Sky stream

[TheCraig]

Recently got sky stream and experiencing multiple issues, my5 app refuses to work, iPlayer loads up randomly which interrupts what we are watching then we are unable to get back to what we were watching, constantly shutting itself off, buttons not responding to what we are pressing resulting in more randomness, most recent programs on our playlist are not what we have most recently watched and it picks and chooses if we can watch from start, we have started watching something from the start it cut out t loaded the channel again and then it won't let us watch from start despite having done it earlier and still within the time the program was on. Thought it might be our Internet connection but we have had fiber activated and it's still just equally as poor. What gives why is this box so plop, am I stuck with this rubbish for the next 9 months or is there anything I can do.

[TheCraig]

Oh also forgot I have whole home and had to do two factory resets on my boxes because it said you have reached capacity on boxes I can have. 

[Derek_Trotter]

@TheCraig 

Yeah, it's not great is it? Works fine sometimes then is a car crash other times. I gave up and just cancelled. 
Sky Stream has great potential but is just too slow and unreliable for many people. There are much better streaming services and hardware available. 

[TheCraig]

Jeez so this is going to be another 90 minute call to sky speaking to at a minimum 4 people before they get me to the correct person. Think I will just scrap sky altogether now. 

[Exiled-in-HH]

If you want access access to Sky's  subscription channels try Sky's  budget service NOW  TV which just works... I pay £2.99 for entertainment🙂

[TheCraig]

To be honest I thought playlists would work but it's just a mess, I miss my recordings they worked perfectly. I have looked at now and it's not practical for us as a family.

[Exiled-in-HH]

What are your perceived issues withNOW TV .... the obvious one for a family is there is only one profile?

[Fothergill1]

@Exiled-in-HH Is there a secret to getting the NOW TV Entertainment for @£2.99?  You peaked my interest but I can only find it for £9.99 or a 6 month offer of £12 which includes Cinema.

[nmbailey]

"Is there a secret to getting the NOW TV Entertainment for @£2.99?"

Whenever I threatened to cancel NOW Entertainment online I was always offered a significant discount to renew for six more months. Ditto Boost (which is essential as the standard PQ is poor)

[Exiled-in-HH]

@Fothergill1  I'm not sure when I last paid past full price I always cancel before renewal and think the most I've paid is £4.99.... currently I'm paying £2.99😊

[Derek_Trotter]

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@Exiled-in-HH wrote:

@Fothergill1  I'm not sure when I last paid past full price I always cancel before renewal and think the most I've paid is £4.99.... currently I'm paying £2.99😊

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I'm also paying £2.99pm for 6 months Entertainment with Boost at £1pm for 3 of those months. You always get offered a discount rate whenever you choose to cancel, which, unlike Sky, can be done completely online without having to speak to someone. 

NOW is so much less cluttered and works much faster than Stream on an Apple TV 4K box. 

[Fothergill1]

Thanks for the info @Derek_Trotter and @Exiled-in-HH.. This sounds tempting as I already have an Apple TV 4K also my new Samsung TV is showing NOW as an optional App.  I suspect the secret is to take the free trial and then cancel to see what offers result.  I'm certainly not ready to make the switch yet but it's certainly worth considering.  From what I can see I would need Boost to get HD but there is no option for UHD which is a little disappointing (but not a deal breaker)

[Derek_Trotter]

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@Fothergill1 wrote:

Thanks for the info @Derek_Trotter and @Exiled-in-HH.. This sounds tempting as I already have an Apple TV 4K also my new Samsung TV is showing NOW as an optional App.  I suspect the secret is to take the free trial and then cancel to see what offers result.  I'm certainly not ready to make the switch yet but it's certainly worth considering.  From what I can see I would need Boost to get HD but there is no option for UHD which is a little disappointing (but not a deal breaker)

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I've been using NOW on and off for years and it continues to get better and better. The Apple TV 4K is such a good upscaler that 1080P content looks superb on my OLED, and the vast majority of things we watch (we're not sports fans) are only in HD anyway. The lack of ads with Boost is a welcome change from Stream too. The fast forwarding required, even with ad skipping, was just ridiculous. 

The secret seems to be to pay for a month of Entertainment at full price then cancel it. You'll never have to pay full price again as you'll either be offered a deal on the last cancellation screen or there'll be an (often better) offer in your online account. I've had several months of Sky Cinema for £1 and never paid more than £6 for a month of Entertainment. 

If NOW were to offer a UHD Boost add-on I'd happily pay for it as I'm never going back to a Stream puck. 

[Exiled-in-HH]

Start without boost then you can see the change in picture quality... more important is true ad removal from on demand and the increase from 1 to 3 simultaneous screens.  You get upto 6 devices but automatic switching 1 a month😉

[nmbailey]

NOW's good value as long as you don't need Sky Sports every month - that's a stunning £34.99. There are occasional offers but they're not as compelling as those for Entertainment.
In my 18-month Stream deal I pay £20/m for Sports (and just £13 for Sky broadband). Before I signed up for Stream I compared it to NOW and found them similar monthly costs for what I wanted.