Will switching from BT to Sky get a faster broadband?

smartpicture

I'm currently in a rural area with BT, I pay for 'up to 8Mb' but actual speed is more like 1.5Mb according to online speed checkers. Now Sky has written to me saying 'superfast up to 20MB Sky Broadband has arrived in your area for the first time'. Will I actually see a speed increase if I switch, or will I just pay less for exactly the same speed as it's still using the BT equipment? Tried asking Sky but no joy.

I currently pay BT £13.60 for line rental (incl paper billing and unlimited weekend calls) and £15.40 for BT Total Broadband Option 1 10GB, but go over that limit a few times. Sky are offering 11.25 for line rental and 7.50 for unlimited broadband up to 20Mb and Sky Anytime+. I already have Sky TV.

1. Will I get improved speed, or just the same?
2. Will I lose my btopenworld email addresses?
3. Will I still have caller display?
4. My home phone currently txts my mobile when it receives a call at 10p/txt, will I still be able to do that?
5. Am I likely to lose internet connection for any length of time during the switchover?

Anything else I need to consider! But main concern is whether my connection speed is likely to improve. Thanks.

Blackjack_Davy

You won't see any more speed than that as it's the maximum the line will support, assuming that you've checked there are no problems with the internal wiring.

Caller display will cost extra if you stick with line rental with BT, it's free with Sky line rental.

Assuming you get a MAC from BT and give it to Sky the switchover should happen on the same day if you keep line rental with BT, if you change to Sky line rental there can be delays.

The main benefits are cheaper broadband and higher download limits.

jamesy1986

You don't pay for 8mb, you pay for what speed your line can handle. The "up to" is an advertisement, other peoples lines throughout the area will vary, cant make an advert for everyone.

You won't get better speed unless you've made sure you've done everything in your power, in your home, to make sure the connection and line are perfect. You will however, not be capped at certain times of the day, if sky are offering "up to 20mb" that means its the unlimited package, meaning sky and not bt have control over what you're capped at, and both have different policies.

dont know about email address, i assume not.

if you also take line rental with sky yes you will be without the internet for about 2 to 3 weeks it seems with most customers.

macman

What exchange are you on?
https://www.samknows.com
Do an exchange search.

smartpicture

macman wrote: »

What exchange are you on?
https://www.samknows.com
Do an exchange search.

This one:
http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/SSSHE

Seems to be full of lots of ominous red crosses...

According to Google maps my house is 1.6miles away by road.

smartpicture

It also says this:

However, there is another service on your phone line (e.g. ADSL, LLU, DACS, etc) that would prevent you from ordering a new ADSL connection.
The following services are available in your location:

BT Wholesale ADSL
BT Wholesale ADSL Max
TalkTalk (CPW) LLU
Sky Broadband / Easynet LLU

and that I should be able t get 2.5Mb on ADSL Max, but I only get 1.5Mb on average (it varies quite a lot).

macman

So it's telling you that Sky or TT are your only LLU providers.

smartpicture

So is LLU better than ADSL? Sorry to be dim.

spike7451

smartpicture wrote: »

This one:
http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/SSSHE

Seems to be full of lots of ominous red crosses...

According to Google maps my house is 1.6miles away by road.

Your house may be 1.6 miles away but the drop cable may go a longer route before it get's to you.

Put your phone number in the link below & it'll tell you the speeds you can expect to get on the various services;

http://www.btwholesale.com/pages/static/Community/Broadband_Community/Coverage/ADSL_Availibility_Checker.html#

swwchris

I can only speak as I find. I moved from BE to SKY in September last year. I was getting BE Broadband and the phone line was with BT.
I ordered unlimited phone calls, line rental and unlimited broadband. The whole change over was seamless, I plugged in the SKY router in the morning, and when I returned from work it was all connected and running fine.
Great price (I already had SKY tv)
My speed jumped to 11mbs and has stayed around that figure. Connection has been rock solid.
I did have a fault on the line, which was reported, and a BT engineer turned up at my house the same day and fixed (corroded connections on the pole)
Caller ID is free with Sky
The only thing I could moan about is that you have to use the SKY router, the password is not given to users (although this can be extracted if determined to use a different router).
So all in all I can only recommend SKY

Mark_In_Hampshire

smartpicture wrote: »

So is LLU better than ADSL? Sorry to be dim.

LLU *is* ADSL.

However LLU connects your line directly (almost) to the provider's kit (e.g. Sky, BE) rather than going through BT Wholesale equipment. So, if you migrate to Sky, you are correct, you will bypass some BT equipment.

BT Wholesale uses profiling which can react to unstable lines by dropping the speed and might prevent you from squeezing the last drop of performance out of one of BT's special knackered old lines.

BE does not.

Additionally LLU suppliers are all (I think....) ADSL2+ which can support faster speeds than ADSL.

However in order to get those, you generally need to have a sync of about 4 Meg anyway. Less than that might bring little or no improvement, and may actually cause instability.

We live 1.5 miles from the exchange, the predicted speed is 2.5Mbps which is the ADSL MAX rate.

The IP Profile is more important - ours was 1750kbps and so speed results - actuals - should indeed be in the range of 1.5Mbps.

I have a suspicion that Sky don't supply caller ID, but I could be wrong on that. Do check.

On your point 4 - I don't know how you have this set up - never had such a service...

On point 5 - downtime should be a matter of minutes while some wires are moved from one place to another. However, you are at the mercy of BT Openreach who do the work, so make sure you have a mobile handy.