Sky Q TV Box Upgrade

[GFohat]

How do I book my 'Sky Q Tv Box' installation online? I've tried ringing up, and they say to go online.

This is just the box, and not a new service or package.

[TimmyBGood]

@GFohat 

If you currently have Signature on Sky+ then the default baseline on Q is now Ultimate TV.

[GFohat]

We have a Sky HD box. They sent us a letter saying they were upgrading us to a Sky Q TV box.

They gave us a phone number to call, but that was an automated support line that told us to go online.

I can't find anything online on this subject: the chat assistant is trying to upgrade my package, not my hardware.

[TimmyBGood]

@GFohat 

We're currently querying Sky on what the letter actually means, and what's supposed to happen with inbound phone calls.

[leedm33]

I have received one of these letters today, presumably if I've got a perfectly fine working Sky+HD box and I don't want to upgrade then I can ignore this letter?

[caesarome]

@leedm33 

That is correct.

[leedm33]

Thank you for confirming that.

[finalsdiner]

Hi,

I got this letter too but I don't understand exactly what they're 'offering'. Based on 30 years of experience with Sky, I assume it's a con of some sort – probably to get me to dump my Sky+ box and end up paying even more for a reduced service? Can ayone explain it, please?

[Mark39]

@finalsdiner why not call the number in the letter and find out what they're offering? I've seen a post here from one customer who managed to get Sky Q for less than they were paying for Sky+. 

It's completely up to you, of course, but bear in mind the very latest Sky+ boxes are at least 8 years old, and hard disks don't last forever. There's also no longer any engineer service for Sky+ in the event of a fault unless you have Sky Protect.

[TimmyBGood]

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@finalsdiner wrote:

probably to get me to dump my Sky+ box

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Sky (Comcast) would presumably quite like to not be supporting three major platforms (in Sky+, Sky Q and Sky Glass/Stream) spanning a quarter century of technology change.  Given that something over 80% of the satellite user base is now on Q (which was released in early 2016) it's increasingly inefficient to maintain a legacy service in addition to those still being sold.

[oj01]

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@finalsdiner wrote:

Hi,

I got this letter too but I don't understand exactly what they're 'offering'. Based on 30 years of experience with Sky, I assume it's a con of some sort – probably to get me to dump my Sky+ box and end up paying even more for a reduced service? Can ayone explain it, please?

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@finalsdiner I got the same letter. The offer is to switch from Sky+HD to Sky Q for 'no extra cost'. It's not clear what 'no extra cost' means unless you ring the number to find out. I haven't because I'm happy with my Sky +HD box. In theory, though, there are no differences between Sky+HD and Sky Q when it comes to subscription costs so there shouldn't be any extra costs for anyone when switching to Sky Q. In fact as Sky are more willing to offer discounts on Sky Q, subscription costs may well be less. Normally, when getting Sky Q, there are installation costs, so maybe 'no extra cost' relates to this being free.

Remember that whilst you own the Sky+HD box, Sky Q boxes are only loaned and must be returned to Sky if you cancel your subscription. 

[ferncot]

Just received a letter from Sky offering a free upgrade to Sky Q. Incidentally the Sky planner is telling me that I can no longer receive certain BBC channels through the Sky hd box. Is there a work round this or am I forced to go to Version Q. Any ideas please

[oj01]

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@ferncot wrote:

Just received a letter from Sky offering a free upgrade to Sky Q. Incidentally the Sky planner is telling me that I can no longer receive certain BBC channels through the Sky hd box. Is there a work round this or am I forced to go to Version Q. Any ideas please

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@ferncot If you have a Sky+HD box then you already can receive (or should be able to) the HD channels from BBC & ITV so there is no need to change your box.

If, however, you have the older (non-HD) Sky+ box you will either have to switch to Sky Q or source a used Sky+HD box from eBay etc. 

[ferncot]

Thanks for the info. The box is a Sky +Hd and yet the planner is now showing the BBC news channel greyed out with more BBC channels to follow in a few weeks.

[oj01]

@ferncot Channel 503 should be BBC News HD and should be available to you. If it isn't, try Channel 882.

Also, do you have the HD add-on from Sky? You shouldn't need it for BBC channels, just trying to establish a pattern.