Sky Stream - my worst decision in decades

[Really+Angry]

I made the move to Sky Stream a few days ago and it’s the worst thing I’ve ever done.

Back when the Sky recordable box first came out I hailed it as a quantum leap in TV viewing and it changed my viewing habits forever.
Well, I’d give all this new rubbish up just to get my old Sky+ box back up and running.

Sky Stream is simply not fit for purpose, in so many ways. I feel I’ve been conned massively and it’s criminal!

The wifi drops out constantly, even though my puck is 10m from the hub. Sky's answer is to run Ethernet. For 10m....in this day and age....? Shame on you for such a feeble suggestion! All my other wifi gadgets seem to be totally fine, thank you.

The user interface is a disaster and absolutely zero user acceptance testing could've been carried out. You can't find anything anywhere!

There are no tutorials for people moving from Sky+ to show them how to perform the things they've been doing for decades, but now using the new interface.

The puck keeps hanging. Anywhere, anytime and in anything. Fast forward and reverse are a bad joke. The Sky+ box was many times faster, and that's a mechanical hard drive being hammered from all sides. It still coped fine.

I paid £5 a month for ad skipping, but nowhere do I see how that is done. Another ripoff? Perhaps that's why it's only offered on a monthly basis....?

My Playlist keeps emptying and I have to try to find what I've previously added, all over again.

I'm an IT systems and software guy and I can't figure out how this pile of useless kit and coding ever got to market. I'd have sued the hardware manufacturer for breach of contract and fired the entire software development team, starting with the project managers.

I feel defrauded, conned and, to be honest, a fool for failing to remember the oldest rule in the book - if it looks too good to be true, then it probably is.

[GD1]

@Really+Angry  You have a cool off period of 31 days to return this, have you called Sky to inititiate a return?

[Really+Angry]

The thing is I've cleared the decks with new kit and a move to Sky broadband as well. I'd actually like it all to work and not have to try to roll everything back, but I'm just not winning.

The Sky hub arrived yesterday and a long Ethernet cable (to go around the room!) arrived an hour ago. Perhaps I'll see when the Sky hub goes live on Tuesday and re-assess things then.

I'm currently laid up and I have to rely on others to help with setup issues because, if it's not within arm's reach, I'm useless to help.

I just wish the interface wasn't so awful.

I guess I'll see what next week brings.

[TimmyBGood]

@Really+Angry 

The interface is undoubtedly very different to Sky+ which probably reflects the near quarter century which has passed since that platform was designed, plus it's a fundamentally different technology under the hood, of course, and put together by an American cable company rather than a British satellite television brand.

 Most users will be migrating from Sky Q, which is much closer to Glass/Stream in approach, although Q was Sky rather than Comcast in origin.

[TimmyBGood]

@Really+Angry 

'Ad Skipping' (which  would more accurately be described as 'on-demand advert fast-forwarding') is described here:

https://www.sky.com/help/articles/ad-skipping-sky-glass 

Important to note that Ad Skipping does not (and cannot) apply to 'live' content being viewed from the channel list: that would be impossible without doing bad things to the space-time continuum.

[Gincap]

Stream can take a while to start to. It's very marmite with a love hate amongst users.

I found it just crazy that turning off and on is a daily requirement to clear bugs and hardworking as you point out is madness but the kit is low budget.

Just give it a go with your 31 days in mind.

As a side the Playlist and Continue Watching features have never worked as advertised and the FF ad on feature is a true con!

[Gincap]

Start to should read adapt....

[peter-marlow+1966]

I have had  sky glass  since it  first  came out,  and had it connected to the router  with a cable  and had no problems, before  that my sky q box was connected  the same way, sky engineer  said it is more stable  than wifi and the more items  you have running  on the Internet  the weaker  the signal  is to each one I have sky broadband  superfast 

[Bordonbert]

I'm with you totally as you have had a very similar experience to my own starting up, but I would say give it a little time yet.  Things do improve over your start up and blockages iron themselves out, but they give way to a host of other irritants.  Some people can live with them but others, like me, find them worth ditching it for.  I'm waiting my time now.

31 days is the key to remember.  I didn't and I'm locked into a contract which seems to not matter to Sky who can change things on the fly as they please.  I'm hoping a new change in terms will occur soon to give me that get out clause which we have a right to.  Once in and committed, it is as expensive to buy out of your contract as it is to just putting up with it and taking out another contract with some other supplier to run concurrently.

Good luck and I hope things improve.

[TimmyBGood]

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@Bordonbert wrote:it's

I'm hoping a new change in terms will occur soon to give me that get out clause which we have a right to. 

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No contract can remove the statutory rights conferred by consumer protection law, and so no 'new change in terms' is required (or likely to happen)

Past 31 days, it's those rights which form the basis for negotiating a resolution.

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act 

[Dazzar51]

@Really+Angry 

Well my glass tv just stops working at every add, skys answer was put a PUK on it as they are working.........

[Jason+Golding]

@Really+Angry 'Worse thing I have ever done' - really - wow.

It's a tv service that has a cooling off period.

Cancel it and move on. 

[Really+Angry]

Thank you for your pointless answer. Your entitlement to an opinion is recognised.

Unfortunately my current situation doesn't make walking this all back as simple as your glib answer suggests.

[CoffeeDrinker]

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@Really+Angry wrote:

Thank you for your pointless answer. Your entitlement to an opinion is recognised.

Unfortunately my current situation doesn't make walking this all back as simple as your glib answer suggests.

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If Sky Stream is your 'worst decision in decades', a 'disaster' , that you feel 'conned massively and it’s criminal!' and Sky's troubleshooting suggestion to "run Ethernet. For 10m....in this day and age....? Shame on you for such a feeble suggestion!" 'how is suggesting you cancel the service as you're in the 31 day cooling off period 'glib' or 'pointless'?

if Sky has exclusive content you simply must have, is Sky Q an option? If not, NowTV on a device you might already have? 

Sky Stream pucks and Glass TVs are much more sensitive to bandwidth constraints, both with the speed of the broadband pipe into the home and with WiFi range & congestion. Yes, much more so that equivalent devices already used without issue on the same home network. Should they be? No, it should probably handle congestion and throughput fluctuations better. But it doesn't. Other that it's either look to eliminate congestion (change of wifi channel & checking for other devices using the same broadband bandwidth), ruling out wifi altogether (hardwiring with Ethernet) or improving wifi range/coverage (with a mesh wifi network.or power line Ethernet adaptors).

Neither Sky's Stream hardware, OS, UI and networking performance is not going to radically change/improve in the near future to the point where it will work as you expect it to, so your only choices are to keep it as is, keep it and maybe try the Ethernet solution/similar or to cancel and return within the 31 day window.

[Really+Angry]

@CoffeeDrinker my response wasn't to their suggestion as much as to the personal way in which it was made. A bit like your decision to make this personal.

I'm currently in a frustrating, difficult situation personally and this matter is a far greater problem than it would ordinarily be. I realise you may not be aware of the finer details, but perhaps you could allow me to vent a little and maybe get some practical suggestions from fellow members, as some have been kind enough to offer.

I'm hardly expressing a controversial opinion on social media, so how about we leave the personal digs out of it. Okay?

Thank you for your technical comments