Discussion topic: Extremely slow SkyQ downloads - Not with Sky Broadband
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Message posted on 17 May 2025 08:17 PM
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Re: Extremely slow SkyQ downloads - Not with Sky Broadband
@Laing1 wrote:
@Bannock wrote:No, it's a BT Smart Hub 2.
@Bannock there are many people on BT broadband using the Smart Hub 2 that have no problems so its not Sky throttling it back. From memory have you switched of the smart function on the router and can you split the frequencies as the Q box will only connect to you smat hub on the 2.4 Ghz frequency
Hi @Laing1 Unfortunately, with the SH2 you cannot split the frequencies and it no longer has smart setup.
Message posted on 17 May 2025 08:27 PM
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Re: Extremely slow SkyQ downloads - Not with Sky Broadband
@MightyQuinn wrote:
@Laing1 wrote:
@Bannock wrote:
No, it's a BT Smart Hub 2.
@Bannock there are many people on BT broadband using the Smart Hub 2 that have no problems so its not Sky throttling it back. From memory have you switched of the smart function on the router and can you split the frequencies as the Q box will only connect to you smat hub on the 2.4 Ghz frequency
Hi @Laing1 Unfortunately, with the SH2 you cannot split the frequencies and it no longer has smart setup.
@MightyQuinn thanks for the correction i'll file that away for future reference 😀
I may be a Sky Superuser but I am still just a Sky customer
Sky Q 2 TB (Silver)Box, 2 Mini boxes since June 2016, all connected by wifi
Sky Broadband Hub/SR203, Sky Ultrafast broadband
Ultimate on Demand, Q Experience/UHD, Sky Sports, Sky Cinema
LG 49SJ 810 V UHD TV, Google Pixel 7 Pro mobile
Message posted on 17 May 2025 10:49 PM
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Re: Extremely slow SkyQ downloads - Not with Sky Broadband
@Bannock wrote:Thanks, I will look into that, but wow. Having to spend £80 on a 3rd party device to make Sky's hardware work properly. Blimey.
Sky gave me one of these to help resolve things, never had to pay for one.
but I gave up on it and ended up wiring my Q into a BT wholehome disc. Those cost a lot more than £80 and a modern wifi 7 mesh is big money.
powerlines are probably the most cost effective solution.
Message posted on 18 May 2025 09:57 AM
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Re: Extremely slow SkyQ downloads - Not with Sky Broadband
My gripe is that this shouldn't need a "solution" at all. I have sufficient bandwidth for all my other devices and streaming services to work perfectly without solutioning anything. It's simply not good enough for what is a very expensive service. Why is something designed in such a way that it actively prevents the customer using the service they're paying for in an acceptable way?
The issue doesn't manifest every time - but it is often. So there's a variable at play. Is it my home Internet set up? No, it can't be, because nothing else connected to it ever suffers performance issues. So it's the Sky box, or the Sky servers. It stands to reason.
Message posted on 18 May 2025 10:46 AM
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Re: Extremely slow SkyQ downloads - Not with Sky Broadband
Oh, and here's a thought. I stream Paramount+ on the same Sky Q box without any issues. But Sky Cinema or On Demand? Often cannot download quickly enough to watch content simultaneously. So that tells me it's a Sky server characteristic.
Message posted on 18 May 2025 11:28 AM
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Re: Extremely slow SkyQ downloads - Not with Sky Broadband
@Bannock wrote:Oh, and here's a thought. I stream Paramount+ on the same Sky Q box without any issues. But Sky Cinema or On Demand? Often cannot download quickly enough to watch content simultaneously. So that tells me it's a Sky server characteristic.
Hi @Bannock It is easy to check if it is a Sky server problem, simply let us know the programme and format, and we can see if we can replicate your problem.
Message posted on 18 May 2025 06:36 PM
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Re: Extremely slow SkyQ downloads - Not with Sky Broadband
Thanks for the reply. I was downloading Back to the Future in HD. It eventually downloaded overnight, I couldn't watch whilst downloading. Same has been happening with episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm. These are short programmes but still I have to wait hours to download.
Today, I'm watching Gladiator II on Paramount+, the Sky Q box is delivering a very low definition picture. Switching to the Paramount+ app on my smart TV it is streaming perfectly. So this is not an issue with my router or broadband, it's a Sky Q issue.
I emphasise I've rebooted everything. The problem always manifests in the early evening, when use is at its peak. Sky Q can't cope, whilst Amazon, Netflix and Disney on my TV's apps, perform flawlessly. Either Sky's service isn't up to snuff, or it's deliberate throttling to get users to call and cross sell them to Sky broadband.
Message posted on 18 May 2025 07:13 PM - last edited: 18 May 2025 07:16 PM
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Re: Extremely slow SkyQ downloads - Not with Sky Broadband
Hi @Bannock
Back to the Future HD, ready to view after 12 seconds. Fully downloaded, 3.7Gb in 3 minutes 50 seconds.
