Broadband

[Southampton Shrimper]

As I am usually slow to keep up with the rest of the world, I am finally making the switch from dial-up to broadband. I have pretty much made my mind up to go for Sky broadband, mainly due to the amazing price - and up to 16Meg (is that for real?).

I've tried looking on some review websites, but they tend to be full of moaners and whingers no matter who the provider. So, can anyone out there tell me their experiences of Sky broadband - should I take the plunge, or go for my second choice, tiscali?

Thanks

 

[Blue Army]

I am at uni and use BT HomeHub which is completely useless, never stays connected. At home over christmas we decided to change from dial-up to broadband and are now on Sky broadband/Sky talk.

It hasn't disconnected once for us, is faster than my uni connection and the calls from the house phone are loads cheaper now aswell, 100% recommend, and we pay more for BT HomeHub (which we have had to have the hub changed already because it would not stay connected for longer than an hour at a time).

BT really are ****in useless! Sky broadband for me mate, but that may because of how poor BT have proved to be!

 

[Kent Shrimper]

might be worth having a nose a this

http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/showthread.php?t=24663

 

[MK Shrimper]

Use TalkTalk...I know they've been slagged off repeatedly on Watchdog, but I've never had any problems.

And it's free!

 

[Usual_Suspect]

Got the Sky broadband about three months ago and never had a problem with it. Took abit of time to get the order through and the modem etc but think that was due to the high demand, for £5 a month I can't complain.

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

I am with Bulldog / Pipex... and their customer "service" is utter, utter dogsh*t. It's so bad, that frankly I'm minded to change as soon as my contract is up, just because I can't stand giving the useless feckers my money.

:guns: :flamer: :mad:

 

[Southampton Shrimper]

might be worth having a nose a this

http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/showthread.php?t=24663

Yeah, I did have a look at that thread before posting this morning, which kind of encouraged me to post really, as I thought there might be a positive response. On that thread, there was just the hint of favourable comments towards Sky broadband, but it was mostly slag off BT time!

Thanks for your comments guys, particularly Usual_Suspect and Blue Army for giving me the courage to follow my conviction and give Sky a try! I will get on to them just as soon as I can find a moment or two! I just hope I don't have too long to wait for the equipment - I was hoping if I ordered today or tomorrow, I would be able to get it all set up during half term week!

 

[Mr Plow]

You can compare ISPs at this site (the site formerly known as adslguide.org.uk) -->

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/

Now, f you've already ordered Sky BB then I recommend you forget all about the site I never mentioned above. BTW unless you live actually in the BT Exchange for your locale you'll get nowhere near that magical 16meg download.

 

[The Colours Between]

the thing to be aware of is dirty 18 month contracts. yea the broadband is very cheap, but if you encounter problems your stuck for the full term.

i work for an isp and one of the best sites to compare different providers is

www.adslguide.org and check out their forums.

useful reading.

 

[beemamad]

Tbh you will be very lucky to hit 16meg with sky as they use bt copper phone lines to give you service and the deciding factor is the state of these copper cables as well as the distance between your place and the nearest bt exchange....

As said above, watch out for 18 mth contracts and keep an eye on your monthly download limit as they will charge you the split second you go over it !!!

Hope this helps.

 

[Southampton Shrimper]

I'm probably only about a mile or two from my local exchange, the BT website says I can get up to 6Meg on my phone, so can't understand how Sky could give 16Meg!!??

Interesting about the monthly download limit - if I take Sky's 8Meg product, I'll have a limit of 40GB a month (enough, surely..??), however if I take the 16Meg, it's unlimited download for only £10 a month. Plus minimum subscription is only 12 months. Can't be bad - can it?

:)

 

[Phippsy]

well im with tiscali and i have had no problems what so ever in the 3 years i been with them. 2 mg with unlimited monthly usage for 14 quid it does me lol.

 

[Bielzibubz]

Although the other thread I started was indeed a rant about BT it was more directed at their woeful display of arrogance when it comes to their billing policy.

I've had BT for about 6 years now starting off with 56k modem and am now on Homhub 8meg. In all honesty I can say that in all that time I have lost the line a maximum of 5, maybe 6 times.

Their help line has always been available when I've needed it and I have to say their actual broardband has never been a problem. As far as connection speeds go i regularly get 7 to 7.2 meg but I have known it drop to 3.8meg at busy times.

All in all, apart from the completely ****ty attitude from their billing department I have never ever had a problem with them. In fact, when I thought the first Hub didn't work (it did, set up **** up on my part) I called them and got a new one withing three days. I now have a spare BT Homehub still boxed sitting in the bedroom :D

 

[The Colours Between]

its just worth being aware that when isps offer up to 16 meg they are doing just that. basicly you will get the fastest connection that your line will handle.