Sky Stream Recording aka Playlist - How reliable is it for Sky Sports F1?

[radiocheck]

I asked a similar question 18 months ago, and most of you mentioned that Sky Stream's playlist feature was a bit flaky and didn't always work properly. I'm re-checking again, as I still see mixed reviews. I'm currently a Virgin Media customer and have been quite satisfied with its live TV recording feature.

I primarily follow Sky Sports F1 and some cricket. The Virgin box lets me set a schedule to automatically record all F1 practice sessions, qualifying, and races without needing to manually set recordings each week.

I rely heavily on live recording. For example, if an F1 race starts at 2 PM and I'm running late, I can still turn on the TV at 2:30 PM and start watching from the beginning. The same applies even if I start at 5 PM, I can always pick up from the beginning or watch the recording, and it works 100% of the time. The recordings are always there and never let me down.

I'm now considering switching to Sky (the Virgin renewal quote is expensive), and I'm particularly interested in Sky Stream. However, I'm unsure whether it offers the same functionality. While I understand that Sky Stream doesn't have a traditional recording feature, it does have an 'add to my playlist' option.

Could anyone confirm whether this 'add to my playlist' feature would serve the same purpose as my current recording setup with Virgin Media? Specifically, would it allow me to start watching an ongoing F1 event from the beginning even if I join late, as well as keep those events accessible for future viewing?

Also, with Virgin Media, if I'm on my home network, I can watch the recordings from my phone or iPad. When I'm outside, I use a VPN back to my home network and still access the recordings. With Sky Stream, can I access the playlist (aka recorded events) from a phone?

Thanks in advance and apologies for the long question 🙂

[Mister_Dalek · Accepted solution]

@radiocheck 

If you  have a browse through the forum you'll find that unfortunately there is still no 100% reliable means of cloud recording every single live sporting event, be it F1, cricket, football or whatever on Sky Stream.

Someone only yesterday was told by a Sky customer services agent that Sky Stream is not good for those that can't watch sport live and allowed them to switch mid-contract to Sky Q instead. 

It's unlikely that Sky Stream will ever be able to match the capability of a true hard drive based PVR. Streaming rights are just too complicated and the server-based platform Comcast/Sky use for the service just isn't geared up to becoming a true cloud DVR. 

Sky Stream can be a very good solution for those that don't watch much sport or don't care too much about missing the odd match/race every now and again, but if watching live sport on catch-up or on demand is important to you then a hard drive based recording system will still be the better option right now. 

[radiocheck]

Thank you, make sense.