OverWorked Posted November 2, 2008 Posted November 2, 2008 Is Sky broadband OK? I know this has been asked before, but not recently. I'm currently just getting 4 terrestrial channels and using VHS tape. I have to get into the modern age. The cost saving of going from BT to Sky broadband 8Mb would make it worth it. I just want to know if the service is any good. Thanks.
Ric_ Posted November 2, 2008 Posted November 2, 2008 The service is fine - I live in a particularly poor ADSL area (read about as far away as possible from the exchange) so I've never had amazing speeds but the speed is acceptable and the one time I had problems, customer services sorted it out without fuss. Remote Record with Sky+ is cool too 1
HMCTech Posted November 2, 2008 Posted November 2, 2008 If your getting the whole sky package with sky+, sky talk & sky broadband then its deffinatly the best way to go. The speeds are not great however I have the 16mb package and I live about half a mile from the exchange and I get about 9mb speed. 1
tech_guy Posted November 2, 2008 Posted November 2, 2008 Yes, I've been with Sky for about a year now and I'm pleased. Good value for money - much better than the poo that is Virgin Mediocre who I was with previously. 1
markwilliamson2001 Posted November 2, 2008 Posted November 2, 2008 Yeah good customer service... I signed up and had the netgear router posted to me within 2 days LOL... Never had a problem with speed, but don't really download lots of stuff anyway, just stick to forums me. Worth it for the all-in-one package methinks. Mark 1
OverWorked Posted November 2, 2008 Author Posted November 2, 2008 Thanks guys. Four good responses is good enough for me. I'll make the call in the morning. 1
joe90bass Posted November 2, 2008 Posted November 2, 2008 You've prompted me to look at the whole Sky package, especially as I've been looking at getting a HDD recorder. Shame we didn't take up the offer when we had the free Sky+ box offer through
yabbadabba Posted November 2, 2008 Posted November 2, 2008 I have a few private customers who use Sky, generally no problems, a reasonably fast and hassle free service at a sensible price.
tech_guy Posted November 2, 2008 Posted November 2, 2008 (edited) If your getting the whole sky package with sky+, sky talk & sky broadband then its deffinatly the best way to go. The speeds are not great however I have the 16mb package and I live about half a mile from the exchange and I get about 9mb speed. Yeah, I have the 16MB package too and I can't argue at a tenner a month on top of my Sky package. The speed varies but I usually average around 6MB which isn't bad considering the distance from the exchange (nearly 2 miles) and the fact that I know from talking to various BT engineers that the cabling in my part of the town is cr@p. I went for the 16MB because it's 'unlimited' downloads - it sometimes seems like my wife downloads the entire content of the BBC via BBC IPlayer every night and my daughter watches manga/pokemon videos on YouTube all the time so god knows how many GB of data they download every week! Me? I just check email and remote in to the PCs at work. Wish I had time to faff around on the internet! Edited November 2, 2008 by tech_guy
HMCTech Posted November 2, 2008 Posted November 2, 2008 Yeah, I have the 16MB package too and I can't argue at a tenner a month on top of my Sky package. The speed varies but I usually average around 6MB which isn't bad considering the distance from the exchange (nearly 2 miles) and the fact that I know from talking to various BT engineers that the cabling in my part of the town is cr@p. I went for the 16MB because it's 'unlimited' downloads - it sometimes seems like my wife downloads the entire content of the BBC via BBC IPlayer every night and my daughter watches manga/pokemon videos on YouTube all the time so god knows how many GB of data they download every week! Me? I just check email and remote in to the PCs at work. Wish I had time to faff around on the internet! I have no doubt the copper in my area is beyond poor, and watching the BT man who put my phone line in makes me think im lucky to get anything. But its better than being fooled by a company like virgin who claim to put fibre lines in your house, the last few feet are fibre and put in by someone who went on a weeks course on how to terminate opposed to the professionals who train on it for months.
Little-Miss Posted November 2, 2008 Posted November 2, 2008 ...meh.. No real complaints...cant beat cable though!! I've only got sky cus they didnt lay any cables when they built this new estate.
Edu-IT Posted November 2, 2008 Posted November 2, 2008 I know a few people who use it and they've not got any complaints.
Guest theeldergeek Posted November 2, 2008 Posted November 2, 2008 The speeds are not great however I have the 16mb package and I live about half a mile from the exchange and I get about 9mb speed. Au contraire mon ami - I live about the same distance from my exchange, and I'm recording speeds in excess of 12mb with the various on-line speed tests out there. For ten quid a month, that is superb!
HMCTech Posted November 2, 2008 Posted November 2, 2008 Au contraire mon ami - I live about the same distance from my exchange, and I'm recording speeds in excess of 12mb with the various on-line speed tests out there. For ten quid a month, that is superb! I dont belive I made that a statement that all will recive the same? The poster asked for opinions I showed mine.
tech_guy Posted November 2, 2008 Posted November 2, 2008 Au contraire mon ami - I live about the same distance from my exchange, and I'm recording speeds in excess of 12mb with the various on-line speed tests out there. For ten quid a month, that is superb! You've obviously got a good connection to the exchange! I think mine is held on with some string and blue-tac if what the BT engineer I know has told me is true. Some of the cabling used dates from the 1960s apparently. Sky have been good and have been nagging BT about the local infrastructure, as have some of the other ISPs.
