Updated Find the cheapest broadband discussion thread

[Deleted User]

mbmonty wrote: »

MSE claims in the latest newsletter that the latest Sky deal is the best for 16 months.

Whilst that is true, that simply reflects the poor competition in the Broadband market which IMO are a result of the CMA allowing companies to merge.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/broadband/2015/09/urgent535-for-a-years-sky-line-rental-and-broadband

So why is this deal rubbish?

• Sky has hiked the cost of the Router by over 65% from £6 to £9.95, previously they have even given it free, but the real smack in the teeth is that it is a 2 port crappy router. Sky will not provide you with the login credentials so you can't use your own router without hacking the router (beyond most people's capability). I think the router is included in the setup fee here but it is the same naff router.

It is a great shame that MSE is no longer THE place for the best broadband deals, it is tedious and time consuming to compare all the sites and I do not like the new broadband price compare thing, I find the uSwitch one better, not that they have any better deals.

Hardly MSE's fault and why wouldn't they push it as the best deal for 16 months if it's true.

Why are you quoting (and comparing) a deal from 3 years ago?

The router is the new Sky Q one which is also used by NOWtv (Hub Two) which is rather good in my opinion. Although it does only have 2 LAN ports that's very easily sorted although I'd hazard a guess that most people wouldn't even be aware of it.

How can you find inputting your postcode time consuming? Do you know a quicker method?

mbmonty

Colin_Maybe wrote: »

Hardly MSE's fault and why wouldn't they push it as the best deal for 16 months if it's true.

It is all in my post.....

mbmonty wrote: »

Whilst that is true, that simply reflects the poor competition in the Broadband market which IMO are a result of the CMA allowing companies to merge.

Colin_Maybe wrote: »

Why are you quoting (and comparing) a deal from 3 years ago?

To show how useless MSE has become at blagging genuine good deals as they have in the past

Colin_Maybe wrote: »

The router is the new Sky Q one which is also used by NOWtv (Hub Two) which is rather good in my opinion. Although it does only have 2 LAN ports that's very easily sorted although I'd hazard a guess that most people wouldn't even be aware of it.

I have used it and compared it to BT and Plusnet AC Routers as well as my own, I compared the signal quality using wifi software used by installers of site wifi solutions. The performance is mediocre at best, if you are a Sky TV customer you would use one of the ports and if you had a laptop with naff wifi you would use the other, this leave no free ports.

If you find it "rather good" then I guess your needs are pretty basic, but most people need 4 ports and a signal that can be used around the house (I even had a friend with a 1 bed flat where they could not get a good signal in every room).

Colin_Maybe wrote: »

How can you find inputting your postcode time consuming? Do you know a quicker method?

The layout of the page is time consuming, it is a lead gen funnel, I do not want to give my postcode or email I just want to search for a price.




Yes I do know a quicker method, use another broadband comparison site, where input of personal data is optional, for example

https://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/broadband

https://broadband.gocompare.com/#/?productType=broadband,phone

https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/compare/deals_and_offers/

Using mandatory fields annoys people, none of the sites above force you to enter a postcode

JJ_Egan

Two of the sites are indeed asking for my Postcode .
One not .

ValiantSon

As some deals are area specific, giving your post code improves your chances of finding a good deal.

Comparing current deals to ones that are several years old is pointless. It doesn't matter what I could have got three years ago, I can't get that now. The only valid comparison is with what else is available at the present time. By all means complain that the deals being offered now are not as good as they used to be, but don't try to draw from that some sort of inference that a cheap deal now isn't really cheap.

I doubt very much that "most people" need or use four LAN ports. Most people don't connect things via ethernet, preferring WiFi for convenience. While having more ports is a bonus, I am unconvinced that it is a necessity for "most people". Perhaps, however, you would like to provide some evidence to support this conjecture.

Your comments about WiFi performance ignore the many things that can interfere with a signal, including channel congestion; other radio wave interference; poor quality WiFi adapters; house construction (the placing of steels is a particular issue, and one common in blocks of flats). I have no experience with Sky's router, but your evaluation of it is extremely unscientific.

I agree about the claimable pre-paid Mastercard and M&S vouchers.

[Deleted User]

mbmonty wrote: »

If you find it "rather good" then I guess your needs are pretty basic, but most people need 4 ports and a signal that can be used around the house (I even had a friend with a 1 bed flat where they could not get a good signal in every room).

Yes I do know a quicker method, use another broadband comparison site, where input of personal data is optional, for example

https://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/broadband

https://broadband.gocompare.com/#/?productType=broadband,phone

https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/compare/deals_and_offers/

Using mandatory fields annoys people, none of the sites above force you to enter a postcode

The two posts above cover everything pretty much but just to reiterate, I am a Sky TV subscriber which is connected via WiFi as is the smart TV for Netflix which both work flawlessly. We also have 2 smart phones, the wife's tablet and a WiFi extender upstairs which has the sons PC plugged in. Only one of the LAN ports is used which is for my PC since the router is sat on the same desk.

