Cheers also for that Donfor, im going to make the upgrade next week.
Like above, i can only get 6mb here on the LLU, but they reckon i can get between 31-40mb on the Fibre, and after i worked it all out, and after BTs line rental increase, it'll only cost me around an extra £3 a month, so a no brainer tbh.
I switched to Sky unlimited broadband over 2 years ago. I used to have Virgin but I was paying over the odds for TV with sky and phone and broadband with Virgin. I get consistently good speeds of 15mb with no issues and I'm a heavy user with Netflix and all the quality Sky on demand content. I had thought of upgrading to fibre but the service I get is so good I can see no reason to change.
I would not hesitate in recommending Sky broadband I have had no major issues and apart from the occasional router reset I would be really hesitant to change to another provider.
I cannot fault Sky Broadband at all. I've been a Sky Fibre Unlimited subscriber since it first launched in April 2012 and I think the service has only ever been down twice then.
I consider myself a heavy user - I use Netflix daily on Super HD mode, I don't watch live TV much - using catch up services for shows I want to see, I'm an online gamer and also back up my music library to Google Music regularly. I reckon I must exceed 300 GB a month or get very close to that figure and I have never, not once had my speed limited or received a letter from them that I am hammering my connection too much (I used to get those kind of letters from AOL on a regular basis). So as far as I'm concerned, they do stick to their word when they say they are truly unlimited with no fair usage policy.
Been with Sky BB for eight years,and for most of the time,its been pretty good.The exceptions are when things go wrong,it takes a long time for them to effect a repair.After nearly three months of intermittent BB,they finally arranged a visit by Openreach to do the repairs.
Well ive just upgraded to the Fibre through my account, was a breeze, already got my details as im on their LLU, so just had to add the Fibre and checkout, got my order number etc..., and they said ill get e-mails every step of the way informing of me how its progressing, my activation date etc..., not had any yet like, but thought i would have at least had one straight away just to confirm order, so will keep checking, as may come through later.
Had a laugh this morning, i got a letter from BT, asking me to take out the Super Saver discount, so my price is frozen till 2017, ill save £11 odd if i take it up, so it'll only be £19.99, yet if i do nowt and stay, just letting the price go up in December, it'll only be £16.99!
Well just checked my Sky Account, and it now has my Fibre listed, says my Sky Broadband Unlimited Cancellation is in progress, and my Sky Fibre Unlimited, is awaiting Activation, hope that doesn't mean my net goes off until my Fibres activated, as i thought they would just switch me to it on the activation day, so id only be down about 10-20 minutes, like when you switch to a different provider.
Well thats good news, still had no e-mails at all, and in the order tracking, it still has my line switching to them on the 15th, and my hub is still being processed, so i phoned them up to make sure everything was going ok, and its all fine.
He confirmed my line would be switched over on the 15th, and that was also my Fibre activation date, so the hub would be sent out next week, as they send them out a few days before.
Got my letters through today confirming my new package, my details (to check and make sure are correct), prices, and what speeds i should expect, which is between 32-40mb, with a guaranteed minimum 27.3mb.
Also got an e-mail saying my Hub has been dispatched, and should be with me in the next 3-5 days, and thats also confirmed now on the Order Tracking page too.
I'm thinking about doing what you've done Grouty so I'm interested to follow how you're getting on. Hope it continues to go well.
Hi Grouty,
I have just started the same process. The op said I could connect the Modem in advance of the activation date, i.e as soon as it arrives, as it will fall back my current LLU connection.
Also don't forget it may take 10 days to come up to speed as it does it training.
P.S I got my "Your Hub is being shipped email this morning."
^ I was reading the Sky forum about the hub delivery, how long people had to wait for them, after the e-mail saying it had been dispatched, and some were saying you should get a tracking number, but i got nothing, so with Monday not being that far away now, i decided to give them a quick call.
Spoke to a lovely Irish lady, who checked to make sure it had definitely been dispatched, and it was, and that it was coming by Royal Mail, she also said they should send me a text message, when they are due to deliver it (so checked they had my correct mobile number), but as today was the 3rd day, she said its 3 to 5, so it could come tomorrow/Sat, but if not, then to get back in touch.
Anyway, about 10 minutes ago, the postman knocked on the door, and it was my Hub, didn't have to sign for it, and the grey plastic bag it came in, had 'No Singature Required' on it also, so i wouldn't worry about not getting an e-mail with a tracking number, as more than likey the postie will just deliver it just like mine, now roll on Monday the 15th
Well this is strange, just ran another speedtest, and my ISP is now showing as Sky BB, where as the other day when i did one, it was still showing as me being on BE BB (As was on O2 before getting transferred to Sky when they bought them).
