Sky Stream - my worst decision in decades

[Jporch316]

@Bordonbert 

No offence intended or given ......

the OP posted a thread which several users attempted to address some of the points .... i addressed the point regarding the UI (which is subjective and not a physical fault as such) 

I've re read most of the posts on here including yours and although my point may have got lost in the rest of my (normal babble!) it's still a valid one and intended to help you.

have you attempted to contact sky and get a replacement puck? 

the system is by no means perfect and 

i did point out that I had a defective puck which was replaced by a far better operating unit. I also had countless problems with network dropouts which I solved by purchasing an inexpensive (and used) mesh WiFi system.

as I said most users are here to help and offer advice based on their experience

[Suskha]

@Jporch316 correct - its far from perfect and nobody is claiming that it is - I have a few issues - but I do have them 😁

[Unisoft]

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@Jporch316 wrote:

I quite like the interface ..... one of the selling points to me 

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Yeah such a great interface where you have your 99 favourite channels in your own channel numbering, you press OK whilst watching a favorite channel then it decides to list the original Sky channel numbers and order.

Or the lovely homscreen that simply is full of crap with juddery scrolling.

Apps that you simply can't remove to just the ones you want.

Yeah such a great experience........

[Dazzar51]

@Jporch316 

Yes but the system is almost 2 years old. Most systems are running by then if not vastly improved not going backwards constantly.

[Really+Angry]

Well, this is the gift that just keeps on giving....

I was getting used to the weirdness of Stream just as I was waiting for Sky to finally activate my new Sky broadband after an admin debacle. This eventually got done today by a superb engineer and it seems quite slick.

The only problem is that there seems to be no way to change any of the WiFi details: network name, username, password.... All just kick out of the hub and update nothing.

This seems to be an ongoing problem of a few years now and I've tried a few remedies that have been suggested. I've had no luck.

Has Sky never even bothered to address ANY of the Stream's many issues?!

Please, does anyone know how I can change the darn configuration on this piece of rubbish?

[Chrisee]

@Really+Angry there is a bug thst affects Safari on ios which wont allow changes to the Sky hub to stick ideally use a different device or if you cant try Chrome.

[Really+Angry]

Thanks, but it's not that easy for me to use a different OS and using Chrome makes no difference.

[Bordonbert]

Not going to get involved in any of the "it's dreadful" v "it's great" debate. Some will recognise that I did that a bit earlier in the thread and came to the conclusion it's absolutely pointless.  But...

For anyone wanting to do as I have done and use their own router which they can then set up exactly how they want it here is some info.  Doing that will work but at the expense of the VoIP landline which I believe you must lose, at least that is what Sky tell me.  After a mystery one month £70 call bill was explained to me I won't miss that.

For validating with Sky, I've read advice online that says that username and password are irrelevant.  That may be so but it certaily didn't work for me.  I have a free utility app which I rely on called Wireshark.  It's a well known network sniffer aned reports back all traffic on the network.  It's a bit of a geek tool and isn't an easy interface to get what you want but it offers very powerful network management capabilities.  If you install that and go through a bit of a learning curve to get to know how to filter the messages, you can sift out those from your router to the internet.  If you capture them while you are attempting a Sky Router restart you will see your Sky username and password in plain English!  Putting that into my own router then refusing to accept it when it wouldn't connect, eventually - it just did.  I now have a network which I control.

[Phizza921]

It's sad to hear people struggling over things not working with Sky Stream. Stream is Sky's last hurrah where they can tie consumers to their hardware.

I loved Sky Q when it came out in 2016. All the live channels, I could securely record content off them while downloading content on demand. A fantastic Live TV / Streamer consumption model.

But then Sky started trying to integrate apps into their platform to work alongside their own content and it just became this big bungled mess. At this point I just wanted content on demand with the specs other streamers provided DV, DA etc 

Sky who have had a monopoly on tieing people to their hardware to view content had competition from streaming platforms who understand the technology and how it's adapting. 

Sky need to decouple from their hardware and provide their content (originals and licenses) on platforms that can provide the tech and hassle free experience consumers expect. Eg Apple TV, Fire TV etc 

They have a Sky Go app on Apple TV now. A good first step but limited to poor man's HD and stereo sound. 

Skys core offering needs to become an app that provides original and licensed content with all the bells and whistles that the platform provides eg Apple TV and Fire TV. 

My 2030 prediction? Sky will merge its Sky Go offering with NOW and produce an app on all popular streaming hardware without limitation, whilst providing their own hardware for those who for whatever reason can use an Apple TV or Fire TV...

[Floydianslip]

@Phizza921 I'll make a prediction.........you won't see 4K HDR Atmos sound on the NOW app anytime soon, not whilst they have hardware like Glass TV's and streaming pucks to sell.

[Dazzasky]

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@Floydianslip wrote:

@Phizza921 I'll make a prediction.........you won't see 4K HDR Atmos sound on the NOW app anytime soon, not whilst they have hardware like Glass TV's and streaming pucks to sell.

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Agreed, theoretically they do the same thing now so no need to add HLG and Atmos. In fact at some point if the numbers are low enough I think they'll get rid of Now TV. 

[Phizza921]

Not if they can't sell their pucks or tvs. Also Skys customer service is horrible. They gave me a deal on stream with ultra hd and while home for a set price. I asked if this covered Netflix and was assured it did.

turns out it didn't and ended up spending hours on the phone with them getting bounced around trying to get them to honor their deal. In the end they said they could only give me what the first guy said I could get if I paid an extra 15 pounds. 

Bunch of Jokers.

[Jason+Golding]

Although others will disagree, I firmly believe that at some point, Now Tv will be merged in Sky stream.  Now Tv is already losing customers to Sky stream. In terms of price point, when you take in consideration that stream includes HD, Discovery plus and Netflix and the standard cost of entertainment channels in now is £9.99 and you can get the above on stream for £19, pricing is getting closer 

[UnrealityTV]

I firmly believe that NOW isn't going anywhere. It would be madness to kill it completely or rebrand it. 
I believe they will offer UHD/HDR & Atmos at some point, but it will be priced higher than the same service via Glass/Stream. 
Sky will never kill off an income stream as popular as NOW. It's too well known to change it and would confuse things too much if it was rebranded as a Sky Stream app. 
Sky Stream & Glass will remain as their flagship streaming products & services. They are one-box products which offer a full TV service. NOW is just an app. They are very different and can continue to co-exist. 

[Fothergill1]

@Phizza921 Phone calls to Sky are recorded so if it is not too late you could ask for a transcript to give you the proof of what you were, or were not told.