Is it time to change from Sky to VM

[Cruiseinvestor]

Hi. My 2 TVs work via Sky streaming pucks and broadband is via Virgin Media.

One TV never has any connection issues, but rarely a day or 2 goes past without some interruption of the service on the other. The issues that occur are:

A message saying “please wait for your programme to load” even after the programme has started

“There is a technical fault please try later”

The picture and sound freeze for anything between a few seconds and a couple of minutes  - especially irrating when watching live football!.

The picture buffers and pixelates for a few seconds

The sound goes out of time with the picture.

It is often worse if the TV is being used at the same time as the home computer or other TV.

The short-term solution I find is usually to disconnect the puck cables for a few seconds and let the system reboot which usually takes about 4-5 minutes. It is normally alright then for the rest of the day.

My Sky contract is nearly finished so wondering  whether changing to one provider would help or maybe just increasing the amount of broadband speed that VM offer via an ethernet cable is the answer. 

Any views greatly appreciated.  

Cruise investor

[Stephen+Mourton]

@Cruiseinvestor  Firstly I guess you must ask yourself, which in principle offers you what you most want Stream or Virgin Media. If the answer is Stream then your proposed solution of an Ethernet cable or maybe even a higher broadband speed could well sort out your problems as they are symptomatic of a poor broadband connection.  I hope that helps.

[Steve93]

I've got VM broadband, Sky Glass 2 connected via Ethernet Sky Stream connected with WiF in the kitchen, no issues at all ,working perfectly,  am on 1 gig (I know the pucks & glass tv only get 100mb) but only 2 of us in the bungalow  & 25 items connected to WiFi 

[Anonymous]

Hi @Cruiseinvestor 

Those messages normally mean connectivity issues and you'd likely get similar messages of Virgin Media Stream/Flex too.

On the device that has issues do a speed test and see what it comes back as, and let us know. 

1. Open the Netflix app on Sky.
2. Go to Get Help in the sidebar.
3. Select Check Your Network.
4. Note the download speed displayed.

Ultimately VM vs Sky is a personal decision. For me, I prefer Sky's interface and the ability to choose different broadband providers so for me Sky is the way to go. 

[HavencroftKev]

I think the one thing Sky Stream enjoys is a not necessarily fast, but stable broadband. Which is something I never had with Virgin, yes speeds were great but it fluctuated massively.

My Sky broadband connection is (touch wood) really stable and my Stream Puck work 99% of the time beautifully despite only getting speeds of 70mbps.