New SKY streaming devices

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312 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3054189 24-Mar-2023 16:27

IvanPiacun:

After using the Sky Pod for a few days, I have a few suggestions for significant improvement that sky could make:

Add TV One, Two and Duke to the Guide as we are paying for Sky Starter which is supposed to include all the Freeview channels.
Were the program being played can be rewound to the start have a Long Press on the Play/Pause button take you to the start.
In the Guide have rewind button take you back 24 hours, and the fast forward button take you forward 24 hours.
When the power off button is pressed, and HDM CEC is on in settings, have it turn off all home theatre/sound bars attached to the TV i.e. I have a Sony Bravia TV, with a Home Theatre System attached to the TV on HDMI port 1 (the ARC port) which is currently not turned off when the Sky Pod Power off button on the Sky Pod Remote is used.
Have the TV AV Input button on the remote be programmable to control the TV HDMI Input for the appropriate brand and model of the TV present using infrared. A programming capability like that on the Vodafone TV remote would be ideal.
Have the fast forward and rewind buttons in Sky viewing show small preview windows so that it is easier to fast forward or rewind to the point you want, like Vodafone TV does.
Have a setting to suppress channels that you are not subscribed to from the Guide and have the up and down channel button and navigate up/down skip over channels not subscribed to. This would make the system far easier to use and more user friendly.

That's a very good list of improvements.

If it worked in the way you've suggested and the user interface operated at a reasonable speed without so much lag, I'd have no hesitation in keeping my Sky subscription.

MightyApe

You will find anything you want at MightyApe (affiliate link).

evnafets

458 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3054190 24-Mar-2023 16:28

IvanPiacun:

After using the Sky Pod for a few days, I have a few suggestions for significant improvement that sky could make:

Add TV One, Two and Duke to the Guide as we are paying for Sky Starter which is supposed to include all the Freeview channels.

This one Sky ran into last minute licensing troubles with TVNZ over.

Technically, nothing stops the distribution / playback of these channels.
But the licensing does.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/131450668/skypod-wont-have-tvnz-channels-on-tv-guide-after-broadcasters-fail-to-reach-deal

They were originally on the Pod both for streaming and for 'catchup'.
Then the catchup/restart option disappeared (not available on these channels)
Then the channels themselves.

TVNZ playing hardball on this one it appears.

Shadbolt

125 posts

Master Geek

#3054191 24-Mar-2023 16:36

It's amazing how differently our Sky boxes and pods are treating us. I have read about the issues people are having, and the laggy remote is the only one I've had. We have a box and a pod. They both installed very quickly, the pictures are very good on our 40" TVs, and really my only complaint is that the recording/replaying interface has very low functionality compared to most other recorders. Installing and linking Plex was very simple indeed. Casting from my phone to the pod works perfectly.

(Both items are hardwired to a standard Vodafone cable broadband router.)

Tatou

214 posts

Master Geek

#3054199 24-Mar-2023 17:29

IvanPiacun:

After using the Sky Pod for a few days, I have a few suggestions for significant improvement that sky could make:

Add TV One, Two and Duke to the Guide as we are paying for Sky Starter which is supposed to include all the Freeview channels.
Were the program being played can be rewound to the start have a Long Press on the Play/Pause button take you to the start.
In the Guide have rewind button take you back 24 hours, and the fast forward button take you forward 24 hours.
When the power off button is pressed, and HDM CEC is on in settings, have it turn off all home theatre/sound bars attached to the TV i.e. I have a Sony Bravia TV, with a Home Theatre System attached to the TV on HDMI port 1 (the ARC port) which is currently not turned off when the Sky Pod Power off button on the Sky Pod Remote is used.
Have the TV AV Input button on the remote be programmable to control the TV HDMI Input for the appropriate brand and model of the TV present using infrared. A programming capability like that on the Vodafone TV remote would be ideal.
Have the fast forward and rewind buttons in Sky viewing show small preview windows so that it is easier to fast forward or rewind to the point you want, like Vodafone TV does.
Have a setting to suppress channels that you are not subscribed to from the Guide and have the up and down channel button and navigate up/down skip over channels not subscribed to. This would make the system far easier to use and more user friendly.

Great suggestions however the skeptical in me doubts that Sky is interested or will be following this thread or implementing those suggestions. It seems the Sky Pod was the cheapest way to try and retain the Sky customers who got Sky via VTV ( and didn't want an dish) so $$ investment in a good device or app is unlikely.

