Sky Stream is a new way to watch Sky TV without needing to buy a whole new television set like the Sky Glass, and without installing a satellite dish.
All you need is a Wi-Fi connection and what's even better is that it’s actually the cheapest way to get Sky TV with prices starting from only £26 a month with a £40 setup fee.
All you need to get it up and running is a television set, a spare power socket and the HDMI cable included in the box. Particularly when it comes to setup, it’s a huge leap forwards from Sky Q which requires professional satellite dish installation, although some people will still prefer to have that, especially if they don’t have a reliable broadband network at home.
If you've made your mind up already, and you've either bought or are planning to buy the Sky Stream then there are 3 mistakes that you should avoid making if you want to get the most out of it.
1. Forgetting about these two features
Arguably the best feature of Sky Stream is the playlist because it lets you save TV shows and movies to watch later in a handy and well-organised list. But did you know that adding and removing content from the playlist is as simple as pressing the '+' button on the remote as you scroll through? You don't actually need to click on each programme to save it for later!
Something else everyone should make use of is voice search, you're missing out if you don't. When you're hunting for a particular show, app or even a YouTube video, you just need to press the microphone button on the remote and speak into it to find what you're looking for.
2. Using the Sky Stream on its default settings
When you first set up the Sky Stream with your TV it'll actually be set to stream in HD by default, even if you own a 4K set. You'll need to manually go into the settings and switch it over to stream in UHD. That way you'll get the very best picture quality every single time you press play.
You should also set it up so you can use the Sky voice remote to control the TV as well as the Stream puck. That way you can flick through shows and adjust the volume without having to hunt for another controller. Just go into the settings and scroll down to 'Connected Devices' and choose 'Sky remote'. There you can select an option to 'Control your TV'. You'll just need to find the make and model from the list or type it in.
3. Not knowing how to fix problems
Hopefully, you won’t ever need this but as we all know, sometimes tech just doesn’t work quite as it’s meant to. While a lot of the time simply turning it off and on again does actually fix the problem, it doesn't always, so here's what you need to do if you've tried everything and you still can't get the Sky Stream working as it should.
If you’re having issues with the puck like if it won’t connect to the internet or if it starts freezing, you can actually reset the whole thing very easily. You just need to switch the device off at the wall, hold down the power button on the underside and switch the power back on again. Keep holding the button down until it starts flashing different colours. After that, on the screen, you’ll be taken to a software update and setup page, just follow the instructions and if all goes well your problems should soon be solved.
