SkyQ Download Failed Item Unavailable

[SimonInSudbury]

Thinking the late hour might be more successful, for the last 45 minutes I have constantly attempted to download ep. 3 of American Rust. Each and every attempt FAILED. Also for 30 minutes prior, attempted to download Cold Case Killers on channel 5. FAILED each and every time. 

This sickening situation has now deteriorated to a level which I can only describe as a wholesale withdrawal of the download service by Sky.

In the recent past, at least one attempt at downloading a programme would succeed. Now, absolutely nothing whatsoever!

[Azteclife]

Last night I replied to the email they sent me telling me they knew about the issue and needed to wait for it to be resolved.  I  said this wasnt really an acceptable response and this morning I have received another email saying they've tried to phone me (what? overnight?) as they need to re-pair my viewing card!!!!  Has anyone else been told this?

They also made a point of telling me On Demand is a free service and therefore no compensation will be paid.

[Discombobulated3]

@Jeds Are downloads still working for you now, or are you still having the same prob that the rest of us here are all experiencing? 

If it is still working, what did Support tell you to do that finally fixed it? Thanks.

[Discombobulated3]

@Jeds Ah, sorry, just seen your follow-up post, pls disregard my stupid question!

[Discombobulated3]

@Kezza1990 I'm getting fails on Beeb as well. 

[Kittyfishbreath]

My Sky Q box was doing exactly the same when I tried to download a box set episode.

I read a few pages ago where someone had very helpfully posted a solution, and I tried it. That's far it seems to have worked and I can download programmes now. 

Select settings, then network settings, and swapped my DNS figures for 8.8.8.8.

I then selected confirm and unplugged then plugged my sky q box in again to reboot.  

I deleted any episodes from the box set that were downloaded in recordings then downloaded them again.  

Hope this is useful. 

I use bt for my broadband.  

[Discombobulated3]

@Chloe-W22 This is very clearly an ongoing and widespread issue, not only affecting something easy to identify like one particular channel or one particular title, but the vast majority of ALL programmes on ALL channels. Just look how many of us are here describing the different things we've all tried, unsuccessfully, to resolve this. 

Can you give us an update on what Sky are doing about this, please? It's not just BT users (the volume of those complaints is likely due to BT being the UK's biggest bb provider), it's other internet provider users too, so this is not BT's fault.

As a lot of us have had more success in downloading items in the early hours of the morning, i.e., off-peak traffic times, the general feeling here is that this is likely to be a bandwidth/ server issue at Sky's end. 

I for one would greatly appreciate a constructive update from you, as a Sky employee who has taken the time to join this discussion, on this far-reaching issue. Sky is currently alienating an awful lot of customers, and that isn't likely to be good for business. 

Thanks.

[Jeds]

Hi @Discombobulated3 

Up until this morning, no, I've not had a permanent fix. However, more in hope than expectation, I just tried to download something random (American Justice on Crime & Investigation)  & it worked all the way through. So I then tried the second episode of American Rust, but this failed ☹️
The last time I spoke to Sky (Wednesday) they said they would send update signals to the box, but I'm very sceptical that these would have any affect, if they even exist. Unfortunately, I think it's just another delaying tactic, as I was advised the update may take up to 48 hours 🙄

On the plus side, they migrated my BT sport so I can now watch it on all boxes, for a pretty reasonable £13 a month (I was paying £26 p/m with BT) but I'm not convinced this was any great gesture for the download issue, I think I would have been offered that regardless.

So no real progress, but at least I can watch the Ashes instead of any catch-up tv!

[Kittyfishbreath]

Thank you for posting this, box sets now downloading ok.

[Kittyfishbreath]

Originally posted by Dami on page 26 - 

Need to change the DNS settings in your network connection to 8.8.8.8 and press CONFIRM then immediately reboot your Q box. This has worked for me so far. She also said that you could try DNS of 1.1.1.1 and do the same - need to do it each time the box loses network connection for any reason as it will probably reset to the default DNS settings from your wifi.

For those that dont know its - Settings - Setup - Network - Advanced Settings

[Wacky7]

I too think the issue is getting worse and affecting  other channels like I'VE, BBC etc. Also, if I do manage to download an episode it is corrupted and can be played but no audio and the screen is a mass of coloured pixels..

Interesting what we are being told that this is a free service...so if we were to cancel our subscription to just have free to air stuff, we would still have on demand would we? 

[Supergooner]

Hi, I am also experiencing issues downloading Sky content. This problem started this week, Tues 7/12. Seems to be just Sky channels when trying to view on demand content. Non Sky channels eg BBC seem to work ok. When I try to view the download gets stuck at 0% and then an error message appears "download failed". When I did eventually manage to download an episode of Landscapers, it was impossible to view as the picture juddered and pixelated. Looked like a bandwidth issue.

called Sky 8/12. Went through various checks inc network and card. It worked for a while but when I went to download a Sky prog during the evening, same problem again. Spoke to Sky again 9/12 and did a box reboot (thereby losing all recorded content). Again, worked for a while but then failed again when I tried to view on demand last night. Called Sky again and the operator suggested only other option is to replace box which is now in progress. However at the back of mind I can't see this is the issue as otherwise surely I wouldn't be able to view any on demand content. 
BTW I have BT broadband which is working fine with good download and upload speeds.

Anyway, new box due to arrive tomorrow and engineer coming next week so we'll see what happens.

[Discombobulated3]

@LGUser 

@Goooner1 wrote:

Why complain to BT? It's a Sky issue. 

As others have said, it's only Sky content that fails to download, anything non-Sky is fine. 

"Then why is it mostly BT customers who are having this problem?"

Probably because BT is the biggest bb provider in the UK. 

[Discombobulated3]

@LGUser "I don't know what the problem is, but it affecting mostly BT users. Can anyone explain why that is if it's a Sky problem?"

Because more ppl are with BT as their ISP than any other company in the UK. It's a simple numbers game. 

Added to which, there are posts on this thread from Sky customers who are with other ISPs and are also experiencing the very same issue. It is NOT confined to BT bb users. 

[Discombobulated3]

@LGUser Because BT have far more broadband customers than EE, Virgin, or any other ISP in the UK!