Just in the process of going from Orange broadband to SKY broadband ( waitting on MAC code from orange ) have choosen the mid leval sky b/band package up to 8mb / 40GB download etc, anyone here using this particular provider, any probs ?? happy enough with the overall service ??

lastly bit confused about the 40GB download limit, does this mean I can d/load up to 40GB off stuff on the net ie. films / music etc if required without being charged any extra ?? being that a fim is normally say 700mb or so I take it 40GB is normally enough for most users ??!!

 

I've got the base level package and it's awful in comparison to the base Virgin Media package I was on previously.

The problem would appear to be that Sky have massively underestimated the number of people who would take them up on their 3 services package (i.e. TV, broadband and phone), hence at peak periods it crawls. I'd also advise you not to use the netgear router they supply as it's utter cr*p. I never had any problems connecting with my linksys router but this one is very temperamental and Sky supply it locked down with their configuration. You can get around this and access the router by going to 192.168.0.1 btw - google it for more.

As for downloads - I would assume, like a website download limit, it represents how much you can download for the month before they'll cut off your access. After that you'll just get reset at the end of the month. TBH if you download 40GB of stuff in one month you must be using it A LOT!

My advice? Go with someone better if you can afford it.

 

Okay cheers anyone else care to comment ??

 

Of the 3 I've 'set up' for mates/family, I haven't notices any problem. All 3 tend to use wireless rather than connect to the router and none of any problems with speed or stability.

What ever time of day I've used it, it's been fine.

I also use a Netgear (non-sky) as do all of my family - all solid and reliable.

The only reason I could see for not going Sky is if you are a O2 customer and they are in your exchange - they're very good and don't have a set download limit and prices start at £7.50.

 

i have sky b/band package up to 8mb / 40GB download and sky talk and i can't fault it .bt (£20 odd )said my line could only support 1mb speed soon as i changed to sky (£5)same line is now showing just over 4mb

 

Okay thanks also for the info, have been with Orange since the wanadoo days and must admitt although apparantly they have been voted worst broadband provider I have personally never had any bother with them, phoned them yesterday to cancel and was passed to an other operator who asked me if I was interested in staying with them at acost off £9.99 for an even faster service than the one I had with them which belive it or not was 512 at £14.99 a month - yep !!!

had been advised that they would more than likely offer you this deal so had made up my mind prior to being offered this deal, waitting on the Mac code being sent to my email addy and have already phoned sky to make arrangments to transfer over to them, getting sky + / free calls and the middle bb package all for £25 + £10 line rental per month, there is a £25 set up fee normally £50 but being a sky tv customer already received the discount.

 

go for the no limits one on the sky broadband ( £5 if you have a sky package ), no probs at all , but the router can be "tempermental" though , customer service is not bad

 

I changed from Virgin to Sky Broadband about a year and a half ago. Initially the service was troublesome due to the huge initial take up and their inability to cope, but it has settled now and is pretty much trouble free. Sky email initially was APPALLING but they now use google for their email service which is extremely reliable.

Sky broadband has been ultra reliable and has only been down once in 8 months (which was a major global server issue for them which lasted 1 day). I'm on the mid package and get a 6meg connection all day and night with little noticable slowdown.

I have sky+, phone package and mid Broadband .............. which is available to all for £26 a month all in.

Due to the pricing of the package a good few family member anmd friends have converted to sky and enjoy an equally reliable service.

 

i have the extra £5 and it's not unlimited it's up to 8mb download and 40 gig download i think the unlimited one is an extra £10

 

I've got it, albeit Sky Broadband Connect. Initial speeds they promised until full sky broadband came to my area was 500k based on my line.

They set it up, never had any more than 250k - it was dire, can't believe we ever managed with it but websites are so much more intense these days.

Phoned tech support, worked through the probs, they did a re-initialise with BT and bang 8Meg link - no probs since.

Happy customer here

 

got sky boardband 8mb with 40gb limit and its ok but cumtomer service is isn't great the indian call centre didn't know what a xbox was when i rung up to ask them to lower my pings.

 

hehe ...I have up to 16mb download speed (average 10-11 mb) and unlimited download the last time I checked !

yes unlimited is £10 ...my bad

 

I've got the broadband £5 per month package - I get approx 5.1MB.
I've not had any problems - never had speed issues either.

Regarding the router - I thought it was fine.
I've got 3 people in work with the same router and recommended this router to 2 other people which I then configured.
Practically sets itself up

Shaun

 

I'm on the intermediate package with Sky.

Had it since Jan 2007, get 4.0Mb - 4.5Mb all day and night (my exchange is only capable of 4.5Mb at the moment anyway).

I use the supplied netgear router on wireless and I haven't had any problems. Apart from one day I haven't experienced any down time at all and it's on virtually every evening and weekend.

I also do a fair bit of online gaming with my PS3 (wireless as well) and haven't had any issues with that either.

 

I've noticed a lot of you pay for the extra intermediate or higher packages. As stated, I have just the base package - the equivalent Virgin package offers far better bang for your buck IMHO (even though their customer service is total toss).

I'd be interested to see what the real download speeds are for SKY - although I'm supposedly on 2MB, the reality is normally around 512K-600K if you run tests with proper utlities and online ping tools etc. i.e. a complete lie!

What the router tells you the connection speed is tends to be total tosh from what I've seen. And it's the wireless I have issues with - if you're close to the station - i.e. within 3-8 feet it tends to have real issues connecting laptops. My desktop upstairs - fine. Linksys one was always fine.

 

There should be some 'real' numbers for all of the big adsl providers coming out soon as samknows are installing a passthrough router into 200 premises which will gather unbiased realworld statistics.

Samknows Broadband - Performance Monitoring FAQ


I am one of the 200

 

the base package though isnt using sky technology, it is using the bt adsl max which fluctuates wildly. You could sync at 6mb but only download at 1mb depending on total usage at that exchange (on the bt max service)

The sky LLU which I have on the max package, I sync around about 12mb and can download from decent servers at 1.1 mb with little fluctuation.

 

exchange will be capable of more than 4.5mb as that isnt bt wholesale service offered. The chances are that is the rate at which your line will support.

 

Possibly, all I know is that when I followed a link on here (can't find it anymore though ) and it gave details of capabilities of exchanges by postcode. On my local exchange it gave the maximum download speeds capable from that exchange as 4.5Mb.

I'm not really up on all this though so it probably is for my line.....the result is the same for me though