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

Stompa

spud17 wrote: »

^ This is what I've always used for the 3 different routers I've tried, except that I've never put anything in for a password.

Yes, it worked for me with my TP-Link TD-W8960N. Unfortunately the WiFi on that started to get a bit intermittent over the last week or so, so I've just switched to the SR102. Speeds are about the same, though somewhat slower than I was getting with BE. Despite being a bit slow, my connection with Sky has always been rock solid though.

spud17

Stompa wrote: »

Speeds are about the same, though somewhat slower than I was getting with BE. Despite being a bit slow, my connection with Sky has always been rock solid though.

Similar here.
With the snr tweaked on my Netgear DG834GT I could hit just over 7 Mbps down on O2.
Upload is not adjustable and was always 1.02 Mbps.
As I said before, I found that Sky would not stay connected below 6dB snr.
So I'm sticking to 6dB down giving 6.6 Mbps, and a solid connection.
The Sky SR102 gave 6.8 Mbps.
The above figures are not one offs, but tested over several weeks at different times, to allow the line to settle.
I'm not aware of any outage since Sky took over.
I think I had one outage with O2 in 3 yrs.

A.Penny.Saved

Stompa wrote: »

Have you tried either of the alternatives suggested in post #3 of this thread?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4905908

I thought about what I asked and after reading I thought that I would give it a try.....I'm glad that I did
With my 546, the brother of the one that got fried by lightning, I am now getting
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]:862 / 6,735
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]:27.5 / 52.5 SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]:8.0 / 5.0
That is 1Mbit up on what it was and pretty close to what I had @Be* except for the upload speed which is still nearly 500Kbits lower.
I am using DMT tool and it has options called SRA & Option 2 which is an unknown option. Ticking SRA gives an enormous jump in speed from 5569 to 6142. It's now 6811, disabling Option 2 seems to allow more adjustment of the SN margin because without it set, it will go no lower than about 5.0. After setting option 2, it will go down to zero and a big jump in speed. At 2.0 SN margin I get 7535:D which is pretty impressive for my line.

I've settled on 6989/864 for now and I will see how stable it is. CRC errors seem a little on the high side.

Can anyone adjust their SN Margin for the upload? If so using what router. I have never been able to alter that using the speedtouches that I have, only the d/l SN margin.

spud17 wrote: »

Currently using an unlocked BT Home Hub 3, don't ask why.

I did get a very slightly higher sync using the Sky SR102 router, but found it a pain when assigning addresses and opening ports.
It insists on rebooting after each alteration.



^ This is what I've always used for the 3 different routers I've tried, except that I've never put anything in for a password.

Easier than I thought it would be. They don't get much simpler username/passwords.

I am more pleased with it now but the upload is still pretty terrible and needs to change.

I will probably move away anyway seeing what Sky are now charging.......total rip off merchants that they are. Now possible discount on line rental so I won't be moving that to them and I can get better elsewhere.

Stompa

A.Penny.Saved wrote: »

I am more pleased with it now but the upload is still pretty terrible and needs to change.

If you log in to your Sky account, and look at 'My Sky > My Package > Check my broadband', what does it show for your download & upload speed settings? I imagine you're constrained to those values, and the only way they can be increased would be to undergo a further period of retraining.

A.Penny.Saved

6.1Mbit/0.9
It's the high upload SN margin where so much is lost.

I wish they would disable the line training. It ran again less than 2 weeks ago. I always had that carp disabled @ Be*.

Winrick

Hi all,

I too was an O2 to Sky takeover last year. Got the best deal at the time which meant I was paying £30 for the year unlimited broadband (basic not fibre) and line rental. Contract due to expire this March.

Called up this week and got a deal that I'm happy with. Not nearly as good as last year but that was exceptional due to the takeover.

I negotiated free broadband - so only pay line rental of 16.40 a month. I asked if it was cheaper to pay upfront but was told that they don't do that anymore but could give me £40 price difference in the form of a credit. So works out at £156.8 a year (or £13.07 a month) for broadband and line rental. Don't need to pay their stupid £2.50 supplement for not having sky TV either.

Hope this helps

teddysmum

They can offer line rental saver, if you push. I was offered it in October,but haggled free line rental, instead of a broadband freebie.

Winrick

teddysmum wrote: »

They can offer line rental saver, if you push. I was offered it in October,but haggled free line rental, instead of a broadband freebie.

Wow teddysmum. Does that mean that you are on,y paying around £7.50 a month or both line rental and broadband? ( free line rental and £7.50 broadband). Do you take ny of their tv packages?

James_Mass

Had an online chat with an advisor and was offered the same discount as before which was surprisingly painless and hassle free way without going through the 0844 route. I've also kept the transcript in case if the need arises.

Having looked at the transcript, I now notice there is a copy and paste job from the advisor about 'no cooling of period, prices may increase and services may vary'. :eek:

Stompa

Well after 15+ months of free BB they've finally started charging me, albeit not much. One annoyance though is that they don't seem to notify you by email when a new bill is ready. Can Sky be persuaded to do this, I can't see any obvious setting to enable it. Or will they do it if you contact them?