Sky Broadband

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 06 Dec 2006, 09:19

I think my mum wants to switch Broadband Providers (we have BT Broadband ATM).

We have Sky Digital and she's attracted by the Sky BB ads saying its free (the "Base" Sky BB package that is) after a one off fee. (£40?

) She wants to save money basically over what we have now.

I guess after a few months the base package would pay for itself though.

http://broadband.sky.com/

I did notice the mid package (faster download speed - up to 8Mb instead of 2) actually has a cheaper activation fee, with a monthly fee of a fiver.

Blaizeyboy · Post by **Blaizeyboy** » 06 Dec 2006, 11:08

I got the sky broadband Mid package (£5 a month) 2months ago, and i'm pretty pleased with it.

We registered our interest, then got a letter from sky asking us to confirm, within 3 days our router arrived and BT connected us a week later.

We got the phone bill this week, and we've already dropped by £20+ which is pretty good.

Don't forget the base package has a download limit of 2gig

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 06 Dec 2006, 11:35

Even Sky's top speed for a tenner extra is really good value. I keep phoning up ntl (who I'm currently with) and use Sky as a bargaining chip

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 06 Dec 2006, 11:50

Yeah, I noticed the download limit, AFAIK we dojn't really download anything?

How do you know when you've exceeded it?
I've let her know about it though.

EDIT: Seems we've already ordered BT Total Broadband Option 2 (or something like that), Sky sounds much better value personally.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 06 Dec 2006, 12:01

A 2GB cap is REALLY small, you'll probably have burnt through it in 2 weeks with normal web surfing alone. A weekend if you download 120-350mb videos (I like I do around this time of year). Grim, what happens once you've exceeded the cap?

Blaizeyboy · Post by **Blaizeyboy** » 06 Dec 2006, 12:33

i'm on the mid package with 40 gig limit, but my highest monthly download is only
8 and half gig.

I think on sky BB they charge you max (£10)if you go over the 40gig mark

Max though is unlimited download for £10

I use netmeter to make sure i don't go over 40gig a month
But not sure how my totals are going to be affected when i get my 'Wii'
on friday

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 06 Dec 2006, 12:34

AFAIK, nothing

Don't know.
I don't download videos of that size.
If we get BT BB Option 2 (or the Sky Mid package) the cap is 8 Gb.

IronMonkey · Post by **IronMonkey** » 06 Dec 2006, 12:37

grim_tales wrote:Yeah, I noticed the download limit, AFAIK we dojn't really download anything? How do you know when you've exceeded it?
I've let her know about it though.

EDIT: Seems we've already ordered BT Total Broadband Option 2 (or something like that), Sky sounds much better value personally.

If you want to know how much bandwidth you're using, try this little program here: NetMeter

It sits in your system tray & monitors & keeps logs of your network traffic flow, so you can see at a glance how much you have used. You can even set a download limit (so in your case that would be 2GB per month - it would tell you when you had surpassed that limit).

Its a nifty little program.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 06 Dec 2006, 12:42

Cheers

I've downloaded it now.

When Sky or BT say the "usage cap" is 2Gb, do they mean uploads + downloads or just downloads?
Because checking the netmeter totals its only 70Kb (UL + DL) ATM for December, which is nothing

Blaizeyboy · Post by **Blaizeyboy** » 06 Dec 2006, 15:13

i use netmeter and i'm sure with net meter you have to load it up when your on the internet, otherwise it dosn't track the traffic.

Go into options (right click on box) and select 'load on windows startup'
then select hide meter, its a pain i know

sky charge UL + DL, don't foget when each month runs out, reset the data transferred, otherwise it starts warning you all the time you'll go over the limit

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 06 Dec 2006, 15:24

OK, well ATM the "Data Transferred" (thats only today BTW) is 80.4Kb (UL + DL), surely just plain browsing/surfing won't do much?

Thanks BTW.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 06 Dec 2006, 20:06

:shock: - Grrr not in my area.

All they can offer me is a crud deal using BT's ADSL line. The nice Sky deals aren't open to us. Grrr.

