sky boxes with internal wifi

kirkbyinfurnesslad_2

Does anyone know when sky are releasing their wifi enabled boxes

sirmosh

September is what they have said but no exact date.

Gratis

What is the perceived advantage of a wi-fi enabled Sky box over one attached to the domestic router by an Ethernet lead or by a powerline adaptor (even, indeed, one which uses the same mains socket as the television, if one purchases a powerline adaptor with a pass-through facility)?

Both will provide a more reliable signal.

visidigi

Gratis wrote: »

What is the perceived advantage of a wi-fi enabled Sky box over one attached to the domestic router by an Ethernet lead or by a powerline adaptor (even, indeed, one which uses the same mains socket as the television, if one purchases a powerline adaptor with a pass-through facility)?

Both will provide a more reliable signal.

Or maybe just the sky wireless connector...

Gratis

visidigi wrote: »

Or maybe just the sky wireless connector...

But my question is, what's the perceived advantage of doing it wirelessly at all? Does Sky's wi-fi provide something that cannot be achieved with an Ethernet lead to one's existing (wireless) router? Is there some extra feature to be gained by using Sky's wi-fi instead?

twinkUK

Exactly the same in terms of functionality, wireless just means you don't need a cable. A cable is actually better as it's faster and not susceptible to drop out like wi-fi can occasionally

However some people don't like wires trailing around or as in our case the router isn't in the same room so a physical cable is impossible. The Sky wireless adapter works well for us

macman

I set up a new printer for someone recently. It had a wireless function. Despite the fact that it was 2 feet from the laptop (which never moves anywhere else in the house) and that there are no other devices in the houses to print from, they insisted that I install it wirelessly rather than USB.
Result; it prints at about half the speed it would do by cable. Sigh...

apf666

just had one installed this morning

sky guy said supposed to be september release but stock came in earlier

seems ok speed wise, ok prob not as quick as cable

it is the 500gb hd box i had installed

cheers

af

Gratis

twinkUK wrote: »

Exactly the same in terms of functionality, wireless just means you don't need a cable. A cable is actually better as it's faster and not susceptible to drop out like wi-fi can occasionally

However some people don't like wires trailing around or as in our case the router isn't in the same room so a physical cable is impossible. The Sky wireless adapter works well for us

Thanks for your re-assurance on this. I was beginning to wonder whether Sky had incorporated some extra feature on the box into its own version of wireless.

And thanks, also, for re-affirming that a wired connection works better and more reliably.

I understand that people don’t like having wires trailing around (and I don’t, either; so I try to keep them to a minimum, myself).

But a television needs a power lead, and if you use the type of powerline adaptor to which I provided a link, one with a mains pass-through, they can both use the same mains socket and the Ethernet lead from the powerline to the television can run neatly in parallel to the television’s power lead.

I connected the main television in the lounge, here, to the domestic router by an Ethernet cable (likewise the Humax box, the Sky box, the Apple TV and the PS3) but for the televisions upstairs we use Solwise 200AV powerline adaptors of the type linked – which, for reasons past but which some may recall with amusement, we now call "espresso"s. (Don't ask. Suffice to say that a certain person was unable to get it up and became very angry :mad: . :rotfl: )

We did try using bespoke Sony wireless adaptors on them but, even via 5 Ghz on 802.11n with wide channels, those proved slower and less reliable than powerline adaptors for smart channels and iPlayer.

§

apf666 wrote: »

just had one installed this morning

sky guy said supposed to be september release but stock came in earlier

seems ok speed wise, ok prob not as quick as cable

it is the 500gb hd box i had installed

cheers

af

As someone observed on another thread, maybe the best news is that Sky might now be more generous at doling out 2 TB boxes without wi-fi until it runs out of stock. This is perhaps a good moment to punt for one. :cool:

Good luck with your own new box. I'm glad you're happy with it. Thanks for telling us. :money:

§

macman wrote: »

I set up a new printer for someone recently. It had a wireless function. Despite the fact that it was 2 feet from the laptop (which never moves anywhere else in the house) and that there are no other devices in the houses to print from, they insisted that I install it wirelessly rather than USB.
Result; it prints at about half the speed it would do by cable. Sigh...

