Sky Broadband! (merged)

mrJ_5

you expand the number of computers to connect to the router, by buying a network switch - for about £10 your network can grow from 4 users to any number you like - plus the cost of network switches and cables..... wireless makes this easier though

[Deleted User]

Quick question about Sky Broadband - I registered my interest last year but have changed my mind.

Do I need to do anything or when the time comes or is doing nothing enough?

comics

Registing you interest and buying are two different thing. so you don't have to do anything to stop.

I registered my interest, and have just received an e-mail offering my to buy, so it is two seperate thing.

I myself am still deciding on whether to switch or not. I with TW on 4mb at the moment in the middle of a six month £9.99 extention. I would chose Sky's max service because I really want a w-router. But I'm happy with TW service so an really undecided about switching.
The only thing I do know is that if TW does not extend the reduced price offer )when I reach the end of the period), I will switch to Sky.

doncaster_2

My advice to anyone thinking about changing their internet service provider would be simply, DON'T !

I say this as i used to work in a call centre that dealt with people who had been waiting in some cases months for their bb. Even after some people got the bb there seemed to be never ending problems , cancellations and mis-information galore. To top it all the customers were told there were no managers to speak to as they weren't 'customer facing!'

So my advice is stay put...

doncaster_2

This is the actual site used by skybb to give info on local exchanges.. http://www.dslzoneuk.net/checker.php


To find out if your local exchange can get skybb type in your home telephone no, and postcode and copy the 4 characters in the box...

chris73

My Parents local exchange has been enabled for more than 2 months now, and they registered their interest several months ago!. Still no email, I guess Sky don't want any more customers!

humfer

Stumpy wrote:

It only took a couple of weeks for me, although I think they said it's "up to" 28 days. It depends on how busy they are, and when BT get round to it. Someone will need to be in to take delivery of the router (if you're doing it yourself) or for the engineer (if you opt for them to install it).

You will need an ethernet port on your PC, but you can buy a network card very cheaply - usually around £10. For your wife's laptop, I'd buy a wireless network adaptor for it - you can physically (via wires) connect up to 4 computers to the router, I don't know what the limit is using wireless, but you shouldn't have any problems. I don't know how much they are, but it does state on the Sky website that they can sell you the relevant bits.

Sky Broadband is all ordered. I have a Dell PC which is about 5 years old and doesn't have an ethernet connection. I have therefore bought a USB Wireless Adapter from Sky. I therefore assume that I just plug the Sky broadband box into my telephone socket and the USB wireless adaptor into the back of my PC. Is this the case?

My wife's laptop is already wireless enabled so I am assuming that will work fine anyway? .....

Stumpy

I haven't used the wireless option myself, so can't really advise - I do know that when I rang up to order, the lady recommended that it was initially set up by connecting physically with the ethernet cable provided, but she didn't say it was essential. If your wife's laptop is wireless enabled, it might have an ethernet socket on it as well?

Anyway, apart from a slight problem with my BT line physically, the actual router set-up was really easy - simply following the (very simple) instructions on the CD provided (complete with animated pictures!).

If you want to know more about the wireless part of it, i'd recommend browsing the skyuser website. The main things that seem to be causing problems are setting up the e-mail and regular disconnections from the internet (that's ALL! :rotfl:) - both of which are easy to solve, but it would have been nice if the Sky support staff were aware of them!

UK007BullDog

I was ready to swap over to Sky but think I will rather not bother. Sounds like a total nightmare.

Stumpy

UK007BullDog wrote:

I was ready to swap over to Sky but think I will rather not bother. Sounds like a total nightmare.

I think that, unless you are desperate to change internet provider now and can't find a suitable "monthly contract" provider to tide you over, it is worth hanging fire for a bit. They've obviously got some technical issues and it's like hitting your head against a brick wall getting them to acknowledge them. I suspect they've probably taken on a load more staff who have no idea, they've all just been given a script to read from, and it's taking time for "known problems" to filter up to the people who can do something about it - saying that, I'm confident that, once you've got over the initial month or so of aggro in the vast majority of cases problems are solved.

I do think it's worth looking at Sky as simply a bog-standard provider of internet access though - although they do provide e-mail, it doesn't seem to have any spam filter on it server-side; they don't provide webspace and they don't provide a backup dial-up number. It is easy enough to arrange for these seperately, often for free, but it would have been nice to have them included.