Agreed a 2Gb cap is rubbish but a 40Gb cap is flipping loads, it almost may as well be Uncapped. I wouldn't get BB with a 2Gb cap no matter how cheap it is.

With your current ISP you can usually check online or through customer services how much you use each month. Ask for a grand total over the last 3 months and then you'll know if you will ever get near the 2Gb cap.

Blaizeyboy wrote:i use netmeter and i'm sure with net meter you have to load it up when your on the internet, otherwise it dosn't track the traffic.

Or you could just check online

. With Tiscali anyway you can login into your account and it's one of the options.

EvaUnit02 wrote:A 2GB cap is REALLY small, you'll probably have burnt through it in 2 weeks with normal web surfing alone.

It depends how much you use it. My Mum has Unlimited but I've checked and her average is in the MBs.

grim_tales wrote:EDIT: Seems we've already ordered BT Total Broadband Option 2 (or something like that), Sky sounds much better value personally.

Your parents like throwing money away don't they

It sounds like they just pick the first deal they find. Sky is a bloody good deal IF -

* You're with Sky
* You can actually get it

p.s - Link fixed.

Shen · Post by **Shen** » 06 Dec 2006, 20:11

we are looking at sky BB too, we use aol right now...2gmb is £20 a month...sky looks really appealing £10 for upto 16mb and unlimited downloads, not bad plus now dads gone our incomes dropped majorly. but aols locked us into another 12 month contract despite using them for 6yrs, bastards.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 06 Dec 2006, 20:14

What! That is cheaky, normally the 12 month contract is JUST the first 12 months.

Anyway you can get out? AOL are well expensive.

It would be useful for us now but I won't be getting it when I move out as Freeview meets my needs (the TalkTalk deal at £20 a month for 8MB BB + All phone calls is what I'll be getting).

Blaizeyboy wrote:We registered our interest, then got a letter from sky asking us to confirm, within 3 days our router arrived and BT connected us a week later.

Do Sky offer routers as standard? If so that's even better.

FYI those who don't know a router has a built in firewall and is actually far easier to setup and use than your rubbishy freebie USB Modem.

Shen · Post by **Shen** » 06 Dec 2006, 20:21

yeah, but mom wont put me on the phone to use my "law" skills, you only gotta seem like you know what your talking about for them to change their attitude towards you. we'll get it sorted though, but then the contract runs out in february anyway.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 06 Dec 2006, 20:37

I bet your "law skills" are razor sharp

. February isn't long now to get rid.

Parents are weird creatures, thinking they "always" know best.

Shen · Post by **Shen** » 06 Dec 2006, 20:43

well i know enough to get out of some things

Blaizeyboy · Post by **Blaizeyboy** » 06 Dec 2006, 23:52

you get a netgear(but branded sky) wireless router for free with sky worth about £50. ridiculously small wires with it though. you also get 3 months free macafee

something i havn't tried with sky though is gaming?
i've heard some people have had problems with xbox live and the nintendo DS,

picking up my Wii on friday (can't play on it till xmas) but if i have any problems concerning sky BB i'll post, i'm not sure how it'll affect the totals as well

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 07 Dec 2006, 08:32

We have Sky Digital ATM

I keep telling her surely she can backtrack on this "BT" offer if she decides she doesnt want it but she's moaning BT might have locked her into a contract (bastards if they have..) So its up in the air now.

Blaizeyboy · Post by **Blaizeyboy** » 07 Dec 2006, 11:47

well a month after i got sky BB, my brother( who has sky digital and BT BB)
had a begging phone call from BT offering him all this extra stuff for wireless at only an extra £2 a month, putting him up to about £20 a month
on the condition that he signs an 18 month contract extension

he refused as he's moving house and is looking at sky BB, i've heard a few times of bt contacting sky digital subscribers trying get them tied to long contracts so they can't have sky BB

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 07 Dec 2006, 11:59

Really? That sucks. :x

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 07 Dec 2006, 19:04

I don't see anything really wrong with that. It's all business, you can just say no.

As for the free security, it's a con. You can get McAfee (if it's your preference) for 12 months for a one off cost. I always say I don't want it straight away so I don't have to worry 3 months down the line when I might forget.