Advice re broadband and line transfer from sky

tushingham

Hi All,

Can anyone advise me about swtiching from Sky. I currently have a bundled package for TV/Phone+Line/Broadband.
Im coming to the end of my 12 months with them and no longer want the sky TV. I dont really use the phone to make calls either.

So essentially Im after a good/cheap broadband deal. Am I right in thinking I will need to look at the combined homephone/broadband offers because I'll need to pay line rental even if not making calls?

If that is the case do I assume that the Primus offer is likely to be a good deal as a non-o2 customer who cant be doing with talk-talk. Without sky tv I'll need a good download limit so am thinking of the 40gb limit via homephonechoices. Does this seem like a good idea?

Lastly do I need to be getting a MAC code from sky for this? Or do I cancel sky and then sign up elsewhere? Or do I cancel the tv part of sky and then just sign up with new phone/broadband provider and let them sort the disconnection from sky?

Phew! Thats a lot of questions. Thanks in advance for any advice for a newbie in this area!

T

Neil_Jones

Whichever provider you look at for a broadband service, if it comes down a land line, will be subject to line rental. This can cost anything up to £15 a month, plus the broadband + calls on top.

Primus may have the cheapest line rental going, but the number of complaints on the forum is quite high about them. Broadband on its own is more-or-less being given away with cornflake packets now and you can get it for less than £7 a month, though whether it's the right package for you depends on your usage. The £6.49 package from Plusnet only has a 10Gb monthly limit but they do have another package with a higher monthly usage which might be worth checking out.

With regards to MAC codes, if you migrate away from Sky on the broadband side only, you will need a MAC code. There is nothing to stop you having the phone line with Sky and the broadband with somebody else. The easiest way to transfer broadband from one provider to another is with the MAC code as it is a seamless transfer. You can do it without a MAC code but it will take far longer AND you'll be without broadband at all in the process.

Pick a new provider and sign up to them. At some point you'll get asked for a MAC code. You can usually add this later, but some will want it as you sign up. You can get this from Sky. You don't need to cancel Sky TV if you don't want to, you should be able to keep that bit if you want but migrate away from them on the Broadband/Line package.

For changing landline provider, providing you're out of contract, just do it. The new provider should handle everything.

penrhyn

Why cancel your Sky Broadband and calls at all?

Cancelling your TV package simply means losing your £2.50 /month discount.

So assuming you have BB unlimited you will be paying £10 /month + line rental.

If you pay the latter 12 months in advance you can get it for £119.40.

tushingham

Thanks for the replies guys. I no longer want sky tv so will definitely cancel that. Thanks for the heads up about plusnet out staying with sky. I hadn't thought about switching broadband only as I assumed sky line rental would be expensive. I'll look into that.

I am currently on sky's unlimited package. When I spoke to sky about helping just the broadband and line rental they said it would be £26/month! I didn't know about paying on advance so will investigate this. I do find sky speeds slow but this could be to do with my exchange and might be true for any provider!

Thanks again
T

tushingham

Ps penrhyn.thanks for info about sky. That would be £20/mnth. I think similar can be had for about 15/mnth. I have no experience of other providers. Do u think sky service is worth the extra 5/mnth?

T

penrhyn

Depends what's available at your exchange, do a search on samknows for your LLU operators.

What are you comparing the extra £5/month to?

tushingham

penrhyn wrote: »

Depends what's available at your exchange, do a search on samknows for your LLU operators.

What are you comparing the extra £5/month to?

Yes I'll look again on samknows but my speed tests on sky are always below what they propose it could be 'upto', which is below what the exchange could offer.

the £15 was looking at some of the combined deals in the MSE article.
this is a quote from the Primus section of the article, although i gather Primus' customer service is a little sketchy (& i have no need for the evening and wkend calls)...
'' Alternatively, for a larger 40GB download limit, sign up by phone via Homephonechoices* as part of its ongoing offer. This costs £15.78/month for the line rental, evening and weekend calls and broadband. Half of Primus customers rated its home phone service "good" in our November 2011 poll. 80% of the UK can get Primus broadband, so check first to see if you can. ''

penrhyn

Could you post your router line statistics?

http://www.skyuser.co.uk/tutorials/how_to_use_the_skyuser_router_stats_tool.html

tushingham

penrhyn wrote: »

Could you post your router line statistics?

http://www.skyuser.co.uk/tutorials/how_to_use_the_skyuser_router_stats_tool.html

Hi,


I tried downloading and using that pinger but it errors and says invalid key.
I can say that my exchange is unbundled and sky estimate i should be able to get at least 4.5 mb/s (disappointing but thats their estimate)
I've done speed tests on several different checkers at different times of the year and never been above 2.3mb/s.
I average around 1.5mb/s and often its under 1!!

Thanks
t

penrhyn

OK Just log onto the router then by clicking on:---

http://192.168.0.1/sky_router_status.html


Username admin
Password sky

.and clicking on show statistics.

macman

If you are already on a Sky LLU line then you'll find it difficult, if not impossible, to take your line direct to another LLU supplier, you'll need to do a return to donor to BT for an initial 12m line rental first. Once that is done you can set up your broadband with your preferred supplier.