The Official Sky HD Thread and FAQ

[Stevie G]

I got rid of sky q a month or so ago and got a nowtv 4k box (for a non 4k tv - future proofing) and got sky sports and paid £3 a month for the boost add-on to give me 1080p sports and am really impressed with the picture quality, a big improvement over 720 and I can't see any difference between the picture on the nowtv box and the sky q one I had.

I'm sticking with now tv, I only really want sky for sports and I can drop in and out with now tv, plus the box has any sports app (pq not as good as sky sports but better than the cast picture on my shield tv).

Sent from my SM-T860 using Tapatalk

[AdamBrunt]

Originally Posted by Stevie G

I got rid of sky q a month or so ago and got a nowtv 4k box (for a non 4k tv - future proofing) and got sky sports and paid £3 a month for the boost add-on to give me 1080p sports and am really impressed with the picture quality, a big improvement over 720 and I can't see any difference between the picture on the nowtv box and the sky q one I had.

I'm sticking with now tv, I only really want sky for sports and I can drop in and out with now tv, plus the box has any sports app (pq not as good as sky sports but better than the cast picture on my shield tv).

Sent from my SM-T860 using Tapatalk

So how much are you paying NowTV a month ? And is that just for the Entertainment pass ?

Was looking into swapping basic SkyHD Entertainment package for BT but BT seems to have a lot less channels ( though is substantially cheaper )

[The Bear]

The new bloody SkyQ update is quite buggy judging by their forums.

Mine has had a couple. The box had defaulted to 1080i without me knowing until I tried to watch a UHD programme. Then when I turned it on today it told me it had defaulted back to 1080i again.

And that was after I had to turn my TV off and back on because it couldn't recognise the Sky signal and showed no input.

The occasional screen flicker when the picture comes on too.

First issues I've ever had with it. I wonder if it's a HDMI issue. I might try a spare new cable I have lying around instead of Sky's supplied cable.

[basegreen]

It’s just awful.

In every way.

Of particular frustration is the removal of the mini tv whilst browsing.

[Stevie G]

Originally Posted by AdamBrunt

So how much are you paying NowTV a month ? And is that just for the Entertainment pass ?

Was looking into swapping basic SkyHD Entertainment package for BT but BT seems to have a lot less channels ( though is substantially cheaper )

I got Sky Sports for £20 a month for 3 months, plus paying £3 a month for the Boost addon to get 1080p. Once that expires I'll look around and do it monthly based on what I can get sports for. I don't bother with any other passes really, although may try the kids one for our 3 year old, although she seems happy enough with what's on iPlayer and Ch5.

[AdamBrunt]

I see Sky Q boxes are now available for 'free' if you are upgrading from Sky HD.

Both versions require a £99 installation fee but not sure why you would pick the 1TB box now over the 2TB one ?

[jockosjungle]

I've ditched mine, my box is so old now and we barely watch it anyway as we have NOW TV. Might sign up at some point but probably won't and stick with my streaming services.

[pigpicker]

We’re moving house in 2 weeks to a house that doesn’t have Sky.

Seeing as it takes a good couple of weeks to get an installation - can I get the ball rolling now and order the installation with Sky before we officially move in? Or will they only take an order for installation after we’ve moved in?

[Stevie G]

Pretty sure you can book ahead of you know when you'll be in

[AdamBrunt]

Originally Posted by lentini

Yeah but you can only watch on the main box and one Mini box at the same time with a 1TB box and 2 Mini’s with a 2TB box

Thanks - didn't know there was that difference between the 2 main box types.

Sky's site is currently offering a 2TB Q box ( for £25 installation ) and 2 FREE Mini boxes which is quite tempting

Originally Posted by basegreen

Quite why Sky won’t offer a proper IPTV service I don’t know.

Because, no matter how good your internet connection is the IPTV picture quality will never beat the quality of a satellite signal

[aliman5000]

Originally Posted by AdamBrunt

Because, no matter how good your internet connection is the IPTV picture quality will never beat the quality of a satellite signal

I disagree with this, I consider the picture quality of BT Sport 4K to be FAR superior to that offered by Sky - regardless of HDR.

[AdamBrunt]

@lentini is that 2 Mini box 'at the same time' limit regarding LIVE TV only ? Or does it include recordings as well ?

[Jez]

Anyone encountered this?

Had normal Netflix account and by a happy accident could get U.S Netflix just by running the Warp 1.1.1.1 DNS on my phone.

However, recently updated our SkyQ and imported out Netflix account over to Sky this no longer works.

Are Netflix locking me into UK Netflix via being with Sky somehow or its just stopped working on its own?

Not seen anything about this, but assume if i got Nord or another VPN it wouldn't work either?

[AdamBrunt]

Originally Posted by Jez

Anyone encountered this?

Had normal Netflix account and by a happy accident could get U.S Netflix just by running the Warp 1.1.1.1 DNS on my phone.

However, recently updated our SkyQ and imported out Netflix account over to Sky this no longer works.

Are Netflix locking me into UK Netflix via being with Sky somehow or its just stopped working on its own?

Not seen anything about this, but assume if i got Nord or another VPN it wouldn't work either?

So you we getting US Netflix on your phone by changing its DNS settings ? Have you tried changing the DNS settings on the Sky Q (if it even possible) ? Or are you saying after importing your account to Sky, what was working on your phone no longer works ?

It is the DNS settings and/or VPN service that usually allows UK residents to access US Netflix.

On a similar streaming theme - I see Amazon Prime Video is now available via a Sky Q box

[Jez]

Originally Posted by AdamBrunt

So you we getting US Netflix on your phone by changing its DNS settings ? Have you tried changing the DNS settings on the Sky Q (if it even possible) ? Or are you saying after importing your account to Sky, what was working on your phone no longer works ?

It is the DNS settings and/or VPN service that usually allows UK residents to access US Netflix.

On a similar streaming theme - I see Amazon Prime Video is now available via a Sky Q box

Its basically this on your phone https://blog.cloudflare.com/1111-warp-better-vpn/

It however, by accident let me have U.S Netlix just on my phone, once my Netflix account was ported over to Sky this stopped annoyingly.

[AdamBrunt]

Originally Posted by Jez

Its basically this on your phone https://blog.cloudflare.com/1111-warp-better-vpn/

It however, by accident let me have U.S Netlix just on my phone, once my Netflix account was ported over to Sky this stopped annoyingly.

Ah, OK. That does seem very odd then.

Incidently - which version of Netflix is the basic Sky offering ? There are three official Netflix plans; basic (480p), standard (1080p) and Premium (4k). Judging by the descriptions on the Sky site, their default offering is the "standard" plan. Is that correct ?

[Jez]

Originally Posted by AdamBrunt

Ah, OK. That does seem very odd then.

Incidently - which version of Netflix is the basic Sky offering ? There are three official Netflix plans; basic (480p), standard (1080p) and Premium (4k). Judging by the descriptions on the Sky site, their default offering is the "standard" plan. Is that correct ?

I think so yes, which was the same i had on my own Netflix, 2 devices not Ultra HD.

[AdamBrunt]

Originally Posted by Jez

I think so yes, which was the same i had on my own Netflix, 2 devices not Ultra HD.

Thanks, that's what I thought. I don't need the UHD version ( the extra devices would be useful but I don't have any 4k screens ).

Good to see the Sky 'standard' version is nearly half the price of the Netflix 'standard' version ... or at least it is in my account page

[AndyWilson]

Prime is now available on Sky Q boxes.

[AdamBrunt]

Another stupid question before I click on checkout .... does the Sky Q remote work via IR or Bluetooth ?