SkyQ IP

Clem_Dye

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According to this article on the Daily Express website — All-new Sky Q box WITHOUT a satellite dish is being tested in the UK ahead of launch — SkyQ IP is being trialled in the UK, ahead of a launch. I have to say that as much as I dislike Sky, the option to gain access to certain channels is tempting. From what I can make out, there’s no PVR facility, and the service may be limited to those who use Sky broadband. The fact that it would rival NowTV suggests to me that this is potentially its replacement.

The article suggests that PQ is limited to HD, which would be fine by me. I’m really interested in getting access to channels like More4HD, which is only available via Sky. I currently have Freesat, but my wife wants rid of the dish. Perhaps this might work. Time will tell …
 
Seems we’re lagging behind, German Apple TV users have had a SkyQ app for the past two years.
Wonder if we’ll get an app here too or will it only be via a new SkyQ box.
 
New box, I reckon, at least to begin with. If NowTV gets killed off, Sky will want to keep those customers, so a SkyQ-type would seem the logical choice. Time will tell …

I assume that the set-top boxes will remain Sky’s property, unlike the NowTV boxes that they used to flog. I don’t think that Sky will limit sales to just Sky broadband subscribers. Most of those already have Sky in some form, and the SkyQ add-on boxes already serve multiple user households. I can’t see there being much of a demand within the existing customer base.

I can see the likes of BT and VMO2 being less than thrilled by this announcement though. I’m a VMO2 customer now, and would consider one of their cable boxes if it didn’t involve yet another thick black cable being run from the router, or nearby. SWMBO is emphatic that that’s a non-starter. Just why VMO2 can’t do IPTV on their own network is beyond me. After all, BT manage it well enough.
 
. I don’t think that Sky will limit sales to just Sky broadband subscribers.

More likely they do restrict it to their own isp, means they have control end to end (as much as possible)
 
Yes, that’s certainly a possibility. I certainly wouldn’t switch from VMO2 to Sky just to get SkyQ IP though. The broadband hit isn’t worth it. My ex BT line is on overhead cable, so I only ever got about 30mbit/sec at best. My VMO2 link is way faster, and generally (says he, touch wood), more reliable. Ultimately, it will come down to the Sky/Comcast greed level.
 
@Clem_Dye VM send all of their TV channes down the fibre optic cables as well as the internet signals. You say you already have a VM internet connection into the house. Did you not get that connection into the house to be where the TV unit is located?

I helped my parents decide to move from Plusnet Fibre w/Plusnet TV over to a VM bundle package earlier this year. Apart from the loss of access to the BT Sport app, it has been a success and the fact they now have access to many more HD channels which have been locked behind the $ky/VM TV paywall for years is good. Also the ability to record many more channels at once has come in use for them.

Are you sure you wouldn't be able to do the same? Or perhaps I have misinterpreted how you have things set up/what SWMBO has defined as not acceptable haha!
 
VMO2 boxes have an Ethernet connection for streaming services, but also have a cable connection for TV services. Take a look on the VMO2 website. I’m not interested in having another thick cable ran through the house, or more holes drilled through our walls. If VMO2 move to pure IPTV for both TV and streaming on their boxes, then I might be interested.

My router is in a different room to my TV, etc., Had that been near the TV then things might have been different. Although I’m not a fan of Sky, with Sky Atlantic missing, that also dampened my interest.
 
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It may have been news to the DE , but I am pretty sure this was discussed a while ago in the sky TV section. And if you look at what the current box can do and how Sky have been positioning themselves as an aggregator of online services, it shouldn't have been news to the DE. But then it's the DE
 
I've been giving virgin media's new stream box a go...its impressive,gives you 4k ultimate via bt sport along with virgin media's uhd channel...there are catch up services...the box is sooooo small..
 

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VMO2 boxes have an Ethernet connection for streaming services, but also have a cable connection for TV services. Take a look on the VMO2 website. I’m not interested in having another thick cable ran through the house, or more holes drilled through our walls. If VMO2 move to pure IPTV for both TV and streaming on their boxes, then I might be interested.

My router is in a different room to my TV, etc., Had that been near the TV then things might have been different. Although I’m not a fan of Sky, with Sky Atlantic missing, that also dampened my interest.
Yeah the actual Virgin box has the TV wires (coaxial or something like that?) going into the back of it from the Virgin access point inside the house. It then also has a an ethernet cable to the virgin router for anything internet related.

You can connect the boxes to the router wirelessly, or you could use Powerline Adatpers to get a wired signal if you prefer.

I guess your main issue is that you don't have the Virgin coaxial wires going from the virgin access point in your home to the location of your TV setup?
 
Yup, no coax. It would mean a lot of drilling and disturbance. It’s not worth the hassle.

I’m not so much interested in the Sky stuff, it’s being able to get access to the likes of More4HD. Still, C4’s loss. The picture quality on More4SD is awful, and although its programmes are better looking on the All4 app. (576i broadcast, 720p streamed) the relentles, unskippable ads. on the app. make it a non-starter. I can pay for All4+ of course, which gets round the ads., but that still doesn’t deliver full HD picture or 5.1 audio.

If/when VMO2 deliver pure IPTV I might take another look.
 
If/when VMO2 deliver pure IPTV I might take another look.

i can't see that happening.

they are a cable distribution company, they aren't outlaying huge amounts of money laying cable to then service the content over IPTV.

what they may do (not sure if they are trialling it of if i've imaginged it), is something similar to Sky Q where the master TV box is connected via cable and the extra boxes are "wireless".
 
Maybe, but the world of Internet connectivity is always in a state of flux. The lack of Sky Atlantic is a big turn-off too. If Sky’s IPTV box does actually materialise, that might be the answer. Or I might give in and subscribe to All4+.

The current TV box is a bit of a hybrid anyway — cable for TV, Internet for streaming. Having an Ethernet only solution simplifies things for customers, nit so much for VMO2. Still, time will tell …
 
yes but virgin use the same coax cable to provide both internet and TV. so you already are getting your TV via the cable that provides the internet.

the new virgin boxes only need ethernet/wirless for streaming is because the boxes no longer have an internal modem - previous boxes that did have the internal model were able to use the 1 coax cable for both TV and internet streaming services.

sky atlantic is solely down to sky not wanting to give the channel to competitors.
 
I've been giving virgin media's new stream box a go...its impressive,gives you 4k ultimate via bt sport along with virgin media's uhd channel...there are catch up services...the box is sooooo small..
Didn't you agree to an NDA? :nono: :D
 
yes but virgin use the same coax cable to provide both internet and TV. so you already are getting your TV via the cable that provides the internet.

the new virgin boxes only need ethernet/wirless for streaming is because the boxes no longer have an internal modem - previous boxes that did have the internal model were able to use the 1 coax cable for both TV and internet streaming services.

sky atlantic is solely down to sky not wanting to give the channel to competitors.
Yes, but the TV box needs an additional co-ax cable, which is the point that I was making. That would need a long run in my home, which neither I or my wife want. I have enough cables and holes in my walls already.

If VMO2 moves to pure IPTV then I might be interested. However, the absence of Sky Atlantic, which is a spat between Sky and VMO2, is another reason, for me, not to consider the offering.
 
There’s no “spat”
sky simply don’t wish to offer the channels to any other carrier. They see it as usp.
 

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