Help required: Sky Sports via Virgin Media Account on iPAD and MAC

[BrummieDave]

I'm pulling my hair out here so hope someone can help.

I ditched Virgin Media a couple of years ago, and took out a Sky Q service. My Sky Q service does not include any sports channels. This may or may not be relevant.

My dad has all the sports channels on offer from BT and Sky via his Virgin Media subscription. I wish to watch his sports channels on my iPAD and MAC. I used to be able to do this using the Sky Sports App on my iPAD and Sky Go on my MAC. Now however, both devices throw up the message "Your subscription doesn't allow you to watch this programme" even when logged in on my dad's account.

When I log in to Virgin Media on my dad's account, it shows he has subscribed to all the Sky Sports channels. At his home, Sky Sports works fine on the TV.

I have tried deleting all the apps on both my devices and reloading. Everything logs in fine using my dad's account, the Virgin Media app shows the Sky Sports subscription, the Sky Sports App on the iPAD and Sky Go on the MAc allows me to login using my dad's account, but neither allow me to watch the channels.

I am sure I had this working recently, and don't know what's changed.

Any ideas?

[staffordian]

There is a separate Virgin UK log in to the Sky Sports app. I assume you are using that rather than the main Sky login?

I do the same as you and it works fine.

[BrummieDave]

There is a separate Virgin UK log in to the Sky Sports app. I assume you are using that rather than the main Sky login?

I do the same as you and it works fine.

Yes....at least I think I do depending on what you mean.

I log in separately, but it's the same username and password.

Or I click on the current programme in the Virgin Media TV schedule, eg Sky Sports 1, and I'm offered a click through to Sky Sports App (which is already logged in). Thats when Sky Sports App says I haven't subscribed to that channel (which I, or at least my dad, has).

[staffordian]

I only ever watch via the Android app. Could the issue be accessing it via the schedule?

If you are logged in to the app, I assume the following isn't relevent, but for clarity, this is how it all works for me.

After installing the app and clicking through a few introductory screens, I reach a log in screen.

I ignore the main Sky login and click the left hand of the two red squares under the blue sign in button, which is labeled Virgin TV UK.

This brings up a Virgin login. I need my son's email address as user name and his password.

This gets me into the app, and clicking on Live TV gets me stright to the broadcasts.

Once logged in, I don't have to re-enter login details unless the app throws a wobbly, whichnit has done a couple of times, coming up with an error message when I try to select a live channel. If this happens, uninstalling and reinstalling the app solves it.


Hope this helps.

[Infrasonic]

It may be that Sky have your client devices IP and *MAC addresses registered on their system as 'not eligible' for the sports package access, and then when trying to access via VM with your dads log in you get an account handshake 'block' issue.
The A/B check would be to try and access from a device that has never previously been used/registered with your Sky account.

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAC_address

A media access control address (MAC address) of a device is a unique identifier assigned to a network interface controller (NIC). For communications within a network segment, it is used as a network address for most IEEE 802 network technologies, including Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. Within the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model, MAC addresses are used in the medium access control protocol sublayer of the data link layer. As typically represented, MAC addresses are recognizable as six groups of two hexadecimal digits, separated by hyphens, colons, or no separator

[BrummieDave]

I only ever watch via the Android app. Could the issue be accessing it via the schedule?

If you are logged in to the app, I assume the following isn't relevent, but for clarity, this is how it all works for me.

After installing the app and clicking through a few introductory screens, I reach a log in screen.

I ignore the main Sky login and click the left hand of the two red squares under the blue sign in button, which is labeled Virgin TV UK.

This brings up a Virgin login. I need my son's email address as user name and his password.

This gets me into the app, and clicking on Live TV gets me stright to the broadcasts.

Once logged in, I don't have to re-enter login details unless the app throws a wobbly, whichnit has done a couple of times, coming up with an error message when I try to select a live channel. If this happens, uninstalling and reinstalling the app solves it.


Hope this helps.

That's cracked it Ian, many thanks.

I'd been logging in to the Sky Login dialogue box, not the subordinate Virgin one. All sorted now, thanks again!

[BrummieDave]

It may be that Sky have your client devices IP and *MAC addresses registered on their system as 'not eligible' for the sports package access, and then when trying to access via VM with your dads log in you get an account handshake 'block' issue.
The A/B check would be to try and access from a device that has never previously been used/registered with your Sky account.

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAC_address

A media access control address (MAC address) of a device is a unique identifier assigned to a network interface controller (NIC). For communications within a network segment, it is used as a network address for most IEEE 802 network technologies, including Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. Within the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model, MAC addresses are used in the medium access control protocol sublayer of the data link layer. As typically represented, MAC addresses are recognizable as six groups of two hexadecimal digits, separated by hyphens, colons, or no separator

I had wondered if it was grabbing the MAC address from my MAC (no pun or confusion intended) on the Sky Q wifi, hence mentioning that in my post. However, after some prompts from Staffordian, I'm pleased to confirm it was nothing but 'user error' as usual!

Thanks both for your help, is there anything that can't be sorted on LF?

[Infrasonic]

Glad you got it sorted, and also useful to me that it isn't a MAC/IP address issue, as a mate has a Sky Q multiroom access account package with sport/films...

[BrummieDave]

Glad you got it sorted, and also useful to me that it isn't a MAC/IP address issue, as a mate has a Sky Q multiroom access account package with sport/films...

Then he's a real mate...