Sky+ box hard drive has died

[Buster+Scruggs]

Feeling a bit snookered at the moment with Sky. I have been a customer for over 20 years but at a loose end. 

My Sky + box hard drive has basically died. In a phone call with someone from the loyalty team, I was advised that I could swap my viewing card into a different box, I would just need to contact them again and get the card paired with the new box. The guy even spoke to his manager who apparently used to work in the technical team and confirmed it would be possible 

Paid £40 for a refurbished box, got it all set up to only be told by different members of sky customer services team that it was not possible to pair the new card. 

As I live in an apartment, I can't get Sky Q due to the communal dish not being compatible. 

Other option I have been told is Sky Stream/Glass. Not sure my internet speeds of 67mps will cope with it due to how it is used. And I can't get anything faster

Basically been told my only option is to leave Sky.  My last resort will be to get the hard drive replaced on the sky + box, which I have been quoted £85. 

Very disappointed as was told false information initially about swapping viewing cards and ended up wasting money. 

[Annie+UK]

Viewing cards are LOCKED to the box they were pair with at the end of October 2024

[Mark39]

@Buster+Scruggs by way of comparison, I have 72Mbps to my Hub, so a bit less than that over wifi, and both my Glass TV and streaming Puck work reliably when in use together. A lot does depend on the quality of the wifi connection (not an issue, of course, if you connect via ethernet cable).

[mr.tickle · Accepted solution]

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@Buster+Scruggs wrote:

Basically been told my only option is to leave Sky.  My last resort will be to get the hard drive replaced on the sky + box, which I have been quoted £85. 

Very disappointed as was told false information initially about swapping viewing cards and ended up wasting money. 

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Pity about the card swap - that was poor advice indeed.

One possible option not mentioned yet is that if you are tech savvy you could attempt to replace the Hard Drive yourself, instead of paying the £85. (You don't say which model you have but in the past people used to pull the drives to attempt to manipulate the files from them in a way which was frowned upon). There are plenty of guides on Youtube on how to replace the drive.

But after buying a new drive and taking into accoun the risk you might break something, I personally would pay for someone to do it. You can watch them on the say, and get them to blow dust etc out as well. It's a month or 2's viewing, and should then put you on a firm footing for a good while after that as long as the rest of the box is ok!

HTH

[Mark39]

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@mr.tickle wrote:

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But after buying a new drive and taking into accoun the risk you might break something, I personally would pay for someone to do it.

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So would I. The innards of the box look very cramped and access to the hard drive for removal and replacement looks far too fiddly for my fingers.

[Buster+Scruggs]

Thanks for the advice.

Tried upgrading to Sky Stream but was quoted a more expensive monthly subscription. Didn't go through with it, was pretty annoyed after all the misinformation I have been given. 

Think I'm going to have to get the hard drive fixed. 

[TimmyBGood]

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@Buster+Scruggs wrote:

Think I'm going to have to get the hard drive fixed. 

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Replaced.  No-one 'fixes' such things outside of unbelievably expensive forensic data recovery environments.

[Buster+Scruggs]

Cheers for the comment Timbo. I meant to say replaced.