Sky dish work for homes across the region
If you watch Sky through a Sky Q box, everything you see starts at the dish on your wall. It catches the signal from the Astra satellites at 28.2°E and passes it down the cable to the box, so a dish that has drifted, a tired LNB or a cable that has let in water shows up as frozen pictures, missing channels or a blank screen with a ‘no satellite signal’ message.
We handle that hardware for Sky households in Essex, East London, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire: a dish for a home that has never had one, a new LNB on an older dish, cables to a second room, repairs after a storm and moves for building work. A semi in Hornchurch, a cottage near Sudbury or a new home in Cambourne gets the same approach: a meter reading first, then the fix that the reading points to.
We’re an independent installer, not Sky
Essex Aerial Solutions is not part of Sky and isn’t an agent for it. We can’t sell you a Sky subscription, change your package, add channels, upgrade your box on Sky’s behalf or deal with your bill. For any of that, contact Sky directly.
What we do is the physical side that sits outside Sky’s account system: the dish, the bracket, the LNB, the cable and the wall plates. You might call us when you’ve moved into a home without a dish, when building work means a dish has to move to a new wall, or when cables need running neatly into a loft conversion. If your Sky equipment is under a Sky care plan, check your terms before anyone else works on it.
Sky jobs we take on
Sky Q dish installation
Sky Q needs a dish with a wideband LNB, which older dishes don’t have. We fit a new dish or swap the LNB on a sound one, run fresh cable to the main box and peak the signal on a meter.
Sky multiroom and extra boxes
Sky Q Mini boxes take their picture from the main box over your home network, so they need a good wired or wireless link rather than a dish cable. We run network cable where wi-fi struggles, and extra dish feeds where older boxes need them.
‘No satellite signal’ and dish repairs
Wind-shifted dishes, failed LNBs, chewed or waterlogged cables and loose connectors behind the box. We trace the fault from box to dish and fix the part that has failed.
Moving a Sky dish
Extensions, scaffolding, new windows and solar panels all push dishes around. We take yours down, refit it with a clear view of the satellite and seal the new cable entry.
Sky Glass and Sky Stream (no dish needed)
Both stream Sky over broadband, so there’s nothing for us to fit on the wall. Where we can help is the home network they depend on, and taking down a dish you no longer need or leaving it for Freesat.
Sky Q, Sky Glass and Sky Stream compared
The big difference is how the TV arrives. Sky Q comes by satellite; Sky Glass and Sky Stream come over your broadband. That changes what you need at home, as Sky’s own pages set out.
| Sky Q | Sky Glass / Sky Stream | |
|---|---|---|
| Satellite dish | Yes, with a wideband LNB | No dish |
| Broadband | Needed for on-demand and Mini boxes | Essential: Sky recommends at least 25Mbps |
| Recording | Hard drive in the main box, several recordings at once | No recording; shows saved to a Playlist |
| Pause live TV | Yes, using the hard drive | Pause or rewind live TV for up to 45 minutes |
| Extra rooms | Sky Q Mini boxes linked to the main box | Extra Stream pucks, about 5Mb/s more broadband each |
| New customers | No longer sold online | Sky’s main offer to new customers |
Fixing a Sky dish that has lost its signal
Before booking anyone, restart the Sky Q box at the wall socket, check the cable is pushed fully into the satellite input, and look at the weather. A cloudburst or a dish full of wet snow can block the signal for a while and then clear without help. If the message keeps coming back on a dry day, something on the line from the dish has changed.
On older dishes the LNB is the most common failure: it sits out in all weathers and eventually gives up, often one tuner at a time, so recordings clash or one room loses its picture first. We check each output, replace the LNB if it’s at fault, realign the dish and make every joint watertight. Drag the signal on the TV below to see what different faults look like.
Switching to Sky Stream or Glass?
If you’re moving from Sky Q to Sky Stream or Sky Glass, the dish has no part to play in your Sky viewing any more. Sky Q recordings don’t carry across, so watch anything you want to keep before the box goes back. Make sure the broadband reaches the room where the TV is: a wired data point or a mesh wi-fi system often makes more difference than a faster package.
Sky says Sky Glass must be wall mounted by a professional installer, so check with Sky how that’s arranged before booking anyone. As for the old dish, you can have it taken down, or leave it where it is and plug in a Freesat box for free live TV in a bedroom or as a backup when the broadband goes down.
Sky dish questions
Are you Sky engineers?
No. We’re an independent installer and not connected to Sky. We fit, repair and move dishes, LNBs and cables, but we can’t sell, change or cancel Sky subscriptions. Speak to Sky about anything to do with your account.
Can you install a dish for my Sky Q box?
Yes. We fit a dish with a wideband LNB, run the cable to the main box and align it on a meter. If you already have a dish, we check whether it can be reused with a new LNB.
My Sky Q Mini says it can’t connect. Is that the dish?
Rarely. Sky Q Minis take their picture from the main box over your home network, so the usual culprit is a weak wi-fi link between rooms. A network cable or better wi-fi normally fixes it.
Do Sky Glass and Sky Stream need a dish?
No. Sky says both work over broadband without a satellite dish, and recommends at least 25Mbps. There’s nothing on the roof or wall for them.
Can I record on Sky Stream like on Sky Q?
Not in the same way. Sky Stream and Sky Glass don’t record; you add shows to a Playlist instead, and you can pause or rewind live TV for up to 45 minutes.
What should I do with my dish if I leave Sky?
Keep it if you might want Freesat, which works from the same dish with no subscription. Otherwise we can take it down, fill the holes and remove it.
Will you move a dish that Sky fitted?
Yes. We move and refit dishes whoever installed them. If your equipment is covered by a Sky plan, check your terms first.