Sky going on-line

50Twuncle

I understand that Sky is planning on 100% of customers getting their TV via the internet - rather than from satellite ?
Will an HD box be compatible (from firmware update) - or will Sky be expecting us all to update our boxes to Q - in which case - will a Q box allow a cable connection to a second TV in the bedroom ?
We already have a cable running from the HD box to the bedroom !
or will Sky be expecting us to pay even more for a wireless remote TV (multiscreen) ?

Neil_Jones

Where does it say 100%?
Sky aren't dumping the satellite route, the TV over the internet will be in addition to those who get it via a satellite dish. The idea is to attract those who can't or won't have a dish on the side of the house.

It will probably be similar to the Now TV boxes.

DCFC79

Questions should be directed at Sky.

They want to open up the customer base to those who can't put up a dish, all depends on the broadband you get as to whether the new box would be worth it.

Nilrem

50Twuncle wrote: »

I understand that Sky is planning on 100% of customers getting their TV via the internet - rather than from satellite ?
Will an HD box be compatible (from firmware update) - or will Sky be expecting us all to update our boxes to Q - in which case - will a Q box allow a cable connection to a second TV in the bedroom ?
We already have a cable running from the HD box to the bedroom !
or will Sky be expecting us to pay even more for a wireless remote TV (multiscreen) ?

Not 100%, as they would lose vast numbers of customers (a lot of people can't get high enough speeds), but IIRC dropping the dish requirement so people who have the connection speed can get their content fully over the internet without having a dish.

I suspect the current generation of Sky boxes can do it as it's little different to catch up in how it would work (from the consumer end), although there may need to be a firmware update and option changed to stop the box expecting to find a dish and instead default to the internet connection.

50Twuncle

Nilrem wrote: »

Not 100%, as they would lose vast numbers of customers (a lot of people can't get high enough speeds), but IIRC dropping the dish requirement so people who have the connection speed can get their content fully over the internet without having a dish.

I suspect the current generation of Sky boxes can do it as it's little different to catch up in how it would work (from the consumer end), although there may need to be a firmware update and option changed to stop the box expecting to find a dish and instead default to the internet connection.

Thanks - that is what I assumed
Does Q allow a cable connection to a 2nd remote TV or do they only connect wirelessly ?

MataNui

Pretty sure there is nobody in the UK currently who would be able to do that anyway. Isnt one of skys more pointless advertising claims about Sky Q that you can watch one program and record 6? So 7 HD streams plus whatever someone else might be watching or using the internet for. As a nation we are more than a decade away from that. Got more chance of us all commuting in flying electric cars than that BS ever happening.

lee111s

50Twuncle wrote: »

Thanks - that is what I assumed
Does Q allow a cable connection to a 2nd remote TV or do they only connect wirelessly ?

Q mini boxes are wireless.

lee111s

MataNui wrote: »

Pretty sure there is nobody in the UK currently who would be able to do that anyway. Isnt one of skys more pointless advertising claims about Sky Q that you can watch one program and record 6? So 7 HD streams plus whatever someone else might be watching or using the internet for. As a nation we are more than a decade away from that. Got more chance of us all commuting in flying electric cars than that BS ever happening.

Hyperoptic, B4RN and Cityfibre all offer up to 1Gbps.

Virgin can supply 300meg to anyone who is connected to their network.

Openreah FTTP is up to 330meg. FTTC up to 80meg.

For example, BBC Iplayer HD streams are about 3mbps. With my 60meg I could stream 15 simultaenous shows with more than enough bandwidth to spare for browsing.

Netflix uses about 5mbps, so even then, I could stream 10 with plenty of bandwidth to spare.

I imagine it!!!8217;s a very very small percentage of Sky Q users who regularly watch/record 6 shows at a time.

MataNui

lee111s wrote: »

Not really. Virgin can supply 300meg to anyone who is connected to their network.

Openreah FTTP is up to 330meg. FTTC up to 80meg.

For example, BBC Iplayer HD streams are about 3mbps. With my 60meg I could stream 15 simultaenous shows with more than enough bandwidth to spare for browsing.

Netflix uses about 5mbps, so even then, I could stream 10 with plenty of bandwidth to spare.

I imagine it’s a very very small percentage of Sky Q users who regularly watch/record 6 shows at a time.

IPlayer HD streams are a lot more than that. You cant stream SD without buffering at much less than 3. If you have virgin you wont be needing sky. The proportion of the UK population who can get anywhere near the max current FTTC speeds is tiny. The average is 16.5 which hasnt changed for years. At current rollout the UK is at least a decade away from being able to honestly say streaming 7 HD channels simultaneously is something other than only the luckiest tiny percentage of the population can do

lee111s

MataNui wrote: »

IPlayer HD streams are a lot more than that. You cant stream SD without buffering at much less than 3. If you have virgin you wont be needing sky. The proportion of the UK population who can get anywhere near the max current FTTC speeds is tiny. The average is 16.5 which hasnt changed for years. At current rollout the UK is at least a decade away from being able to honestly say streaming 7 HD channels simultaneously is something other than only the luckiest tiny percentage of the population can do

From the horses mouth - https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/help/troubleshooting/web/Insufficient_bandwidth

Not sure of your source but you appearquite a few years behind the times. The average download speed in the UK is now over 30mbps (on a speedtest, not connection rate).

More than 95% of the population can now access connection speeds of 24mbps or greater.

Over 50% of the country has access to 100mbps or greater.

Just over 3% of households cannot get speeds greater than 15meg.

I personally have tested 5 BBC HD streams and when running a speedtest on a 6th device, still showed more than 40 of my usual 60meg. Not forgetting that newer codecs are much more efficient than they were a few years ago, which means data can be compressed into smaller file sizes while maintaining higher quality. Ultimately meaning less bandwidth is needed, yet quality is retained.

Additionally, around 45% of UK homes are within 500m of their FTTC cabinet, and 80meg is achievable at that distance. So hardly a tiny percentage.

Here are some stats to back up the above

https://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/

custardy

MataNui wrote: »

IPlayer HD streams are a lot more than that. You cant stream SD without buffering at much less than 3. If you have virgin you wont be needing sky. The proportion of the UK population who can get anywhere near the max current FTTC speeds is tiny. The average is 16.5 which hasnt changed for years. At current rollout the UK is at least a decade away from being able to honestly say streaming 7 HD channels simultaneously is something other than only the luckiest tiny percentage of the population can do

Why? Sky TV and VM BB here.