These days we have more options for engaging with our satellite TV service from Sky. It used to be the case that there was a service called Sky Player, which was a decent online offering. However, it could be a little bit slow in loading and there were some issues with it at the start.
Nowadays, we have a fantastic service in Sky Go. It really does provide a comprehensive online viewing experience on your laptop, tablet, or smartphone device. This article will look at the Sky Go service and explain how you go about watching satellite TV on your mobile devices (For Android and iOS).
The Online Platform of Sky Go
Sky Go has superseded Sky Player and is a really good way to get be entertained on the go. In order to gain access to the account, you must:
- Log in with one of your registered devices
- Sign up for the service on the Sky website in your account
- Then go to skygo.com and login.
When you login you come to the home page where you can choose to look at the TV guide, on demand channels, or a list of channels, and you can view what’s on at the moment. There are hundreds of options for you to view. For example, you could watch TV and movies on demand from any of the packages that you have paid for. If you haven’t subscribed for channels then unfortunately you won’t be able to use them, but if you have a comprehensive subscription you will be able to gain access to massive numbers of channels; sports, movies, children’s programs, and a lot more.
When you go to the TV guide, you can navigate through with ease much as you do on your Sky planner on your remote control. Satellite TV really has come to our smartphone, tablet, and laptop devices in a big way.
The Broadband Requirements
Of course, if you are watching satellite TV on your mobile devices then you will be connecting through broadband. If you’re in the home, then you will connect using your fixed broadband in most cases, and if you’re with Sky Broadband you won’t have any issues because you should have plenty of speed and you’ll also be benefiting from their unlimited data allowance.
If you, however, are out on the go, and you’re on mobile broadband, you’ll need to have between 0.5 and 2Mbps connection speeds in order to stream standard definition, and up to around 5Mbps in order to stream high definition.
The channels that you have on offer will be available in HD so consider which you are going to stream in order to ensure you have not only sufficient speed but also the download allowances too. On mobile broadband it is easy to overuse your data. Overuse of data on mobile broadband is a common cause of large mobile contract bills – so be careful.
4G Broadband
With the arrival of 4G broadband we now have plenty of speed on the mobile networks in order to do just about whatever we want to do on or smartphones, tablets, and laptops, and that includes streaming from Sky Go.
Everything Everywhere is the first company to have rolled out the 4G network and they offer speeds of around 8 to 12 Mbps. Vodafone, Three Mobile, and O2 are launching their services soon and are currently in the process of rolling out 4G on their networks. We should expect a complete roll out by the end of 2013, or first quarter of 2014. And we should then experience 4G coverage to around 99% of the UK population.
3G connections tend to run below 0.5Mbps with top speeds of 1.44Mbps, and therefore you may well struggle to stream high definition, and have some buffering time when you are streaming standard definition on Sky Go.
The theoretical top speeds of 4G connectivity are upwards of 100Mbps. And the upload speeds are theoretically 40 to 50 Mbps. This is plenty for consumers to get multiple people on the same mobile broadband connection streaming high definition movies and TV. It’s incredible the progress that mobile broadband has made in such a short period of time, and consumers will find they are more able to do what they want to do and stay entertained on the go.
Top Tip
If you’re taking a mobile broadband data allowance, you should ensure that you get enough for your requirements. Otherwise, you’ll be monitoring your connection on a regular basis to make sure you don’t over use your data limit, especially if you spend any time downloading or streaming high definition content.
Data allowances on mobile broadband tend to be capped at around 20GB per month. A 20GB per month connection on Everything Everywhere, with a Samsung Galaxy S4, costs £71 a month. This is a pretty hefty price tag but the allowance in reality is not that much when you are streaming high definition.
When you have a phone like the Samsung Galaxy S4, with a 441ppi 5-inch high definition display, you will end up spending more time engaging with media and therefore you should go up on the data allowance you look for rather than being too conservative and going down.
Wherever possible, you should jump on to WiFi hotspots and your home broadband connection rather than using your mobile data allowance. This will ensure that you don’t use up your data too quickly through the activities that consume the most.
You may also like to consider downloading from services that allow you to do so. Then you can have a library of movies, TV and Music on your mobile devices. That way you should not need to use tremendous amounts of data when you are out and about. Make sure you are very careful what you do on your mobile devices on your smartphone contract.
