Sky installation woes!

[rallyslag]

My brother has just moved into a new flat without any internet or anything. All he has is an old BT phone line . Sky were supposed to come round today and fit tv and internet, but did not. He was sent a box previously in the post. After talking to support on the phone they told him to plug his box into the phone line and they will switch the tv and internet on when they receive a signal as an engineer is not needed. Am i missing something ? How can they force broadband and tv down the phone line. I think something is wrong and been lost in the conversation between him and Sky support. I am thinking they think he has a dish which he does not. ?

 

[rallyslag]

Sounds like he needs to confirm with them what he's ordered.

Internet side of things, he just needs to plug the Sky Hub into his line with the filter (assuming he doesn't have a filtered master socket) and should be able to set up himself via the small guide that comes with it.

TV side of things he obviously needs a dish and box setup.

Just what i thought . I have told him he still needs to talk to sky about the TV, Which he has just told me he ordered with the internet.

 

[rallyslag]

What you (and he) might be missing is knowing the difference between activating a service and delivering it.


When Sky HD came out back in the early 2000s you needed a phone line connected to the box for billing of stuff such as PayPerView and service changes.


With the widespread adoption of broadband and Internet use this is no longer a requirement.


In fact, I am surprised that Sky retained the feature. But obviously in your brother's case it is to his advantage.


The other thing you need to know is that for most* flats they have some kind of TV aerial and satellite signal distribution system in place.


When it comes to satellite, the increasing use of Sky Q means that the satellite distribution service can cater for both legacy SkyHD/Freesat and the newer wideband signal required by Q boxes and the new Arris boxes sold as Gen III Freesat. For this reason, each flat doesn't need its own dish. Think about it, when you pass blocks of flats 10 or 15 storeys high, do you see satellite dishes on the walls for each unit? No; it's centrally distributed.


I suspect that Sky already know which type of distribution system is available for a lot of the multidweller addresses across the UK. Unless your brother has moved in to a granny flat or some other one-off flat development, or he has bought a place freehold that isn't independently managed then my guess is he should just allow Sky to do their thing without worrying.



(*) Most, but not all

I trained as a sky fitter 15 years ago. But refused to go up the ladders and anchor myself to a chimney 60 foot in the air so never actually started . So i understand the basics. It was just a general query before i got back to him with advise. He is clueless when it comes to tech so i did not want to give him wrong information. His situation is a bit weird . He lives in a flat above a parade of shops so there no way to fit any cable so all he can have is his internet over the phone line . I am not sure what speed he will get but i would not be optimistic. A fitter is going round next week to fit a dish for him for the tv.