Sky Stream is not fit for purpose

[Steve-Dunn]

I've had no end of problems with Sky Stream. My wife was trying to watch The Voice. The experience was awful! Had to wait about 10 seconds for the logo to appear. Clicked that we're over 18. Adverts appeared. Fast forward. Wait for the ad to finish. Wait for the next ad to finish. Wait for the next ad to finish. Literally, about 10 ads. Ads finish... Nothing. Press play and a message "Woops, something went wrong" (or something like that).

Turn the box off an on again. Go through the exact same process.

I recorded the 3rd attempt on my phone, which was exactly the same. Knowing how fast my internet is (940 MB), I also recorded flipping over to YouTube (the app on my Samsung TV), starting a video, fast forwarding, switching to another video, switching to Netflix (the app on my Samsung TV), playing a video, fast forwarding, playing another video. All without lag or delay. Then switching back to Sky Stream and constant spinning circles, and confirming we're 18, and waiting for 8 or so ads...

Anyway, gave up on The Voice and tried to put today's Emmerdale on. Computer Says No. Not available. Try again later...

The whole experience is slow, jerky, juddery and disjointed. Even scrolling down through the home page is juddery.

I'll be switching back to Sky Q pronto. And if there's any quibble about the contract, or reduning the £20, then I'll switch to someone else.

[mikealanr]

Hi @Steve-Dunn 

There are known issues with ITV Hub. This is to be replaced shortly by ITV X. The one way around this presently is to purchase Hub +.

As Glass uses these 3rd party apps, you are at the mercy of the 3rd party. If you watch linear tv, record a lot and want instant playback, Q will always suit your needs more.

You have 31 days to "reject" Glass so shouldn't have an issue.

MikeAlanR

[Steve-Dunn]

Thanks Mike.

I think I will send it back. The lag, even at over 900+ MB, just makes it 'jarring' to use. Such a shame as it's cheaper than Sky Q, and, on paper, sounds better.

Cheers.

[Anonymous]

@Steve-Dunn 

Don't jump back to Q with haste as you have 31 days. It does take a bit of getting used too but once you get your head around how the Playlists etc operate its quite a neat system.

Yes there are bugs and wow I have at times nearly thrown the puck out the window but the more I use it the more intuitive it becomes.

It is very buggy, but there is a major UI update coming soon!

As for itv hub oh yes it is useless but in November itvx will be here. Also, I recommend taking out the 7 day free trial for hub+ as this works seamlessly and is AD free.

Eventually streaming will be standard so we all have to learn to adjust at some point.

Just think back to early days of setting a recording on the VHS 😁 but we stuck with it!

[Jporch316]

And if you don't want to pay for itv hub you could try stv app which is the Scottish version of itv - not sure if the shows you watch are on there but it's worth a shot 

[fizzdisco]

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@Steve-Dunn wrote:

Thanks Mike.

I think I will send it back. The lag, even at over 900+ MB, just makes it 'jarring' to use. Such a shame as it's cheaper than Sky Q, and, on paper, sounds better.

Cheers.

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Yup. It's the lag which kills the experience for me too. A potentially good service, weakened by cheap, underpowered hardware. 

[Jporch316]

@fizzdisco  Have you tried ignoring your puck for a few days ....... it's worth a go 😂

[Lawrence+cope]

Ah...so that's the trick, swap to sky stream or glass and not watch it🤪.

[Jonna99]

Well after returning my Sky Stream puck last week after having different problems with it I thought I'd reorder in case it was a faulty device, so I phoned Sky who said that they only recommend Sky Stream to people with Sky Q signal issues e.g dish obstructions.

I thought this product was being pushed as the future?

[jas2000]

In my experience Sky stream as been faultless apart from one remote. I ordered three pucks and have ordered another. Have not had any stuttering or buffering problems. Yes it's a little slower than devices like Apples 2021 4K TV box but that's £180.00 and I don't see it any slower than my fire tv cube.

I have BT full fibre 900 and Netgear ORBI Wi-Fi 6 throughout the house. Each stream is connected to a 4K LG 120hz OLED and they have been faultless. Both kids bedrooms have Apple TV 4Ks and the kids much prefer Sky streams and if honest so do I.

Strange how some people have so many issues. No great defender of Sky as we have BT TV too and six Apple TV 4Ks but are Sky Streams  have no issue with Streaming UHD Sky content, Netflix 4k, Prime 4k, Apple 4k or YouTube.

Sky Q mini boxes were very slow compared to the streams.

Each to their own.

[fizzdisco]

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@jas2000 wrote:

In my experience Sky stream as been faultless apart from one remote. I ordered three pucks and have ordered another. Have not had any stuttering or buffering problems. Yes it's a little slower than devices like Apples 2021 4K TV box but that's £180.00 and I don't see it any slower than my fire tv cube.

I have BT full fibre 900 and Netgear ORBI Wi-Fi 6 throughout the house. Each stream is connected to a 4K LG 120hz OLED and they have been faultless. Both kids bedrooms have Apple TV 4Ks and the kids much prefer Sky streams and if honest so do I.

Strange how some people have so many issues. No great defender of Sky as we have BT TV too and six Apple TV 4Ks but are Sky Streams  have no issue with Streaming UHD Sky content, Netflix 4k, Prime 4k, Apple 4k or YouTube.

Sky Q mini boxes were very slow compared to the streams.

Each to their own.

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3 x Stream pucks (and a fourth ordered) connected to 3 x LG OLEDs, BT TV, six (!) Apple TV 4K boxes, a Fire TV Cube... that's a lot of sources of TV content (and a lot of money). However do you find the time to watch it all ?!?

[jas2000]

@fizzdisco if it was just myself then yes a

little over the top.

We have four kids and five bedrooms so it makes more sense then.

BTTV sort of comes free with BT broadband, Apple TVs are a pleasure but need Sky as I am a F1 addict and need to watch it in UHD.

Sometimes I wonder how much all the streaming services cost especially with a Plex server with two 4tb hdds running 24/7 which as loads of content on it and is currently running at 90 percent full. 

All good though and I believe that a rock solid network is key to Sky stream problems. Luckily we have Ethernet in every room in are house fed from a large network switch in the loft. Long live ethernet.

[best+of+the+best]

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@Lawrence+cope wrote:

Ah...so that's the trick, swap to sky stream or glass and not watch it🤪.

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I'd do that with Sky+ HD @Lawrence+cope 🤪

[Lawrence+cope]

@best+of+the+best so bad Sky was buying them back not too long ago.

[best+of+the+best]

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@Lawrence+cope wrote:

@best+of+the+best so bad Sky was buying them back not too long ago.

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Did you sell yours then?