sky mini box vs Q main box any Live sports streaming any delay?

[Marc79]

Hi I am interesting in ditching Virgin media for Sky, I currently have 2 Virgin media v6 boxes for 2 rooms so need to do similar if going to Sky.

I am a sports gambler😅  so I require any sporting events to have up to the second live screening just how it would be on live TV say off an Sky Q main box with the main tuner.

Id like to know how does the mini Q 2nd multiview box work wireless, does it stream directly from the main Sky Q box and introduce any lag or delay in its streaming compared to the main sky q box?    

If yes, does sky offer 2 full Q boxes for 2 seperate rooms option?

thanks

[TimmyBGood]

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@Marc79 wrote:

does it stream directly from the main Sky Q box and introduce any lag or delay in its streaming compared to the main sky q box?    

Yes

If yes, does sky offer 2 full Q boxes for 2 seperate rooms option?

No

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[TimmyBGood]

@Marc79 

You'll only get simultaneous output on two screens by splitting the output of the main Q box over HDMI cable.

However, I'd think the delay introduced by satellite transit is of rather more significance.

[oldfella · Accepted solution]

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@Marc79 wrote:

Hi I am interesting in ditching Virgin media for Sky, I currently have 2 Virgin media v6 boxes for 2 rooms so need to do similar if going to Sky.

I am a sports gambler😅  so I require any sporting events to have up to the second live screening just how it would be on live TV say off an Sky Q main box with the main tuner.

Id like to know how does the mini Q 2nd multiview box work wireless, does it stream directly from the main Sky Q box and introduce any lag or delay in its streaming compared to the main sky q box?    

If yes, does sky offer 2 full Q boxes for 2 seperate rooms option?

thanks

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Hi @Marc79 

There will be delay in the mini when watching live TV.

Afraid it's not possible with Sky to get two main Q boxes.

[Marc79]

thanks for all the replies, I had a gut feeling there would be given its wireless!

What if I move the main sky Q box to my 2nd bedroom where I need live streaming and gave the living room the mini box?

Bit of a work around and perhaps not ideal, family would be recording shows non stop...

[bob1234]

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@Marc79 wrote:

thanks for all the replies, I had a gut feeling there would be given its wireless!

What if I move the main sky Q box to my 2nd bedroom where I need live streaming and gave the living room the mini box?

Bit of a work around and perhaps not ideal, family would be recording shows non stop...

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You could do that but there will always be a slight delay with satelite up and down links.

[Marc79]

sorry I did not understand this, does satellite up/down links means still a delay in streaming

for main q box or both boxes (mini q)?

thanks

[nigea99]

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@Marc79 wrote:

sorry I did not understand this, does satellite up/down links means still a delay in streaming

for main q box or both boxes (mini q)?

thanks

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The only real way to be completely live is to be at the venue.

Everything else will introduce some delay.

In the case of Satellite Feed (SKY Q) the signal once processed from the transmission site has to go approx 22000 miles to the satellite & then back down to earth  - Sorry I haven't worked out what that lag is.

The minis have a few ms lag thereafter

No idea what the lag is on Streaming  - could be significant depending on local servers

I know it is not TV but I listen to Radio via the Global Player app either via 4G or broadband that is a good few seconds behind the signal from the Teresstrial DAB Radio transmitted signal

Really difficult to tell which feed will be closest to live - the old Terrestrial TV (Freeview) possibly

[Marc79]

No gold stars for the lag calculations😀

I have often wondered what sports stream is more up to date between Sky and Virgin for skysports/BTsports since like you spotted the radio is often good.

Its quite possible the live feed on Virgin media is still few seconds behind that of Sky, making sky still better even with any lag or delay but guess unless someone has both Sky and Virgin media its unknown, I think I will ask a mate with sky to test that out actually.

[bob1234]

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@nigea99 wrote:

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@Marc79 wrote:

sorry I did not understand this, does satellite up/down links means still a delay in streaming

for main q box or both boxes (mini q)?

thanks

---

The only real way to be completely live is to be at the venue.

Everything else will introduce some delay.

In the case of Satellite Feed (SKY Q) the signal once processed from the transmission site has to go approx 22000 miles to the satellite & then back down to earth  - Sorry I haven't worked out what that lag is.

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Approx 0.2362 seconds, plus a bit for Atmospheric attenuation and processing time.

[Tomthecatty]

Not sure what sports you are into @Marc79 but my experience of racing is that Racing UK is around 1 second behind 'live' and Sky Sports Racing is around 6 seconds behind 'live'. This is by using their on screen clocks which I assume are accurate. 

Sky mini boxes do lag but a trick I found was to record the event on the main box and watch it via catchup on the mini. The lag between the 2 boxes was less than 2 seconds doing it that way. If you watch an event straight from the mini it could be around 10 seconds lag, not sure why. 

Hope that helps. 

[Marc79]

thanks good work around attempt!