Curb Your Enthusiasm HD S12 Ep 10, ready to view after 11 seconds. Fully downloaded 2.4GB in 2 minutes 35 seconds.
Both downloaded between 19:00 and 19:10 just now.
Gigaclear (Altnet) 500, note, I have never ever had Sky Broadband.
You need to have a look at your local environment. If you are connected by WiFi then I would investigate interference and find a clean channel.
Message posted on 18 May 2025 07:30 PM
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Re: Extremely slow SkyQ downloads - Not with Sky Broadband
Hi @Bannock
Another thought, as you have Netflix on your Sky Q box, what does it report as your connection speed (Get Help -> Check your network). Mine reports 227 Mbps.
Message posted on 19 May 2025 08:52 AM
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Re: Extremely slow SkyQ downloads - Not with Sky Broadband
Thanks for replying Quinn, but given my smart TV, laptops, other wifi connected devices are streaming perfectly well, but my Sky Q box does not, shows this to be an issue with the Sky Q box and/or service being delivered to my home. This is what I find unacceptable about the device and service: that even if, as you say, there may be some local interference, or I need to find a different "channel", whatever that means, it clearly demonstrates the poor design of the Sky Q box and/or the service delivering the content. It simply shouldn't need any adjustments to my local environment. No other device or service needs me to adjust anything. I simply shouldn't have to spend hours of my time on wild goose chases. It should work, properly, every time, out of the box. Barring the occasional need we all have to reboot our routers once in a blue moon. I am on BT broadband, with a recent BT router device, this should be one of the commonest setups in the country, and Sky outght to be able to work with it flawlessly. That it doesn't, points to unpleasant conclusions about Sky. That it works well in my home sometimes and not others also, when no changes are being made in my home environment between these times, shows the problem lies with the Sky device or service.
This seems to be a common issue has been reported on here in various threads for years. It is simply not good enough that it remains, apparently deliberately, unresolved.
I don't use Netflix on my Sky Q box becuase it simply doesn't deliver the flawless experience which I get using the app on my Smart TV. And now Paramount+ is the same. Sky are providing substandard equipment and substandard service for a premium price. I don't see how any other conclusion can be drawn when I have the control evidence of using streaming services on the Sky box and on a smart TV app and experiencing entirely different quality at exactly the same time.
It would be great if someone from Sky could contact me to sort this out, I am not going to spend my own time chasing it again (yes, I've tried to use phone support and got preceisely nowhere in the past) only to be fobbed off with "reboot your router" or "switch channels" and have someone tell me what will fix it is Sky Broadband and a nice new Sky Glass TV.
Message posted on 19 May 2025 09:14 AM - last edited: 19 May 2025 09:17 AM
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Re: Extremely slow SkyQ downloads - Not with Sky Broadband
@Bannock wrote:It would be great if someone from Sky could contact me
Hi @Bannock I'm afraid that nobody from Sky will contact you, on the back of a post on a public community forum. Please see Welcome to the community below. I would recommend contacting Sky and arranging an engineer visit, you may have a faulty box.
Message posted on 19 May 2025 09:20 AM
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Re: Extremely slow SkyQ downloads - Not with Sky Broadband
Thanks, Quinn, I thought they had a thing whereby a Sky representative offered to start online chats from posts on this board, evidently not the case any more. I'll try to contact them when I have the time.
Message posted on 19 May 2025 09:27 AM
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Re: Extremely slow SkyQ downloads - Not with Sky Broadband
You do not need to be logged into Netflix on your Sky Q box to run the network speed test.
Launch Netflix on your Sky Q box and scroll down the left menu to Get help.
Choose Check Network.
Would suggest running the test a few times, say a few minutes between tests.
Sky Stream with two pucks (Former Sky Q and Sky+ customer), Sky Ultrafast + using Sky SR203 hub. Sky Protect kit tester.
My good journey to Sky Stream from Sky Q. Click here to read
Message posted on 19 May 2025 01:12 PM
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Re: Extremely slow SkyQ downloads - Not with Sky Broadband
Thanks. The test on the Sky Q box in Netflix reported 55.09mbps. Broadband Speedcheck on this laptop I'm using says 56.89mbps.
I should have about 80 according to BT, so perhaps I will ask them why I'm a bit short. But that notwithstanding, 55/57mbps is obviously enough to stream content flawlessly on my laptops, Smart TV and other devices. So why does the Sky Q box take so long to download content, such that I can't watch whilst downloading, and such that it delivers streaming on its Paramount+ app in such a low quality way with buffering? That's the question.
Message posted on 19 May 2025 02:52 PM
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Re: Extremely slow SkyQ downloads - Not with Sky Broadband
A channel is just a wifi term for a frequency band.
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