Hi, Can Alexa control my Sky Q box?

[SueI22]

Hi,

My mother has  dementia and  can't manage  any  but the most   simple remote.  She can turn  our Toshiba  TV  off  and   on with Alexa. It would  be so useful if  should  control the Sky Q box  to  change channels  etc. 

I have also  tried  to set up a very simple   'Flipper'  remote  for her,  but  that doesn't   seem  to work with Sky Q  either. 

[MightyQuinn · Accepted solution]

Hi @SueI22   You will need a third party interface. I use a harmony hub. Unfortunately Logitech decided not to produce them anymore, but I sure there are alternatives. I simply say, Alexa, turn on BBC1 which turns on the Sky Q box and TV and changes the channel to BBC 1.

[SueI22]

@MightyQuinn many thanks,  I will look into that. Maybe I can get a second hand harmony hub on Ebay or something. 

[GRR73]

To control my Sky Q I use a Broadlink RM4 Mini Universal sender which I linked to Alexa. It meant that I could simply say "turn on tv" or "pause sky" to control both tv and sky. Although the native sky q remote uses radio frequency, it does work with IR too which means it can be automated. Good luck.

[8illyboy]

The box to use is a Broadlink RM3 mini at £23 from Amazon, or less for an RM4 from EBay. I can now control the sky q box completely using Alexa, including fast forward, up , down, play, favourites, home, select, every single key except voice control.

The secret is to use buttons 4 and 6 to set the sky q remote to IR, then use Alexa commands to control similar commands that you set up on the RM3.