What's the closest thing to a rock solid Sky Sport Now setup?

Forums › Sky, Neon, Lightbox › What's the closest thing to a rock solid Sky Sport Now setup?

tim360

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#304308 22-Apr-2023 14:54

After years of frustration with Fanpass/Sky Sport Now I realise there may not be such a thing, but am interested to know what setup people are using who have minimal issues with the current suite of SSN apps.

It's time to upgrade my aging Apple TV2 and Chromecast 2 devices. SSN stopped working with my ATV last year (using AirPlay from iPhone), and it's not great with the Chromecast - even though Plex and YouTube still give me a great experience with the older Chromecast.

I'd prefer to use an ethernet connection to the new device, but wi-fi only is still an option. Have started looking at the following:

Chromecast with Google TV 4k
Apple TV 4k (1st, 2nd or 3rd gen)
Amazon Fire TV stick 4K Max

What setup do you use that works well enough?

gzt

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#3066996 22-Apr-2023 15:21

Btw, new Skybox has Ethernet. Subscriber price is $200 apparently.

https://newskybox.co.nz/tech-specs

Tech specs are limited. AV1 future proofing? no idea. Easy enough to find out using YouTube stats for nerds.

Starlith

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#3067396 23-Apr-2023 16:42

The Sky Sport Now Android TV app is quite crap to navigate and tends to log out more often so as an alternative I just use Kodi and load the Sky Sport Now addon from Matt huisman.

Then I do an IPTV merge with the addon and it shows the full guide and channels in the TV section of Kodi.

You could also get a raspberry pi and load LibreElec Kodi on it as an alternative.

Stu1

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#3067423 23-Apr-2023 19:46

Apple TV best option for me , have tired the other 2 as well .It has got better but no where near as good as overseas sports channels such as Kayo or Stan but sky is watchable

nztim

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#3067433 23-Apr-2023 20:24

Windows PC HDMI out to TV with chrome/edge browser

This is how I stream everything

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

johno1234

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#3067477 24-Apr-2023 08:22

I use a FireTV stick for SSN and it works apart from one weird thing: about every second time I start it, it pops a 'failed to load content' or similar error. So I exit and re-run the app and then it runs perfectly the second time. It's a minor irritation.

dougierydal

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#3067485 24-Apr-2023 09:04

Another vote here for Apple TV, just so simple, and with SKY upping SSN's frame rate in the last week or so the picture is now infinitely better than it was.

The app itself leaves a fair bit to be desired in terms of it's UI etc.

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Bee

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#3067492 24-Apr-2023 09:32

Another option Smartvu SV11 with Sky App and Kodi also... Not sure what the difference is between this and Google TV but it works well-ish, for me... the only issue I have with sky is that everytime I have to open the app, nothing works, close it and open again and its fine until next time...

The Sky app is still horrible to navigate and I hate that it doesnt do the live tv by default but at least I can watch my sport..

Doing your best is much more important than being the best.

tim360

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#3067565 24-Apr-2023 11:04

Stu1: Apple TV best option for me , have tired the other 2 as well .It has got better but no where near as good as overseas sports channels such as Kayo or Stan but sky is watchable

Thanks, what gen Apple TV are you running?

tim360

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#3067566 24-Apr-2023 11:05

dougierydal:

Another vote here for Apple TV, just so simple, and with SKY upping SSN's frame rate in the last week or so the picture is now infinitely better than it was.

The app itself leaves a fair bit to be desired in terms of it's UI etc.

Thanks, what gen Apple TV are you running?

tim360

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#3067567 24-Apr-2023 11:09

nztim: Windows PC HDMI out to TV with chrome/edge browser

This is how I stream everything

Thanks. I guess in the world of NUCs and mini-PCs this is possible, but I started building HTPCs 16 years ago. After a decade of wrestling with various builds and going deep on silent PCs I just gave up and now want something that 'just works' and that other people in the house can actually use.

Caketiger

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#3067568 24-Apr-2023 11:12

I am running an Apple TV 4k second gen into a LG CX TV with a wired connection. With the recent improvement in picture quality, it is probably as good as it is going to get for some time now. I have never had any problem with picture stuttering or logouts.

No sign of 4k streaming on the horizon for SSN. Yes, the app UI is average but you get used to it. It's not like there is much alternative if you want to avoid a dish.

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SumnerBoy

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#3067584 24-Apr-2023 11:24

Are they seriously charging $15/mnth for the "privilege" of using the 1TB HDD in the new Sky Box for My Sky recording?!

nztim

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#3067666 24-Apr-2023 16:01

tim360:

Thanks. I guess in the world of NUCs and mini-PCs this is possible, but I started building HTPCs 16 years ago. After a decade of wrestling with various builds and going deep on silent PCs I just gave up and now want something that 'just works' and that other people in the house can actually use.

All good, for me any smart tv or apple tv or casting product always had SOME limitation.

PC has none.

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

nztim

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#3067667 24-Apr-2023 16:02

SumnerBoy:

Are they seriously charging $15/mnth for the "privilege" of using the 1TB HDD in the new Sky Box for My Sky recording?!

They tried to offer it to me for a one off $150 and no way am I doing that.

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

dougierydal

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#3067678 24-Apr-2023 16:51

tim360:

nztim: Windows PC HDMI out to TV with chrome/edge browser

This is how I stream everything

Thanks. I guess in the world of NUCs and mini-PCs this is possible, but I started building HTPCs 16 years ago. After a decade of wrestling with various builds and going deep on silent PCs I just gave up and now want something that 'just works' and that other people in the house can actually use.

I've got 4 of them around the house, but the most recent one (and the one in the lounge) is the new 4k One with the new remote, but the other's work fine too...