Probably in preperation for Monday, when im due to be switched and activated.
Well got up this morning, and noticed my router lights were flashing, so looked like the switch had been done, so i set up the Hub, and the internet light came on fine (white smiley face), so i ran a speedtest to check, and got this :-
Sounds like you've had an excellent experience, Grouty. I was thinking about upgrading myself but was a little wary so when I saw you were posting on the progress of yours I thought I'd wait and see how you got on. I'm glad it all went well. I'll be ordering mine now.
Sounds like you've had an excellent experience, Grouty. I was thinking about upgrading myself but was a little wary so when I saw you were posting on the progress of yours I thought I'd wait and see how you got on. I'm glad it all went well. I'll be ordering mine now.
Thanks, it all went great, no problems at all, i didn't think it would be done so soon, as they do say up to midnight, so i was expecting it to go down sometime this afternoon really tbh, but when i got up this morning (around 10:15am), and noticed my internet lights were off, i thought id try the Hub to see if i had been activated, and i found i was, only took about a minute for the Hub to connect, after plugging in, Power Light came on, then a few seconds later the Wireless light lit up, then a few more seconds after that, the internet light started flashing Amber, then a few seconds later again, it went solid white, and my PC re-connected
Hope you have the same seamless experience.
EDIT:
I had read that on speedtest.net, the Namesco servers in London were the best ones to test your Fibre on.
Well been rock solid so far, no disconnects (been connected for over 26hrs now), no congestion, nothing, still getting just under 38mb down, over 6 up.
I changed from Virgin to Sky about three months ago.
I had around a 110MB fibre optic connection from Virgin and the speed was insane
Problem was we started getting lots of outages. Down for a few hours, then back. A week later down for a day. It got worse and working from home became a problem.
This is mind and the desire to save money, I went back to Sky and their ADSL up to 2MB. To say it was a shock is an understatement - it was awful >:(
It seemed to be ok for a month but right after that it kept dropping. Speeds varied from 300k to 1.4MB. Just AWFUL.
Long story short - engineer fixed a line problem and Sky gave me a loss of service credit. Plus the nice call center man pressed some magic buttons on his end and increased the speed to 5.5MB which is now sticking - no drops
Still nowhere near what I'm used to but much better. Perhaps I can live with it for now.
So yes, I recommend Sky broadband but make sure you check the speed you can get!
I'm considering Sky Fibre but can't justify the extra £10 a month for 6 months, then £20 a month for 12 months. 18 month contract......>:(
Was a no brainer for me upgrading to the Fibre, as i was only getting 6mb, but on a BT line, so all in, it was costing me around £31, on the Fibre, with the Sky line as well (which you have to take), im only paying £25.40 for the first 6 months (so saving there), and then only £35.40 all in thereafter, which is only an extra £4.40 a month, for much faster speeds.
The 18 month contract is a bit much, but as long as i don't get any major problems, ill be happy, when i signed up to O2 it was a 12 month, and i had no problems, then when Sky took em over, i still had none, so hopefully their Fibres just like their LLU.
The 18 month commitment annoys me.
If it was £10 for 6 months and then £20 for the remainder 6 months I'd be tempted.
But 18 months total and up to 38MB speed when Virgin was delivering around 110MB is a no from me at the moment.
edit:
BTW, do you use/need your landline?
Virgin offer a fibre optic connection only (no phone line needed) - up to 50MB for £26.50 a month. Up to 100MB would cost you £31.50 a month and up to 152MB would be £39 a month. 12 month contract - no phone line!
I don't have a phone plugged in on this line, as its just used for my BB, phones on the line downstairs, and I can't get Virgin here, im out in the sticks, think its been less than a year that Fibre became available, and can't get more than the 40Mb.
Comments
Like above, i can only get 6mb here on the LLU, but they reckon i can get between 31-40mb on the Fibre, and after i worked it all out, and after BTs line rental increase, it'll only cost me around an extra £3 a month, so a no brainer tbh.
I would not hesitate in recommending Sky broadband I have had no major issues and apart from the occasional router reset I would be really hesitant to change to another provider.
I consider myself a heavy user - I use Netflix daily on Super HD mode, I don't watch live TV much - using catch up services for shows I want to see, I'm an online gamer and also back up my music library to Google Music regularly. I reckon I must exceed 300 GB a month or get very close to that figure and I have never, not once had my speed limited or received a letter from them that I am hammering my connection too much (I used to get those kind of letters from AOL on a regular basis). So as far as I'm concerned, they do stick to their word when they say they are truly unlimited with no fair usage policy.
