Sky Essentials Broadband

Rockman60

Hi
I recently got a Sky Essential broadband package which provides about 14Mbs download speed. The Black Friday deal also included Sky Essentials TV package and free phone calls for £25. My wife and I use broadband mainly on our laptops and mobile phones for internet browsing. We also have a smart TV and an Elexa connected to the broadband. We don't use the TV package as all the channels are available on Freeview and we don't use the landline.This works ok for us but we are wondering if when our 2 children come home over Xmas, Easter etc with their laptops and mobile phones will this 14 Mbs broadband speed be sufficient for the 4 of us? The next level up of broadband with Sky is Superfast offering about 59 Mbs. Sky are offering this at £27 per month without the TV channels (which we do not use). Should we switch to the faster broadband for an extra £2 or will the existing broadband speed be enough when the children stay? I would prefer to keep things as they are but don't want to get caught wanting in broadband speed when the children are home
Thanks

Neil_Jones

The superfast will almost certainly be "up to" 59.  Doesn't guarantee you will get that speed.

Is this normal broadband internet, not fibre?

Rockman60

Normal broadband

bobfredbob

It depends what the children expect since some people have very very fast Internet.  I have relatives on equivalent non-fibre and it's been fine for a couple of always-on teenagers watching different Netflix on separate iPads whilst doing some video chat/game, while the main smart tv also plays something, etc.  Netflix help says it uses 5mb/s for HD and 3Mb/s for standard quality, so 14Mb/s just about handles it (and they "degrade" the picture gracefully so you don't really notice it).  Your Alexa will normally use minimal data.

Only problem is on Christmas Day if they have new gadgets since everything nowadays needs an update before being used, so this can be time consuming. Some people have "unlimited Internet" on their phone so could upgrade new gadgets by connecting to their phone instead, bypassing your Internet.  Other problem is that "upload" speed is slow, so if they are trying to share hundreds of photos then it will be slow.

If you upgrade, Sky (and others) will normally tell you the speed you are likely to get.  However, it used to be the case that if you later decide to downgrade from faster fibre back to slower 14mb/s broadband then you had to pay for the engineer to downgrade the connection (even if outside of contract).  I don't know if that is still the case.

debitcardmayhem

If you don't have Sky via satellite (you say freeview) or don't use other sky options ,why use sky look around for broadband only i.e. without the phone package.

knightstyle

Sky superfast will give you 5X your current speed and they do give a guaranteed speed.