Broadband Recommendations?

[FactualFrank]

The situation for me so far is that my Sky contract has run out and I'm on a rolling monthly one.

I currently pay £10.00 'Sky Broadband Unlimited', but of course that also comes with 'Sky Talk Line Rental' which costs £18.99, which is basically £29 a month.

My speed is also shockingly bad. I've just done a Speed Test and it's come back as 6.28 mb/s.

I phoned Sky and they said for something like an extra £2 a month I could get Fibre Optic, which is 'up to' (must not forget that bit) 40.00 mb/s. I think if I sign an 18 month contract I won't get anywhere near the 40.00 mb/s.

There's another problem in that I can't get Virgin Media where I live - it's been 'on the way' for over 3 years now, but it doesn't look like it'll ever arrive.

So... I want to get rid of Sky Broadband - it's crap. But what's the best alternative, when you remove Virgin Media from the options? Ideally I'll pay less than £29 a month but for a quicker speed, so long as it's reliable. I don't want it going 'down' every 5 minutes.

[Terrier]

I've found bt very good and reasonably priced, not sure though if they have any offers on at the moment.

[PaintYorkClaretnBlue]

I've got ee fibre, £10 a month plus line rental which, if you pay 12 months up front is about £15-£16 a month.

[FactualFrank]

Terrier, how much is it costing and what speed are you getting? If you're not sure, this link will tell you:

http://www.speedtest.net/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[FactualFrank]

I've got ee fibre, £10 a month plus line rental which, if you pay 12 months up front is about £15-£16 a month.

What's the 'uptime' like? What speed do you get?

[Joe14]

I got sky fibre recently. Went from 4mbs to now regularly getting 35-40mbs. So far so good.

[wilks_bfc]

Are you able to get fibre broadband?

If not then no matter which provider you go with the speeds will be similar.

We're currently with Sky and only getting 3.5mb download and waiting for fibre to be available (which according to Openreach, is currently being connected and "be available to your premises within the next four months"

[Terrier]

I'm no expert on this net thing frank and now you have given the link i find my speed is similar to yours for which i pay £26.49(i've looked and its £24.49 for a 12mth contract at mo).Not sure if it matters but i now live in the sticks, living in burnley or a big town may help with the speed issue.

[PaintYorkClaretnBlue]

What's the 'uptime' like? What speed do you get?

Download is about 33-35 and upload is 9-10

I also get an extra 5gb/month free on my ee mobile because I have ee fibre.

[JohnMac]

In Padiham, just off Burnley Road between Whitegate and bottom end of Victoria Road. This is consistent for me on Sky Broadband and it's never caused me any issues whatsoever. I am still on 12 months free until July.

Ping 20ms
Download 17 Mbps
Upload 1.15 Mbps

[JarrowClaret]

I have BT infinity I get consistently good speeds not tested it for a while but was getting about 79 mbps download the last time I did. Problem with it I find is it's fairly expensive, I keep it as I work from home and I haven't had a problem since it was fitted, if I didn't I think I'd be looking for alternatives.

[cricketfieldclarets]

Sky runs over the bt network so you should be getting similar speeds as you would on bt. Only way you wont is if sky throttle your service.

Any fibre product will seem massively quicker instantly.

What do you use your connection for?

[FactualFrank]

OK, well I phoned Sky and ended up talking to Frankie Boyle, who knocked my monthly fee down from £100 to £68 and increased the broadband to Fire Optic. So I should get nearer 30 mb/s as opposed to 6 once it's upgraded in 5-10 days. I then got put through to India who did a were tweaks to up it to nearer 7 mb/s, until I get the upgrade.

31 days 'cooling off period' so if the Broadband isn't fast enough, I can phone up and get that removed from the contract, making it £40 a month for the TV.

So I still might be back yet for alternative Broadband deals if it's not up to scratch.

[LoveCurryPies]

I get a speed of 235mb with Virgin Media.

[karatekid]

Are you able to get fibre broadband?

If not then no matter which provider you go with the speeds will be similar.

We're currently with Sky and only getting 3.5mb download and waiting for fibre to be available (which according to Openreach, is currently being connected and "be available to your premises within the next four months"

I've been getting the same message from Openreach for the last 12 months

[FactualFrank]

I get a speed of 235mb with Virgin Media.

Yeah that's not available here, otherwise I'd have definitely gone for it.

When I lived in Burnley we had VM for the Internet and Sky TV. That's probably the best you can get. Virgin Media were poor with TV (Do you still have to record a programme if it's set to remind!?!?) and Sky were poor with the Internet.