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

Stompa

StevieJ wrote: »

Thanks for that, I phoned and they offered me 12 months at the same as previous £5 a month (alhough I had £40 cashback as well last time). I am not sure why I am on the £5 offer as BB is the only service I have with them (my phone line is with Primus £8.69 a month).

Thanks for that. My free 13 months (BB only) expires in February, and I had intended to move to PlusNet, but if they offer me £5pm I'll probably stay put.

gardner1

any updates as to if this is still being offered as low as £5 broadband only
I have had 2 years free broadband with o2 then sky and if I can get third year for £5 will stick with them

gowgowuk

Hi,

I am also and ex-O2 and had free internet and phone (bar the last 2 months) with sky. I called them once yesterday and they said they have no offers for me. I then decided to take the Plusnet offer (Broadband +Phone). When I called back Sky to get a MAC code, I had a rep who proceeded with a very hard sell speech. He told me that Plusnet will always be slower than Sky (not sure where he got that from), that they do traffic shaping (which I didn’t know and is true) and my speed will be limited at peak time (not exactly true as far as I understand traffic shaping- is it not a rather good thing to have if I use VoIP and not P2P?) and offered me a £50 credit to match the Plusnet offer (which I’m not sure make sense since I would have no other offers and pay the full £16.40 + £7.50 for Sky, but maybe I didn’t quite understood his long detailed calculation). Anyway, he wouldn’t take no for an answer and insisted, and insisted, and insisted, saying I would be silly to refuse a better broadband for the same price! Until, after I said “No” several times, I started to get a bit angry and told him to please stop and give me my MAC code. Only then he said it’s not needed and he cannot give me one anyway, and adding very smugly “you got completely wrong info from Plusnet, what a great start! Good luck with them!”.
I don’t know if this kind of hard (almost aggressive) sell works with some, but for me it’s a complete put off and I absolutely hated the experience and after that don’t want to have anything to do with Sky…

jem16

gowgowuk wrote: »

He told me that Plusnet will always be slower than Sky (not sure where he got that from), that they do traffic shaping (which I didn’t know and is true) and my speed will be limited at peak time

I think you got the same guy I got last November when I phoned up to see what offers there were before leaving for PlusNet. I got told all of that too although I did get offered half price line rental. However with £100 Quidco cashback and £75 PlusNet cashback, Sky were never going to get close although I would have stayed if they'd given me free line rental again.

(not exactly true as far as I understand traffic shaping- is it not a rather good thing to have if I use VoIP and not P2P?)

PlusNet's traffic shaping is actually a good thing as it diverts resources to the areas that need it more to avoid slow downs. Sky with no traffic shaping can actually have more problems

I started to get a bit angry and told him to please stop and give me my MAC code. Only then he said it’s not needed and he cannot give me one anyway, and adding very smugly “you got completely wrong info from Plusnet, what a great start! Good luck with them!”.

The one thing he has said that is correct is that you don't need a MAC is you are on Sky's full LLU service.

I did move from Sky to PlusNet. What I would say is that PlusNet could be slower for you than Sky but will not necessarily be provided you have ADSL2 at your exchange with PlusNet. So check that out first.

The second issue that may give you slower speed is that PlusNet uses BT equipment and their DLM tends to be more aggressive than Sky's so if you have any problems with noise on your line you may get a slower speed. In saying that I do have some noise issues and have now settled to a speed which is higher than what I got with Sky. Currently I have just over 6.5mb with PlusNet whereas I usually got around 6.2mb with Sky. I am quite far from the exchange though and you may get a far better speed if you're closer.

Their Community forum is excellent for help should you encounter any issues. I now have a BT Openreach engineer coming out as I have now discovered that my drop line wire and a very old GPO junction box before the Master socket using prehistoric sub standard wiring to the Master are probably causing a lot of my noise issues and also errors. These were also present with Sky and O2 but were never picked up. With the help of someone on the forum, I will hopefully get this fixed.

Slow downs at peak time I have never encountered at all and apart from a few issues at the start with my noise problem, it's all gone well.

gowgowuk

jem16 wrote: »

The second issue that may give you slower speed is that PlusNet uses BT equipment and their DLM tends to be more aggressive than Sky's so if you have any problems with noise on your line you may get a slower speed.

Thanks for the (reassuring) comments. I was with O2 with a BT line before Sky took over and I later switched to Sky for both phone and broadband and I never had speed problem, so, hopefully it will be ok!

jem16

gowgowuk wrote: »

Thanks for the (reassuring) comments. I was with O2 with a BT line before Sky took over and I later switched to Sky for both phone and broadband and I never had speed problem, so, hopefully it will be ok!

Yes I was on O2 with a BT line which was then taken over by Sky. I also took Line Rental with Sky in November 2013 as they offered it free.

However what I'm trying to say to you is that both O2 and Sky are LLU providers and can offer higher speeds. When I first joined O2 in 2010, BB through BT or PlusNet would only have given me just over 3mb as my exchange did not have ADSL2+ at the time. O2 being an LLU provider have their own equipment in the exchange and could offer double the speed so just over 6mb.

My exchange is now enabled for ADSL2+ so can offer the same speeds as o2 and Sky. However some exchanges have not been upgraded so you need to check otherwise you might be disappointed.

gowgowuk

oh I see. Yes my exchange is definitely ADSL2+ enabled. Thanks

allan2006

has anyone been offered a deal without taking any additional services, I have a btline and broadband from sky with price now gone up to £15.

I wouldn't mind a new router as still using an o2 box2.

woodhead

My year with Sky is up after moving from O2. Called sky to see what they could do. They did offer me the free BB, but refused to budge on the line rental.

I've upped sticks and moved to BT as i'm already paying for BT sport.

jem16

allan2006 wrote: »

has anyone been offered a deal without taking any additional services, I have a btline and broadband from sky with price now gone up to £15.

I wouldn't mind a new router as still using an o2 box2.

My friend was offered BB for £5pm when she asked for her MAC. Her line rental is with BT. You can ask about a new router should you commit.