Sky slow On Demand download?

wippers

wippers

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Gareth
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I've been having issues with downloading movies from Sky's On Demand service and wondered if anyone else has experienced this?
I've got the Sky box hard wire connected to my BT Infinity router which is running at 40mbps. Done everything Sky have suggested but nothing seems to help.

Any ideas?
 
neil_g said:
define slow?

e: more fitting to the computers and tech section, probably get more techie people in there.
Click to expand...

When I first started using On Demand I could download a HD film in about 10 mins, but now I can't even watch the film in real time.
I wasn't sure where to post this as it's not technically a photography question.
 
wippers said:
When I first started using On Demand I could download a HD film in about 10 mins, but now I can't even watch the film in real time.
I wasn't sure where to post this as it's not technically a photography question.
Click to expand...
standard HD streaming is okay? i.e. youtube, iplayer?

theres a lot of stuff in computers that isnt photography related :)
 
sky box is network cabled or wireless? is the box in a tv unit? is it surrounded by other electrical items? if yes to the last two and wireless to the first then it may be a poor signal, what does the signal meter say in the network settings on the sky box?

if your router isnt a million miles away it might be worth running a network cable temporarily to see if it improves.
 
Have done a speed test on your internet connection just to make sure of your actual speed.
 
Speed tested at just over 40mbps (wireless tested on the Mac upstairs)
The Sky box is hard wired into the router with an ethernet cable about 2 feet away and that is connected directly into my BT box on the wall.
All the network info in the Sky settings is showing as fine.
 
Real time streaming is harder work than downloading in advance.

Are other downloads slow? If it is just sky then it points to sky being crap or BT peering arrangements being crap.

If you have access to other sources of HD content eg iplayer from the same sky box then try that. Then try the same content from another system eg your mac.

I think iplayer have a streaming test somewhere. Try that. That shows you what your actual streaming capability is.

If it is all slow or choppy then it's either your isp has a bandwidth issue ie lack of it or there is something wrong with your individual connection which shows up under high demand.
 
if its hard cabled then that is interesting.

do you have a reasonable amount of space available on your box?

has it always been slow or has it just recently started being a problem?

the skeptic in me suspects BT may throttle streaming services that arent their own, but im sure there are plenty on BTi that have no problem..
 
I've noticed this recently too - also on Infinity. Fine in the day time, very slow evening/night. Slow = 60 min program takes 30 mins of so to d/l.
 
The problem with contacting BT, is that all they say is do a speed check (which comes up at 40mbps) and then that's it. They say that your speed is fine and it must be a Sky problem. You can't win. :(
 
google "bt infinity sky on demand slow" and it seems you are not alone..

skys user forums are littered with bt infinity/on demand speed issues too. maybe a bit of digging on there may find a solution.
 
neil_g said:
sounds like it might be traffic shaping/throttling or high contention/poor bandwidth.

id get on to BT on that.
Click to expand...

I'd assumed it was load on Sky's servers but traffic shaping also fits. TBH I don't use it that much so put it in the pile of "stuff that doesn't work as well as you expect" :)
 
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