Sky Broadband, very old (O2) router

Caz3121

My parents have limited broadband choices and had O2 broadband which changed over to Sky, they still have the old O2 router. 
Connectivity on both wifi and hard wired is poor....tv catchup buffers even when hard wired. Wifi performance I put down to old property, thick walls and purchased extenders but still not much better. This is causing much frustration and I have been tasked with resolving!
Turning router on and off seems to do nothing and I suspect this may be down to old kit (must be 8 years+ old)
Choices appear to be asking Sky for updated equipment (do they do this?) or switching supplier - options for property (from samknows) are Sky broadband, Vodafone LLU, Talk Talk LLU, BT Wholesale ADSL, BT Wholesale ADSL Max, BT Wholesale WBC (21CN) or BT FTCC - (BT site shows Fibre Essential or Fibre 1 as the options for the address - both with 'Your Stay Fast Guarantee 16Mb' and Upload speed range 5Mb - 7Mb)
They understand they won't have the speeds of Virgin Media for example, they are looking to have something that at least stays constantly connected and reduces current stress levels.
Would you suggest pushing Sky for new hardware, buying own hardware or looking elsewhere?
Any tests that are worth running to try pinpoint the issues.
I know this is not really a moneysaving question...they would pay more to not have these issues so not looking for a service on price.
Thanks in advance for any assistance.

JJ_Egan

What is going in to the router would be my first check via router settings .

Also internal wiring to the router .

akw2420

First three lines a bit confusing ....
IF they switched to Sky why weren't they given a new router at the time ?

Caz3121

sorry I have amended error in the wording. They were with O2 which I believe was taken over by Sky back in 2013....not a voluntary change, no new equipment just a change to who billed them

Speed Test 

Ping                       70 ms

Download           0.48 Mb/s

Upload                 0.45Mb/s

dreamypuma

Caz3121 said:

sorry I have amended error in the wording. They were with O2 which I believe was taken over by Sky back in 2013....not a voluntary change, no new equipment just a change to who billed them

Speed Test 

Ping                       70 ms

Download           0.48 Mb/s

Upload                 0.45Mb/s

I'd speak to Sky in the first instance. I'm assuming that with those speeds and old router, your parents are on an old rolling contract and paying a premium for this. How much are they paying?

If they are out of contract, then you maybe able to leverage a decent retention deal for fibre for similar money. Failing that it's worth shopping a round for something better. 

Sky will be able to offer a comparable speed and service to what BT have quoted. I would personally avoid BT, unless they offered a deal too hard to reject.

macman

If they're not on Fibre, which they won't be with a 8 year old router, then upgrade them and a new router will be supplied. The extra for Fibre is often no more than £1pm, or zero.
Look at switching them to a better deal with Now TV. Uses the same LLU network as Sky, but cheaper. 
Sounds like the line is poor, or they are a long way out from the exchange? FTTC won't give blistering speeds, but will be adequate for their internet usage and for catch up TV, streaming etc.

Caz3121

thanks all
ran the tests via the Sky website and issue identified at the exchange so engineer booking made.
Currently paying £23.51 and spoke to Sky re upgrade (they also ran more tests and confirmed issue is outside the house). They could upgrade them with new router etc for £25 per month but only if they included phone line...don't qualify otherwise...a bit disappointing.
We are going to wait until the engineer visit and then check the speeds before deciding next steps as to whether find alternative supplier or bite the bullet and transfer the phone line too.
I was not sure they could get fibre, they are in a listed building and when factor balloted the residents re fast broadband and the disruption, majority voted against however looking at the Now TV deals this does show a fibre option (used postcode and phone number to check) and including line rental and anytime calls (including mobiles) is £22 per month and can keep number. I think I may be able to convince them to leave BT to go with this. 

[Deleted User]

Caz3121 said:

thanks all
ran the tests via the Sky website and issue identified at the exchange so engineer booking made.
Currently paying £23.51 and spoke to Sky re upgrade (they also ran more tests and confirmed issue is outside the house). They could upgrade them with new router etc for £25 per month but only if they included phone line...don't qualify otherwise...a bit disappointing.
We are going to wait until the engineer visit and then check the speeds before deciding next steps as to whether find alternative supplier or bite the bullet and transfer the phone line too.
I was not sure they could get fibre, they are in a listed building and when factor balloted the residents re fast broadband and the disruption, majority voted against however looking at the Now TV deals this does show a fibre option (used postcode and phone number to check) and including line rental and anytime calls (including mobiles) is £22 per month and can keep number. I think I may be able to convince them to leave BT to go with this. 

Old style fibre (Fibre to cabinet/FTTC) comes down the same wire as your now ancient ADSL so the 'factor/property manager' isn't an issue that might be either Virgin Cable or FTTP.

In terms of speed, it goes: ADSL > FTTC > G.Fast > FTTP in terms of speed over a Openreach/BT line
Check here and it will advise what is available: https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

macman

What do you mean by 'only if they included the phone line'? If they are getting their BB from O2 and their line rental from elsewhere then that is never going to be competitive. There are plenty of LLU deals going that will give you FTTC and line rental for under £20: it's a no-brainer if they are still on ADSL with those speeds.
As pointed out above, FTTC does not involve any rewiring or work at the property, it's just a new router self-install and a 10 minute job by OR at the street cab to hook them up to the fibre link rather than copper. 

Caz3121

thanks everyone for the input....just to bring to almost closure
Openreach engineers visited and advised needed to contact Sky to do an SNR reset to get from 1mb to 10mb. Sky said it was not in the notes from the Openreach engineers so can't/won't do it. Eventually Sky sent a hub to enable eliminating the 'old hardware' causing issue....tests show no issues and still can't get above 1mb (their package says they should average 11mb - they are 0.84miles from exchange not sure if that is good or bad) so now going to look for fibre deal and move elsewhere. (they are happy to move phone now as long as phone number can be kept - the reticence was that they did not realise that was possible)