Sky Box issues

[atgate]

Hi

Is there any update on a workaround to enable Sky boxes to use Smart lines?

Thanks

Barry

[JoeyJoeJoJnr]

This shouldn't be an issue, so long as your phoneline is functioning correctly. I had a problem when I first had smart installed where by skybox couldn't get a connection out to Sky HQ. However, an engineer called out and did something to the phoneline and now, so long as a microfilter is used to connect the sky box to the phoneline, it should dial out as normal. Obviously, whatever way smart uses to transfer calls between exchanges, it isn't as tolerant to noise on the line.

Can your sky box not dial out?

[atgate]

nope

at the time Garfield mentioned that VoIP had a problem with modems. I'm starting to get letters from Sky (I have a mirror subscription so they need to know the boxes are in the same house).

Maybe I should call tech support.

Thanks

[AL1]

Hello atgate,

I do not think that there is a problem preventing you from using your SkyBox - but if you can allow me a little time, I will endeavour to get a formal answer to this for you.

regards,

Al. :)

[JoeyJoeJoJnr]

nope

at the time Garfield mentioned that VoIP had a problem with modems. I'm starting to get letters from Sky (I have a mirror subscription so they need to know the boxes are in the same house).

Maybe I should call tech support.

Thanks


AtGate

What boxes are not dialling out? Is it just one sky box or all of them? And have you connected ALL of them through the "PHONE" port on a microfilter?

If you're not sure, then do a test on each box to see is it an individual box (eg. coincidental modem failure - it does happen), or if it's something more major. Also, if you have not contacted sky digital to tell them that you haven't changed your phone number, than their systems will reject the calls as as far as they are concerned, you haven't got the boxes connected to the same working telephone line.

To test each box, do the following:
1. Press "Services" on your sky handset, and then go to "System Setup".
2. On your handset, quickly press "0", then "1" followed by "Select" - this must be done quickly and do not worry if it appears to be doing nothing at first.
3. You will now in the Engineer menu - YOU MUST NOT CHANGE ANYTHING IN THIS MENU. Go to "New Installation" and press "Select".
4. You will see a menu on screen confirming the dish is connected etc. - just press "Select".
5. You will then be presented with a signal test menu - press "Select" once more.
6. The box will then display a box informing you that it is searching for channels - this could take up to two minutes, so just sit it out.
7. Finally, you will see a message that the channel scan has finished - press "Select" once more.
8. The box will then tell you "Callback in progress" - the green "Online" light on the front panel of your sky digibox should come on.
9. After about a minute, your box should display "Installation Complete", or "Callback failed".

If only one or some of the boxes report "Callback failed", then the problem may lie within the box itself (eg. faulty modem, incorrect connection to phoneline etc.). If ALL boxes fail the callback, then it may be a problem with your sky / smart setup.

Hope this helps you :)

[atgate]

Thanks for the help - bizarrely both digiboxes are working now.

When the installer came he tried the new box and it didn't work so he tried another (the old one wasn't working with smart at the time). He installed it by using my next door neighbours phone (I guess he wasn't supposed to do that). I had tried it a few times since and it never worked till now!

[TimTim]

Guess they have it solved then. :D

[solair]

I can't understand why there would be any problem with Sky Digiboxes. The signal quality on a smart line should be OK for the modem in the sky box, which isn't the fastest / highest performing thing in the world.

Once the sky box is plugged in via a microfilter it should be fine. We had one happily working away on an ISDN line via a POTS gateway for years. Never caused any problem despite sky's installer getting very upset about it initially.

You still have a POTS line regardless of what technology's being used to transmit the voice data. Don't forget that eircom use IP backhaul at the otherside of some of their exchanges, as do BT in the UK.

The Smart lines are, for all intents and purposes, the same as any other POTS/PSTN line. The interface at your phone socket shouldn't be any different from the way it was when you were with eircom. It's just an analogue line with ADSL2+ on top.

[TimTim]

Its to do with codec's and the like.

These codecs were designed to transmit the human voice and not a data stream from a modem so when its compressing the signal it would of chopped off bits of the stream and modems do not like that happening.

[solair]

There can be similar issues with some non VoIP lines though... no exchange line was ever designed to cope with a 56k modem but they all handle voice quite nicely.

[JoeyJoeJoJnr]

I can't understand why there would be any problem with Sky Digiboxes.
The problem does not occur with sky modems alone (at least not for me). When I was first switched to smart, I was left with no internet at all until I got the DSL modem delivered, as neither of my PC's with dial up modems would dial out. They would just get stuck on handshake mode and then eventually drop the connection due to timing out.

