Sky Stream guide: Features, setup and channel options

Dan Howdle • April 11th, 2025

Sky, as its name implies, once delivered most of its TV services by satellite dish since it launched in 1989, and didn’t start offering broadband-based TV services until the launch of Sky Stream in 2021. Well, how times change. Sky is no longer offering any form of satellite TV, with its entire TV service only available via your broadband connection with either Sky Stream or Sky Glass.

Where Sky Glass service requires an investment in a brand new TV, which might not appeal to every customer, Stream is a small plug and play device you can be up and running with within 24 hours of ordering. The Sky Stream puck is lightweight, connects wirelessly to your home broadband and gives you access to the full Sky TV experience without the need for an engineer visit or dish installation. Let's take a closer look.

Key features

What is Sky Stream?

Sky Stream, simply put, is Sky TV and without the need to stick a satellite dish on the side of your home. The service combines your Sky TV subscription alongside apps like Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video, and your choice of the usual premium add-ons like Sky Sport and Sky Cinema. The Stream Puck is tiny compared to the old Sky Q set-top box, making it easy and convenient to install in multiple rooms. It's even slim enough to slip behind most wall-mounted TVs.

Sky Stream is perhaps the best broadband and TV solution on the market right now. And you don't even need to sign up to Sky Broadband to get it. You can order it on its own, and as a plug and play device that's sent on next-day delivery (barring weekends), you can be up and running in less than 24 hours.

The Sky Stream Puck

To experience Sky Stream’s services, you’ll need the Stream Puck. This little black box looks a lot like competitor Virgin Media’s Flex, which itself resembles the Roku TV and Apple TV boxes that came before. In short, the device is designed to not take up too much space on your TV unit.

You’ll also receive the also-quite-dinky Sky Stream remote with the Puck, which comes with built-in voice control to make finding your next episode a breeze. You can pair Sky’s remote with your TV, allowing you to control your TV’s volume and power (though it can sometimes struggle to operate an AV receiver in our experience), as well as your Sky Stream puck. Pairing is done during Stream’s step-by-step setup process.

One potential downside is that you can’t record TV with a Sky Stream Puck as you once could with Sky Q (satellite). However, you can bookmark programmes to watch later, and refer back to your saved list anytime, with the only real difference being your shows are recorded remotely rather than on the box itself. Obviously you cannot store your favourite shows in the cloud forever, though.

How many Stream Pucks can I have?

Currently, you can have up to six Stream Pucks per household with the Sky Whole Home add-on. What takes Sky Stream to another level is that you can watch TV on all of these devices at once, where Sky Q customers could previously only watch on two of the four Sky Q Mini boxes they could have had at home at once, the only limit you’ll face with Sky Stream is your broadband speed.

Sky recommends at least 15Mbps of bandwidth per Stream Puck. Some content, especially 4K movies and shows, need even higher speeds than this to stream at a consistent quality. If you reckon you will have several Stream pucks in your home, it’s worth checking your current broadband supply can handle multiple streams before purchasing. If not, you may want to consider upgrading to a faster download speed.

Sky Whole Home costs an extra £13 per month, and any additional Stream Pucks after the first additional one will cost you a £39.95 one-off fee. You might wonder why the additional Pucks have a flat charge. This is more accurately an administration or activation charge, which Sky charges to add the puck to your account. You will not own the Puck and will have to give it back to Sky whenever you leave Sky, irrespective of this payment.

Sky Stream Pucks are compatible with Sky Glass too. If you start off with Sky Stream but eventually want to upgrade to a Glass TV in the future, you can use your existing Puck in another room provided you subscribe to Sky Whole Home. You can have up to three Sky Glass TVs in addition to your six Stream pucks limit, and watch them all at once if you live in some sort of highly populated commune of people who all have radically different viewing tastes.

How to watch Sky Stream

If Sky Stream is the right fit for your next TV package, switching is simple. With next-day delivery included and simple self-install, you can be streaming TV from Sky in no time at all.

Assemble your Sky TV bundle

Signing up for Sky Stream is straightforward, and Sky is transparent about its additional charges. The two core Sky Stream bundles are Sky Stream Essential and Sky Stream Ultimate. With the former you get the Sky Stream Puck and a bare-bones offering that does include Sky Atlantic, but doesn't include the wider selection of Sky Entertainment channels. With Sky Stream Ultimate you get everything, except of course Sky Cinema, Sky Sport and so on, which will still need to be added on at additional cost.

Netflix is included too, and you can upgrade it to Netflix Standard or Premium for a monthly surcharge. You’ll need this upgrade if you want to watch in HD or 4K or to enjoy Netflix on multiple devices. If you already subscribe to Netflix, Sky makes it easy to link your existing account so you don’t end up paying twice.

