TV On Wall, Where To Put Sky Box?

If you have just had your TV wall mounted or are planning on having a TV wall mounted and were wondering where you could place your Sky box/satellite TV receiver. Read on for some helpful suggestions on where this can be installed. I have used all of these suggestions at one time or another so hopefully it will help you decide the best place to put your Sky box when TV is wall mounted.

This blog has been written with Sky boxes in mind as this is perhaps the most likely piece of equipment that will be connected to your TV. Most of the content is re-usable however and many of the processes described could also be used for finding suitable positions for other AV equipment like Freeview boxes, Freesat boxes, Virgin box, DVD/ Bluray players and games consoles when the TV is wall mounted. I describe this at greater length in an older blog on how to hide AV equipment. I recommend that you read that also when you are done here.

Hiding Sky Box & Controlling The Sky Box 

Many of the suggestions below involve installing the Sky box in a position that is hidden away from sight. You may or may not already be aware, but the Sky box doesn’t have to be on show and it can be hidden away and still be controlled and accessed as normal. A few things that you will need to consider however is how this will be controlled if hidden. If you have an old Sky+HD or normal Sky box you can connect a coax cable to the RF2 output with a remote eye installed in sight of the TV remote and once set up this will work as if the box was on show. If your Sky box doesn’t have an RF2 output you may need an add on i/0 link adapter which will allow you to connect a remote eye to the set up. If you have a Sky Q box, this can be done a couple of ways. If you have a Bluetooth remote most likely the remote will connect to the box fine. If you have an infra-red remote you will also need an IR emitter as well as the remote eye itself. The IR emitter is positioned and installed in front infra-red sensor on the Sky box which will deliver the commands by the handset, received by the magic eye down the coaxial cable.

Cables Required For Connecting TV/ Sky Box

Wherever you decide to install your Sky box you will need the following cables/ connections at least. At the Sky box you will of course need a power cable and satellite cables. (Unless using Sky Q multi-room box)You will also need a lead connecting between your Sky box and your TV. The blog assumes that this will be a HDMI cable but there are other systems out there that allow a HDMI signal to be relayed from your Sky box over Cat5/6 or coaxial cables which I will discuss in an older blog on how to distribute Sky Q around your home. Most of the techniques described in the blog can also be applied to normal Sky or Sky+HD. You may also need to think about a control cable if you’re using an IR remote. This is usually a coax or Cat5/6 cable, but in many instances the HDMI cable itself can be used for this purpose.

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The RF2 Output Is Good For Control Of The Sky Box, It's Not Good For The Picture

The RF2 output on the rear of most standard Sky and Sky+ boxes is great for controlling the Sky box from other rooms with a remote eye. To do this you need to connect an coaxial cable to it and then run it to extra TV points, you will also need to access the Sky installer menu and switch the RF power supply to on. If you want to run to multiple TV points you will want to install a distribution amplifier that has an "DC pass" facility. This will allow the DC voltage from the RF2 output on the Sky box to pass through the amplifier and onto all your remote eyes. If you have a digital aerial this can be connected into your Sky box and relayed to the rest of your TV's on the same coaxial cable.

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The big downside of doing things this way is that the picture outputted from an RF2 output is only an analogue quality picture which may look very grainy or unclear on your flat screen TV, especially the larger ones. While this may be fine for your needs, the analogue picture doesn't look as bad on small screens. To combat this I suggest using the RF2 output for controlling the Sky box only and utilising the HDMI output for the best Sky picture quality like Full 1080p HD or 4K. This may mean having to buy extra long HDMI cables, or using HDMI-Cat5/6 extenders or a HD modulator to be able to send the HDMI signal over distance. Sometimes the analogue RF2 TV picture can be improved by moving the Sky RF output channel to another number. The Sky boxes come preset to UHF channel 68 which is not a good channel to be using as it is now part of the frequency band now used for 4G mobile communications and you could get 4G interference on your TV picture.

Away In A Cupboard/ Cabinet 

If there is a cupboard or cabinet near your TV position this could provide the perfect place to install your Sky box or satellite receiver.You could place the Sky box away from view and shut the door on it never to look at it again. If you want to keep the cabinet doors shut you could just sit the controlling infra red remote eye just on the outside of the cabinet so you will still be able to control it. If you're using a Bluetooth remote, this will probably not be necessary.

