Common Sky Q problems and how to fix them

As good as Sky Q is, from time to time issues can crop up that spoil your viewing experience. Don’t worry, as we’re here to help with our rundown of some of the most common Sky Q problems and how to fix them.

This is a collection of prominent issues experience by Sky Q customers with our guide on how to fix them.

Can’t set the maximum Ultra HD quality

Sky Q supports Ultra HD at a resolution of 3840 x 2160 (2160p), with a 10-bit colour depth. If you’ve chosen your settings but the Sky Q box can only enable 8-bit colour, then there’s a problem somewhere between your box and your TV. If you’ve got your Sky Q box connected directly to your TV, check that your TV supports 10-bit colour; if it doesn’t, that’s your problem.

If you’ve got your Sky Q box running through an AV receiver or soundbar, then you may not have the right setting on your receiver and may need to edit the HDMI port settings following the manufacturer’s instructions. I had this issue with my soundbar (a Yamaha YSP-2700) and found instructions on how to enable an enhanced mode, which turned on 10-bit colour.

Sky Q Mini connectivity problems

If you’re having problems with a Sky Q Mini box losing connection to the main Sky Q box, it’s usually a problem in the wireless mesh network, particularly if cycling the power doesn’t fix it. While these are generally rare, there are some options that can help.

First, can you use an Ethernet cable to connect your Mini box to your Sky Q box? Just plug an Ethernet cable into the port on the back of the Mini box, and hook the cable up to your router or network switch. Please, don’t use PowerLine adaptors for this job, as they’re generally not reliable enough to work properly in my experience, so only use Ethernet if you can manage a direct connection.

If this doesn’t work, then you can give Sky a ring to see if they can install a Booster box for you. This should ideally be placed half-way between your Sky Q box and the Mini box that you’re having problems with. If Sky sends out an engineer, they’ll set the box up for you; if they don’t, plug in the Sky Q Booster and wait until the lights come on.

Next, press the WPS button on the front of the main Sky Q box (it’s the one on the far right) until it starts flashing amber. Press and hold the WPS button on the Sky Q booster box until it flashes amber. The two boxes will communicate and the Booster will join the Sky Q mesh network. You may need to reboot your Mini box but your connectivity problems should go away.

Related: Sky Q tips, tricks and secrets

Remote troubles

Is your fancy new Bluetooth remote flaking out? Does it crash, or are any of the buttons unresponsive? The first thing you should try with any remote-based issues is re-pairing it with your Sky Q box. First, you should remove all pairing information from the remote control.

To do this, hold down 7 and 9 together until the remote’s light flashes four times. Next, press and hold 1 and 3 together to enter pairing mode and follow the on-screen instructions to get your remote paired and working with your TV.

 

Can’t watch on a Mini box early in the morning

If you happen to be up early in the morning and your Sky Q Mini boxes are having connectivity problems, the issue is likely to be the power-saving mode that your main Sky Q box is using. By default, all Sky Q boxes come with Eco mode enabled.

With Eco mode, the main Sky Q box goes into a deep sleep between 2:30am and 5:45am in order to save power (although, the box won’t do this if there are scheduled recordings). To put the box into Active mode to prevent sleeping, you need to change a setting. On your main Sky Q box go to Settings, Setup and select Preferences. Change the Standby mode to Active and you shouldn’t get the same problems again.

Mini box not updating

Some customers have reported that their Sky Q Mini box is perpetually telling them that new software is being updated, but that nothing actually happens. To get around this, try manually updating the Mini box. Here’s how, straight from Sky:

1. Go to Settings, Status and make sure Connection to Sky Q box has a tick.
2. Go to Settings, System info and highlight Software version
3. Choose Setup and then select Software download
4. Your box will start to download the latest software via the satellite – this can take up to ten minutes.
5. Go to Settings, System info and highlight Software version to check the status of the software download. When it says “Software update successful”, press the standby button on your remote.
6. Your box will restart and you will see the start-up messages on screen.
7. When the box is ready to turn on, press Home on the remote. You are now on the current software version.

No Freesat in the house

If you were running Freesat alongside an older Sky+ installation, you may find that upgrading to Sky Q has broken your Freesat televisions. This is because Sky Q requires an update to the LNB connect on your satellite dish, which is incompatible with Freesat.

There are two workarounds to this. First, you can have a second satellite dish fitted with a traditional LNB, which may make the front of your house look a touch ugly. Secondly, you can request that a Hybrid LNB is installed, either through Sky or by finding a local satellite installer.