Using Sky Q Mini for FTA when cut off

[Jack+Spank9049]

I'm asking this on behalf of my mum who is very technologically illeterate. 

i'm aware if your service is temporarily suspended due to a late payment, the master Sky Box will continue to work as a non-recordable freesat reciever, but the Mini Boxes insist there is an error connecting to the master box and so won't even display FTA. She claims she spoke to someone at Sky who clarified for her she should be able to use the mini box for FTA when cut off, but a Google search shows that Sky own the equipment and so they technically have full control over it, including blocking the master box from even recieving the FTA channels.

[Jack+Spank9049]

I'm trying to help my mum here who is very technologically illeterate. I have tried to explain to her that the Mini Boxes will not work if the subscription has been temporarily disabled due to a late payment, even for watching the FTA channels and that Sky own the equipment so they can even disable the master Sky Q box from viewing FTA channels if they wish but like everything else I say to someone, it goes in through one ear and straight out the other. She even struggles restarting the mini boxes as they may sometimes erroneously throw up some network error [content removed] and no matter how many times I tell her to pull the plug out and plug it back in, she still comes to me. 

She apparently* spoke to someone at Sky and they said she can use the boxes as normal, but I have read other posts here and they all say that the boxes are loaned to customers and that Sky have the ability to disable them completley.

You can probably tell I'm a bit sick and tired of providing family tech support more times a day than my pulse beats!

Moderator note: language removed

[nigea99]

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@Jack+Spank9049 wrote:

I'm asking this on behalf of my mum who is very technologically illeterate. 

i'm aware if your service is temporarily suspended due to a late payment, the master Sky Box will continue to work as a non-recordable freesat reciever, but the Mini Boxes insist there is an error connecting to the master box and so won't even display FTA. She claims she spoke to someone at Sky who clarified for her she should be able to use the mini box for FTA when cut off, but a Google search shows that Sky own the equipment and so they technically have full control over it, including blocking the master box from even recieving the FTA channels.

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hi @Jack+Spank9049 

I wasn't aware that the main boxes could be used for FTA channels when the service is suspended due to payment arrears but I guess it is quite possible.

Thus I have no knowledge of this, but I would doubt if the minis could be used at this point as to use minis you need an active multiroom subscription which I would suspect is also suspended

[Daniel0210]

@Jack+Spank9049 

My services have never been restricted but I concur with @nigea99 This is not something I've heard before or seen mentioned on the forum. 

[GD1]

@Jack+Spank9049  Without an active subscription both the main Q & Minis will cease to function.  There has to be an active subscription.

[TimmyBGood]

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@Jack+Spank9049 wrote:

the master Sky Box will continue to work as a non-recordable freesat reciever, 

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That would be correct for Sky+ / Sky+ HD but not for Sky Q

As noted above, Q has zero non-subscription functionality, and isn't even legitimate to possess.

[Laing1]

@Jack+Spank9049 I agree with @GD1 and @TimmyBGood that the main Q box will not be able to be used to watch freesat when services are suspended

Which means that mini boxes cannot be used at all when services are restricted