topic Re: Sky Box Bundle in Sky Q

Sky Box Bundle

Psybertron — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 08:08:37 GMT

Can't find anywhere (or any human) on MySky that will provide me with a box for recording (Sky Q or latest equivalent?) in order to watch on catch-up with ad skipping. Full fibre to the house, VIP customer (whatever that means). Sky Stream "Puck" is useless service by comparison. Like others on this forum I've had FURIOUS conversations with Sky people telling me we can't have a box without a satellite when there is patently no technical reason given the bandwidth available. Long term customer with a break in service only when we moved to house (without satellite). Have just about every max content bundle. Paying a fortune for useless customer service and useless catch-up TV service. Help!

Re: Sky Box Bundle

oj01 — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 08:11:29 GMT

@Psybertron The only Sky service with local recording capability is Sky Q, which requires a satellite dish.

Re: Sky Box Bundle

Invisiblename — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 09:23:41 GMT

@Psybertron wrote:
Can't find anywhere (or any human) on MySky that will provide me with a box for recording (Sky Q or latest equivalent?) in order to watch on catch-up with ad skipping. Full fibre to the house, VIP customer (whatever that means). Sky Stream "Puck" is useless service by comparison. Like others on this forum I've had FURIOUS conversations with Sky people telling me we can't have a box without a satellite when there is patently no technical reason given the bandwidth available. Long term customer with a break in service only when we moved to house (without satellite). Have just about every max content bundle. Paying a fortune for useless customer service and useless catch-up TV service. Help!

You're "demanding" a service that Sky just doesn't offer. If you wish to stay with Sky & want recording capabilities, you have to accept Sky Q with a dish. Your alternative is to Leave Sky & maybe try BT Tv (now called EE tv)

Re: Sky Box Bundle

PandJ2020 — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 09:42:13 GMT

The future is streaming. The days of local hard disk recording are numbered - ironically, because of the increase bandwidth.

It gives the broadcaster(s) full control over their material.

Re: Sky Box Bundle

Mark39 — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 10:49:52 GMT

@Psybertron Sky's 'box without a satellite' is their streaming Puck. i.e. what you've already got

Re: Sky Box Bundle

Invisiblename — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 12:40:52 GMT

@Mark39 wrote:
@Psybertron Sky's 'box without a satellite' is their streaming Puck. i.e. what you've already got

But they also want to be able to record so they can 'ad-skip' which you can't do with their streaming service.

Re: Sky Box Bundle

Laing1 — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 18:05:30 GMT

@Psybertron wrote:
Can't find anywhere (or any human) on MySky that will provide me with a box for recording (Sky Q or latest equivalent?) in order to watch on catch-up with ad skipping. Full fibre to the house, VIP customer (whatever that means). Sky Stream "Puck" is useless service by comparison. Like others on this forum I've had FURIOUS conversations with Sky people telling me we can't have a box without a satellite when there is patently no technical reason given the bandwidth available. Long term customer with a break in service only when we moved to house (without satellite). Have just about every max content bundle. Paying a fortune for useless customer service and useless catch-up TV service. Help!

@Psybertron maybe not quite so useless seeing as what they are telling you is the truth that Sky does not do a box that you can record all programmes without having a satellite dish

Re: Sky Box Bundle

TimmyBGood — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 19:22:07 GMT

@Psybertron wrote:
Like others on this forum I've had FURIOUS conversations with Sky people telling me we can't have a box without a satellite when there is patently no technical reason given the bandwidth available.

