Sky On-Demand only slow using Sky+ HD Box

[ankehuber]

This is a weird one which has me baffled.

My on-demand connection to any service using my Sky+ HD box slows to unusable speeds past about 4pm...wait, come back!

Nothing unusual there you might say but if I use any other device to connect to Sky or any on-demand service, such as Sky on my PS4 or Sky Go on my iPhone, or even raw BBC iPlayer/ITV on any of my macs or devices, it's instant and super-fast. This must mean that the connection to the servers is fine as every other device on my network can download the same requested programme at super-fast speeds, just the darn Sky+ HD box.

For some reason only the Sky+ HD box itself slows to a crawl (1GB tv show took over 5 hours!). During the day it's super-fast and the same speeds as everything else but at night just the Sky+ HD box seems to wither and die.

I've tried reboots, rebuilds, and even manual IP settings but nothing so far seems to fix it.

I'm on Virgin Media 200 Vivid using a Superhub 3 which is connected via ethernet cable (tried wi-fi too).

Anyone have the same issues or can debaffle me?

[bubblegun]

Virgin traffic shapes certain traffic like P2P and Newsgroups at peak time.
This is likely what you are experiencing given when it starts to happen.
You could try getting a VPN service for a month trial with data encryption and making sure the traffic is routed through a UK IP address and setup all traffic through your router to use this. If you are just using the Superhub then this might not be possible. However, this would confirm if it's Virgin traffic shaping or something else.

[ankehuber]

Thanks for the reply, I brought this up with the tech support on the phone and the engineer who visited and both insisted that this is not the case here. Presumably if this was the case then it would also presumably affect the other devices, which it does not. I like the VPN idea though, will give it a try and see what happens if I can.
Thinking about your comment though I do wonder if Virgin detect that it's a Sky box and shape the traffic accordingly, perhaps to sell their own TV service but we're talking major conspiracy theories here.

[bubblegun]

Thanks for the reply, I brought this up with the tech support on the phone and the engineer who visited and both insisted that this is not the case here. Presumably if this was the case then it would also presumably affect the other devices, which it does not. I like the VPN idea though, will give it a try and see what happens if I can.
Thinking about your comment though I do wonder if Virgin detect that it's a Sky box and shape the traffic accordingly, perhaps to sell their own TV service but we're talking major conspiracy theories here.

I only thought to suggest traffic shaping because you mentioned 4pm as when the problems start since that is when Virgin's traffic shaping period starts, 4pm - midnight on weekdays.

However it is also based on local area utilisation so if lots of people near you have Sky TV on Virgin broadband and they all use these services at that time then this would contribute to the issue.

Sky used to use P2P technology for their on-demand but they haven't for a long time now - many years! But since it is a direct download it could be being hit by that. You might want to ask helpful people on Cable Forum - Virgin Media customer support and community forum there are lots of knowledgeable people on there for cable issues.

[ankehuber]

Thank you I will indeed. This is very helpful to know. Thanks for taking the time to help.