Pixellating

[davec1510]

Hi,
My Kit
I have a 2TB Sky Q box, 2 miniboxes. My Broadband is through Sky with an ER115 Router.
My wifi is typically 25 to 32 MBPS anywhere in the house.

The Problem
When I pause a live program, or watch a recorded program on TV's connected to the miniboxes (and it does it on both boxes), sometimes will pause for a few seconds, then restart with a lot of pixellation on the picture. If I rewind to before this happens, it may not happen when "going through" the same scene.
Also in addition to this, sometimes the sound will drop out. There will be no sound until I rewind and press play again, when the sound will be OK.

My Thoughts
I'm wondering if it is a "Hard drive" issue - I don't even know if there is a physical Hard drive in the box.

What can I do about this please ?
As the box is rented off Sky, I am assuming that they are responsible, but with Lockdown, what can I do.
I have a lot of things on the planner that I would be loath to loose, so don't want to wipe the Hard Drive.

Thanks

 

[JayCee]

The main Sky Q box has a HDD (hard drive), the mini boxes boxes don't, content is relayed to them via a WiFi network created by the main box.
Phone or do an online chat with Sky and they will do a bit of troubleshooting.
Be prepared to lose things on your planner if they decide to replace your main box which they may courier to you.

 

[ChuckMountain]

Is it intermittent or doing it constantly?

WiFi is only one thing transmits and talk at the same time so if you (or somebody else) are doing something on your phone for example this would reduce available bandwidth.

 

[davec1510]

JayCee, thank you. It’s going along the lines of what I’m thinking.

ChuckMountain - it is intermittent. On a 30 minute recorded program, (or 30 minutes not live (even a minute behind live)), it might do it 5 or 6 times.
rewinding back a few seconds will not show the same pixelation in the same place.
as to sound. If the sound drops, it will stay dropped for ever unless I do a rewind (only has to be a second) then play restores it.

 

[Int3rceptor]

There is a thread on the official Sky Forum where a number of us have reported this issue.

It started for all of us following the mini firmware update that added Amazon Prime.

Recordings on my minis are watchable yet live TV is fine.

Sky are supposed to be carrying out tests to see if they can replicate the issue.

 

[davec1510]

Now that’s interesting.
recordings (or paused tv) watched on the main tv are fine it seems, in that I can’t get it to replicate the fault on the tv connected to the main Q box.

can you please post a link to this issue on the main sky forum ?

thanks

 

[cuke2u]

Your box isn't 'rented' from Sky it is loaned to you. Ring them and go with them when they try to fault find from a crib sheet. Tell them you've tried everything and they should issue you with a replacement box. You will though lose all your recordings and make sure you remove your viewing card from your old one, if swapping them over with a courier..

 

[davec1510]

@cuke2u , I was all set to do this, but if I watch a “recording” off the main box (rather than the minis), it doesn’t pixelate. Then @Int3rceptor posted and I’m wondering if a change of box wouldn’t make any difference...
i have a couple of other things I could try, and would value opinions:
1. Is to run an hdmi from the main Q box to one other tv (proving the HDD is ok if no pixelation)
2. Connect the minis via Ethernet to a tplink, and another tplink Ethernet back to the Q box (eliminating the WiFi, in case it’s WiFi that’s the issue).

the only thing stopping me doing as you first suggest is losing the contents of the HDD. I also get the feeling Sky will expect me to do a hard reset (wiping everything) before swapping out the box, and I had a guy out last time and he did things which he said the original installer had got wrong so split the WiFi to 2.4g and 5g, and I haven’t a clue what he did.....
thanks

 

[BobbyJ]

Hi everyone. I too have this problem and have also been posting in the Sky Users forum.
my setup is main Q box, Sky Hub and one mini box all hard wired with gigabit Ethernet (directly, not through homeplugs).
The Problems started in Nov or Dec of last year having worked flawlessly for a year. The symptom is exactly as described above - recordings pixelate badly on the mini, but the same recordings play fine on the main Q box, so there is no problem with the recording itself. WiFi is not part of the problem as I’m not using it. Live tv on the mini is flawless.
So clearly, the process of transmitting the recording over the network is causing issues.
I have experimented with new Ethernet cables and using another TV connected to the mini box, and no difference. Sky came out and swapped out the mini box for a new one, but that didn’t help either.
Sky say they are trying to replicate the issue.

we await......

