Sky don't give out broadband username/password

chunter

We were on the phone yesterday to get the the broadband username and password because the Speedtouch router was physically broken into bits.

The very unhelpful person on the other end told me straight off Sky don't give out broadband user-name and password.

Is this true? You have to you use their sky speedtouch router?

It's an interesting new way of scamming customers. Pretty pathetic really.
£40 for a replacement router.

I've had a few encounters with Sky broadband customer service, about 4, and they have been consistently extra-ordinarily pathetic, even by the broadband industry's atrocious standards..

If you're with sky, it's probably a good idea to login to your router, while it's still working, and note your router's broadband username and password.

spannerzone

Yes it's true and it's not new, in fact it's been the case since Sky started providing broadband and if you'd read the terms and conditions when you signed up you'd know that you must only use a Sky supplied modem of course

There is a way to get your Sky ADSL user and password for some of the Sky modems http://www.cm9.net/skypass/ (site might be down though) or http://www.skyuser.co.uk/forum/extracting-sky-router-passwords/19953-getting-your-v1-v2-router-passwords-safe-way-31.html#post349490

But you'll be breaking the terms and conditions should you use a non Sky modem router.

You cannot view the information from looking at the Sky router admin pages as it's not there and cannot be changed (so you can't even buy another Sky modem from ebay and use that)

chunter

Not my broadband thankfully. Rupert and me have a long standing disagreement. Since before Skynet was invented in fact.

AppleMatt

Yep, it's a terrible scam and shows what kind of company they are. My mum left them because of this.

Notmyrealname

AppleMatt wrote: »

Yep, it's a terrible scam and shows what kind of company they are. My mum left them because of this.

What scam? There is no scam. They merely don't give you the username and password for logging onto the network because they want to control the hardware used. The reason for that is that because it is easier and cheaper to support a limited range of devices.

If you want someone to blame, just look at the countless stupid questions asked in technical forums. Users are stupid on the whole and that is why companies lock stuff down as much as possible.

prowla

There is no scam - Sky supply the router with their firmware, so that they know exactly what they are supporting, and also it is locked to your account.

It is part of the T&Cs that you sign up to that you will not use another ADSL router.

If their one is broken then ask them nicely for a replacement and they'll give you one. Depending upon how long you've been a customer you can either say (a) you've not had it long and have a reasonable expectation that it shouldn't stop working so soon, or (b) you've been a loyal customer for ages and really think they should take care of you. If they won't then call cancellations and say you can't use their service.

(Yes, it is possible to get the username & password off the router, but you can't just note it down, as you have to use a more complicated procedure to get it - as noted above in the thread. Also, Sky will disconnect you if they find out you are using a 3rd party router.)

GunJack

and to further complicate matters, sky are moving to MER authentication, where your login is also tied to the MAC address of the router they send you....so you also would need to spoof that MAC address into the router you intended to use.....

mr_fishbulb

prowla wrote: »

Also, Sky will disconnect you if they find out you are using a 3rd party router.)

They didn't seem to mind in the 3 years I was using my own one.

duchy

mr_fishbulb wrote: »

They didn't seem to mind in the 3 years I was using my own one.

No we <cough> they don't care. Sky won't support if you get tech problems with a 3rd party router tho.
. Not usually a problem as IF a customer is savvy enough to discover their user name and pw they are usually reasonably technically competent. Most people assume the router is the issue when they have problems regardless-usually it's not.

Not sure what the OP is going on about a router for forty quid though. Sky's N router is £35 (plus 2.18 p&p).

Notmyrealname

mr_fishbulb wrote: »

They didn't seem to mind in the 3 years I was using my own one.

I use my own too because using Sky's they route me through Kingston Communications (Krapoo).

debitcardmayhem

Everyone should check out spannerzone's spot here