Thinking of changing from Virgin to Sky

Kido

I've recently got a 4k TV and now we're out of contract with Virgin I'm thinking of changing over to Sky as they have a lot more 4k content. I was with Sky years ago but their broadband was incredibly slow and forever needed re-setting whereas with Virgin I've had very few problems, except for the router dying a few weeks ago, but they did replace it hassle free.

I'm wary about going back to Sky simply because of the broadband. I know it will be slower than Virgin (about half the speed), but has it improved over the last 3 or 4 years? I know the reviews are pretty good, but I'm wary.

Also does anyone know if Virgin are likely to get more 4k content soon?

Thanks for any help.

AndyPK

If you can get Fibre from Sky it would be closer to what you have now

Kido

Yes, we can get Sky Fibre, but it's still a lot slower than Virgin's. Would I really notice a big difference other than when I download large files. Would I notice when streaming Netflix?

AndyPK

I believe Netflix can even be done on ADSL broadband so shouldn't cause you an issue.


Not that I know anything about streaming TV.

almillar

Depends what speed you're predicted to get with Sky, doesn't it? If you go with standard fibre, which BT call Infity 1 - that's 'up to' 40mbps. If you got that (compared to maybe 100mbps on Virgin) it's still plenty for 4K. If you're predicted 10mbps, you may suffer more. Did you have fibre (FTTC) or just ADSL before? You might expect big improvements. Anyway, go to http://www.samknows.com to get some info on what to expect.

Kido

almillar wrote: »

Depends what speed you're predicted to get with Sky, doesn't it? If you go with standard fibre, which BT call Infity 1 - that's 'up to' 40mbps. If you got that (compared to maybe 100mbps on Virgin) it's still plenty for 4K. If you're predicted 10mbps, you may suffer more. Did you have fibre (FTTC) or just ADSL before? You might expect big improvements. Anyway, go to http://www.samknows.com to get some info on what to expect.

At the moment we're on Virgin Fibre up to 150mbs and according to the Sky website we'd be expecting between 62 and 80 Mbps.

thescouselander

I always found Sky's broadband to be very good. Although they don't have the largest bandwidth their DNS servers seem to be quite fast which makes for a good browsing experience.

Even the slowest Sky fibre should be able to handle a 4k stream so you should be ok. Just make sure they give you their new router as the old one was rubbish.

Buzby

I'm on VM 200Mb/s and none of the competitors can match it. I use Netflix for its 4K content and have no issues. Downgrading to Sky seems such a waste.

almillar

Well that sounds good! Your cabinet seems to be 'infinity 2' (up to 80mbps) enabled. I'm on Sky 'up to' 40 mbps and just about get 30mbs. This is plenty for Netflix etc. so if they're accurate for you, you'll be grand.

AndyPK

Buzby wrote: »

Downgrading to Sky seems such a waste.

I define a waste as paying VM lots of money for a very fast connection, you have no need for, when you could pay less and not notice the difference

teddysmum

AndyPK wrote: »

I define a waste as paying VM lots of money for a very fast connection, you have no need for, when you could pay less and not notice the difference

I agree.


My son has Sky fibre and we have PlusNet ADSL, which is not as good as Sky's, but for just browsing, I noticed no advantage in having fibre.


ADSL at around 5Mbps is ok for browsing and even for Youtube. We have Sky tv, at the moment, but when that gets cancelled, most tv watching will be pre-recorded, so no need for lots of streaming.