No such device has ever been available in the UK, so it's a little unfair to be 'furious' with support script readers who have zero influence on commercial decisions taken at board level (particularly when the relevant boardroom is at the top of a skyscraper in Philadelphia)

'Q without a dish' was actually designed, built (to a mainland European specification), got launched in Italy and Austria and was due for release here, but became overtaken by the acquisition of Sky Group by the Comcast Corporation in 2018 and just wasn't a product they wanted to pursue: Stream is very much a Comcast software stack in a Sky-branded plastic enclosure.

https://www.skygroup.sky/article/award-winning-sky-q-to-launch-without-a-satellite-dish-bringing-sky-tv-to-millions-more-homes (2017)

Re: Sky Box Bundle

Psybertron — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 22:19:53 GMT

@TimmyBGood That was my original suspicion, that this was a commercial business decision, about constraints by others in the contenty supply chain, but that there is no technical reason why a Q-box (or equivalent) couldn't work with the internet service without a dish. (I had the technical point also confirmed by a cable installer.)

@PandJ2020 The reason streaming isn't the future, is that without any standardisation on how catch-up is configured, how ad-skipping is configured, and how you plan to watch asynchronously, is that you are attempting to control many different proprietory apps with the buttons on one Sky Remote. The Puck only connects you to the streaming providers once you're there, it's their controls. You'd be better off watching TV streaming through a PC with keyboard & mouse, or a tablet with gestures.

Having an actual hardware Queuing and Recording box, with one set of controls, gets rid of all of these issues. And software solutions in the cloud could provide the same service. Basically, I'm paying a fortune to watch ads others have already paid for and an inferior TV scheduling service - a rip-off - so I remain furious with Sky 😂😂😂

Guessing there must be better solutions than Sky out there. (There are literally only two Sky channels we choose to watch and only one we'd miss, all the content is from elsewhere.)

Re: Sky Box Bundle

TimmyBGood — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 22:40:34 GMT

@Psybertron wrote:

there is no technical reason why a Q-box (or equivalent) couldn't work with the internet service without a dish.

Certainly, but once Comcast was in charge, priorities and strategic direction changed. Thirty billion pound corporate takeovers tend to be like that.

Re: Sky Box Bundle

Chodley — Sun, 16 Feb 2025 09:26:02 GMT

I don't see the slightest issue with having multiple apps with a single remote. What do any of them use other than 4-way cursor, play/pause/ff/rwd and select/back/home?

The fact all the apps use a different menu navigation design is the actual issue.

I still don't see the point calling Sky customer services and railing at them for the fact their company doesn't make or offer something you want.

Re: Sky Box Bundle

Sparkymatt100 — Sun, 16 Feb 2025 19:37:18 GMT

@Invisiblename wrote:
@Mark39 wrote:
@Psybertron Sky's 'box without a satellite' is their streaming Puck. i.e. what you've already got
But they also want to be able to record so they can 'ad-skip' which you can't do with their streaming service.

@Invisiblename

@Psybertron

You can 'ad-skip' on Stream by subscribing to the Ad skip add on at £5 a month. This will enable you to skip ads on catchup/playlist programmes. Be aware that this will not work on Paramount+ Basic with ads free subscription via Sky.

Re: Sky Box Bundle

Laing1 — Sun, 16 Feb 2025 20:03:28 GMT

@Sparkymatt100 wrote:

@Invisiblename wrote:

@Mark39 wrote:

@Psybertron Sky's 'box without a satellite' is their streaming Puck. i.e. what you've already got

But they also want to be able to record so they can 'ad-skip' which you can't do with their streaming service.

@Invisiblename

@Psybertron

You can 'ad-skip' on Stream by subscribing to the Ad skip add on at £5 a month. This will enable you to skip ads on catchup/playlist programmes. Be aware that this will not work on Paramount+ Basic with ads free subscription via Sky.

@Sparkymatt100 i think @Invisiblename was meaning you can't record

Re: Sky Box Bundle

Chodley — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 05:16:58 GMT

@Laing1 wrote:
@Sparkymatt100 wrote:
@Invisiblename wrote:
@Mark39 wrote:
@Psybertron Sky's 'box without a satellite' is their streaming Puck. i.e. what you've already got
But they also want to be able to record so they can 'ad-skip' which you can't do with their streaming service.
@Invisiblename
@Psybertron

You can 'ad-skip' on Stream by subscribing to the Ad skip add on at £5 a month. This will enable you to skip ads on catchup/playlist programmes. Be aware that this will not work on Paramount+ Basic with ads free subscription via Sky.
@Sparkymatt100 i think @Invisiblename was meaning you can't record

Well, he said the purpose of that recording was to ad skip, which you can stilll do but have to pay extra.

