Sky stream black screen

[prismsnow1]

I have had Sky Stream for about a month now - I tend to only use it for live sport.

Almost every time I use it, at least once an hour, I get a completely black screen. Holding down the power button on my remote shows up the Restart/Close option, but I can't select either option or do anything from that point. The only thing I can do is turn it off at the wall and leave it a minute and then turn back on. That fixes the issue, but only until it does it again.

It happens within any live channel, be it Sky Sports or other channels (for example ITV1 and BBC1).

Most of the time I get a comletely black screen although I have seen a couple of instances of a slightly different variety - once I got the Sky logo on a black screen and nothing happened after that and another time I got a message saying to wait as the programme was loading - but after leaving it for 10 mins, nothing had happened and the puck seemed frozen.

I have UHD enabled as I pay for it as an added extra, but I noticed this issue before I realised UHD was disabled by default.

I haven't noticed this issue in Sky apps - although don't use them much. I tend to use the apps on my TV instead.

I have checked the latest software is installed and believe the issue to be with the puck as it's connected to a brand new TV and I have super fast download speeds through fibre optic.

Is there anything else that I can try? I'm not looking forward to the start of the football season as I won't be able to get through a whole game.

[Greenfingers001]

Hi there @prismsnow1, I’ve escalated your post to our Community Messaging team who will invite you to a private chat shortly and help you with this. 

Just look out for the colourful bubble to start the conversation.

Here's more information on how Community Messaging works - https://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Did-you-know/Escalating-a-post-to-a-Sky-expert/ba-p/3711147

[prismsnow1]

After a Sky Expert contacted me, I was given some advice that seems to have worked.

Annoyingly it's as simple as changing the picture settings to another resolution, saving them, then changing back to the one you want.

Also I realised that the Reset/Cancel option that I mention above is actually my TV interface, not Sky. 

[prismsnow1]

Update... I spoke too soon. It's just happened again. So obviously not completely fixed.

It did go longer than ever before managing several hours, but I was just half way through a movie and the screen has gone black and the puck unresponsive.

[prismsnow1]

A further update on this...

The Sky Stream has now gone back to being absolutely terrible again. I can watch for between 5 mins and 2 hours before hitting an issue.

Rather than the stream stopping, I now believe that the Sky Stream puck actually crashes most of the time. These are the issues I get:

1. The screen goes completely blank and Sky Stream is not resposive at all. I have to turn it off at the wall to reboot it. I think it crashes as the signal seems to drop from Sky Stream to my TV as the TV speakers "pop" like what would happen if I pulled a cable out whilst it was on.
2. Sometimes the stream freezes and I can get back to the menu, but if I change to another channel I get a "your programme is loading" message on a black screen and even if left alone for several minutes, nothing happens. If I go back to the channel it froze on, the stream is still frozen

I have in the last few days turned off WiFi and used Ethernet connection - the issues still appears so it's nothing to do with that.

I am getting close to the end of my teather. I watched the British Grand Prix on Sky Go as Sky Stream crashed twice in the 15 mins before the start of the race and I've watched the Euros on either BBC iPlayer or Sky Go (ITV) as Sky Stream will crash at least twice during a match.

[Matthews]

Hi have you had any further response or resolve to this? I have experienced all of the same issues as you have reported. 

black screens on multiple pucks. Unable to fast forward / rewind / pause / play. Constantly laggy. 

I have read multiple threads dating back years and tried all the resolves people mention but still get the same issues after a day / week or month they return. 

sky stream is the worst product ever rolled out and regret getting it. Can't wait till my contract ends. 

[prismsnow1]

Hi @Matthews 

I am currently a few days into testing a new puck. Sky sent me one after I called and explained all the things I'd done, including a hard reset.

I wouldn't want to say the new puck has solved the issue but I've certainly not had a repeat of the issue and watched a good few hours of evening TV over the past few days.

Worth calling Sky and I wish you all the best.

I'll give it another week of testing and update this thread...

[Mister_Dalek]

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@Matthews wrote:

sky stream is the worst product ever rolled out and regret getting it. Can't wait till my contract ends. 

---

Streaming TV contracts longer than 12 months can be cancelled without penalty with just 31 days notice. The Media bill which passed through Parliament in July prevents Sky from stopping customers doing so if they are unhappy with the service. 

[Paul5550]

@Matthews @prismsnow1 

I signed up to Sky Stream and received my puck yesterday. Straight away, I experienced all the issues described. I had black screen and freezing/crashing before I even loaded a channel. Eventually, after proving the integrity of my network, Sky agreed to send me a new puck, which arrived today. So far, after 6 hours continuous viewing, there have been no issues.

Both pucks updated their firmware before completing the setup. My conclusion is that the software update on the first puck was somehow corrupted, leading to instability.

[prismsnow1]

My issues seem to be completely resolved by the new puck too, thankfully.

[Anonymous]

Good to hear, it does sound like bad luck getting a dud puck but the good thing with them being leased is that they'll be replaced when they go wrong. 

[Paul5550]

@prismsnow1 @Anonymous 

Cool, thanks for your replies.

It did take some effort to convince Sky, and two separate calls to my ISP to prove their system and help me bat it back to Sky (full fibre/ Wifi 6/ 74Mbps as tested through the Netflix App).

Sky tried to make out that I had too many devices connected (8). Their argument was disproven by powering down all the other devices, with the puck instability then continuing during the phone call.

I have to say, now that it's up and running, the UI is really good. The backlit remote is a great touch too. Hopefully everything continues to hold together now. Cheers