Sky+ box: nightmare with standby and recording.

Melinda · 05-02-2011, 22:56

Thanks for having me here. Ive having major issues with my Sky+ box.

The box stays in standby for long periods- hours at a time. It doesnt respond to the remote control and Ive been unable to turn it on manually. It just sits there glowering at me.

After reading up online I see this is fairly common, but there appear to be so many different solutions, most of which include losing recordings.

Ive of course tried switching off/on at the mains to no avail.

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There also seems to be a problem between the Sky and tv remotes too. At the same time the box went kaput so did the relationship between the two remotes and the tv. Ive tried re-tuning the sky remote. Made not a jot of difference.

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Also when occasionally the box does turn on, there is no Sky+ functionality and I cannot access recorded programming. And if any button other than the number buttons are pressed, it sends the box crashing back into standby.

I feel totally shallow, but PVR has become an essential part of how my family view tv, and being without it is so irritating.

If there is a way to sort this without further lining Sky's pockets Id be grateful- thanks x

Tezcatlipoca · 06-02-2011, 00:17

How old is the box?

jb66 · 06-02-2011, 09:18

Threaten to leave as your box is broken is the usual way to get it fixed for free

Melinda · 06-02-2011, 10:39

Hi Matt, Hi JB thanks for responding

The box is just over a year old and so probably out of automatic warranty.

I actually might have to leave anyway because Sky are are also our ISP and we're having major issues with speed this month. Web pages just hang for an age.

Paul K · 06-02-2011, 11:01

Connect or LLU? Also where are you in the country as they are having to install/ replace a load of hardware due to issues in the north of the country.
As to your box there are many issues with some of them, you could go down the leaving route or ask for a HD upgrade but yes you will lose the recordings if you do that.

Melinda · 06-02-2011, 18:29

Hi Paul,

Sorry, I dont know what connect or LLU means. :-l

Im in London.

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ok today I did the forced software update. all was going well, it appeared to be booting up after the update, but eventually returned to standby.

Ooof.

Tezcatlipoca · 06-02-2011, 18:55

How much do you pay for your Sky Broadband?

If it's free with a 2GB usage allowance, or you pay £7.50/£10 with unlimited usage, then you have Sky's LLU broadband.

If it's £17.50, then you have Connect.

LLU is "unbundled". It uses Sky's equipment at the exchange.

Connect is a re-sold BT service. It's throttled by Sky, & is widely acknowledged as being utter crap.

Melinda · 08-02-2011, 19:39

Thanks for the information Matt.

I was on the free 2GB service, apparently went over my limit and was transferred to unlimited usage, I havent noticed any equivalent upgrade in speed.

Having lived abroad and been used to mega speeds where I can stream live HD quality video, this current situation is beyond irritating.

Plus I thinks its pricer than other ISPs?
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I still havent been able to get through to Sky by phone regarding the PVR!
I joined their happy forum (I had to promise my first born as collateral) and found 30 other people complaining about the same 'box on standby' fault.

Im midway between giving up and blowing my stack.

Tezcatlipoca · 08-02-2011, 22:48

Ah, you're on LLU, then

[FAR better than Connect]

Speed won't have changed when you went from Free to Unlimited: Both have the same upto speed (20Mbps), the difference is in the usage limit (2GB versus unlimited). Not at all pricey, btw - £7.50 for upto 20Mbps with truly unlimited usage is very good.

If you have speed issues, it may be worth starting another thread in the Other ISP forum. A lot of speed issues are simply down to the person's own line... it can just be that it's too long for a decent speed, and/or the internal wiring in the house may be causing issues (e.g. bad extensions causing noise on the line).

Regarding the Sky+ box... If you can't get Sky to sort it for free, via threatening to leave (& the trouble with calling their bluff is that sometimes it backfires!), you could have someone come out & deal with it... it used to be £65 for a callout, IIRC. That covers everything. Not sure if it's the same still. Or, as Paul suggested, maybe it's time for an HD upgrade?

ess1 · 09-02-2011, 07:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt D

Ah, you're on LLU, then

[FAR better than Connect]

Speed won't have changed when you went from Free to Unlimited: Both have the same upto speed (20Mbps), the difference is in the usage limit (2GB versus unlimited). Not at all pricey, btw - £7.50 for upto 20Mbps with truly unlimited usage is very good.

If you have speed issues, it may be worth starting another thread in the Other ISP forum. A lot of speed issues are simply down to the person's own line... it can just be that it's too long for a decent speed, and/or the internal wiring in the house may be causing issues (e.g. bad extensions causing noise on the line).

Regarding the Sky+ box... If you can't get Sky to sort it for free, via threatening to leave (& the trouble with calling their bluff is that sometimes it backfires!), you could have someone come out & deal with it... it used to be £65 for a callout, IIRC. That covers everything. Not sure if it's the same still. Or, as Paul suggested, maybe it's time for an HD upgrade?

"... calling their bluff"

Tried that about 2 years ago and ended up with Virgin TV.
completed the 12 months contract then returned to Sky+ w/box. Been with them some 15 months and am between choosing the Tivo or remaining with Sky and their undoubted control over future channels.

Am not in UK at the moment - strange this is what happened before. If I can cut a deal with Sky then probably will. VM/Tivo should have improved by then

Melinda · 12-02-2011, 19:05

Hey Matt, Hey Paul

Just to let you know I finally called Sky, spent half an hour going through the Hard Drive reset which worked the second time we tried it. (thought I was going to have to get a new box at one stage). Lost the recordings but that was fair enough in the end.

Turned out the biggest issue was the remote control which was sending the wrong signals to the tv and box. It was triggering my tv's source channels.
So we re-tuned it to the make and model of the tv and voila- one working Sky+ box and remote control!

Thanks for the advice and providing space for me to vent!
Mel x

Next task is to sort out who is providing the quickest speeds in my area of London!

Oh and the current offer for box replacement is £15 for an HD box which isnt bad I think?

Ken Jude · 15-02-2011, 13:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Melinda

Oh and the current offer for box replacement is £15 for an HD box which isnt bad I think?

AS long as you signed up to the HD package at £10.25 per month.

For a Sky+ box replaced as part of a £65 call-out I suspect you'd still get a refurbed Sky+ box.