Setting up your Sky Stream puck

Once it’s delivered, setting up your Sky Stream puck is easy. Here’s a step-by-step:

• Link the puck to your TV – The Sky Stream puck comes packaged with a 1.5m HDMI cable to connect to your TV
• Connect your puck to a power supply – Also bundled is a 5V power cable, to supply your puck with power
• Power up the puck – Once plugged in, switch on your puck for the first time with the power button on the bottom of the puck
• Follow the easy self-install – After powering up, the Stream puck will take you through a few steps necessary to connect to your Wi-Fi, log in to your Sky account, and start watching

Start watching TV with Sky Stream

Once linked to your Sky TV account, you can add shows and movies to your custom Playlist to watch later and can access your Playlist from any Stream puck or Glass device you have in your home. You can also manage your Sky account and see your bills from your TV in the My Sky section.

There are no user profiles on Sky Stream, so the whole family will share the same Playlist and watch history. If someone starts watching a show on one puck, and another user watches that same episode from the beginning later, the first user won’t be able to easily continue where they left off.

Subscriptions on Sky Stream

Netflix Basic comes bundled with Sky Stream, but that isn’t the only subscription service you can access from your Sky Stream puck.

Not only can you sign in to Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV+ on Sky Stream, but the puck also supports newer services like LIONSGATE+ too. You can stream your favourite music with the dedicated Spotify app, and can even connect to services like Fiit and Peloton to stream your workout content to your TV too. That’s in addition to the usual Freeview apps like BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, and All4.

Subscription Services Available on Sky Stream

• Netflix: Included with Sky Stream, upgradeable to Standard or Premium.
• Disney+: Available as an add-on through the Sky Stream puck.
• Amazon Prime Video: Stream your favourite shows and movies with your existing Prime membership.
• Apple TV+: Access Apple's original content through the dedicated app.
• Spotify: Stream music directly to your TV.
• Peacock, LIONSGATE+: Newer services available on the platform.

Alternatives to Sky Stream

There are plenty of reasons to be excited by Sky Stream. Whether you want access to Sky’s entertainment and unparalleled sports content but were never much interested in nailing a satellite dish to your house, need a multiroom TV solution without limits, or want a blended solution to access your subscriptions in one place, Sky Stream has it all. What are the alternatives, though, if you aren’t quite sure?

NOW

NOW (previously NOW TV) is Sky’s subscription-based streaming service, closer to All4 than to Sky TV. With access to a number of live streaming channels, over 300 TV box sets and over 1000 movies depending on which passes you subscribe to, NOW is a good solution if you want to watch Sky’s current exclusives without taking out a whole TV package. You can install NOW as an app on most Apple and Android devices, including Smart TVs, or you can purchase a NOW Smart Stick that plugs straight into your television, with its own remote.

With the NOW Smart Stick, you can install all the usual apps, making the device a nice alternative for Sky Stream if you want something a bit more affordable and don’t need the full range of Sky Channels. The NOW Smart Stick is not a Freeview device, so the only live TV you will receive are the channels available to you through NOW TV, and via apps like iPlayer, ITV Hub, etc.

Flex by Virgin Media

Virgin Media’s Flex service is now the only method by which Virgin Media offers its TV service. The Flex box is a broadband-streaming device, which blends live TV with content from any subscriptions you have in one bespoke interface. The Virgin Flex box is a worthy competitor to Sky Stream.

In order to get Virgin Media Flex, you’ll need to have or take out a new Virgin Media broadband package. It is at the time of this update unclear how Virgin Media, which has only just stopped offering its TV 360 set-top box in favour of streaming only via Flex.

EE TV (available with either BT or EE broadband)

If you are looking for an alternative to Sky Stream that offers live TV and streaming services combined, EE TV might be a good option. With EE TV, you can enjoy a range of channels and streaming apps, with the option to add multiple boxes for different rooms in your home. EE TV also offers flexible packages, so you can tailor your service to your needs.

Comparison of Sky Stream and Alternatives

Below is a comparison table highlighting the key features of Sky Stream and its main alternatives:

Subscriptions on Sky Stream

Netflix Basic comes bundled with Sky Stream, but that isn’t the only subscription service you can access from your Sky Stream puck.

Not only can you sign in to Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV+ on Sky Stream, but the puck also supports newer services like LIONSGATE+ and Peacock too. You can stream your favourite music with the dedicated Spotify app, and can even connect to services like Fiit and Peloton to stream your workout content to your TV too. That’s in addition to the usual Freeview apps like BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, and All4.