Set up your Sky box

If you’ve upgraded your old Sky box or replaced your existing Sky+HD box, you can find step by step instructions on setting this up yourself below.

1. Get everything ready

1. Make sure you can access the back of your old Sky+ box and TV, and that no cables are pulled out or overstretched.
2. Unplug your old Sky+ box and any connected devices like DVD players and games consoles.
3. Completely remove the SCART cable that connects your old Sky+ box to your TV.
4. Unscrew and disconnect the two satellite (LNB) cables from the back of your old Sky+ box.
5. Unplug the telephone line from the back of your old Sky box.
6. Remove the viewing card from your old Sky box. This can be found behind the flap on the front panel.
7. Put the old equipment to one side and unpack your Sky+HD box. Check you have all the essential components:
   

• Sky+HD box
• Sky+HD remote control and batteries
• Sky+HD user guide
• Power cable (blue connector)
• HDMI cable (pink connector)

2. Connect your cables

1. Connect your telephone line to the orange socket on your Sky box so you can activate your viewing card and channels. Be careful to not insert your telephone line into the green Ethernet socket.
2. If you have an HD-ready TV, plug the pink end of your new HDMI cable into the pink socket on your Sky+HD box and the black end into the HDMI 1 socket (or another available HDMI socket) on the back of your TV. If you don't have an HD-ready TV, use your old SCART cable to connect your new Sky+HD box to your TV.
3. Connect your satellite cables to the brown sockets. These are the two screw-in satellite cables you removed from your old box. It does not matter which cable goes into Dish Input 1 or Dish Input 2. Be careful not to bend the thin copper wire sticking out of these cables, and once they're in, turn the screws until they're finger tight - don't use a spanner.
4. Connect the power cable to the blue socket and switch on at the mains.
5. Put batteries into your Sky+HD remote.

3. Update your software

If at any point you get lost or stuck when installing the latest software on your Sky+HD box, just remove the blue power cable, wait 10 seconds, then plug it back in and return to step 1.

1. Ensure the power cable is plugged in and has been switched on at the mains for at least three minutes.
2. Press the Sky button on your Sky remote. This will turn on your Sky+HD box and the standby light will turn green.
3. Press the source button on your TV remote until the correct HDMI input is selected. You’ll see Sky Intro Channel 998.
4. Press and hold the standby button on your Sky remote control until the light on your Sky+HD box turns red (this may take up to 10 seconds).
5. Press and hold the back up button on the top of your Sky+HD box, and with back up still pressed down, press sky on your remote control once.
6. You will see “Sky+HD Please wait…” message. Continue to hold down the back up button until all of the lights on the front of your Sky+HD box are lit.
7. You will now see a message on your TV screen, "UPDATING SYSTEM SOFTWARE - do not disconnect from the mains supply or satellite dish. This may take up to 10 minutes."
8. When the download is complete, you will see the Sky Intro channel 998.

4. Insert your viewing card

Open the flap on the right-hand side of your Sky+HD box and inserting the viewing card, with the Sky logo facing upwards. Make sure it's inserted firmly before closing the flap.

5. Confirm your installation

To confirm your Sky+HD installation you need to complete the following steps:

1. Press services on your Sky remote and you'll see the Options menu highlighted.
2. Press the left/right arrows to highlight Settings.
3. Press select.
4. Press 0 (zero), then 1, then select.

You'll now see a new set of screens that are normally hidden from view, with the Setup screen selected.

1. Press the left/right arrows to highlight Install, which changes to New Install when you do this.
2. Press select.
3. Follow the instructions on your TV screen until you see the message "Installation Complete".
4. Press select.

6. Activate your channels

You must activate your channels if you've chosen to take the Entertainment Extra+ pack, otherwise you will not receive your HD channels but you will be charged for them.

1. Press interactive on your Sky remote.
2. Highlight Sky Customer Service using the down arrow.
3. Press select.
4. From the Sky Customer Service menu, use the arrow buttons to highlight Activate self set up.
5. Press select.
6. Read the instructions that appear on your TV screen, then press select.
7. You can check your channel activation by turning to channel 108. You should see the Sky Atlantic HD logo in the corner of your screen.

7. Using your Sky remote to control your TV

Your new Sky remote should be able to control both your Sky+HD box and your TV. You can set this up by following the instructions in our Get the code to control your TV with a Sky remote article.

8. Set up On Demand

Now that you've set up your Sky+HD box, you can enjoy Sky programmes and Catch Up TV whenever you want by setting up On Demand. All you need is a broadband connection from any broadband provider - go to our Set up On Demand article to find out how to set up On Demand wirelessly or using an Ethernet cable.

9. Activate Sky 3D

If you have a 3D TV, follow the steps below to activate the Sky 3D channel on your Sky+HD box.

1. Go to sky.com/activate3D and sign in using your Sky iD. If you haven't got a Sky iD, follow the Sign up link.
2. Select Activate Sky 3D now.
3. You'll be asked to confirm your activation by selecting Buy now. Remember, Sky 3D comes at no extra cost for Entertainment Extra+ customers and will appear as free on your order summary.
4. You'll now see an order confirmation screen. Check your activation has been successful by selecting the Sky 3D channel 170 and switching your TV to 3D mode. Please note, it can take a few hours for your Sky 3D channel to activate after confirming your order.

If you only have one satellite connection from the dish to your Sky+HD box

If you only have one cable coming into your home, you will need to activate Single Feed Mode. Make sure the dish input cable is connected to Dish Input 1 at the back of your Sky+HD box and that no recordings are currently in progress first.

1. Press services on your Sky remote. You will see the Options menu highlighted.
2. Highlight Settings with the left/right arrows.
3. Press select.
4. Press 0, 1, then select to see a new set of screens that are normally hidden from view, with the Setup screen selected.
5. Press select and Low Band Lo Frequency will be highlighted.
6. Highlight Single Feed Mode using the down arrows.
7. Toggle the setting to ON using the left/right arrows.
8. Press the green button to save your settings.
9. You will see this warning message: Single Feed Mode - Caution. This will take a few minutes to complete. Pressing select will reboot your Sky+, and current recordings will be stopped. It will then mean you can only record one programme at a time; and On Demand will be unavailable. Press select to continue or back up to cancel. Press the select button to reboot your Sky+HD box.