Sky Q UHD to Glass questions

[Dutts303]

I'm out of my current Sky 18 month contract now and phoned up to try and get a better deal and they seem to be pushing Glass quite hard.

I currently have Sky Q, UHD, with 3 Sky Q miniboxes, Sports, Cinema, Kids and Netflix along with basic phone and broadband.

It looks like I can half my monthly bill if I went over to Glass for the same package, but I have a few questions as my Q experience hasn't been 100%.

- up to a month ago where I live didn't have any sort of fibre internet available so I was stuck with Sky's basic broadband and about 25mbit speeds. We're a big internet user with lots of connected devices and skys router just couldn't cut it with the amount of devices connected so I ended up going down my own route with some UniFi wifi gear, using Sky's router as a "modem". This did mean that occasionally my Sky Q mini boxes would crap out and lose connectivity to my main Q box, they then had to be reset and all would be good for another month or so. With glass I'd have a similar multi room set up with stream (pucks?) to replace the current Q mini boxes. Do they still connect back to the Sky Glass and do they insist/prefer on their own wifi network rather than using your own?

- we now have FTTP through Airband so getting 900mbit and solid wifi connection through the house (Sky Q mini boxes still occasionally forget), we do still have the Sky ADSL provision but aren't using it. I can't seem to find an option on the sky page to drop adsl from my package, is this an option with Glass? Does anyone subscribe to just glass and not take Sky's broadband/phone?

- I don't want to replace our living room main tv with Glass as we're happy with the set up and size in there so am thinking about putting the small Glass tv in our bedroom and running our main living room tv off a puck thing. Is the experience exactly the same on all devices or is it like the Q mini boxes where it is downgraded (no 4k in particular?)

cheers

rich

[CoffeeDrinker]

"With glass I'd have a similar multi room set up with stream (pucks?) to replace the current Q mini boxes. Do they still connect back to the Sky Glass and do they insist/prefer on their own wifi network rather than using your own?"

Each Sky puck device or Sky Glass TV set are independent client devices and don't interact with one another or rely on one another in any way. Each streams their TV content directly from the internet. There is no local recording on a 'master' box then streaming it to other devices on your home WiFi network as there is with Sky Q. You can use you own WiFi network, whether that is from a Sky Hub broadband router,  a.n.other ISP's router or your own Wi-Fi router connected to another internet modem/gateway. 

"- we now have FTTP through Airband so getting 900mbit and solid wifi connection through the house (Sky Q mini boxes still occasionally forget), we do still have the Sky ADSL provision but aren't using it. I can't seem to find an option on the sky page to drop adsl from my package, is this an option with Glass? Does anyone subscribe to just glass and not take Sky's broadband/phone?"

Plenty use Glass and Sky Stream puck on other non-Sky broadband connections. You don't have to take Sky Broadband with Sky Glass/Stream, you can use your own ISP. You'd need to call Sky to cancel your existing Sky ADSL connection (assuming you're out of contract or you'll need to pay early termination fees).

Sky Stream & Glass TV devices really do need a good, stable Wi-Fi connection to work well. We have a 67MB/s Sky Broadband connection but only use Sky's broadband hub as a modem. The Sky hub's Wi-Fi is turned off and we use a pair of BT Whole Home discs for home Wi-Fi. Our Sky Stream puck is connected to the Sky broadband hub via Ethernet and the Glass TV in the bedroom is on the BTH Whole Home mesh Wi-Fi and both devices work reliably and without issue.

"- I don't want to replace our living room main tv with Glass as we're happy with the set up and size in there so am thinking about putting the small Glass tv in our bedroom and running our main living room tv off a puck thing. Is the experience exactly the same on all devices or is it like the Q mini boxes where it is downgraded (no 4k in particular?)"

This is our exact setup! Sky Stream puck in the living room connected to our Denon AVR and Sony 4K TV, Sky Glass 43" in Dusky Pink in our bedroom. You'll still need multiroom (aka Whole Home) to use two or more puck/Glass TV devices on your Sky subscription and if you're paying for the Atmos+UHD add on, you can watch Sky's 4K content on all of your puck/Glass TV devices - zero downgrading as there is with Q mini boxes.

4K content is available from Netflix, Disney+ etc on Sky Stream/Glass TV devices without needing to pay for the Atmos+UHD add=on - it is only required for viewing Sky's own UHD/HDR/Atmos content.

[SlenderRobert]

@Dutts303 

Don't get a Glass TV. They're over-priced & still bug-ridden. Just get Sky Stream - same system but using your own TV's. Also a bit bug ridden & slow but functional for general viewing. The pucks operate entirely independently & do not connect to one another. You just need fast & stable broadband, preferably wired, doesn't have to be with Sky. Oh, and patience. Lots of patience. 

[Chrisee]

@Dutts303 Sky Stream/Glass is quite different from Sky Q so do understand the differences before switching such as no local recording and some of the minority channels are missing. If you mainly watch on demand or live content they work well however if you do a lot of time shifting or have a collection of recordings you can't live without stay with Q.

That said Sky Stream maybe a an option. as all units support UHD. The system simply requires decent internet connection and unlike Sky Q mini boxes will work with most any wifi network. 

I do not agree with @SlenderRobert that Glass TVs are bug ridden, certainly mine isnt 😀, but frankly it is not the best TV for the price and unless the deal is to good to turn down I would use Stream pucks with your current TVs. Both units run exactly the same operating system and are stable with good wifi network personally I find they need fewer reboots than Q boxes. Remember reports in this forum are mainly from people with issues so are not representitive. 

As a Q customer you need to call Sky to get a Stream contract but Sky should agree without too much arguing but normally Stream and Q arexaround the same priice like for like so check they are giving you the same deal.

Your ADSL broadband is a separate contract from your Q TV and can be cancelled by giving Sky 14 days notice however if you are still in the 18 month fixed contract period they will charge cancellation charges. Some customers have got these waved if Sky cannot offer similar speeds to your new service but remember legally Sky dont havecto do that.