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Sky Plus HD Question
liam.mccaffrey - 7/1/14 at 06:45 PM

I have a sky plus HD subscription and recently I had a software update message flash up on the box saying that I no longer need a connected phone line for purchasing Sky Store or Box Office films. I've never connected a phone line up as its particularly inconvenient. It works fine and I can order films from the Sky store without the telephone connected.

Ive just connected my parents Sky+ HD box to the network, updated the software manually but it still says I need to have a connected phone line?

Anyone know how to update the box so they don't have to run a telephone cable across the house?

Cheers

Liam Mc

Slimy38 - 7/1/14 at 07:03 PM

From what I remember it's only an initial check/update/registration (whatever it's doing!), then it can be disconnected again. When the engineer came for ours, we simply ran an extension cable across the room while it did the check, then removed it.

MikeRJ - 7/1/14 at 09:19 PM

quote:
Originally posted by liam.mccaffrey
I have a sky plus HD subscription and recently I had a software update message flash up on the box saying that I no longer need a connected phone line for purchasing Sky Store or Box Office films. I've never connected a phone line up as its particularly inconvenient. It works fine and I can order films from the Sky store without the telephone connected.


Do you have your HD box connected via ethernet to your router then? You either need an internet connection or a telephone connection so the box can bill any movies you watch to your account. If you don't do this then you won't get any movies after a certain period (a month I think).

SteveWalker - 7/1/14 at 09:21 PM

How long have your parents had a SKY HD box? If it's less than 12 months, SKY require it to be connected to a phone line to ensure that it has actually been supplied and is being used in the contracted household. If they have multi-room, both boxes need to be connected for as long as they have multi-room, to ensure that both boxes are being used in the same house.

The other reason for the phone connection was that the boxes have a pre-set limit allowing box-office films to be purchased while unable to access the phone line (such as when it is in use); calling back later, when the line is available. Maybe the software updates now allow this function to be carried out over the internet, removing the need for a phone connection where location doesn't need to be proved.

liam.mccaffrey - 7/1/14 at 10:48 PM

Thanks for the replies fellas.

Just to clarify. I have two sky plus box on long contacts in separate houses. They are both connected to the internet via Ethernet. My box had received a software update which allows me to order pay to view films without having a phone line connected. The other box in my mum's house still requires a phone line to be connected even though it's networked.

snakebelly - 8/1/14 at 03:25 AM

Its Sky, there is probably no rhyme or reason to it!

bigfoot4616 - 8/1/14 at 08:44 AM

boxes by different manufacturers get updates separately. i have multiroom with 2 HD boxes, a few months ago one got a software update which stopped it connecting to the router. the other box worked fine. this was a problem that only affected that make of box which was fixed with another update not long after.
both my boxes are on different software versions.