On demand download failure Sky+ on 2 boxes

[MogwaiSatTV]

So those are the default DNS servers for sky broadband then. I will try changing mine back to the default Plusnet ones as I had changed them to Google DNS trying to resolve this issue a couple of weeks ago.

[MogwaiSatTV]

That has not resolved it either 😞

[steve+evenden]

As of today mow BBC and ITV downloading.g is failing!!!! AAARRRRHHHHH!!!!

[AliDun]

I  tried the fix suggested by @Gavi+B with no success. I set my router to give a fixed IP address to the sky box then tried to set the network as described by Gavi+B -

I tried having the DNS set to the same as the router, as shown in GaviB’s example, then I tried putting in various other DNS settings - my own ISPs DNS, Google DNS, even Sky’s DNS but none of them work.

It's so strange how people will find a way to get this working but it then can't be replicated by others.

thanks for sharing GaviB

[Mark39]

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@AliDun wrote:

It's so strange how people will find a way to get this working but it then can't be replicated by others.

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The variability kind of explains why Sky have apparently not yet found the common cause of the problem.

[Gavi+B]

It's such a shame that my solution doesn't appear to work for others.
At the very least though, I'm hoping that by me posting what I did here, it'll assist the Sky engineers get to the bottom of things a bit quicker!

[emteepeeess]

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@Gavi+B wrote:

I have found a solution to this issue, at least on the 2 Sky+HD boxes in my house anyhow 😉.

As a test, I connected one of my boxes to my neighbour's wifi. They have BT as their ISP, I'm with SKY.
The On Demand service worked and I was able to download any channel's output. I tested Sky Cinema, Sky Showcase, Sky Sports Main Event, Channel 4, Gold and Dave.

I manually reset my network settings on both my Sky+HD boxes to use a static LAN IPv4 address, which also turns off the box's DHCP setting too. (Go into your Services > Settings > Network and look for an option which mentions 'Manual IP Configuration' or similar). 
I then reserved these IPv4 addresses in my router's DHCP configuration for my Sky+HD's MAC addresses. This makes sure the IPs were always available to my Sky+HD boxes.

For reference, my manual IP details are something like this:
IP Address of thie Sky box: 192.168.1.50
Subnet: 255.255.255.0

Gateway Router: 192.168.1.1

DNS: 192.168.1.1

I have now run the same download tests on both my Sky+HD boxes as I did when connected to my neighbour's wifi. The results are the same. The On Demand service is now operating as it did before all this debacle began at the start of February. Phew!😋

Hope this helps others.
Any questions or clarifications about any of the above, just shout.
 

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I'm always on LAN with a fixed IP address (I don't do this via the router's DHCP, but hard on the Sky box), and can't really see how changing any LAN configuration (excluding perhaps the DNS server) could make a difference.

However I'm wondering if, having put only one of your boxes on a neighbour's WiFi, you ended up connecting via a different provider on a different WAN IP address, something got reset at Sky. 

I had this as a working theory a while back, but had no way of testing it. 

[emteepeeess]

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@Mark39 wrote:

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@AliDun wrote:

It's so strange how people will find a way to get this working but it then can't be replicated by others.

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The variability kind of explains why Sky have apparently not yet found the common cause of the problem.

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It's always difficult to find the cause of a fault that varies like this. However, there are diagnostic techniques that may well track it down relatively quickly.

My first approach would be to work with a handful of people who were demonstrably having the problem, and do some network logging/analysis with their cooperation. Even going to the home of a couple of individuals to see for themselves, again with some network analysis. 

If they can't replicate the problem on their own boxes, then this would surely be the only way to go.

[Eddy99]

Hello Sky – I really do hope you are working around the clock on this as it's now driving me insane - all my planner recordings fail and of course on demand forget it! This is now nearly 7 weeks and is just not acceptable.
I wouldn't mind if the actual engineers post on here once in a while to update customers paying a fortune for this service on what you are doing, and how many people are working tirelessly on this.
I basically have to watch TV live if I want to enjoy on the big screen and it’s now really beginning to really irritate me, I have never known anything like it!

[Annie+UK]

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@Eddy99 wrote:

Hello Sky – I really do hope you are working around the clock on this as it's now driving me insane - all my planner recordings fail and of course on demand forget it! This is now nearly 7 weeks and is just not acceptable.
I wouldn't mind if the actual engineers post on here once in a while to update customers paying a fortune for this service on what you are doing, and how many people are working tirelessly on this.
I basically have to watch TV live if I want to enjoy on the big screen and it’s now really beginning to really irritate me, I have never known anything like it!

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If your standard recordings are failing then that is a separate issue that needs looking into, what is the reason given for the failure? This could be a hardware issue and waiting will not fix it

[MogwaiSatTV]

@Eddy99 What error is it giving you when the planner recordings fail as that sounds like a separate issue as I think for the rest of us the issues is just the inability to download anything from on demand (except for BBC and ITV).

[monkeynuts1952]

This is driving me mad now. 

We pay £71 a month with no broadband and are basically just watching Netflix and Amazon. I've now subscribed to Apple tv too as there is so little Sky content that I want to watch available to me. £ times I've asked regarding some sort of refund and 3 times it's been ignored.

Come on Sky, get this sorted and be fair to all of your customers!

[Eddy99]

@MogwaiSatTV

Hiya – Like the rest of you I have the inability to download anything from on demand (except for BBC and ITV).

My planner recordings pick and chooses now what it wants to record, mainly Sky programs (i don't see errors, just says Failed in the planner) and I don’t record that much to be honest.

All started when The Last of Us Ep 6 on Sky Atlantic failed to record, that's when i noticed On Demand was broke when I tried to download it and still is.

If I am watching the program live I can record it no problem.

I have previously mentioned my living room box is fine and i can record anything i want and watch / download anything i like on demand but this is not the TV i watch or record my content on.

My second box (multi room account) which i record the most on connected to the same router and on the same ISP is the one i am having major issues with like you all.

I could be barking up the wrong tree but for me it all seems to have started when an update was done moving BBC from 115 to HD 101,I wonder if there was some other update to my 2nd box around this time?

Thanks for listening.

[Mark39]

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@Eddy99 wrote:

My planner recordings pick and chooses now what it wants to record, mainly Sky programs (i don't see errors, just says Failed in the planner)...

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There will be a failure reason. Select a failed recording in your Planner, and press the i button on your remote. The failure reason will be given at the end of the programme synopsis.

[MogwaiSatTV]

@Eddy99 For the box with the issues are both inputs getting a signal?