One of the printers here is wireless. It works fine on both USB2 or wireless but if we connect it by USB to a computer the other computers then can’t use it wirelessly. :wall:

So we unplugged the USB lead and just leave it set to wireless for all of them. Can’t be bothered to troubleshoot that one because the wireless works without problem!

visidigi

Gratis wrote: »

Thanks for your re-assurance on this. I was beginning to wonder whether Sky had incorporated some extra feature on the box into its own version of wireless.

And thanks, also, for re-affirming that a wired connection works better and more reliably.

I understand that people don’t like having wires trailing around (and I don’t, either; so I try to keep them to a minimum, myself).

But a television needs a power lead, and if you use the type of powerline adaptor to which I provided a link, one with a mains pass-through, they can both use the same mains socket and the Ethernet lead from the powerline to the television can run neatly in parallel to the television’s power lead.

I connected the main television in the lounge, here, to the domestic router by an Ethernet cable (likewise the Humax box, the Sky box, the Apple TV and the PS3) but for the televisions upstairs we use Solwise 200AV powerline adaptors of the type linked – which, for reasons past but which some may recall with amusement, we now call "espresso"s. (Don't ask. Suffice to say that a certain person was unable to get it up and became very angry :mad: . :rotfl: )

We did try using bespoke Sony wireless adaptors on them but, even via 5 Ghz on 802.11n with wide channels, those proved slower and less reliable than powerline adaptors for smart channels and iPlayer.

§



As someone observed on another thread, maybe the best news is that Sky might now be more generous at doling out 2 TB boxes without wi-fi until it runs out of stock. This is perhaps a good moment to punt for one. :cool:

Good luck with your own new box. I'm glad you're happy with it. Thanks for telling us. :money:

§



One of the printers here is wireless. It works fine on both USB2 or wireless but if we connect it by USB to a computer the other computers then can’t use it wirelessly. :wall:

So we unplugged the USB lead and just leave it set to wireless for all of them. Can’t be bothered to troubleshoot that one because the wireless works without problem!

Home plugs work, but the speed relies greatly on the quality of the wiring.

Why use a wifi connector over a wired powerline? Well my powerline and my wifi offer a similar speeds - not as good as wired directly off the router but similar.

A wifi connector requires 1 powered device, a powerline setup, even with pass through requires two devices to be powered.

Gratis

That’s true enough. Solwise told me that each powerline adaptor uses 4.5 watts. Constantly – unless you switch them off when not in use.

So, with two required for a basic setup the cost is doubled.

But if you have several, as we do, here, the overhead of the one attached to the router becomes progressively amortised by each additional unit. (And, indeed, you can even buy a (wireless) router with the powerline circuitry built into it, using just the unit's single power lead to inject the powerline signal into the property's mains wiring).

Another way of looking at it is that if you already have an existing powerline network running, adding a further unit to it for the Sky box costs only the price for one unit.

Indeed, we keep a spare Solwise piggy of the type to which I provided the link, with an Ethernet lead left plugged into it. It's a mighty handy thing to have around. Anywhere on the property one can just plug it in and get a connection to the router and the Internet, even if it's out of range of our wi-fi.

Nor does each individual Ethernet connection need a powerline unit of its own. In the kitchen, plugged into one side of a mains double-socket, we have a powerline adaptor with three Ethernet ports: one for the television, one for its attached Humax box and one for the PC tower which lives under the table and uses the (1080p) television as its monitor. The other half of the double socket hosts a UPS which supplies (and protects) the devices, and others, with electricity.

(And before you ask, if I want to use a computer and the television at the same time, in the kitchen – for example, access Live Timing while watching a Grand Prix – I put my laptop on the table and connect that to the router by wi-fi! )

Bear in mind also that although powerline adaptors consume electricity, so do wi-fi devices. Sky might put its wi-fi inside its box, where it’s hidden from view, but it’s still consuming more energy than a box without it.

At the end of the day, the fact remains that nothing beats a wired connection for Ethernet – in cost, in speed and in reliability. The alternatives are just convenience, aesthetics or the need to overcome a physical impediment (such as getting the signal across a lake, a road. a river or somebody else’s property).

But it's good to hear that Sky's wi-fi boxes do the job adequately, in favourable locations.