Re: Sky Box Bundle

Psybertron — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 10:25:59 GMT

We pay for ad-skipping too. Jeez folks listen to the actual complaint:

All these functions depend on different streaming apps, which the Sky Stream "Puck" gives you access to, but all the controls are via the few buttons on the remote, and all the functions behave differently on the different apps. Catch-up after the programme is uploaded, catch-up delayed during broadcast, pausing, ad skipping, seeking previous content all different with no common menu, and no reliability if you forget which function works which way on which app and which provider the content was originally provided by or if some streaming glitch happens during one of the processes. The number of times we get half-way through something and find we can never recover the rest. It's a dogs breakfast!

The Q-Box is in a different league, one interface, reliable service - and there is no good technical reason why they don't provide it - so lousy service in my book on top of lousy customer service generally. Service designed to lock-in the providers to their consumers eyeballs - Sky adds no value..

Re: Sky Box Bundle

PandJ2020 — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 10:50:55 GMT

@Psybertron wrote:
listen to the actual complaint:
All these functions depend on different streaming apps, which the Sky Stream "Puck" gives you access to, but all the controls are via the few buttons on the remote, and all the functions behave differently on the different apps.

I'm with @Chodley

The Q box will eventually be decommissioned and we'll all be left with multiple apps (either by native TV apps or via plug in such as FireStick). Can't say I've ever struggled with different apps.

It is a bit of a dogs dinner have multiple apps but I can't see that changing.

Local Hard Disk recording will go.

Re: Sky Box Bundle

Psybertron — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 12:08:50 GMT

(And there's no reason why "hardware" storage and functionality in the Q-Box couldn't be provided by cloud software - with the same unified user interface provided by Sky.)

Re: Sky Box Bundle

Chodley — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 20:09:59 GMT

@Psybertron wrote:

We pay for ad-skipping too. Jeez folks listen to the actual complaint:

All these functions depend on different streaming apps, which the Sky Stream "Puck" gives you access to, but all the controls are via the few buttons on the remote, and all the functions behave differently on the different apps. Catch-up after the programme is uploaded, catch-up delayed during broadcast, pausing, ad skipping, seeking previous content all different with no common menu, and no reliability if you forget which function works which way on which app and which provider the content was originally provided by or if some streaming glitch happens during one of the processes. The number of times we get half-way through something and find we can never recover the rest. It's a dogs breakfast!

The Q-Box is in a different league, one interface, reliable service - and there is no good technical reason why they don't provide it - so lousy service in my book on top of lousy customer service generally. Service designed to lock-in the providers to their consumers eyeballs - Sky adds no value..

I think I can count the number of times I've "got halfway through something and find I can never recover the rest" on the fingers of one foot. How are you managing this? All the apps have "continue watching" options even though they try to put them below the fold, like a supermarket putting the essentials as far from the door as possible.

I still don't see the point of you giving a customer service rep grief for not magicking up a hardware and cloud platform that doesn't exist, with expensive infra Sky clearly don't have the budget or commercial incentive to produce, containing all the world's content that they don't own.

Do you call up BMW all furious about the lack of a 500 mile range zero emissions iX5 for 25k?

Re: Sky Box Bundle

PandJ2020 — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 20:53:03 GMT

@Psybertron wrote:
(And there's no reason why "hardware" storage and functionality in the Q-Box couldn't be provided by cloud software - with the same unified user interface provided by Sky.)

Indeed, they've done it already - it's called 'Sky Stream', no need for any hard disk.

However, I doubt they'll develop such software for Q. (The internals are rather dated)