I suppose of those former VTV customers they will either

(a) get a satellite box

(b) persevere with Skypod not with standing the problems

It is yet to be seen what category I fall into but it is most unlikely it will be (a) and from the comments here (c) is looking likely. However as previously stated I am eking out VTV until the last day when I will switch to the Skypod so will withhold my judgement until I have personally used it. I have a MiBox for non Sky streaming already.

clayton

325 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

#3054200 24-Mar-2023 17:29

Shadbolt:

It's amazing how differently our Sky boxes and pods are treating us. I have read about the issues people are having, and the laggy remote is the only one I've had. We have a box and a pod. They both installed very quickly, the pictures are very good on our 40" TVs, and really my only complaint is that the recording/replaying interface has very low functionality compared to most other recorders. Installing and linking Plex was very simple indeed. Casting from my phone to the pod works perfectly.

(Both items are hardwired to a standard Vodafone cable broadband router.)

Sounds like just another cheap Roku device

clayton

325 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

#3054202 24-Mar-2023 17:32

Tatou:

IvanPiacun:

After using the Sky Pod for a few days, I have a few suggestions for significant improvement that sky could make:

Add TV One, Two and Duke to the Guide as we are paying for Sky Starter which is supposed to include all the Freeview channels.
Were the program being played can be rewound to the start have a Long Press on the Play/Pause button take you to the start.
In the Guide have rewind button take you back 24 hours, and the fast forward button take you forward 24 hours.
When the power off button is pressed, and HDM CEC is on in settings, have it turn off all home theatre/sound bars attached to the TV i.e. I have a Sony Bravia TV, with a Home Theatre System attached to the TV on HDMI port 1 (the ARC port) which is currently not turned off when the Sky Pod Power off button on the Sky Pod Remote is used.
Have the TV AV Input button on the remote be programmable to control the TV HDMI Input for the appropriate brand and model of the TV present using infrared. A programming capability like that on the Vodafone TV remote would be ideal.
Have the fast forward and rewind buttons in Sky viewing show small preview windows so that it is easier to fast forward or rewind to the point you want, like Vodafone TV does.
Have a setting to suppress channels that you are not subscribed to from the Guide and have the up and down channel button and navigate up/down skip over channels not subscribed to. This would make the system far easier to use and more user friendly.

Great suggestions however the skeptical in me doubts that Sky is interested or will be following this thread or implementing those suggestions. It seems the Sky Pod was the cheapest way to try and retain the Sky customers who got Sky via VTV ( and didn't want an dish) so $$ investment in a good device or app is unlikely.

I suppose of those former VTV customers they will either

(a) get a satellite box

(b) persevere with Skypod not with standing the problems

(c) leave Sky altogether.

It is yet to be seen what category I fall into but it is most unlikely it will be (a) and from the comments here (c) is looking likely. However as previously stated I am eking out VTV until the last day when I will switch to the Skypod so will withhold my judgement until I have personally used it. I have a MiBox for non Sky streaming already.

A satellite box with built in freeview would be a starter for SKY

Corrsea

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3054211 24-Mar-2023 18:07

Shadbolt:
It's amazing how differently our Sky boxes and pods are treating us. I have read about the issues people are having, and the laggy remote is the only one I've had. We have a box and a pod. They both installed very quickly, the pictures are very good on our 40" TVs, and really my only complaint is that the recording/replaying interface has very low functionality compared to most other recorders. Installing and linking Plex was very simple indeed. Casting from my phone to the pod works perfectly.

(Both items are hardwired to a standard Vodafone cable broadband router.)

Is the remote laggy on both the box and the pod or just the pod?
I'm finding the pod unusable at times. It will lag, doing nothing then suddenly jump through a number of actions I have just pressed.
At other times it will flow quite well. It's not the remote itself but the software in the pod. I'm also able to control it with my Panasonic TV remote and the same issues appear.
I'm thinking of sending it back but might consider trying the box if it performs better than the pod

Shadbolt

125 posts

Master Geek

#3054292 24-Mar-2023 20:35

Corrsea:

Is the remote laggy on both the box and the pod or just the pod?
I'm finding the pod unusable at times. It will lag, doing nothing then suddenly jump through a number of actions I have just pressed.
At other times it will flow quite well. It's not the remote itself but the software in the pod. I'm also able to control it with my Panasonic TV remote and the same issues appear.
I'm thinking of sending it back but might consider trying the box if it performs better than the pod

I've just done some testing. I realise that it's only laggy in the TV Guide - maybe taking half a second to act. That's with both pod and box. Outside the Guide, both of them work virtually immediately the remote button is pressed.

