BE of SKY broadband?

BROOMY_3

hi all,
i was just wondering who would be the best isp for gaming out of these two?
i have not heard great things about sky but a person in my area is getting 12-13 mbps from them! (sky unlimited)
The other option is BE value which another person near me is getting 6-7 mbps.
i just don't know which one to go for?
cheers
jj

dylanuk

Sky Unlimited and Be Value aren't really comparable packages - as they are in different price brackets.

You really want to look at which is better Sky Unlimited or Be Unlimited.

There's an article on gaming broadband here you might find interesting http://www.chooseisp.co.uk/broadband-guide/.../gaming-broadband.html - I would say though, when it comes to BE / O2 - you'll probably be fine with the Unlimited/Premium packages rather than the Pro packages unless you're a really serious gamer (e.g. it's your job or you host gaming servers).

BE specialise in gaming - they have purposely low ping rates and very lenient fair use policies geared to offering a good broadband package for gamers.

Sky Unlimited is also an interesting broadband package though, because it's one of only two in the UK that has no fair use policy whatsoever (Virgin's XXL 50Mb being the other one).

Sky Unlimited uses adsl2+ technology and the same 'up to' speeds as BE - but they do use different networks so there is likely to be variation. As your friends are living close to you - you're all obviously living pretty close to your exchange.

The fact one friend has 6-7mb on Be Value is just because it's capped at 8Mb. So it's likely if you went with Be Unlimited (or Pro) you'd get a closer speed to your friend on Sky Unlimited.

If you want the best provider for gaming it's BE. If you want their best package for gaming it's Pro - or Unlimited would be fine too.

If you've got Sky TV already (or are planning on getting it anyway) and you want to get the best value for money - then go with Sky Unlimited, because it's only £10/mth for a totally unlimited up to 20mbps service (if you take the free sky call plan - you can leave your line rental with BT).

BROOMY_3

cheers guys i thought you all would say BE.
but i still have one question, there is a person in my area who is with be unlimited who only get 3.4 mbps when he should be getting upto 24?
is this because he has tested it early and it takes a while to get a stable connection?
i am a mile away from the exchange which is pretty close i think?
cheers
jj

mk-donald

"Be Unlimited" is the name of an upto 24Mbps synch package (c84% of that usable, ie 20Mbps) package. Be Un limited is also the name of the ISP which may be a confusion.

Not sure where you are getting that Be 3.4Mbps result from. Is it just something you've seen on a website reporting neighbourhood results ?

Certainly a result around 3.4 should be at the end of something like a 5.5kms line (which is the limit Be & o2 seem to have for automatically accepting orders online - it used to be an explicit T&C on Be!). I have a 5kms line and get 4.1Mbps modem synch and around 84% of that as usable data speedtest result (ie 3.4Mbps)

Even a "speed" result from your own house might give different figures depending on if you meant "modem synch", or "some" speedtest result, might be even be some WiFi speedtest result, probably lower. If they aren't using the master socket or proper ADSL filters on all used sockets, or have duff internal wiring or ring wire 'aerial' problems etc - they can all have major negative effects on speed.

BTW being physically one mile from the exchange doesn't mean the landline crow flies that route. If you already have ADSL then use the stats from your modem and the predictor (links in my analyses docs, website link earlier in the thread) to get an idea of what you are HIGHLY likely to get on YOUR line.

BTW Don't just assume/believe that because Be market to gamers that they have some ginormous advantage. On Be Value the technical ADSL service is IDENTICAL to o2 Standard (except that Be Value w/be 40GB/month data capped from 1st July, and misses out on various o2 extra perks); on the higher Be packages you CAN opt to tweak the settings (which you can't on o2 branded circuits) but we're essentially talking 95% becoming 96% maybe 97%... 98%...., not comparing 20% to 80%, whereas often you ARE with the net-costs between the Be & o2 branded LLU subscriptions from Telefonica - so choose wisely between the 15 different net-cost Be/o2 subscriptions (none of which you'd regret).

MKD