Still Smarter

Anyone who uses Virgin or Sky? (likely a few of you)

Anyway, our Sky Q main box died, so checked the website and found the "order a replacement digi-box" bit.

Did just that, and brilliantly, the replacement arrived the following day.

Muggins sat down that evening, followed the guidance to the letter, only to find that the new box had EXACTLY the same fault i.e. failed hard drive .

Booked an engineer and the swine never arrived for the booking, another call and the new appointment is 1/9 so will be 3 weeks with only live TV and not the other facilities we use (hell, we only use Sky because they have the rights to rugby superleague).

Been thinking about changing to Virgin as the street is also cabled, and we have a family friend who engineers for them.

Pretty sure that Virgin customer services will be as useless as Sky, but our friend has explained that they have some better t's & c's (example being guaranteed max of 2 days with any service problem that may arise).

Don't know if any of the problem with Sky is about not enough engineers etc, but damnit lack of decent competition in this area is very annoying.

Wondering if anyone else has had this kind of problem, or even a preference for one or the other (and why).....

And yes, if we change to Virgin, we should benefit from being listed on his "friends and family" for a bit of discount......

get an illegal box thingy Mr P about £70 per year plugs into the TV and streams
all stations, films, sport etc. It is more fuss to use but a lot cheaper.

gaza the instructor wrote: Sat Aug 26, 2023 1:04 pm get an illegal box thingy Mr P about £70 per year plugs into the TV and streams
all stations, films, sport etc. It is more fuss to use but a lot cheaper.

Sure it would be, but these days I don't know anyone that could get me one .......

I am sure that in your line of work you will know someone who knows
someone who can Mr P.
I have Sky Q and because I have five TV's in three buildings it suits me well,
All five boxes, full Sky package, internet and two mobiles £150 per month
total.

gaza the instructor wrote: Sat Aug 26, 2023 4:27 pm I am sure that in your line of work you will know someone who knows
someone who can Mr P.
I have Sky Q and because I have five TV's in three buildings it suits me well,
All five boxes, full Sky package, internet and two mobiles £150 per month
total.

No. Don't get time to stop and chat. Too much work, plus we're tracked (and nagged).

Our Sky is about the same. Q with 3 mini's plus B/B & phone.

Look at the freesat boxes. They really are comparable now. And no fees. And a phone app.

Mash wrote: Mon Aug 28, 2023 7:56 am Look at the freesat boxes. They really are comparable now. And no fees. And a phone app.

Not feasible, because we only have the Sky because we watch the Rugby league (Union is a waste of time. Without a decent commentator, even the Ref struggles to see what's going on in a ruck etc, whereas you can follow a League game just by watching) and the Movies package.

If it wasn't for that, we could easily use Freesat etc.

Cable. Sky. Another free 59"TV. Every 12 weeks threaten to leave, wait 48 hours for cheaper offer from same provider, Sky. Cheaper now than it was 8 years ago for far more service.

WelshGin wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2023 10:34 pm Cable. Sky. Another free 59"TV. Every 12 weeks threaten to leave, wait 48 hours for cheaper offer from same provider, Sky. Cheaper now than it was 8 years ago for far more service.

The engineer finally arrived yesterday, so it's now back up and running fine.

The 2 things I've taken from this saga, is that it's not gonna happen again i.e. if "they" can't get something as basic as decent customer service right for a long time customer, then it'll get cancelled and changed to the opposition (don't care if we have to flip-flop through the 2 suppliers every few years).

Also, the penny-dropping on how dependent we've become so very quickly on this kind of digital service - it took this to realise that we don't even have a working "aerial" to access the terrestrial TV if it all goes "pear shaped". Which is something else that's gonna be remedied.........

Yes, I agree with your comment regarding 'long term customer', no loyalty, it doesn't exist. My wife, same attitude, no loyalty, her attitude, 'what have you got, what can I have, it needs to be cheaper than last time!'

Fortunatly that attitude doesn't extend to me, ....I think.

I will add my 2d's worth.

BT will be changing over to their new 21st Century Network (21CN) all digital network by about 2026. This means Fibre direct to the premises for everyone.
Its a MONSTER of a project and has been in progress for the last 20+ years.

OK so what's that to do with Sky and Satellites?
The upshot of fibre to all premises is that it will be cheaper for Sky (and any other satellite TV delivered services) NOT to put up satellites anymore, as they can deliver it more cheaply via the new fibre to the premises network.
In the late 1980's It cost over £25Million to build and launch a satellite into orbit, they had a lifespan of 10-15 years (Very roughly).
So being able to put the world and his dog down a single bit of fibre makes satellites a thing of the past.

The new network will be VOIP Voice Over IP. + Internet + TV and anything else they can run over it.

If you can wait, then I would. I think there will be huge changes once Fibre is connected to every home.
I don't know all the answers, but being in the comms industry for over 40+ years I have a reasonable knowledge of what can and cant be done.
All these companies are looking to reduce their delivery costs, and Fibre Optics will do that for them.

As said, just my 2d's worth.

Ele.

Massive project that will help towns but not the rural communities so much.

Mash wrote: Fri Sep 08, 2023 1:53 pm Massive project that will help towns but not the rural communities so much.

Not so. ALL lines will be fibre eventually. Even rural ones. Also the hidden advantage is the thieving ethnic minority scumbags won't have an easy source of copper left to steal.
Admittedly rural ones are usually the last ones to be done. There is a list of the exchange roll out. I live near to a big technological city, and my exchange is not until the last tranche.

There is a lot of info including a map. Somewhere there is a date ordered list which BT put in the public domain.

https://www.openreach.com/fibre-broadba ... -broadband

Ele.

Hmm. Like I thought "not available"

Perhaps we are listed after the last tranche

Mmm. As 2 of our grandchildren are staying with us for a while (with their Dad) they have bought their gaming machines and 2 extra monitors over. All now in the lounge with our own large/flat TV. On occasions their Dad is plugged into his laptop (he is a software solution something or other), also my wife on her Ipiffle. The rooms looks like a multiplex cinema.

I sit in there and wonder when the lollies will come around and avoid going to the loo during intermission.

If the wifi/router went down, well it does deserve consideration........

Yes WG what the F&$£ would the youngsters do if the mobile network or
internet broke?? Try picking up one of these flat things with loads of paper
inside, its called a book. Then of course you could talk to another person.
Just my ideas thats all, off to play with my rubber ducky in the bath now,
see you all when i am clean and shiny.