Sky+ box problems - any way out?

dwarfer

Got sky+ today engineers fitted everything and gues what, they tested it and everything, i was told to leave it for 10 minutes. when i went to try it the remote doesnt work properly! you have to move the remote about untill you get it working, and even then it doesnt always work

i called customer services but i couldnt understand a word of what the guy was saying (foreign) - thats sky saving themselvs money without helping us he asked me questions and i clearly told him about the remote problems, but he didnt understand me either i hate it!

Dalesop

Hi guys
I know this thread dates back quite some time, but it really was very helpful

We've been having problems with sound & picture when watching recordings of Channel 4 & 5 and also if trying to watch these channels 'live' whilst recording something else.

So after seeing this thread we called Sky who went through the trouble shooting with no avail, so they said we'd have to pay £65 for an engineer to come out. We told them that that wasn't accepable and so asked to be put through to cancellations. Sure as eggs are eggs they've arranged for the engineer to come out free of charge as a 'gesture of goodwill' because we've been a customer of theirs for so long.

So thanks guys! If it wasn't for this thread we would have ended up paying the £65! :beer:

H201980

Ok, I will make this as simple as I can to follow so everyone can follow it, not just tech heads…

First a little about sky+ and why it crashes
The sky+ box was rushed though testing as there was a massive demand on hard drive recorders, so sky decided to get on the bandwagon,
But sadly it had problems, the software the box used was slow and sluggish, the tiny processor inside the sky+ box could not handle the software and the recording of channels simultaneously, so Sky+ decided to use software that was light on the machine but was unreliable.
And so it come to pass, that the sky+ box was rushed in to our homes, but now sky is paying the price, and sadly so are we.
SO WHAT CAN YOU DO? I HEAR YOU SHOUT???

Update the machine! I recommend once every other month!

Follow these steps to update the software and clean the box to help make it more reliable…

1, Turn the power fully off to the sky box, from the plug

2, Count down 90 seconds

3, once the 90 seconds have expired, Press and hold the backup button on the box, ((Keep it pressed until I say to let go))

4, Now restore power to the box, keeping the backup button pressed

5, After 20 seconds or so, The box will show an update screen, it will take about 10-15 minutes

6, Let go of the backup button and relax and let the box update, once updated you should see a faster, reliable system

Please let me know how it worked for you!!!

naijapower

Your instruction is for a software upgrade. I thought it happened automatically?
Also, are you a sky engineer?

Steph998

Slightly different....but we have been Sky customers for years, and had major problems with our satellite dish - pixellated picture all the time, no matter the weather etc. I phoned and told them my husband had moved out, and taken the box with him for his new house. They cancelled the contract in his name, and the next day we re ordered Sky in my name. Got a new dish, a new box, and paying ten pounds less a month.

H201980

the sky box will never download update after the first install, this goes for normal sky, Sky+ and SkyHD

and yes i work for sky, i have installed 10000000s of boxes and had to upgrade the software! sky would like to charge you £40 for this. but just do the steps and you will see the box is more faster.

You will find in most cases the box will fail within 1 month of having it, if it lasts longer then the boxes chances of failing fall, fair enough the box freezes now and then, but it is doing a massive task.
record 2 channels and watch a recording? computers crash now and then, so update them just to help your box on its way to looking after you...

H201980

Also the sky+ is a lot more reliable than the freeview+ as normal freeview boxes are already glitchy and slow. i had a freeview+ for 2 days and returned it, i do get sky+ free as i work for sky,

The only thing about sky is the repeats...

H201980

OK, if you have problems with your dish, it is most times one of 2 problems, wind has blowen the dish out of alignment,

or if you look at your dish u will see where the wire comes out of, this little box on the end of the sky dish is called an LMB, they brake very easy, and wind, rain, or the most comman is a bird landing on the LMB.

if your LMB brakes then im sorry but there is nothing you can do, u need to ring sky. however if your dish is out of alignment then just get a friend to move the dish until u get a good signel.

Error code 28 will show on your screen if there is a problem with the signel,

and dont forget, if you extend the Sky cable from your dish, the cable must support digital... you can not just use any old coax...

uberalles

I realise you dont need me backing you up for something you obviously know about but my experience is similar to as you describe.

We have had Sky plus for just over 1 month, I have been onto Sky twice since then.

Basically, sometimes the box will not react to any instructions, be it from the remote control or the box, then in 10 minutes or so, all those previously requested actions will occur, the system will switch over channels etc.

I'm going to call Sky armed with your knowledge, cheers. Just to see what information they tried to feed me.

BTW, does a software upgrade lose you all the recordings?

bride_on_a_budget

hi,
we have had endless problems with our sky + box, in the end i switched to virgin, as we didnt pay for the virgin box any problems and they come out for free to fix it, we have only had one problem with virgin but that was when we had thunder and lightning and the main cable blew in the street other than that i would nt go back to sky again.

there are alot of streets that cant get virgin and have to have sky tv,

bride