View Full Version : Sky TV/Phone/BBand package - Feedback pls
Hey all,
my contract with BE* ends on the 8th of May and I am on the search for providers.
Main requirement really is internet speed for downloading and no allowance limit.
Have been looking at this package that SKY do for £26 which includes 8MBit Bband with 40GB allowance. Now I know I said I don't want any allowance but 40GB I reckon is plenty for what I do. At the same time you get all packages apart from Movies and Sports which I'm not really bothered about.
Anyone been with them since they launched BBand as well? Any feedback? Please make sure I don't only hear horror stories:D
Cheers
gettin2dizzy
20-03-07, 12:20 PM
couldn't be worse than virgin media :scratch: its like paying for freeview with dial up.
couldn't be worse than virgin media :scratch: its like paying for freeview with dial up.
I don't have cable so they were never an option for me
Luckypants
20-03-07, 01:01 PM
Why you moving from Be*?
I work for a company called ZyXEL who make routers n other network stuff. The techie support people here have had mixed reports about Sky BB.
Before the new Mac Code legislation came in Sky were a pain in the yaris. Now they seem better. A few of the guys here have Sky BB and are happy, some tried to get Sky and got messed around. The good thing about Sky is that they have the money to throw at any poor customer service, unlike Virgin etc.
Seems a really good deal with Sky, if I hadnt just signed up for another 12 months with BT I would swap to Sky.
HTH
Why you moving from Be*?
moving from Be* cause I pay £24 a month and get about 7.5Mbit connection speed.
so with someone like Sky I would be getting more value for my money
wyrdness
20-03-07, 01:27 PM
moving from Be* cause I pay £24 a month and get about 7.5Mbit connection speed.
so with someone like Sky I would be getting more value for my money
You're very unlikely to get any different connection speed, as it depends on the distance between you and your telephone exchange. 7.5Mbit is unusually good, so I wouldn't be unhappy about that.
You're very unlikely to get any different connection speed, as it depends on the distance between you and your telephone exchange. 7.5Mbit is unusually good, so I wouldn't be unhappy about that.
I realise that and i'm not dreaming of higher speeds:)
it's just the fact that I get MORE for my £26 i.e. TV and phone
I used to have Sky BB, or at least I ordered it. I had so many different problems with them it's unreal.
I had connection problems and after 5 months of expensive 087 calls to Sky, demanded to have the service terminated. They eventually agreed.
From personnel experience, wouldn't ever ever recommend them.
Thier technical help is a complete joke. Quite ironic that the day my connection was terminated and I could then go to a different provider that technical help tier 3 contact me and say that they are looking into my connection problems.
:smt076
I used to have Sky BB, or at least I ordered it. I had so many different problems with them it's unreal.
I had connection problems and after 5 months of expensive 087 calls to Sky, demanded to have the service terminated. They eventually agreed.
From personnel experience, wouldn't ever ever recommend them.
Thier technical help is a complete joke. Quite ironic that the day my connection was terminated and I could then go to a different provider that technical help tier 3 contact me and say that they are looking into my connection problems.
:smt076
I have looked on a few forums and have seen some people having issues with getting in touch with this 3rd line support....apparently there is a number doing the rounds so will resort to that if need be.
problem is can't seem to find similarly attractive packages to that of Sky
I have looked on a few forums and have seen some people having issues with getting in touch with this 3rd line support....apparently there is a number doing the rounds so will resort to that if need be.
problem is can't seem to find similarly attractive packages to that of Sky
It doesn't matter what number it is, it's still a premium rate number. And yes tier 3 tech support is the one above the " I'm reading all this from my prompt sheet, please don't ask me anything technical because I don't know" number.
So long as you do not have an issue with your broadband connection then you'll be fine. If however you do have an issue you'll be stuffed.
After 3 months of frustration at not being put through to tier 3 I demanded to have my MAC code so I could change to a provider that would actually give me a service that worked. I got put through to four different departments each putting me on hold for 25 minutes or more before transfering me further. I was told at the end that I would have to write in to cancel and they would "consider if I were a suitable candidate" and also if there would be any charges to cancel.
I never wrote the letter, but the next day when tier 3 were supposed to call and didn't, I called again and was told that my case had been closed as I had requested to close the account. So what happened to needing to write a letter? Idiots. I had to start right from the beginning again. Including the stupid fault finding crap like ensuring the router is switched on, have I changed the cables, blah blah. All of this on a premium rate number that I am paying for.
I know where you're coming from but I can see that happening with most providers these days.
even Be* is like that sometimes...
dunno where to go really
P.S. in the future try this website;) www.saynoto0870.com
One thing about the Sky package - you have to also pay an extra £11 for a BT line or something. So it's actually £37 rather than £26.
But that's the only hidden surprise I know of - can't comment on actually usage as I'm with Virgin. ;)
One thing about the Sky package - you have to also pay an extra £11 for a BT line or something. So it's actually £37 rather than £26.
But that's the only hidden surprise I know of - can't comment on actually usage as I'm with Virgin. ;)
True but still 8MB BBand and Sky TV with the 6 packages for £26 is still quite good I think
unless there is another offer doing the rounds that I don't know of
timwilky
20-03-07, 09:03 PM
couldn't be worse than virgin media :scratch: its like paying for freeview with dial up.
