Sky broadband - Orange broadband problems

happyhero

Hi I have Orange broadband which was previously Wanadoo and Freeserve before that for me, so I have basically stayed put for a while, but ever since Orange took my service over I keep getting loss of service, approximatly twice a month, sometimes for a few hours and sometimes days. Also my speed is diminishing into infinity I think, its terrible in the evening, about 0.2M and I was supposed to be on 2M.

I have complained and asked for refunds for the no-broadband days but my emails get ignored completely and the refunds they promise on the phone never appear, so I am rapidly getting fed up with them and thinking of moving but it doesn't seem that there is a very good provider out there. They all seem to have their share of problems. When I was with Freeserve and Wanado I never had a single problem that I can remember.

The Orange tecnical help is always very apologetic and achieving nothing, thats if we can understand each other of course.

I use this site for speed checks http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/ amongst others. What speeds are you getting with Orange or anybody else for that matter?

I am now tempted with the Sky offer (£5 a month seems gret stuff) but initially I heard there were lots of problems getting connected to them when they first take you on. I heard that I would have to wait 10 days first after leaving my previous service provider before applying for Sky and then it would take up to 15 days for connection if all went ok. Thats 25 days without service, thats crazy in this day and age. I do a lot of work on the net and struggle if I am without it for a day never mind 25.

I complained to them about this via an email since they keep sending me stuff to join and someone now at their end has come back and said that because I am already with a broadband service it will only cause a maximum dissruption of 30 minutes (thats more like it) but what do I believe now?

I have heard a few months ago friends having trouble when they tried to join Sky broadband but then again they had nothing before. They gave up in the end and went elsewhere.

Also when they quote you speeds they say "Up To", so if I went with Sky what might I actually get? If I paid for 8M would I get anywhere near 8, ever, and if I paid for 16M what would I get if it is "UP TO"? I mean if I join them and only get 2M ( which is a lot better than what I get now) why pay for 16M, when that would come in the scope of 8M? Are people who pay for 16M garanteed over 8M or is it just a con?

What speeds are Sky people actually getting? http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/ I would be interested to know and are you getting any disruptions of service?

I am confused what to do, help please.

Froglet

Hi.

Can't advise about Sky as i can't get the broadband service in my area.I have been with orange/wanadoo/freeserve,for 4 years.Only on dial up and have had few problems.But i have read lots of people, like you,have had trouble with their broadband .So i have spent a long time looking around,and so far think the madasafish people look about the best.I am going to change to them soon.It is a worry when you need the internet regularly.

matrix999

Sky Broadband is excellent, i've had it for just over 1 month now and the service is great - Just been upgraded to the Mid package as I was on the Connect package as Sky never had their equipment in my local exchange, now that its there i'm getting 8092kbps, basically 8MB!

Well worth the £5 per month

happyhero

matrix999 wrote: »

Sky Broadband is excellent, i've had it for just over 1 month now and the service is great - Just been upgraded to the Mid package as I was on the Connect package as Sky never had their equipment in my local exchange, now that its there i'm getting 8092kbps, basically 8MB!

Well worth the £5 per month

Very impressed matrix999, I would like to hear from a few more before I am convinced that what you are getting is common and not that you are just lucky.

Did you have any connection issues when you joined them or was it smooth?

And I know you haven't had it long enough to say really but any loss of service?

saintscouple

We're currently migrating over to sky, and everything is going to plan so far.
We phoned them last Sunday, and on the Thursday recieved confirmation letter of activation date being a week monday - thats a 2 week lead time as promised.
Plus we also went for their £5 anytime talk package which bt have sent us a letter stating it will be activated the same day.
Very pleased thus far.

cashman_2

i signed up for the up to 8mb package and i get 2mb d/load just depends how far from exchange you are,
cash.

penrhyn

Happy, you will get lots more views on https://www.skyuser.co.uk

I transferred from Orange and was without BB for 3 months,(tie pair problems and faulty DSLAM cards in the exchange) but all is well now, and its been running well since January.
The speed you will get is dependent on your distance from the exchange, noise on your line and your internal phone wiring, DIY extensions and the like.

I have a line attenuation of 45db, am on the Mid package sync at 8190kbps with a noise margin of about 9-11db.

darwin-rover

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/
Try Sam Knows to find out what speed (roughly) you can get in your area , and what services .

darwin-rover

matrix999 wrote: »

i'm getting 8092kbps, basically 8MB!

Doubt you're actually getting 8mb on an "up to 8mb" service . Have you tried more than 1 speed-test as some of them arent that reliable . Even if you lived in a house right next door to the exchange , the best you would get on a good day would be about 7.2mb .

penrhyn

I think the matrix is quoting his modem sync speed, but you are correct the best download speed I get is around 7mbps.

matrix999

darwin-rover wrote: »

Doubt you're actually getting 8mb on an "up to 8mb" service . Have you tried more than 1 speed-test as some of them arent that reliable . Even if you lived in a house right next door to the exchange , the best you would get on a good day would be about 7.2mb .

The modem sync speed is 8092kbps....have to say its better than the crappy dial up connection I had!