Sky Q to Sky Stream-Advice

[MIKE_EVANS11]

I am having my living room redecorated and one of the walls will be brick slipped and I will be having the TV mounted into the wall.  At the minute I have Sky Q, however going forward I dont want a visable box.  It has been suggested that I get Sky Stream as the box is very small and could fit behind the TV hidden as I dont want any wires on show.  My TV is also quite new so I dont really want to have to pay out for Sky Glass.  Is it right that I cant record on a Sky Stream box?  If not is there anything else I lose from having a Sky Q box? I currently have the Sky Signature ultimate tv package 

[Angel_Aka]

@MIKE_EVANS11 

First off you should check that the channels you want to watch are available on Sky Stream. There are quite a few which are only available on Q and not on Stream. This full list is here:

https://www.sky.com/help/articles/tv-channel-list-sky-glass 

It's not adviseable to hide a Stream puck behind a TV unless you're connecting it to your broadband via an ethernet cable and can ensure that it won't get too hot. You'll need a power cable and HDMI cable between the puck and TV too. 

Sky Stream does not record - instead you have a playlist. This is a list of tagged shows you can watch on demand either via apps or streamed direct from Sky's servers. 

If you want to go entirely wire-free and your TV is smart, there's always the option of Sky's NOWTV app for streaming Sky content directly to your TV. You'd need to make sure the OS on the TV is capable of hosting the NOW app. 

[SKY1992bf]

@MIKE_EVANS11  It's also important to note that it's been reported that stream pucks are very temperamental to enclose space and best works when placed in the open connected direct to the router via Ethernet cable 

[martswain]

The puck power supply is not the smallest, so find a friend with one and plan your wall accordingly.

Stream does not record to the device and not everything is always available via the playlist due to rights issues.

As above, check the channel list.

[Stephen+Mourton]

@Angel_Aka   Just to explain a little more about the Playlist.  It is true that Stream does have all the channels of SkyQ but these are mainly fairly minor channels, although they may include some you like to watch, so do as suggested above and check.  Think of Stream like you would any of the companies like Netflix or Prime etc etc.  All the programs are there for you to watch whenever you want, the Playlist is just there as a reminder of what you are watching or want to watch and then clicking on it you are then taken straight to the show you want.  It works very well and the great advantage over SkyQ is every member of the family can have their own.

The only important thing to know is it doesn't work well with 'live' shows like sport.  If you come in late and the sport is still live you can press Watch from the Start.  However if it is no longer live you sometimes have to wait until it is made available.  

Again just to repeat what has already been said the puck will not work behind your tv unless you connect it via an Ethernet cable.  If you are connecting via WiFi it need to be out in the open.

[Angel_Aka]

@Stephen+Mourton 

I think you meant to tag @MIKE_EVANS11 rather than me... 

[Stephen+Mourton]

@Angel_Aka   Opps.  I think I did, sorry about that.🤭

[lettice]

@MIKE_EVANS11 

Your most important consideration is how you are going to get a reliable connection whether wifi or Ethernet to your Sky Stream box.

Ive seen many who have Sky Stream and like to hide their kit within a TV wall and with a hanging TV on the  wall etc.

Would suggest within your wall to create a sunken type power area, with which you can plug in and tidy your TV and Sky Stream power cables and their blocks.

We generally do not recommend putting the puck directly behind the TV, mostly as the Sky Stream wifi gets compromised by the TV with close proximity and can suffer interference and the like.

But for those I have seen doing the above, they successfully managed to have a reliable Sky Stream by having an Ethernet cable from the puck to their router.

I posted this recently for another customers asking a similar question, so thought it may help.

I know of one who has their Sky Stream puck hidden behind a TV wall above their  wall hung TV and they use a wifi connection and do have a reliable experience. Their Sky router, no mesh is in an adjoining room, It is a large house, so is about twenty feet away through an internal wall and the hidden TV wall. But, their wifi within their house does carry very well, so helps.
The puck remote control uses Bluetooth and works very well behind a TV or within most cabinet or hidden walls.

You can for restarts of the puck  use the restart option within the puck settings. Unless on rarer occasions it's completely locked up, but you also can just switch off/on at the plug, so no actually having to play with the puck itself for anything, apart from removing or adding cables.

You will not though be able to use the CEC option for the puck and TV to sync together and/or change the TV volume as that uses IR, so you will need to grab the TV remote for that.

Mind, if it's an LG TV and you have a LG magic remote, that remote can control the Sky Stream puck and the TV. I have an LG TV in my bedroom and love how that works with the LG magic remote.

Have  a read of the Sky Stream FAQ here linked below and watch the videos to understand how it all works.

https://www.sky.com/help/sky-tv/sky-tv-stream/sky-stream-faqs/articles/sky-stream-faqs

Plus, if it helps there is a link to my journey from Sky Q in my signature, that I did two years ago, and goes through much of what you are asking.

[Sayek]

I switched from Sky Q to Stream 2 months ago. Like others have mentioned some channels are not available on Stream even as a paid option so check before you get a nasty surprise.

I can't comment on Wi-Fi connection as my Stream box is next to the router so wired connection and been pretty stable. Obviously if your Stream box is using Wi-Fi and a bit of distance from the router..that may give you a different experience.

As a VIP customer, I got a deal of £15 Stream Entertainment that includes Netflix and HD as standard. Sky Q these 2 would have been extra cost my experience to Stream is very positive with no regrets

[Bulls1974]

We switched to Sky Stream about 15 months ago.

It work very well for us, we have 2 Pucks, both connect via eithernet cables (use cat 7 for best bandwidth).

The bedroom pick connects to an power eithernet adaptor from BT (out computer also connects to the internet this way) In 15 months we've  had NO issues at all.

The comments about channel availability are very valid and you should ensure what you watch is available. Sports channels have been reduced in number as have others.

overall it 9 out of 10 for us compared to the sky dish 10/10. However we're glad to see that gone.

Support from Sky  is the same as always, some agents a sound, knowledgeable and helpful, some very poor and just pass you around.

Irene