Rushmere

312 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3054295 24-Mar-2023 20:50

Corrsea: Is the remote laggy on both the box and the pod or just the pod?
I'm finding the pod unusable at times. It will lag, doing nothing then suddenly jump through a number of actions I have just pressed.
At other times it will flow quite well. It's not the remote itself but the software in the pod. I'm also able to control it with my Panasonic TV remote and the same issues appear.
I'm thinking of sending it back but might consider trying the box if it performs better than the pod

I’m getting exactly the same issue. I find it sluggish a lot of the time, but then it seems to occasionally freeze. I press the buttons again thinking I must have missed, but then it suddenly catches up with multiple key presses. I’m finding it very frustrating.

My Pod remote is working via Bluetooth (the button flashes blue). I wonder if it would be better with an infra red connection, which would work only if a Bluetooth connection can’t be established, and the button should then flash red?

Rushmere

312 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3054368 25-Mar-2023 09:06

I called to cancel Sky today, the Pod is just too frustrating to use. I'll maybe have another look in 6 months to see if they've sorted out the software problems.

I was offered the new Box instead if I paid the extra $100, but at this stage, I don't want to risk spending even more money on more new equipment that might also not work well.

The person I spoke to at Sky did say she'd had a lot of customers complaining about the Pod. Oddly, she said I could have the new Box and not have a satellite dish and that everything would still work OK including Sky channels. However, I didn't have a lot of confidence in what she was saying because she seemed quite confused.

Would anyone with the new Box be willing to temporarily unplug the satellite link to see what happens?

I was also a bit surprised to see that Sky channels on my Vodafone TV are still working, despite activating the Pod a couple of days ago.

Corrsea

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3054374 25-Mar-2023 09:36

Rushmere:
I called to cancel Sky today, the Pod is just too frustrating to use. I'll maybe have another look in 6 months to see if they've sorted out the software problems.

I was offered the new Box instead if I paid the extra $100, but at this stage, I don't want to risk spending even more money on more new equipment that might also not work well.

The person I spoke to at Sky did say she'd had a lot of customers complaining about the Pod. Oddly, she said I could have the new Box and not have a satellite dish and that everything would still work OK including Sky channels. However, I didn't have a lot of confidence in what she was saying because she seemed quite confused.

Would anyone with the new Box be willing to temporarily unplug the satellite link to see what happens?

I was also a bit surprised to see that Sky channels on my Vodafone TV are still working, despite activating the Pod a couple of days ago.

Pretty sure I'm going to cancel as well. All their info says the box needs a satellite connection and does not have reverse EPG. Even so I might consider it if it was working well. I haven't seen many comments here on the box so perhaps it is not as bad as the pod which I find unwatchable due to it's many faults.
I'm going to try a factory reset of the pod and if that does not help I'll make my final decision over the weekend.

tdgeek

28622 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3054593 25-Mar-2023 18:17

Corrsea:

Pretty sure I'm going to cancel as well. All their info says the box needs a satellite connection and does not have reverse EPG. Even so I might consider it if it was working well. I haven't seen many comments here on the box so perhaps it is not as bad as the pod which I find unwatchable due to it's many faults.
I'm going to try a factory reset of the pod and if that does not help I'll make my final decision over the weekend.

Agree. If the content does not add value, cancel.

Shadbolt

125 posts

Master Geek

#3054836 26-Mar-2023 10:54

clayton:

Just have the one box, streaming and satellite dish in one!!

That's what the Sky box is. The pod is for when you don't need to record.

IvanPiacun

375 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3054947 26-Mar-2023 15:48

My SkyPod is having micro pauses in its live streaming from 3:33 PM to now on Prime.

I have it connected to via ethernet to a 1GB port on my router and use Spark Fibre with 500MB down and 350MB up.

I think Sky need to implement small window fast forward and rewind like Vodafone TV because other users using it would take up to 11 MB per second for this process causing my streaming to stutter while normal viewing or small windows fast forward/rewind would keep to 0.6-0.8 MB maximum thus minimising the load on their servers.

Ivan Piacun CITPNZ

MJF145

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3054952 26-Mar-2023 17:21

Recently got my SkyPod. Is there a work around to get the sky go app on Apple TV or is it just not possible? I know you are able to mirror it off your iPhone but was just wondering if there was a work around to get the app on Apple TV ?

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