Sky Q

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  • Dickthedoc
    Dickthedoc Forum Participant Posts: 1
    edited September 2019 #32

     I too am interested. I have an automatic sky dish on top of camper and would not dream of going back to a meter.

    Does any one know if this system can be adapted (?new LNB etc) to get q in the camper?

    Would be delighted for info

  • Deganwyman
    Deganwyman Forum Participant Posts: 12
    edited October 2019 #33

    Theoretically all that is required is a change of LNB and maybe a software upgrade. A couple of companies now sell sky q compatible systems so hopefully you will be in luck to obtain an upgrade option from the manufacturer.

     

  • 4x4ralphy
    4x4ralphy Forum Participant Posts: 1
    edited November 2019 #34

    Hi Deganwyman, I am very interested in your comments about using sky Q in your caravan, we have used multi room sky hd+ box's for some time now but we have to change over to the multi room sky Q now as one of the boxes have had it's day. (Should be installed next week!)

    I have found the new LNB and the meter finder you have mentioned, but can you not use the new box to find the signal like before giving you the 2 bars showing the signal strength and quality on the tv?

    I used to turn the dish to get close, then use the tv to see the signal's, does it not show this anymore?

    Also, is there much setting up swopping from house to caravan and back with the extra box?

    Your comments most welcome?

  • Deganwyman
    Deganwyman Forum Participant Posts: 12
    edited November 2019 #35

    Hi there,

    there are no issues with swapping from house to caravan. I choose to turn off the inbuilt wifi on the Sky Q box so my phone etc does not try and connect to it.

    in terms of not using a meter that’s a matter of choice. In my experience the user interface that displays the satellite signal is slower to react than the HD box and therefore I would find it frustrating. The meter gives me guaranteed signal finding each time and takes on average 30 seconds from connecting to finding the signal.

     

  • young thomas
    young thomas Forum Participant Posts: 11,356
    1000 Comments
    edited November 2019 #36

    ive just gone through this dilema (not for the first time...) as our home Sky+ HD box gave up the ghost (like many have done this month) following an October software update....forums are rightly full of disgruntled customers....

    after a 'discussion' with Sky i was given the option of having the box replaced (with a £65 charge despite this being a 'popular customer situation' following the update) or a brand new 2tb skyQ box and mini box upstairs free of charge (the kit is loaned to customers) and just a £6 a month fee for the new facilities etc...(cant remember the position re Netflix, the latest bribe to change...)

    however, i have a 2nd HD box 'plumbed in' on our van and dont have the space or patience to remove a home box and set it up in the MH and to change the LNB, nor would we get many of the 'internet based' benefits, nor the 4k picture quality etc, etc, and as we have two 8-12 week trips each year it didnt seem worth the hassle....so i just move the card and re-pair it.

    just to be sure, i spoke at some length (unofficially) with my local engineer about retaining the sky+hd box in the van and having SkyQ at home (my daughter has it and it is an impressive system) and whether i could pair a sky q card with an hd box, the answer is no....

    not specifically for a technical reason but, when SkyQ is installed the current dish is changed for one with a new Q LNB which means that no non-Q boxes can be used at that address (even without cards) so the old Sky+ boxes are removed from your Sky account, so cant be paired with any card.

    i could have kept my Sky+ box in the van and used as a freesat box but without a card theres no premium channels nor any recording functions.

    SkyQ is a great 'technical' achievement and the user voice interface is amazing (just try saying a movie quote into the remote and see what happens......try 'Ill be back' and all Arnie movies magically appear on screen.....or 'youre gonna need a bigger boat' to watch Jaws.....) and if i didnt spend months in a van id have gone for it.

    as it happens, i got the box replaced, got the engineer call fee waived and got a new negotiated far cheaper deal for the next 18 months, so happy now...

    good luck to all considering Q....its great but ensure it works with your usage requirements.

  • Kontikiboy
    Kontikiboy Forum Participant Posts: 304
    100 Comments
    edited November 2019 #37

    Hi BB, 

    I use SkyGo in BP by way of a VPN, but only occasionally for football.   We don’t watch any other TV when away.    We do download movies onto our iPads, just in case.   Oh, and I have an Amazon Fire-stick, but this needs good wi-fi so have not used that a lot.    We like to get away and have a rest from TV, especially the BBC News!    Mostly we read books at night.    
    BillC

  • cyberyacht
    cyberyacht Forum Participant Posts: 10,218
    1000 Comments
    edited November 2019 #38

    Thats one thing I do like when away in the van in the UK is the News and QT. When abroad we don't bother taking it.

  • Kontikiboy
    Kontikiboy Forum Participant Posts: 304
    100 Comments
    edited November 2019 #39

    Hi CY, it took a while to work out QT, but think I got there in the end.

    unless your into software development!

    BillC

  • cyberyacht
    cyberyacht Forum Participant Posts: 10,218
    1000 Comments
    edited November 2019 #40

    When I look in the mirror I see quite a bit of software development. frown

  • young thomas
    young thomas Forum Participant Posts: 11,356
    1000 Comments
    edited November 2019 #41

    Hi Bill, yes i get the 'have a rest bit'....we do a lot of resting....but we are away for around 6 months in two long trips and Sky costs a lot and would be against my religion to pay for something i cant use...

    sky make it darn tricky to stop and start their packages and maybe we should look at, say, Now Tv (sky via internet) if its more flexible....but then we would be relying on wifi/data all the time. we are at BP from 10th Jan so might try it out then. ill do a bit of research on data volumes but i think an HD movie could be 2-3 gb?

    the market is moving towards mobile unlimited data packages now and this would be great to give us interactive services while away...i have 20gb currently which is great for servicing our two ipads while away but not yet tested Sky Go Extra data usage....ive used it here on our broadband and its great.

    which VPN provider do you use.

    thanks for your thoughts, as alwayssmile

  • Kontikiboy
    Kontikiboy Forum Participant Posts: 304
    100 Comments
    edited November 2019 #42

    Hi BB,

    Presently I have two VPNs, I have had a cheap and cheerful one from Hidden24 the longest and that works for what I want but I am not sure how secure it is.    That costs me about £48 pa.     I use Norton for my laptop security which I am confident is very secure and I was persuaded by them to try their VPN, but it was a disaster.      Norton VPN is too secure and blocks so much that it is not workable.    Norton costs about the same but because of the problems they have extended my current subscription until Feb 2021.   I have had a long conversation with Norton Support and they admitted to the issues and said they are working on them.

    I agree with you totally about Sky and getting locked into them.   I have had Sky since it was introduced but now have just Sport and what they call Box Sets, which is Sky One, Atlantic etc on TV, but we get our 38Mb Broadband for £10 pm and our telephones are Sky.      Like you we are away from home in the van for 5/6 months each year and have carried out a review of what we use and what we need.   We have agreed that Vodafone will probably suit us better in the short/medium term and because I am due to renew my iPhone next May for a 5G model, we will wait until then and review the market again.

    i currently have 20Gb of data with Vodafone and unlimited voice and txts and because 4G is so good around most of Western Europe it works for us.   We have not purchased camp site wi-fi for at least two years.    My wife hooks her iPad onto my iPhone and uses my 4G and that works too.

    We have just had a 5 week trip to Italy, Tuscany and Garda, and didn’t take a TV with us.      Enjoy BP, our friends are on B3.6 right now where we were earlier this year.    It has been 22c for weeks, but next week a bit cooler, but at least 6 hours sunshine everyday, which is good for the joints and morale.     Speak soon.

    BillC

     

     

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