topic Re: Engineer couldn't be bothered in Sky Q

Engineer couldn't be bothered

Elmo10 — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 15:48:50 GMT

My elderly parents have Sky HD and an really old setup connecting all the TVs around the house together. I thought it would time for them to upgrade to Sky Q so they can access all the multi room features etc and everything else Sky Q brings.

The installation was booked for today. Extra box paid for. No problems.

My mum just called to say all the engineer did was replace a female to female ariel adaptor behind the Sky HD box.

He 'couldn't' replace the dish as they wouldn't place it there nowadays. Sky installed this dish, who else would have done it?

He 'couldn't' replace the wiring. I'm sure Sky Q uses the same coaxial wires from the dish to the box.

He didn't think the Wifi would stretch far enough. They don't live in a mansion. It's a standard 4 bed house. Trust me, it'll be fine.

My feeling is he didn't fancy it today as it's a bit cold and wet and completely fobbed off an elderly lady. I've had Sky Q for just under 10 years now with a couple of multiroom boxes, so I know the limitations, but there's no way anything he said is true.

The most frustrating part is trying to talk to anyone at Sky about getting it put right.

Has anyone else had an experience like this and how did they get it sorted?

Re: Engineer couldn't be bothered

PandJ2020 — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 15:58:59 GMT

You haven't actually said what the issue is / what needs fixing?

They won't touch aerial connections (Nor need to as Q doesn't have any).

Allowed dish locations have changed.

Re: Engineer couldn't be bothered

nigea99 — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 17:19:30 GMT

@Elmo10 wrote:

My elderly parents have Sky HD and an really old setup connecting all the TVs around the house together. I thought it would time for them to upgrade to Sky Q so they can access all the multi room features etc and everything else Sky Q brings.

The installation was booked for today. Extra box paid for. No problems.

My mum just called to say all the engineer did was replace a female to female ariel adaptor behind the Sky HD box.

He 'couldn't' replace the dish as they wouldn't place it there nowadays. Sky installed this dish, who else would have done it?

He 'couldn't' replace the wiring. I'm sure Sky Q uses the same coaxial wires from the dish to the box.

He didn't think the Wifi would stretch far enough. They don't live in a mansion. It's a standard 4 bed house. Trust me, it'll be fine.

My feeling is he didn't fancy it today as it's a bit cold and wet and completely fobbed off an elderly lady. I've had Sky Q for just under 10 years now with a couple of multiroom boxes, so I know the limitations, but there's no way anything he said is true.

The most frustrating part is trying to talk to anyone at Sky about getting it put right.

Has anyone else had an experience like this and how did they get it sorted?

hi @Elmo10

Unfortunately SKY's own rules for Health & Safety for their employees has evolved over the years which means they can't always install replacement dishes (or access existing ones) in the same place.

SKY Q second boxes (mini boxes) do work differently to the old SKY HD boxes and rely on wifi (or ethernet) - they don't usually install ethernet between the boxes . They may be able to provide SKY Q booster boxes for some scenarios.

You may wish to read some notes I have made for people considering switching from SKY +/HD to SKY Q

SKY +/HD to SKY Q

Unfortunately the advisers at SKY may rely on feedback from their engineer - I do not know how easy it would be to get it re-assessed by another engineer.

Re: Engineer couldn't be bothered

TimmyBGood — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 19:23:21 GMT

@Elmo10 wrote:

He 'couldn't' replace the dish as they wouldn't place it there nowadays. Sky installed this dish, who else would have done it?

Working practice has changed with regards to dish placement: they can no longer be above a lower structure, higher than second storey eaves, on a chimney or anywhere a ladder used to reach them cannot be tethered.

He 'couldn't' replace the wiring. I'm sure Sky Q uses the same coaxial wires from the dish to the box.

Yes, but the LNB on the dish has to be changed and all the access restrictions above apply to that operation.

He didn't think the Wifi would stretch far enough. They don't live in a mansion. It's a standard 4 bed house. Trust me, it'll be fine.

Q WiFi often isn't. The boxes (which are now antique) talk to each other rather than non-Sky wireless hardware.

Re: Engineer couldn't be bothered

Chodley — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 20:06:46 GMT

She may have had a lucky escape here