I imagine it is, as TimTim says, something to with the codec smart use. Perhaps it is not as tolerant to line noise and interference as whatever setup eircom use?

[TimTim]

I imagine it is, as TimTim says, something to with the codec smart use. Perhaps it is not as tolerant to line noise and interference as whatever setup eircom use?

Smart seem to be running a pure IP network unlike eircom who have legacy analogue equipment in place. Whatever way eircom do it, and afaik the modems are in the exchange itself so the data goes uncompressed and then data goes to the modems and voice into whatever method eircom use.

Unlike smart who just have a DSLAM in the exchange and everything goes into IP from there.

[solair]

Basically an analogue modem is designed to work over a line switched by a digital circuit switch. In eircom's network these are Ericsson AXE and Alcatel E10 units. They use time division multiplexing to process your call as a continious stream rather than dividing it up into packets.

The eircom equipment is still digital, it's just a different technology that originated in the telephone industry in the 1970s and is standard throught the world. Your voice signals are sampled etc.. and processed digitally.

When you use the VoIP codec rather than the usual PSTN codecs, the modem may simply not cope with it very well even though the line will sound fine for voice calls.

Slow modems should work fine though and I don't think the one in your sky box is all that fast. This is why I can't understand why it's having a problem.

Remember that sky will contact you if you connect the box to a different phone number, other than that registered with them, or if you block your caller ID. So, it's possible that you may need to simply update your details with sky first and everything might start working again.

If the box is actually going on line etc.. and isn't putting up messages about telephone errors. You've probabally just got to update your details with sky.

We had this problem when we swapped the box over to a second eircom line a few years ago.

[colm]

just from some personal tests, ive had no trouble getting a us robotics courier 56k (http://www.usr.com/products/business/business-product.asp?sku=USR3453B) modem working though a smart dsl connection.

i never tested it at high speeds though.

[JoeyJoeJoJnr]

The only problem I had was at the beginning, there was a loose connection in the termination box where the phone line enters my house and goes to the main phone socket. I hadn't had any problems when I was with eircom before, it only showed up when my line had been switched over to the Smart equipment. Once this connection was tightened up, I had no problems from then on (obviously the loose wire was causing noise or interference of some sort on the line, which the sky box couldn't cope with).

Slow modems should work fine though and I don't think the one in your sky box is all that fast. This is why I can't understand why it's having a problem.
AFAIK (I am open to correction on this) the Pace DS430N standard sky digibox aswell as all Sky+ PVR v2 and v3 STB's use 56k modems, basically the same type as is included with most PCs.

If the box is actually going on line etc.. and isn't putting up messages about telephone errors. You've probabally just got to update your details with sky.
My STB (DS430N) was failing the callback test, as in it just wasn't getting the connection through to Sky HQ when tested. Sky generally don't care about which number you're dialing out from so long as you do not have sky multiroom, or you're not within your first contract year. Also, since it's a freephone number which the box dials out, I'm fairly sure this shouldn't pose a problem, regardless of the fact that your Smart number is not withheld by default.

[Blackdragon]

Ive been having problems with my sky box for a long while now.
When i try to order something from box office it doesnt give me the option to buy the movie using my remote, instead it lists the number to call to book the movie.
Same applys for skygames and other services.

Ive tryed going into the installer menu and going through the new installation thing again, It goes through just fine and the callback does not fail either.

I can remember booking box office movies from my eircom line (while waiting for a smart connection :)) with no problems at all.

Anyone have any ideas what could be the issue here and what might need doing to get it working.
Its not a big thing i know but would just be nice to watch a movie when i felt like it without having to wait on the line with sky praying to get through to the call center in Scotland :)

Any and all help more than welcome

[zarand34]

Have just become a subscriber of Smarttelecom so had to reconfig my Sky Boxes to work on there network. You have to insert a filter at each box and filter out the broadband signal. I did this and reinstalled both of my Sky boxes and the worked perfectly

[Extravert]

Had Sky+ installed today and the same problem.

The technician was a sound bloke and even crimped an RJ11 extension cable in case our extension cable was the problem.

Theres no call barring on our line, we tried it connected to the filter, and connected directly to wall socket, and the call back just kept failing.

He had to ring someone at sky to get them to switch it on themselves, which is only done upon request apparently, and when they have made sure the technician hasnt overlooked any part of the troubleshooting.

So it was definitely a problem on Smarts side, but glad to be connected anyway though.