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Updated Find the cheapest broadband discussion thread
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Colin_Maybe wrote: »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.
After cashback, I'm currently paying about £18 per month, net, for 18 months to BT for unlimited fibre (the deal that was on MSE about a month ago) - if they raise their prices in the next 18 months, and I get away early, then the price per month will be lower.
If they raise their prices in the next 9 months or so (this is off the top of my head, haven't checked the timescale) then they will have paid me to use their broadband
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All because Sky could not be bothered to pay 20p for two extra ports, the industry standard is 4 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.
There is no such thing as an "industry standard" for the number of ports, even if everybody used 4 ports (they don't) it wouldn't make it an "industry standard", just the norm.the industry standard is 4 ports
I've got my Sky 4 port router sitting in a drawer next to my leg, my Sky Q/NowTV Hub Two 2 port hub is in use. I know from my own "Real World Experience" which I'd choose. Perhaps your testing methodology needs reviewing?0 -
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.
But that isn't relevant to the current market.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.
There are still plenty of providers providing ADSL, and most of the ADSL deals are cheaper than fibre.
I doubt very much that they don't feel the need to compete. In fact the evidence would suggest otherwise.
MSE can only report the deals that are available.The behaviour is cartel like.
No it isn't.That is fine for people with deep pockets but it creates a whole underclass of people who can't afford those prices.
As said, there are still plenty of ADSL deals. Nobody is being forced on to fibre (and fibre prices are falling too).
I've just done a quick price comparison out of interest, and the cheapest deal I can find for ADSL, without any claimable cashback promotions, is Now TV at £15 per month (plus £9.99 for the router). While that may not be as cheap as you once got, there are plenty of other things that have gone up in price too; when I was at school, I used to be able to buy a packet of Polos for 10p and a can of Coke for 20p: should I be railing at the current price? You can also get cashback on this deal of £65 through Topcashback (much more reliable method), reducing the cost to £9.58/9 per month.Ports simply give better performance, even if they were 100mb it is dedicated, while wifi capacity is shared.
Nobody argued otherwise. What I queried was your assertion that, "most people" needed four ports. That simply isn't true.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.
If you are someone who has - and uses - all of that kit, then I suspect you probably do know how many LAN ports you need!
Most people, I doubt very much, have a NAS, plus a media centre, plus a Roku3, plus a Sky box, plus a laptop (which they don't wan't to connect via WiFi). You are massively overstating the demands of the majority. Maybe you do have all of these and are determined to connect everything via ethernet, but the majority of the population are not the same.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.
So what? My router has gigabit ports, and do you know what? I hardly ever use it because I just don't need that kind of speed.
And no, the, "industry standard" is not four ports. There is no industry standard on the number of ports. Stop making things up.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 don't need to have used a Sky router to know when an experiment is conducted according to scientific methods or not. I don't own a large hadron collider either, but I can look at what they are doing at CERN and recognise that their experiments are scientific.
Yes, your methodology is not scientific, because you have no control in your little experiment. You can use the most expensive and advanced technology or software in the world to conduct an experiment, but if you don't have a control then your data is garbage.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.
Nope.I would not care except Sky do not provide the login credentials so you can't even use your own router without hacking.
This is widely reported, and most people don't care.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.
No they don't. They can say whatever they like, and as far as they are concerned their router is decent, and many of their customers agree.Well at least we agree on the claimable mastercard etc.
Yes, it was almost the only thing in your post that wasn't based on either exaggeration, unscientific observation, or subjective views on Sky as a broadband provider.0 -
The fact that they give gifts and cashback and allow for the haggling of prices suggests that the prices are all made up. In three years I've never received any cashback or gifts from any of them whilst still paying on average £20/pm for basic broadband. You go to any public internet service provider and the quality of the service is not that great either. So internet access is still a difficult proposition and still not much to boast about in this day and age.0
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ValiantSon wrote: »But that <SNIP> .......available.
Sorry but your post is just argumentative and nit picking, not worthy of responding to in full.
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The fact that they give gifts and cashback and allow for the haggling of prices suggests that the prices are all made up. In three years I've never received any cashback or gifts from any of them whilst still paying on average £20/pm for basic broadband.
You go to any public internet service provider and the quality of the service is not that great either.
So internet access is still a difficult proposition and still not much to boast about in this day and age.
You certainly used to be able to haggle, I have paid £25 for a year and got stuff thrown in that was worth more, but those days are gone. Just look at the beginning of this thread, people used to post all kinds of really low deals, but now seem happy to avoid revertting to the rip off £30 RRP by a few quid.
I agree the quality is not brilliant because they no longer feel the need to compete, I guess this is partly the availability of fibre but even then you get companies not putting required kit in exchange, but splitting ports.
Yep nothing to boast about in the UK, I heard on radio that they are going to set a target for 15 years to have fibre to the door. That is so pathetic, Spain has it for 83% and the Far East fibre speeds are about 4 times the UK's best.
If you think about it we have
BT, Plussnet and EE all owned by BT, BT interested in TV, Plusnet prices nothing to write home about and EE just being wound down, not decent offers at all.
TalkTalk, is up for sale and selling off bits it can, stopped being interested in serious competition about 2 to 3 years ago. Brand is poison after hacking fiasco.
Vodafone intersted in fibre only and at around £20 give or take.
That is it, like a cartel, they all seem to have set a similar price with occasional fake offers that are not worthy.0 -
Sorry but your post is just argumentative and nit picking, not worthy of responding to in full.
No, it wasn't nit-picking, it was exposing the flaws in your argument and your thinking. That you choose not to either respond with a rebuttal, or accept that I have made valid points is very telling of how you approach discussion.0 -
Just look at the beginning of this thread, people used to post all kinds of really low deals
But there are 2 important caveats to your point there.
1.) This thread was started 11 years ago. What was say £20 then (which is what a few of the deals I scanned through were) is about £27ish now with inflation. There are cheaper deals around than £27 currently. And the minimum wage has risen by a larger percentage than that, so in effect BB is now cheaper than it was 11 years ago.
2.) Back then, ISPs didn't have to include LR in their headline price. So not all the low deals from 2007 are as low as they appear.
Maybe I am a bit bias in this situation though, as with all the price rises get out clauses and cashback, BB is much cheaper for me now!0 -
MSE seem to be still giving out wrong information about the Sky offer.
The "How to get cheap broadband" page says the it is available only to Sky newbies but then says "you can't get it if you've had Sky b'band, line or TV in the last 12mths."
Likewise, Broadband Unbundled defines new customers as "those who don't currently have Sky TV, Line rental or broadband, and haven't had it in the last 12 months".
The Broadband Genie page clearly states "You must not have ever registered an account with Sky or Sky Broadband in order to qualify for this Gift Card."0 -
The fact that they give gifts and cashback and allow for the haggling of prices suggests that the prices are all made up.
There's always been incentives to switch provider, nothings changed there. You could argue that all prices are "made up" so that's a pointless statement really.In three years I've never received any cashback or gifts from any of them whilst still paying on average £20/pm for basic broadband.
Why? Are you saying that you've been paying full price for those 3 years? Have you missed the point of MSE entirely?You go to any public internet service provider and the quality of the service is not that great either.
In what way? Is the speed not adequate? I'd have thought that's dependant on the internet cafe or public library you use surely? What do you think constitutes "quality of the service"? Free coffee?So internet access is still a difficult proposition and still not much to boast about in this day and age.
It obviously isn't a "difficult proposition" since you're using it to post on here. Why would anyone want to "boast" about their BB and who would you be boasting too exactly?0
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