Little-Miss Posted November 2, 2008 Posted November 2, 2008 You've obviously got a good connection to the exchange! I think mine is held on with some string and blue-tac....QUOTE] Love it....perfectly described..
kylewilliamson Posted November 3, 2008 Posted November 3, 2008 But its better than being fooled by a company like virgin who claim to put fibre lines in your house, the last few feet are fibre and put in by someone who went on a weeks course on how to terminate opposed to the professionals who train on it for months. The last few feet isnt fibre, it's coax to the cable modem and then ethernet to your router/pc etc. Virgin are also more likely to be able to put fibre in the whole way years before BT can. I was with Nildram for over 5 years.... who were absolutey brilliant, until they were purchased by Pipex and then later Tiscali. Apparentley 3 days downtime (midweek) to migrate from IPStream to Tiscali's LLU network was acceptable. Despite the obvious customer service issues, the Virgin Cable Modems are technically superior. As we all know, in general, ADSL is a fairly cr@p technology, shoving a high speed data link over a POTS network that was designed and laid out for voice in about 1900. If you've ever seen them open up one of the road based BT junction boxes.. they look a bit like this - http://www.dnalounge.com/backstage/log/2005/10-sidewalk.jpg and it's a general wonder why anything does work at all. Virgin's service'll be going 50meg before April 2009.. and I guess thats quite a jump from the '16meg.. more like 8' that ADSL seems to deliver. Kyle
Guest theeldergeek Posted November 3, 2008 Posted November 3, 2008 I dont belive I made that a statement that all will recive the same? The poster asked for opinions I showed mine. The statement you made was "The speeds are not great" and then said you only receive what you do. What you clearly meant to say, is that your speed isn't great. Puts a whole different slant on your statement. Hope that clarifies your misunderstanding? HAND.
tonyd Posted November 3, 2008 Posted November 3, 2008 I've just got the 8Mb service from Sky, no complaints regarding speed at all normally get close to the 8Mb in fact. Only small drawback seems to be a locked down router with no access to finding the account details that would allow you to swap for another router (e.g. draft N), or setup to point to use the OpenDNS servers.
ninjabeaver Posted November 3, 2008 Posted November 3, 2008 Been chuffed to bits with mine since install. BT where the plonkers charging me for two months more BB rental as requested. Eventually managed to get the money back. Sky engineer for the SKY+ was top billing as well. Very professional and very fast. Phone calls have been alot cheaper and I'm going to move line rental across as well now as I get my Call Minder / Show Caller thing for free as well now. Well recommended, and if you have a friend you can say they recommended you and get £50 of M&S Vouchers. We have made £150 so far from that alone.
IrritableTech Posted November 3, 2008 Posted November 3, 2008 I have been really impressed with Sky broadband. I have now had the 'up to 16mbit' unlimited package for over a year, and it has been very good. I sync at about 12meg and can sustain downloads at about 1150k (depending on server). Pings are fairly good after I requested my 'max delay' to be reduced.
OverWorked Posted February 3, 2009 Author Posted February 3, 2009 (edited) I phoned BT today to get a MAC code to cancel my BT BB. After 2 sales pitches from them begging me to stay, they reduced their price to about £7 per month, down from £15. They threw in the router as well (although I suspect they normally give these away). I'm staying with BT BB, having got a reduction of £90 a year and the router. (I've currently got the BT Voyager USB modem, instead of a router). I signed up for Sky TV and phone in November, but Sky aren't charging me for the BB because I never started it. Suits me! Edited February 3, 2009 by OverWorked added a bit
ranj Posted February 3, 2009 Posted February 3, 2009 I not got it myself personally but I know from experience that when I had to setup my uncles email into outlook. It was a nightmare! and the support was poor. Had to rely on forums such as edugeek to assist with the problem!
joe90bass Posted February 3, 2009 Posted February 3, 2009 I've just got the 8Mb service from Sky, no complaints regarding speed at all normally get close to the 8Mb in fact. Only small drawback seems to be a locked down router with no access to finding the account details that would allow you to swap for another router (e.g. draft N), or setup to point to use the OpenDNS servers. Tony, youcan find out how to do it here. I was put onto this by a Sky sales rep when I signed up. TBH I've not had reason to try it myself as all works out of the box, and the router seems pretty good. Apologies to the mods if this post is not allowed!
acer-man Posted February 3, 2009 Posted February 3, 2009 I have sky and couldn't cope without it! However I don't use sky broadband because where I live they wanted to charge me an additional £18 a month. Also they will send you a Netgear router which is locked to them and as such you can't make changes, which can be frustrating. I like PlusNet and pay £25 a month for broadband and phone inc free calls day and night. Hope that helps
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