Sky Broadband

Virginmedia continue to bung their prices up beyond all reason so I'm thinking about going to the dark side and moving to Sky.

They've got a great deal at the moment (half-price for Sports HD, Movies HD and all the usual stuff), but one thing I'm wondering is what the broadband service is like?

I live just off Chichester Road in Clee and their speed checker seems to think I'll get 5-11 Mbps, which is a fraction of what I get with Virgin's cable. This might not be a problem as the only thing we really use broadband for other than basic browsing is streaming via Netflix/NowTV.

I know it's a long-shot, but does anybody on this board live in the same neck of the woods as me and have experience of using Sky Broadband for streaming shows on these services? If so, how well does streaming work with the (relatively) slow ADSL speeds in comparison to the cable I'm used to?

If I move across to Sky, I stand to save a good few hundred quid over the next 12 months so it will be useful to know how feasible this is!

No idea on Sky Broadband but why not try the old trick of threatening to leave and see what deals Virgin offer you then?

Well, that's always an option, but from what I've read, they are unlikely to give deal nearly as good that Sky are offering, especially if you include the movie channels (which I don't currently have).

The price rises are ridiculous, though. I reckon it has gone up about 20% over the past couple of years!

Agree with you on the price hikes. Branson must have his eye on a new island or spaceship.

I am toying with leaving too but i do a lot of streaming and Virgin are the fastest by a mile. Then there's Rupert Murdoch. Can't stand giving him any of my cash.

Heard one or two people say that BT is quite good but i think it's a lottery where you live as to what broadband speeds you actually get. I live off Clee Road and i have 100 meg broadband. Speedchecker suggests that i get nowhere near that speed ever.

Will do a bit of research over the hols i think.

I've got Sky and it's by far the best broadband. Though i'm living down in Oxford, my parents have just switched to Sky from Virgin, they live just round the corner from Chichester and it's been far far better.

I know it's fashionable to hate Murdoch etc but Sky are by far the best service out of the main providers.

I live in Suffolk and have BT Broadband and TV,

Not sure  if the speed is good or bad , its seems ok to me,

AND

Because I am a loyal customer  I have just got a extra 20 entertainment channels free for a year.

I never even asked or threatened to leave either.

Thanks for the responses.

The problem with ADSL is it's a bit of a crapshoot as to what speed you can get. My house is (apparently) far enough away from the exchange that they can estimate the speed of 5-11 Mbps which is, whichever way you look at it, a big drop. I think I'm on around 50 Mbps on Virgin and I've checked but can't get fibre from anybody but VM.

A quick scan around seems to indicate that some of the HD or 'Super HD' streaming rates come in at between 5 and 25 Mbps on Netflix, for example. Not so bothered about the 'Super HD', but I'm not convinced that the quoted 5-11 Mbps will be enough to get the HD stream reliably enough, especially as I have no idea of the contention ratios I'm likely to face in my area.

Just a pity that there wasn't a wider general rollout of fibre optic cable in this country. Thanks to Maggie Thatcher for that. Do you know that BT were planning to roll out fibre all the way across the country in the early 1990s, but she put a stop to that because she was worried that it might affect 'competition' by private companies? A completely cretinous decision which has cost businesses and the consumer untold billions ever since. Makes her theft of my milk as a kid seem like child's play in comparison!

Anyway, I may have to go the route of begging/bluffing/threatening to leave VM to see if I can get a decent reduction. It seems sheer chance whether you can get a good deal or not.  

I'm the same, I pay a Kings ransom for Virgin 100 Mb Broadband, TV with Tivo, V+ and Sky Sports and Unlimited phone calls 24/7.
The trouble is that it's that good, I cannot fault it.
So sod it, I'll continue to pay it.

Quoted from mariner tommy

I'm the same, I pay a Kings ransom for Virgin 100 Mb Broadband, TV with Tivo, V+ and Sky Sports and Unlimited phone calls 24/7.
The trouble is that it's that good, I cannot fault it.
So sod it, I'll continue to pay it.

I am the same Tom, I also have the movies for the kids too. The only problem i have with the Tivo is that every now and again i have to re-set it due to freezing and then i lose all the past recordings.

I don't have Tivo myself (yet), but my sister doesn't have very many nice things to say about it.

Incredibly buggy for a premium, high-end product, apparently, which is surprising when you consider that Tivo has been around for many years now.

I've just worked out that following the price increase next month, my Virginmedia bill will have gone up by over 26% in just 2 years! Talk about taking the urine.

I've got my figures worked out and will give them hell about it when I find the time to phone up.  

Quoted from cmackenzie4

I am the same Tom, I also have the movies for the kids too. The only problem i have with the Tivo is that every now and again i have to re-set it due to freezing and then i lose all the past recordings.

I've had the tivo and the V+ box for about 18 months now and only had one problem and that was with the V+ box, it kept freezing so they changed it and I've not had any more bother.

Tivo's been excellent for me. Had it for about a year - no complaints at all.

I am also with Virgin for TV, broadband and telephones.   Generally happy with the service, although the internet has gone down for 4 days and 2 days in the last 18 months.  The compensation is derisory.

Like Maringer I am surprised and annoyed at the recently notified price increase of £6  a month from Feb 2015.  This comes on top of low-cost deals to induce people to move to Virgin.  Loyalty has no value of course when you already with them.

I too am thinking of moving to Evil Sky.  Virgin quote free maintenance callouts and faster broadband.  The technical support is very good with Virgin.  My athletics training partner said that in theory Sky charge for maintenance.  However, if you ring up and threaten to leave then they always waive the costs.  Or have done so to date.

My mate reckons that the Sky Plus remote is far superior to anything else on the market and a very useful viewing and recording tool.  

I think that Sky offer better inducements to move to them (and to stay).  They are more driven by maintaining and increasing their market share that Virgin are.

One sky mate can get BT sports for NL games, the other can't. With Virgin these games are free.  Why can't Town get promoted to make decision-making easier?

Will see what happens after Xmas.  

Well, I phoned Virgin the other day and the offer they put on the table was, quite frankly, rubbish. I've given them 30 days notice and will see if the retentions team get back to me over the next couple of weeks before actually making the move to Sky. I understand that they often phone you up with better offers once you've given notice...

It would be nice to get one over on a vast, faceless corporation, but I'm not holding my breath about it! Hopefully the Sky Broadband will suffice if it comes to that.