Constant picture and sound issues with Sky Stream

[Malchickles]

Hi all. We moved to Sky Stream as new Sky customers in December and have had constant issues with the Sky Stream service.

Sometimes the picture goes blank (like in the below video) after a few seconds on the channel, particularly when watching live TV. At other times, particularly when streaming on demand, the sound will drop out altogether. 

Rebooting the Sky Stream device tends to resolve the issue but we have one issue or the other most days and it's extremely irritating.

I have tried it with different cables and even different TVs and it is definitely an issue with the Sky Stream puck rather than any of my devices. The wifi connection is consistently strong and fast (as confirmed via Netflix speed test on the puck), and the same issue occurs even when connected via ethernet, so it's not an internet speed problem either.

That leaves only buggy Sky Stream software as the only possible culprit. Are these common problems with the firmware, is there a fix tht I'm missing, or is my puck simply lemon that should be returned to Sky and replaced?

Any help gratefully received.

[lettice · Accepted solution]

As you already mention and understand having a good local network is a key factor for having a reliable experience with Sky Stream.

See also you mention, as we often request for issues similar to yours, running the Puck Netflix test.

Could you try running the Netflix test over an hour period, with say a test run every ten minutes.
Please report your speed for your puck during the text and whether the speed fluctuated dramatically at any point?

Also, to consider, it may be suffering from interference, the puck can suffer from this at times. More often seen as an intermittent blip.
Not always a cure, but the following may help to resolve;
Make sure you have a good 6-8 inches free on all sides of the puck.
Do not stack the puck on top of any other device.
Best not to sit it on a glass shelf. Wood is generally the best.
Make sure the puck is in the open, not tucked away in a cabinet or sat directly behind the TV.
Make sure you have no other devices that can cause interference closeby, like cordless phones, radiators, baby monitors, smart meter in home displays, microwaves and the like.

You should be using the Sky supplied hdmi cable or a high speed equivalent one.

Plus, change both your pucks to following recommended settings set in Settings>
Set Network standby mode to ON and Overnight power saving to OFF.
Turn wifi OFF under Network if connected via ethernet.

If you may make any of those changes, do a Puck settings restart straight after the change, to ensure the changed option is set correctly.

[Malchickles]

Thank you, will give that all a try