Sky puck technical faults

[Dan657]

I'm getting constant "There is a technical fault with this programme. Please try again later" messages whenever I try to view Sky content like the F1 from the beginning or any series on Sky Atlantic. The puck was connected over wifi, so I changed it to a lan connection. It didn't work. I've rebooted it. It didn't work. I've conducted the reset where the power button is held down. It didn't work. I've completed a factory reset. It didn't work. I phoned the sky helpline. They sent me a new puck. It didn't work. I then did all the previous steps. It didn't work and I still have the same issue. Netflix and the bbc Iplayer work fine. There are no other network issues with any of my other devices.

What else can I try?

Moderator notes: Edited inappropriate title

[AndrewF_UK]

Hi @Dan657 

A few things, first when you used LAN/ethernet did you go to settings and explicitly turn WiFi off? Sky Stream has an unusual trait of using WiFi even if Ethernet is plugged in so you have to turn that off. 

If you did, let's do a speed test to rule out any speed issues because Sky requires more bandwidth than the apps you mention as working:

1. Open the Netflix app on Sky.
2. Go to Get Help in the sidebar.
3. Select Check Your Network.
4. Note the download speed displayed.

if you can do that and return to this thread with your speed that would be very useful. 

[Dan657]

thanks for getting back to me.

Yes, the wifi is turned off.

Speed tests using the netflix app are around 79Mbps. Speed tests run on a PC are about 520Mbps

[AndrewF_UK]

That should be fine. At the moment I don't have any good ideas here except to make sure there's nothing network side that is blocking it but hopefully someone will come along and be able to get this sorted for you. 

[mikeliuk]

Perhaps try an alternative internet connection such as mobile WiFi hotspot on mobile phone or a neighbour's WiFi if they are using a different ISP?

I guess there's a single router and nothing interesting such as a firewall or intermediate routers?

[Dan657]

I currently have 2 ISPs at home. It's the same issue on both

[Andylufc]

I do think these pucks are ISP sensitive....when I first got my puck I was using 5g broadband with giffgaff (02) and had nothing but trouble,daily resets,unplugging everyday and programmes not loading....switched to Smarty sim with the same 5g router and not had any problems since

[Dan657]

Possibly. Virgin and Sky are the 2 ISPs I currently have. It would be a little ironic if the puck didn't work with Sky's own broadband

[AndrewF_UK]

@Dan657 good to know about testing it on 2 ISPs.

Am I right in my understanding that this only affects things that are being watched on-demand (such as watch from start of via watching a specific episode on the menus), but live TV works fine?

Does watching a Sky Atlantic show on Sky Go work? I'm wondering if there's something on your account that's blocking playback.

[Dan657]

It's anything that requires getting data from Sky. The UHD channels didn't work that often. It rarely worked when trying to watch anything from Sky Atlantic.

TBH I got fed up with Sky stream and the puck and have gotten rid of it.

Sky's tech support was not very helpful. They always tried to point the fault toward something wrong with any other equipment that wasn't to do with Sky. I have no idea how someone less tech-savvy than me would cope and I am by no means a technical or network expert. Sky's tech support were even blaming the cable that was running directly into the sky broadband hub, until i proved that network tests worked fine on the cable using a PC

I won't be recommending the puck to anyone else

[Paul066]

Been having similar issues with our puck. Get the programme loading, then technical issue try later and finally the blue screen. All whilst watching live TV, doesn't matter what channel, but fine with streaming Netflix and iPlayer etc.

Had the same issue at our last property and puck was swapped, moved house, same issues. Customer service a waste of time. Said it was signal from the router, puck getting 250mb+ when ok, 30 - 70mb when the blue screen appears. But phone receiving 250mb+ at the same time. Sent a new router, same issues. New puck and same issues. Apart from resetting the puck they have nothing else to suggest. Amazingly they are giving me a credit for the trouble, on my next bill for ....... £10.