You need to a dialogue with your support if you are having problems. Forget using customer services they don't speak English instead use the blueyonder.support.access.hi-speed newsgroup. Their tech support guys are on the case till 10pm each day and managed to improve my miserable 5mb to 16mb. They are not script monkeys they will ask you to provide a username output of netstat -a, netstat -b, cable modem signal levels, maybe a traceroute to www.bbc.co.uk (http://www.bbc.co.uk). They may then ask you to download a couple of concurrent large files from a source such as games.blueyonder.co.uk or similar whilst monitoring your modem/UBR etc.
This normally gives them the info they need to raise support tickets etc.
in my case they got me from
http://www.speedtest.net/result/96816955.png
To
http://www.speedtest.net/result/97695293.png
Yet the man in India told me that I was working as it should.
Give them a go, you have nothing to loose
trickywoos
07-05-07, 01:35 PM
I'm now interested in this, freeview box has gone, and decided to go Virgin Media as the deal was too good. However, we're in a brand new house , and the muppets who built this house didn't think about getting cable put in.
So only options are to continue as we are and get another freeview box, or go sky. Am I right in thinking that the sky internet stil goes through your phone line? BT told me I have a maximum 2mbps through our phoneline, although have discovered am only gettin 512kbps at best :mad:
What are peoples thoughts? Freeview/sky?
Jelster
07-05-07, 05:17 PM
Am I right in thinking that the sky internet stil goes through your phone line? BT told me I have a maximum 2mbps through our phoneline, although have discovered am only gettin 512kbps at best :mad:
What are peoples thoughts? Freeview/sky?
Sort of, but until recently BT couldn't offer anything other than 2Mb. Last year Sky acquired Easynet, and their UK fibre network. Easynet were one of the few "LLU" based service providers who used their own equipment, rather than reselling the BT service (only in areas where they had LLU coverage of course).
Basically, they can provide better than 2Mb in most parts of the country. However, your speed will rely on the distance from your local exchange, no matter who the provider is. Have a look at http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ as they can tell you who can provide services in your area and at what speed.
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kwak zzr
07-05-07, 06:08 PM
Ive got 8meg with tiscali max and i must say lately its been utter shi#! if i do a speed test i rarely get 1meg :(
hang on i'll do one now.
kwak zzr
07-05-07, 06:09 PM
there you go! 19:09 monday = 251.8 kbpsYOUhttp://speedcheck.ispconnect.co.uk/images/you.gif
thebluelion
07-05-07, 07:45 PM
600+ I took out a new contract with orange £35 per month + free Broadband for as long as i stay with orange
resurection of thread:D
well in the end I went with Sky and took the 3 package offer but went on the Max BB so it all costs me £31
installation was done by an eng but it's not really difficult. router comes preset so u only need to plug it in and it works.
the only issue i experienced was getting disconnections very often but that was down to a dodgy extension. when connected to the master socket directly i get the full 16MB speed. on the extension i get 11.5 which is pretty fine for me ;)
so all is going well touch wood
that offer from orange is very interesting but i have a company phone so don't need another one:)
Cloggsy
09-05-07, 09:19 AM
I wouldn't mind switching to Sky, but they keep telling me the 'full speed' T'internet isn't available in my area :(
if I check on BT's site for what speed i can get it says Max of 6MB - well I guess they are a bit wrong:) cause i am fine sync'd at 11MBps from an extension or even at the full whack on the master socket 16MB
Jelster
09-05-07, 12:43 PM
if I check on BT's site for what speed i can get it says Max of 6MB - well I guess they are a bit wrong:) cause i am fine sync'd at 11MBps from an extension or even at the full whack on the master socket 16MB
You have to remember that the copper going to your house for the ADSL connection "may" not be managed by BT. LLU (Local Loop Unbundling) allows third parties (such as Sky, Virgin Media etc) to "lease" new copper from BT and run their own equipment on the back of it.
Sky have the ability to run in excess of 24Mbs over copper (ADSL2+) but as far as I'm aware they haven't yet released it to the market. There is a company based in London that provides a 24Mb "Online TV" service. Thing is, the further you are away from the exchange the slower your connection will be due to the losses in the copper.
What you want is a bit of "Dark Fibre" into your house :D
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Luckypants
09-05-07, 12:52 PM
What you want is a bit of "Dark Fibre" into your house :D
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Geek alert! No, dark fibre is no good! Dark fibre is the term for unused fibre optic cables that have been laid for future use. You want 'lit' (light?) fibre. :D Not that there is any chance of this without massive investment, which BT will not do. Best anyone can hope for in the next 20 years will be FTTC (Fibre To The Cabinet) and then sub-loop unbundling by the ISP players to provide VDSL or similar over much shorter lengths of copper (cabinet to home, rather than exchange to home) giving up to 50Mbps IIRC.
/Geek off
Jelster
09-05-07, 01:07 PM
Geek alert! No, dark fibre is no good! Dark fibre is the term for unused fibre optic cables that have been laid for future use. You want 'lit' (light?) fibre. :D Not that there is any chance of this without massive investment, which BT will not do. Best anyone can hope for in the next 20 years will be FTTC (Fibre To The Cabinet) and then sub-loop unbundling by the ISP players to provide VDSL or similar over much shorter lengths of copper (cabinet to home, rather than exchange to home) giving up to 50Mbps IIRC.
/Geek off
No, I wanted Dark Fibre, so that I can light it and link it into a serious network... Minimum of 622Mb please, not sure what I'll do with it all, maybe stick it on a cheap wireless router for the neighbours :smt077
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