Sky Sports UHD picture keeps stuttering

[DavefromtheNE]

I don't use a soundbar or any "remote" speakers although my 4k TV does generate a very realistic surround sound by itself. So I can't comment on changing any puck settings. All I can say is the Monday night football was once again totally stutter free and my broadband was tested to be 50.3 MBPS, this is similar to a couple of recent days but Saturday night football was all over the place but still watchable. I am wondering if the Sky Techies have changed anything recently?

[John+Dog]

we have been experiencing this too, exactly as you describe. it also effects the enjoyment of the viewing experience. tried speaking to customer services but frankly had more joy pulling Hens teeth.

[StephenHebb]

I have the same issues while watching any sky sports uhd live football, goes fast then slow its awful. Sound is fine just the video quality. We have a sky stream box, wifi turned off, connected via ethernet to a 1gb connection. Speed test on Netflix are fine also as a test. This is terms for cancellation of subscription its a terrible service via the puck. Sky please advise what you are doing to imprive this before i have to cancel sky sports! i believe the nic is not fit for purpose for this device to be able to copy with UHD throughput. 

[JRK29]

I spoke too soon. QPR V B'ham C was unwatchable on UHD on Tuesday evening due to image stuttering and audio sync issues. The audio issues even occurred during the advert breaks! Annoying 😠.

[JRK29]

Tested connection speed twice via Netflix app on Sky puck - only 89 Mbps on ethernet yet I have 2.25 Gbps at the router.

[StephenHebb]

Yes I watched that game is was unwatchable it was if someone was pressing fast forward pause the rewind through the whole game. I am a tech and my network is running fine it's the Ethernet on the puck that's the bottle neck. Sky you need to upgrade your puck NIC!

[DavefromtheNE]

I tried to watch Middlesbrough vs Charlton on Tuesday night on Sky Sports+ IN HD with match select and the picture (when it was available) lasted maybe 5 mins then dropped out completely so I had to start again. This is a first time event but it is symptomatic of a wider issue than I first thought ie it was only UHD that was the problem. Are Sky Sports trying to sell what should be a "4 cylinder" service while only working with a "2 cylinder" delivery machine. machine 

[BenJoBanjo]

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@JRK29 wrote:

Tested connection speed twice via Netflix app on Sky puck - only 89 Mbps on ethernet yet I have 2.25 Gbps at the router.

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The Ethernet port on Stream pucks is only capable of 100Mbps so 89Mbps is about the most you'll get. 

[JRK29]

Yep. Thanks for confirming. It seems that's not sufficient for Sky's own UHD feed and the Stream puck is not longer fit for purpose. Time to look elsewhere perhaps.

[TechMaster]

 Does this also happen on Sky Glass systems, or is it just the Steam boxes? I only get this issue on live UHD content, on demand UHD content (Sky movies, Sky Atlantic, even sport on catch up, seems fine), it's just Live that is the issue for me.

[BenJoBanjo]

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@JRK29 wrote:

Yep. Thanks for confirming. It seems that's not sufficient for Sky's own UHD feed and the Stream puck is not longer fit for purpose. Time to look elsewhere perhaps.

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It's absolutely sufficient, but IMHO it's a combo of the puck hardware, Sky's servers and the throughput of the data stream that's the issue. It appears that without a rock solid, interference-free network connection in every customer's home, even small speed fluctuations can cause the puck to have issues. 

The initial specs of the Stream puck stated that they had 4GB DDR4 RAM and 16GB eMMC Flash memory which isn't a huge amount. An increase in this to allow for buffering would likely help, but whether or not this will happen (or has happened on the newer version of puck) remains to be seen as Sky no longer publish the detailed specs of their hardware. 

[EG55]

I have sky glass and the uhd channels constantly "stutter" during live transmissions of football matches. An absolute pain.

[GrandJames]

Had sky glass for 3 years and never noticed it. 

[Super+Anthony]

I keep telling Sky that the puck is not up to scratch. Hopefully eventually they will realise that there are plenty of people who are having issues and they will finally admit to their own product being needed to be updated and it's not the customers network etc

 I love steam but it needs updating

[JRK29]

The only thing that is likely to make Sky take notice is when (if) they start losing customers. Otherwise, we wouldn't have to moan into the void about it on here. Is there an equivalent service out there or is Sky Stream is the best option, albeit flawed?