 

[davec1510]

Having been on the phone for an hour this morning with a Sky technical guy, he told me there was ""congestion" on the router among other things".
We went through the settings and reset everything (except wiping the hard drive), but we are still getting the same issue, and given your post @BobbyJ I'm not totally surprised given your using ethernet cable instead of wifi.
I too have swapped out miniboxes and TVs with no improvement...

He did say that next step would be an engineer visit.... so that isn't going to happen until Lockdown is over... lets hope sky can replicate it.

we await

 

[TheViper101]

I had this but managed to resolve by going into the engineer menu and disabled the WiFi on the Mini box (and carried on using powerline with a TP Link). Just be aware you'll need to be wired and you'll lose the mini as a hot spot if you use Sky Broadband (found that rubbish anyway)

Press the ‘Home’ button on your Sky remote control.
Scroll down to ‘Settings’.
When you arrive at ‘Settings’ please do not press the enter/select button.
Enter the sequence 001 and press the enter/select button. Turn off 2.4ghz and 5ghz.

 

[davec1510]

@TheViper101 - thanks for this.
@BobbyJ has posted he has this same issue without WiFi like yourself, but Ethernet cables has not solved this.
im prepared to try this, as I have tplink, and not too fussed about hotspots.
There is one other thing I’ve not mentioned, as I’m not sure it is relevan.

when I first had the setup, I was told I needed a booster. This originally looked like a white minibox, but sky changed this to a newer type by the time I got mine, and I positioned it between Q box and minibox. it didn’t really help, and when an engineer called in 2019, he found the setup engineer had not set the box correctly and once he set it up it was fine. He advised me I could use the booster box upstairs by my desktop PC, and connect my PC to it via Ethernet. This works well, so maybe I need to turn this booster off when not using the pc.

I might try this first, and see if it makes any difference.

 

[TheViper101]

@TheViper101 - thanks for this.
@BobbyJ has posted he has this same issue without WiFi like yourself, but Ethernet cables has not solved this.
im prepared to try this, as I have tplink, and not too fussed about hotspots.

I wasn't using the WiFi either but for some reason having it on in the menu was still causing the issue. Think it started in November last year after an update.

Here's a thread that i started in December when it was driving me mad Occasional picture breakup on mini box since latest update?

 

[davec1510]

Isolating the Booster made no difference.

I'll rig up the tp Links and try that. I will only be able to do this on the downstairs mini, as (for some reason) the tp link units don't like going between upstairs and downstairs even though the house wiring is as it should be. (something else to Investigate).

Going to look at your thread @TheViper101
just one question... where does the ethernet go from on the Q box to the tplink

 

[TheViper101]

So as long as your main Q is wired to your router or a switch (connected to your router) and then you have an ethernet running from one of those to a TP Link then another TP Link next to your mini then they'll be able to communicate. Think some of the newer (and more expensive) TP Links can help the signal travel further distances without loss in speed.

 

[davec1510]

@TheViper101 - Thanks.
There are 2 ports out from my ER115 Sky router.
1 cable goes direct to the Q box, and one to an unmanaged 8 port switch.
From the 8 port switch, cables go to various items (cctv, hive hub etc). so if i plug a TP link into the switch, and another into the mini, that should work ?
I disable the wifi to the mini from the settings in the mini I assume ?

