[UK] Sky as an Internet provider


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I have just moved into my new place and am looking at sorting out internet connectivity ASAP. It seems simpler and possibly cheaper to do the whole deal through Sky for broadband, phone and satellite TV. I know they USED to be terrible, but all my friends are now raving about how great they are. Thing is, I'm a fairly heavy downloader (a few films, albums, etc), want to game online and so on.

So, does anyone here have FIRST HAND experience with Sky as a broadband supplier? I am not looking for "I've heard" I am looking for "I've experienced".

Many thanks

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I've been on Sky Unlimited for about a year no. Not had any problems at all!

They have never capped or throttled me in any way and I'm quite a heavy downloader too. No complaints here :)

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I've been with Sky for over a year now and can't say a bad thing about them. I've had one bit of downtime and that was at the exchange and Sky kept me informed all the time about it. As for speeds. The unlimited package is truly unlimited. You can even go on Sky's website to see your usage and it says you're unlimited and don't need to see it :laugh:

I've never once had a time where i think my connection is being slowed down. I'd consider myself a heavy downloader and most of the time i get the max my line can handle (1.6MB/s).

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I've been with Sky for years now and never really had huge problems with them.

As other have said their unlimited package really is unlimited.

I have never been capped by Sky and as an example, last month I downloaded 642GB in total not even a blip.

The speeds are good too :)

Their DLM system is amazing, it will do the usual resyncing and such for 10 days to find the best speed, but it works 10x better than any other provider I have been with.

The pings are consistently low here too, I can game perfectly :)

The ONLY issue I have with Sky is:

They refuse to allow you to use your own router and insist you use the one provided. Now for all normal purposes the router they provide isn't too bad, but it has no Gigabit Ethernet Ports, the WiFi speeds are crap and you are pretty locked out of the settings :(

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Thank you for all confirming what I have recently been told: Sky seem to have sorted themselves out and offer a good service. The area I am looking at doesn't currently get fiber but will do.

KibosJ:

* What is DLM?

* They force you to use their router? How/why? And if that's the case, could I not just use it for the connection and then into my own for wi-fi?

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Thank you for all confirming what I have recently been told: Sky seem to have sorted themselves out and offer a good service. The area I am looking at doesn't currently get fiber but will do.

KibosJ:

* What is DLM?

* They force you to use their router? How/why? And if that's the case, could I not just use it for the connection and then into my own for wi-fi?

DLM is Dynamic Line Management, the system constantly checks your line and if the system believes you can obtain faster speeds it will kick in and retrain your line :)

They don't use PPOA at the moment, they use MER which nothing supports. I have their router plugged into a cable router and it works fine :)

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Thank you for clearing that up. Could it be because they also use their router for other things - on demand, etc.

They do, but again any router can be used for this :)

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Could it be because they also use their router for other things - on demand, etc.

Yeah their router is optimised for on demand stuff. Gives that priority over other traffic if it's being used on the TV.

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That's cool. Personally I don't use on-demand services, but hey. Thanks to all, am pretty much sold with going for Sky. One question...

My new flat (brand new, first owner) has a BT Openreach socket in the lounge. I want my router and so on in the office. Should I get Sky to put a new line in (costly) or have an extension, or just "live with it"?

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That's cool. Personally I don't use on-demand services, but hey. Thanks to all, am pretty much sold with going for Sky. One question...

My new flat (brand new, first owner) has a BT Openreach socket in the lounge. I want my router and so on in the office. Should I get Sky to put a new line in (costly) or have an extension, or just "live with it"?

Extensions aren't a great idea. If expense isn't an issue get them to install a new line, however I would try to live it being where it is.

You could always try it with an extension and see how you get on and how much of an affect it has.

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SKy are supposed to be really good when it comes to service and support, although as far as I know they're one of the only ISP's that don't let you replace their router with another easily.

I'm with Be at the moment and they've just been sold to Sky, so I assume we'll be switched to Sky at some point. The only thing that worries me is that I have my own router. If they think they're gonna lock me out of it they have another thing coming!!

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SKy are supposed to be really good when it comes to service and support, although as far as I know they're one of the only ISP's that don't let you replace their router with another easily.

I'm with Be at the moment and they've just been sold to Sky, so I assume we'll be switched to Sky at some point. The only thing that worries me is that I have my own router. If they think they're gonna lock me out of it they have another thing coming!!

If you eventually do get switched to Sky, which isn't supposed to happen for the next 8 months you won't have much choice in the matter :(

Just wait until the switch starts and then move elsewhere.

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Extensions aren't a great idea. If expense isn't an issue get them to install a new line, however I would try to live it being where it is.

Agreed, not sure what the cost of a new line is, to be fair.

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Agreed, not sure what the cost of a new line is, to be fair.

That's a question for BT really, Sky VERY RARELY pay to have a new line fitted. If there is already a line there Sky won't fit a new one.

Having BT do it thought costs hundreds.

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They refuse to allow you to use your own router and insist you use the one provided. Now for all normal purposes the router they provide isn't too bad, but it has no Gigabit Ethernet Ports, the WiFi speeds are crap and you are pretty locked out of the settings :(

You can extract the settings from most Sky routers, I'm using a Netgear DGN3500. Have a look Here, I have been running my own router since I got Sky installed 6 months ago. Not sure if you can do it on the new hub though.

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You can extract the settings from most Sky routers, I'm using a Netgear DGN3500. Have a look Here, I have been running my own router since I got Sky installed 6 months ago.

A lot of people can't do that though. For instance I cannot use this method as my line is fully unbundled.

My connection uses MER not PPOA, not a lot of routers out there support MER and even less support Sky's implementation of it. Netgear routers certainly don't :(

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Be sure what you are signing up for, that budget "Big Four" deal on the telly has a cap of 2GB(you see that in one of the clips), you dont wanna sign for that one do you? Make sure you get the "Unlimited" package.

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Having BT do it thought costs hundreds.

That's what I assumed. BT are the scourge of UK telephony.

Be sure what you are signing up for, that budget "Big Four" deal on the telly has a cap of 2GB(you see that in one of the clips), you dont wanna sign for that one do you? Make sure you get the "Unlimited" package.

Yes, I noticed this. :)

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That's what I assumed. BT are the scourge of UK telephony.

They are that, but at the end of the day, BT are the ones who spend billions giving us internet to begin with :p

Just wish Virgin would get their arse in gear and get 90% of the country covered too :p BT would certainly cry a bit then :)

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They are that, but at the end of the day, BT are the ones who spend billions giving us internet to begin with

It was us that paid for it. When BT were actually investing in the infrastructure, the government paid it - from our taxes. BT were meant to unbundle the local loop ages ago, but basically didn't properly. As I was explained anyhow?

And yeah, I wish Virgin installed into new-builds, but they don't, and so even though 5 meters away can get Virgin, I can't :(

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It was us that paid for it. When BT were actually investing in the infrastructure, the government paid it - from our taxes. BT were meant to unbundle the local loop ages ago, but basically didn't properly. As I was explained anyhow?

And yeah, I wish Virgin installed into new-builds, but they don't, and so even though 5 meters away can get Virgin, I can't :(

I have that issue here, about a mile out Virgin. Across the road.... BT Fibre.... Here... ADSL :(

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A lot of people can't do that though. For instance I cannot use this method as my line is fully unbundled.

My connection uses MER not PPOA, not a lot of routers out there support MER and even less support Sky's implementation of it. Netgear routers certainly don't :(

My connection uses MER as well but I managed fine?

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