Had a laugh this morning, i got a letter from BT, asking me to take out the Super Saver discount, so my price is frozen till 2017, ill save £11 odd if i take it up, so it'll only be £19.99, yet if i do nowt and stay, just letting the price go up in December, it'll only be £16.99!
He confirmed my line would be switched over on the 15th, and that was also my Fibre activation date, so the hub would be sent out next week, as they send them out a few days before.
Also got an e-mail saying my Hub has been dispatched, and should be with me in the next 3-5 days, and thats also confirmed now on the Order Tracking page too.
Thanks, im expecting the hub tomorrow/Friday, as they said it would be 3 to 5 days from Monday.
Hi Grouty,
I have just started the same process. The op said I could connect the Modem in advance of the activation date, i.e as soon as it arrives, as it will fall back my current LLU connection.
Also don't forget it may take 10 days to come up to speed as it does it training.
P.S I got my "Your Hub is being shipped email this morning."
Spoke to a lovely Irish lady, who checked to make sure it had definitely been dispatched, and it was, and that it was coming by Royal Mail, she also said they should send me a text message, when they are due to deliver it (so checked they had my correct mobile number), but as today was the 3rd day, she said its 3 to 5, so it could come tomorrow/Sat, but if not, then to get back in touch.
Anyway, about 10 minutes ago, the postman knocked on the door, and it was my Hub, didn't have to sign for it, and the grey plastic bag it came in, had 'No Singature Required' on it also, so i wouldn't worry about not getting an e-mail with a tracking number, as more than likey the postie will just deliver it just like mine, now roll on Monday the 15th
Probably in preperation for Monday, when im due to be switched and activated.
http://www.speedtest.net/result/3761124841.png
This was before :-
http://www.speedtest.net/result/3747627022.png
Im well bloody happy with that!
Absoltuely seamless, top job Sky!.
Here are the Hubs stats :-
Thanks, it all went great, no problems at all, i didn't think it would be done so soon, as they do say up to midnight, so i was expecting it to go down sometime this afternoon really tbh, but when i got up this morning (around 10:15am), and noticed my internet lights were off, i thought id try the Hub to see if i had been activated, and i found i was, only took about a minute for the Hub to connect, after plugging in, Power Light came on, then a few seconds later the Wireless light lit up, then a few more seconds after that, the internet light started flashing Amber, then a few seconds later again, it went solid white, and my PC re-connected
Hope you have the same seamless experience.
EDIT:
I had read that on speedtest.net, the Namesco servers in London were the best ones to test your Fibre on.
From this :-
To this :-
Upload gone from 7042, to 7006, everything else exactly the same
I had around a 110MB fibre optic connection from Virgin and the speed was insane
Problem was we started getting lots of outages. Down for a few hours, then back. A week later down for a day. It got worse and working from home became a problem.
This is mind and the desire to save money, I went back to Sky and their ADSL up to 2MB. To say it was a shock is an understatement - it was awful >:(
It seemed to be ok for a month but right after that it kept dropping. Speeds varied from 300k to 1.4MB. Just AWFUL.
Long story short - engineer fixed a line problem and Sky gave me a loss of service credit. Plus the nice call center man pressed some magic buttons on his end and increased the speed to 5.5MB which is now sticking - no drops
Still nowhere near what I'm used to but much better. Perhaps I can live with it for now.
So yes, I recommend Sky broadband but make sure you check the speed you can get!
I'm considering Sky Fibre but can't justify the extra £10 a month for 6 months, then £20 a month for 12 months. 18 month contract......>:(
The 18 month contract is a bit much, but as long as i don't get any major problems, ill be happy, when i signed up to O2 it was a 12 month, and i had no problems, then when Sky took em over, i still had none, so hopefully their Fibres just like their LLU.
The 18 month commitment annoys me.
If it was £10 for 6 months and then £20 for the remainder 6 months I'd be tempted.
But 18 months total and up to 38MB speed when Virgin was delivering around 110MB is a no from me at the moment.
edit:
BTW, do you use/need your landline?
Virgin offer a fibre optic connection only (no phone line needed) - up to 50MB for £26.50 a month. Up to 100MB would cost you £31.50 a month and up to 152MB would be £39 a month. 12 month contract - no phone line!
http://store.virginmedia.com/broadband/compare-broadband/50mb.html
http://store.virginmedia.com/broadband/compare-broadband/100mb.html
http://store.virginmedia.com/broadband/compare-broadband/152mb.html
I may be tempted back just for the broadband in the hope my area has been improved from the last cuts I experienced.
Good that you have a decent connection now being so far out