Sky+ HD the future?

[bryan]

I live in a block of flats with a communal dish etc which was originally for Sky+HD then Sky Q was introduced and some people were able to get this. After a while it wasn't possible to have any more Sky Q installations without upgrading the whole system we were told then someone was able to get Sky Q after the TV guy that we use here did some fairly minor upgrades but apparently that was the last one that the system could take.

At that time the Sky engineer said to that client that Sky would pay to have the system upgraded. Now another owner has tried to get Sky Q and the Sky engineer has produced a five-page report with 67 lines showing figures and pass or fail. There are four lines where there is a fail the rest are passes. The Sky engineer told the customer that he could fit Sky Q and it would probably work for him but they are not allowed to touch communal systems so he has requested that our guy does some more work to upgrade the system and they will come back and fit Sky Q for him.

Our property management company seems to think that the whole system needs to be replaced at a cost of approx £150 - £250 per flat and there are 53 flats not all of whom are Sky customers but everyone would have to pay a share of this upgrade apparently. I spoke to this latest customer today and he told me that they have been holding back on Sky Q as they believed that the future of Sky Q was to be over the internet but now it seems this is still a few years away, hence their attempt to get it from the dish. He also told me that Sky plan to stop Sky+ HD and only supply Sky Q at some point hopefully not soon as I am happy with Sky+ HD.

So should Sky be paying to upgrade this installation or should we and why should owners who don't have Sky pay for this? Any suggestions as to what is the best way forward in a communal situation?

[Scubbie]

Unfortunately, this communal dish is not Sky's property. The management company is responsible and it sounds like that are messing around and taking advantage of everyone.

Sky Q does a mixture of both Sat and Internet. CUTV, for example, is downloaded via the Internet. Live TV is still via the dish, using the same group of satellites which Freesat uses. Of course, a local network is used to support the Q Mini.

If Sky has offered to upgrade the system, I would be inclined to approach them and ask if they can put that in writing for you, then approach the management company to see what their response is.

If you are interested and you can't get Sky Q, then you could consider using a mixture of Freesat and NowTV. Earlier this year I managed to convince a neighbour to get a Roku for her bedroom. I set that up and the TV in her lounge. She hasn't gone for NowTV (yet) but she is now able to get all the CUTV apps working, Amazon Prime and Freesat on both the lounge TV and in her bedroom. Ok, she can't record any Freesat content and watch the TV in her bedroom as there is only one feed for each, but it works and she's happy.

[speedyrite]

As another possible option, it is now possible to record the full range of NOW TV (requires the usual passes though) via a BT branded YouView PVR (following recent agreement between Sky & BT to cross sell each otherks Sports offering) connected to the internet. And of course connected to a tv aerial to receive YouView terrestrial channels (effectively the same as Freeview).