistency, the engineer on Monday got it all working fine, showed me the 5GHz 'mesh' connections all good/green on his device, etc, etc. Nothing has changed since then, so why does it now only work on the boxes sometimes, and other times not?
Because 5GHz WiFi has poor range and so atmospheric conditions, a small amount of interference, a vase that has been moved etc. call all make the signal go from 'just ok' to 'not working'. We had the same things and it would be different at different times of the day.If you have good WiFi in the room, you can use something like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vonets-Wireless-Ethernet-...
to allow the Sky Q box to use your own WiFi but believe it is connected to ethernet.
Having all greens on the mesh map doesn’t mean it will work. You need to have the rssi values as high as possible to cope with interference in your household
As said before it sounds like your balancing on the edge of “working” only taking a small amount of interference to tip you over the edge
With regards to buying more boosters, it won’t work. You adding more hops into the system which will then raise your streaming metrics and it will get worse
If your want it to work all the time get cat5/6 installed and gigabit switch
We have decided this evening to get rid of Q as it's clearly not fit for purpose. I have no desire to butcher my lovely old house further for more hard wiring.
Just need to persuade Sky to give us some viewing cards or re-enable the old ones, we still have all the boxes and wiring, etc.
What an absolute crock of ste.
Just need to persuade Sky to give us some viewing cards or re-enable the old ones, we still have all the boxes and wiring, etc.
What an absolute crock of s
te.had ham said:
We have decided this evening to get rid of Q as it's clearly not fit for purpose. I have no desire to butcher my lovely old house further for more hard wiring.
Just need to persuade Sky to give us some viewing cards or re-enable the old ones, we still have all the boxes and wiring, etc.
What an absolute crock of ste.
Just buy a load of powerline adapters and hard wire via the electrical system. Just need to persuade Sky to give us some viewing cards or re-enable the old ones, we still have all the boxes and wiring, etc.
What an absolute crock of s
te.We have an old house like yours and we can barely get a signal from one room to another (even "prosumer" kit like Unifi access points struggles to move signals between rooms) over wifi. We now have a mix of ethernet and powerline and everything works perfectly.
Sky will do the wiring for you, they did for me, they just dont advertise the service until you complain. It wont cost you anything and you will still have the same problem if you go back to normal Sky where they hardwire the boxes with coax. They just run cat5e to the room you need it in. If that's an issue for you then standard sky will be surely?
Essentially Q is really really good when it works, but it is limited by WiFi's constraints, even if it does use 2.4ghz (does it?) Basically they'll sell you it, explain that they can overcome any issues, then when it doesn't work, they have a backup of cabling. Which defeats the point of Q.
I used a powerline plug for quite a while and although it wasn't rock solid, it's on a par with a booster box. They're just stopgaps for me while I wait for them to come and cable after Covid.
Essentially Q is really really good when it works, but it is limited by WiFi's constraints, even if it does use 2.4ghz (does it?) Basically they'll sell you it, explain that they can overcome any issues, then when it doesn't work, they have a backup of cabling. Which defeats the point of Q.
I used a powerline plug for quite a while and although it wasn't rock solid, it's on a par with a booster box. They're just stopgaps for me while I wait for them to come and cable after Covid.
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