 

[TheViper101]

[

Yeah that should do it

 

[Int3rceptor]

Now that’s interesting.
recordings (or paused tv) watched on the main tv are fine it seems, in that I can’t get it to replicate the fault on the tv connected to the main Q box.

can you please post a link to this issue on the main sky forum ?

thanks

Sorry for the late reply. There are a few threads over on the Sky Forum but this one is at 16 pages:

Mini box pixelation

 

[davec1510]

Thanks @Int3rceptor, I’ve read a few threads today, and added to some.
A Sky engineer I spoke to on the phone assured me the Amazon Prime issue had been resolved, but a router reset (he said was the issue) didn’t make any difference, and it doesn’t look like a solid Ethernet connection will help either.

 

[davec1510]

I have done a bit of testing around the house with my laptop, a TP link and Fast.com to see what speeds I get.
The max at the router is 39.99 Mbps, and speed at the point where I connect the minibox is 36Mbps.
I have now connected my minibox to the TP Link, and gone into the 001 menu and switched off the 2.4 & 5 Ghz wifi
(I have tested it's off by disconnecting the ethernet and I loose signal - reconnect and it comes back, rechecked wifi in settings, both still off)

Is this enough to test to see if (in my case - as every case seems different) the wifi is the issue.

Also is 16Mbps sufficient to allow the 2nd minibox to function correctly with std HD (under normal circumstances).

Thanks

 

[TheViper101]

I have done a bit of testing around the house with my laptop, a TP link and Fast.com to see what speeds I get.
The max at the router is 39.99 Mbps, and speed at the point where I connect the minibox is 36Mbps.
I have now connected my minibox to the TP Link, and gone into the 001 menu and switched off the 2.4 & 5 Ghz wifi
(I have tested it's off by disconnecting the ethernet and I loose signal - reconnect and it comes back, rechecked wifi in settings, both still off)

Is this enough to test to see if (in my case - as every case seems different) the wifi is the issue.

Also is 16Mbps sufficient to allow the 2nd minibox to function correctly with std HD (under normal circumstances).

Thanks

View attachment 1454910

Yeah just give it a go and see how you get on your settings look right

 

[davec1510]

I'm going to try recording ITV in Std definition and see how that works on the minibox that is still on WiFi (that's the one that would only get 16Mbps with the TP Link), as I don't want to alter too many things at once.

 

[davec1510]

Ok, so here’s what I’ve discovered.
recording in SD does eliminate pixelation etc
using TP Links to “hardware” my 2 mini boxes has eliminated pixelation, BUT it has altered my network in that it has knocked my speed back on other items connected.
I have resolved this with an 8 port Ethernet switch.
I would much rather be able to use WiFi, but until Sky fix their issue (and it IS their issue), this works for me.

I am looking to run a continuous cable from my upstairs box down to the switch, as (for some reason) I only get about 50% speed on my upstairs sockets with the TPLinks (main one connected to downstairs ring main). My house has 2 ring mains connected to the same consumer unit, so I’m unsure why this is.

 

[TheViper101]

Glad to see you've resolved but it's just a shame that the wifi mesh causes these issues. I've had to pay out for TP Links to resolve poor performance etc which isn't really on. Sky really need to start testing their products / software before rollout.

 

[cheagavara]

hi, we have an issue with our mini box that started recently and now happens all the time, as much as 10 times in one program. our mini box pixalaltes and freezes with loss of sound when we are watching any download, any recording or any paused program. it never happens on the main box only the mini. we have a spare mini and have tried switch them around. the mini is about 4 feet away from the router and the main box is 12 feet away, we have tried moving the router to the hall way where it has line of sight with both boxes, we also have changed the router to the newest sky one.

we have tried removing the power cable from main box to reset and same for mini box

we have done all the reset of connections via the settings and the engineer 001 options.

we have chnged all cables to known good

we have tried the 3 options in the 50ghz broadcast options from main box

we have switched tv (in case it was a problew between mini and tv)

we have hard wired main q box and mini via ethernet

we have hard wired and turned off main q box wifi so it is forced to used ethernet

we have forced a firmware updates

none of our tv apps have any problems at all and this happens at any time of day but only on the mini box. we have also disconnected everything else from the wifi when we are trying to solve this

any suggestions would be appriciated and if i have missed anything out i will try to update as i go . thanks for looking