Install Sky Box Under The Stairs 

At home I have all of my AV equipment installed under my stairs. I don’t actually have a Sky box but I do have multiple devices set up under there all connected to my lounge TV and many to other TV’s around the house. This makes for a perfect accessible location for all of your AV equipment to be installed in if you ever need to perform any maintenance etc.If I did have a Sky subscription the Sky box would go in here to. If there is an under stairs area near your TV this could provide the perfect place for your satellite box to be installed and not ruin the appearance of your wall mounted TV. If your under stairs cupboard is not near your TV position it could still be used it would just mean that installation and routing of cables could be a bit trickier. Also by installing all your AV equipment in one location means that it's easy to connect all of your Smart equipment to the network with a hardwired internet connection.

Install Sky Box In Loft 

If you have a loft and especially if your are installing the Sky box in an upstairs room or bedroom, in a very similar fashion to installing a Sky box under the stairs the Sky box can be installed in the loft space. If you live in a new build style house with plasterboard walls often the cables can be dropped inside the wall to help create a seamless result with no visible cabling. Obviously you going to need power up in the loft, which most lofts do not have so you may have a bit extra work here. A couple of reasons why the loft isn’t always a good idea to site any AV equipment is because if you ever need to get back at the equipment for maintenance you may need a ladder and a torch to get to it again, like when a Sky box freezes and the only way to get it going again is the unplug and re-connect after a couple of minutes. Obviously you do not need to ever insert discs etc into Sky boxes but if you were to install a DVD/ Bluray player or games console on loft your would be up and down like a Yoyo. Also lofts can get very hot in the summer, if you’re going to install equipment up there you may want to consider also install some cooling equipment like a silent fan to stop it overheating.

Install On An AV Shelf 

There are many AV shelves that can be purchased for the siting on AV equipment underneath wall mounted TV’s. You could install one of these with your Sky box on it. There are so many different models and you could even use a normal shelf if it is large enough to accommodate the Sky RX itself. The type that I regularly install for customers is a Sanus single glass AV shelf which is quite a neat looking shelf and is actually very sturdy also if you were worried about the amount of weight on your shelf, especially if your TV has been mounted onto a plasterboard wall.

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Install The Sky Box Behind The Wall Mounted TV 

This only really works with the Sky Q boxes as they are much slimmer than the older Sky box types. This works especially well with the Sky Q mini-box which is used for Sky Q multi-room sets ups and connect wireless to the main Sky box. The reason these work so well is because they are because they are very slim and also because there are no satellite cables to be connected to it which also adds an element of flexibility to it. You will obviously need a TV large enough to hide the box behind with enough space around the wall bracket. The remote normally works fine even with infra red style remotes I would just advise that when you slot the box behind the TV that you do so nearer the edges of the TV with the front of the box facing outwards so that it can receive the infra red commands from the remote.

HIDEit Sky Q Wall Mount 

If you want to install your Sky Q box behind the TV on the wall I can recommend the HIDEit Sky Q wall mount. You simply fix this to your wall behind the mounted TV position, slot inside and mount the TV over the top hiding the box altogether. Ingenious and no need to worry about the Sky box falling loose. There are different models for Sky 2TB, 1TB and Sky Q mini-boxes.

Install In A TV Stand/ Cabinet/ Unit 

It may be a little old fashioned for some but if you have multiple devices that are connecting to a wall mounted TV, why not just put the Sky box in a TV stand/cabinet? There are is a wealth of stylish AV furniture out there which can be used to site your Sky box, surround sound etc. You may even be able to treat the spouse to a trip the Ikea! Plus you may also get an couple of drawers/ cupboards with it that can be used to store all the remotes and other everyday items, maybe some batteries for the remotes.

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Sky Box Questions - Post Them In Blog Comments Section Only Please

I will be delighted to receive your feedback from this article on where to install a Sky box when a TV has been mounted on a wall, please post your comments and/or questions in the BLOG COMMENTS SECTION BELOW. By doing this everyone reading the blog will get the benefit of the question asked and the answer given, it also helps the blogs popularity and gives me a central location to answer all the questions I get asked which is very helpful. Please note that our telephone lines are intended for CUSTOMERS ONLY. Please do not call these with your questions as there is no one here to answer your questions and I do not give my personal mobile number out. If you're in Sussex/ Kent and want to discuss an installation of your own then please feel free to call. Please also if you're looking for help and advice only DO NOT FILL OUT THE WEBSITE CONTACT FORMS OR E-MAIL, again these are intended for customers only and should you do so you're very likely to not receive a response or receive one asking to post your comment in the blog comments section of the blog that you have read. I simply do not have the time to respond to all the questions I get asked privately. That being said, i will help out where I can.

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Until next time,

Tom