I would posit that this is fairly commonplace rather than "basic" unless you have evidence to prove otherwise.

As stated previously your postcode is required so that you're not wasting time on deals that just aren't available to you. Which do you think is the quicker method there?

BTW, two of those sites you list (GoCompare & Broadbandchoices) appear to to be the same site or at least use the same search engine.

mbmonty

JJ_Egan wrote: »

Two of the sites are indeed asking for my Postcode .
One not .

Yes but if you scroll down the deals are there, no need to enter postcode unless you want to.

The postcode is supposed to tell you if you are going to be ripped off because your exchange is out of town etc, but In my experience this is not accurate, so pointless putting in.

mbmonty

ValiantSon wrote: »

As some deals are area specific, giving your post code improves your chances of finding a good deal.

Comparing current deals to ones that are several years old is pointless. It doesn't matter what I could have got three years ago, I can't get that now. The only valid comparison is with what else is available at the present time. By all means complain that the deals being offered now are not as good as they used to be, but don't try to draw from that some sort of inference that a cheap deal now isn't really cheap.

I doubt very much that "most people" need or use four LAN ports. Most people don't connect things via ethernet, preferring WiFi for convenience. While having more ports is a bonus, I am unconvinced that it is a necessity for "most people". Perhaps, however, you would like to provide some evidence to support this conjecture.

Your comments about WiFi performance ignore the many things that can interfere with a signal, including channel congestion; other radio wave interference; poor quality WiFi adapters; house construction (the placing of steels is a particular issue, and one common in blocks of flats). I have no experience with Sky's router, but your evaluation of it is extremely unscientific.

I agree about the claimable pre-paid Mastercard and M&S vouchers.

I was just trying to show the trend, I had a £65 deal end in 2017, so is not so long ago I was paying £5.41 a month.

There was a time when MSE blagged us good deals, now the market is cutting off cheap deals on broadband either because they do not feel the need to compete or because they want to force us all onto fibre.

The behaviour is cartel like.

That is fine for people with deep pockets but it creates a whole underclass of people who can't afford those prices.

I am wondering if there have been two sky 2 port routers?

Ports simply give better performance, even if they were 100mb it is dedicated, while wifi capacity is shared. People do not know their needs, but it does not take much, a NAS to backup your photos, a media centre to strean video from a PC, a Roku3 ethernet, a Sky TV box, an old laptop.

All because Sky could not be bothered to pay 20p for two extra ports, the industry standard is 4 ports.

All other providers have routers with at least 4 ports, some even with gigabit ports.

Unscientific? My analysis of sky router is on something called Real World Experience, if as you say you have never had one, you are not really in a position to offer credible comment. I compared the router to others in the same property, even the old Sky 4 port router was far better. Structural interference would have been the same, the 2 port sky router should have been better, it is AC (albeit the worst on the market based on the software I used - BT was best, Plusnet was same as old BT), so it would not have been affected by so many old wifi N signals and AC has a better way of handling congestion.

I would not care except Sky do not provide the login credentials so you can't even use your own router without hacking.

If Sky are going to say, USE OUR ROUTER OR NOTHING, they have to provide a decent router and do not get me started on the admin portal, it is dire.

Well at least we agree on the claimable mastercard etc.

JJ_Egan

<Yes but if you scroll down the deals are there <



https://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/broadband


11 deals only and will not give me TV deals ;without Postcode


https://broadband.gocompare.com/#/?productType=broadband,phone




11 deals only but will let me find tv deals



https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/compare/deals_and_offers/


More than 11 deals and lets me find tv deals .


Putting in a postcode to give me more information would please me rather than the nonsense you posted about being ripped off .

Fromply

I'd just like to add my experience on the routers. I've had BT Hub6 and Sky Q - I live in a 3 story townhouse, with the master socket on the ground floor. With the Sky Q router, connection on the top floor was problematic/weak - with the BT Hub 6, it was no problem. I frequently switch and have a whole box full of old ISP routers - nothing has been as good, for me, as the BT Hub 6

[Deleted User]

Fromply wrote: »

I'd just like to add my experience on the routers. I've had BT Hub6 and Sky Q - I live in a 3 story townhouse, with the master socket on the ground floor. With the Sky Q router, connection on the top floor was problematic/weak - with the BT Hub 6, it was no problem. I frequently switch and have a whole box full of old ISP routers - nothing has been as good, for me, as the BT Hub 6

Doesn't surprise me, BT have consistently pushed the WiFi performance of their routers for a long time, the only downside of course is you have to pay BT prices.