MSE News: Sky takes over O2 and Be broadband: What does this mean for customers?

gwapenut

Thanks all for the advice re: switchover day, I can confirm in my case it happened around 5pm or so, and I was without internet for a whole 2 minutes!

Very easy ... working now on my existing O2 box, just the trivial matter of connecting up the sky hub later today.

jem16

gwapenut wrote: »

Very easy ... working now on my existing O2 box, just the trivial matter of connecting up the sky hub later today.

You don't need to change to the Sky hub but if you're going to, do it soon before DLM kicks in. After that you don't want to be switching the router on and off as it can mix up the results.

HHNN

Sky charging me for NOT using services!
I had O2 broadband at £7.50 a month because my mobile is on O2 PAYG.
Now I have received my first statement from Sky. It includes the following:
Supplement for not having Sky Talk £5.00
Supplement for not having Sky TV £2.50
Can they really charge me for NOT using something?! I haven’t had a TV for about 30 years, and I don’t know what Sky Talk is ...
I rang Sky on 0800 096 3624 and after a lengthy dialogue they offered to waive the supplements and charge only £12 a month for the first year. (That’s odd because the statement shows the Broadband Unlimited charge to be £7.50 ... I didn’t spot that at the time of my call.)
I then researched alternatives and decided to go to BT Internet with some introductory offers. I rang Sky for a MAC code, which arrived within five days, and also established that there will be no charge for termination as I was with O2 for more thank 12 months.

jem16

HHNN wrote: »

Can they really charge me for NOT using something?!

Yes they can. The actual cost is £15pm with discounts to bring it down to £7.50pm if you have both Sky TV and Sky Talk/Line Rental.

I haven’t had a TV for about 30 years, and I don’t know what Sky Talk is ...

Sky Talk is where your calls costs are paid to Sky as opposed to BT or whoever.

nacforder

I have just moved from O2 to Sky. As I didn't take up any of their offers I have stayed with my BT line and retained my O2 Box. After the switch I couldn't access the Internet and had to ring the Sky helpline. It turns out that I needed to do a factory reset on my O2 Box. Once this had been done all was OK.
Why this was I don't know, no mention of needing to do this in Sky's comms, but I had tailored my O2 Box to add Port Forwarding etc, so maybe this was the reason why.
Of course I lost all my settings as I couldn't find a way of backing them up, not sure if that would of helped anyway as a reload would probably just of put me back to square one.
So in short, beware that a factory reset maybe required.

StevieJ

jem16 wrote: »

You don't need to change to the Sky hub but if you're going to, do it soon before DLM kicks in. After that you don't want to be switching the router on and off as it can mix up the results.

Are you supposed to leave the router on continually?

jem16

StevieJ wrote: »

Are you supposed to leave the router on continually?

For the first 10 days, it's absolutely essential and Sky tell you to do that. If you keep switching it off DLM will set a lower speed as it will think there is an issue.

I leave mine on continually anyway.

sharonbetty

I also had my first bill since Sky took over fro 02. I was told I would be paying £7.50 a month (£1 more than with 02) so was happy to continue. I was NOt told about the other charges for not having Sky this and not having Sky that! I'm extremely unhappy about this. It looks like the cheapest deals nowadays is by taking phone and broadband together but I didn't want to change from BT phone because I have free daytime, evening and weekend calls which are valuable to me. Not happy!

jem16

sharonbetty wrote: »

I was NOt told about the other charges for not having Sky this and not having Sky that! I'm extremely unhappy about this.

Why are you unhappy with this? The price is £7.50pm. If you had Sky TV it would be £5pm and if you had both Sky TV and Sky Talk it would be £0pm. You have basically been offered free BB for 12 months with a penalty for not having Sky TV and Sky Talk. This is why it's £7.50pm.

After 12 months it will be £15pm if you only have BB.

It looks like the cheapest deals nowadays is by taking phone and broadband together but I didn't want to change from BT phone because I have free daytime, evening and weekend calls which are valuable to me. Not happy!

The cheapest deals are always bundled nowadays. As to E&W calls, then yes you would get them free with BT if you agreed to a new 12 months contract with them. Anytime calls are subject to an extra charge though of £7pm with BT and £5pm with Sky.

gwapenut

jem16 wrote: »

You don't need to change to the Sky hub but if you're going to, do it soon before DLM kicks in. After that you don't want to be switching the router on and off as it can mix up the results.

Thanks, that was my thoughts too. Have left it 1 day and 2 nights, hope that's not too late.

Out of interest, can they restart the DLM if I request it later?