Broadband Sky , Virgin who?

SummerSun10

Hi all,can anyone recommend a good broadband?
Sky is not giving value for money and we are wondering whether to go over to Virgin but it would mean not having a landline. 
Is it worth keeping a landline which isn't used much. Thank you.

DingDongitsKingKong

SummerSun10 said:

Hi all,can anyone recommend a good broadband?
Sky is not giving value for money and we are wondering whether to go over to Virgin but it would mean not having a landline. 
Is it worth keeping a landline which isn't used much. Thank you.

I would say no. If you got a mobile phone just use that.

I have Virgin's M100 broadband and no landline. Works for me. I don't even have any traditional TV packages. What I love most about the streaming services are the lack of ads. The amount of ads make TV unwatchable for me.

I also despise Sky. You are dam right they are not value for money, and that's assuming they honour what you signed up for. They have a tendency to catch people out with sneaky charges and misleading offers. Pay them a pound they will take a tenner. I do think their catchup and recording facilities are great. I used to pre-record something just to watch  something without the ads. Still better off elsewhere.

Brewer21

I signed up with Sky last year, full package sports/cinema with broadband and landline. We were with Virgin for many many years but they refused to lower my package to what I felt was a respectable price for me to pay. The price rises were just too much, going up to £78 without sky sports, I had BT sport's though, no cinema. 
Got the lot from Sky (no BT sport though) for £63. Sky more or less into the first month with them put the price up to £65. I'm stuck with them until August on an 18 month contract.
As said keep a check on their charges, the try and offer deal or upgrades, I've never fell for any of them.
I would say Virgin broadband is far better than Sky as it's (for us) underground cabled, Sky is via the phone line of course. We are a good way from the cabinet but Open Reach are doing some upgrades around us so hopefully it'll get better, it's all about whether you have fibre to the nearest pole or to the cabinet ATM, ours is only up to the cabinet. 
I'd go back to Virgin but as they are just as bad in there own way with pricing I might just not bother with either and stick with Freeview and a streaming service like Netflix and just tout around for a broadband provider.

SummerSun10

Thank you DingDongitsKingkong   and   Brewers 21 , Your response was spot on and I have made up my mind now.
Much Appreciated. 

HaroldWren5

SummerSun10 said:

Hi all,can anyone recommend a good broadband?
Sky is not giving value for money and we are wondering whether to go over to Virgin but it would mean not having a landline. 
Is it worth keeping a landline which isn't used much. Thank you.

1. Regarding landline, it's personal preference, but better value is to be had with a mobile (where a Mobile SIM comes with Unlimited Minutes and can be carried around with you anywhere) so long as you have a good mobile signal. Grab a Mobile SIM with Vodafone, or Tesco Mobile, etc and you should be fine for phone calls.

2. Broadband. It depends what you are looking for and I would strongly advise you check if Full Fibre (FTTP all the way to your Home is available from an Openreach provider (which includes Sky/BT/Vodafone/Giganet/Cuckoo/Shell/TalkTalk etc) or CityFibre provider (Vodafone etc) or alternatives. Full Fibre products will be more reliable and better value for money in terms of what you pay for. 

3. If you have to go for FTTC, then currently Vodafone seem to be doing the lowest price for their broadband products. 

4. If FTTP is available in your area, then you're looking at maybe TalkTalk (18 months), BT (24 months), or perhaps Cuckoo (30 day rolling, or 12 month contracts). I think the latter is a good bet giving you maximum flexibility and the benefit of being able to change contract sooner. Wholesale costs are likely to go down for Full Fibre over time. 

SummerSun10

Lots of valuable information Haroldwren5.

I will look and see what best suits me.
Fantastic.

HaroldWren5

SummerSun10 said:

Lots of valuable information Haroldwren5.

I will look and see what best suits me.
Fantastic.

You are most welcome. Should be able to pick a flexible plan across the board to ensure you get the best products that suit you for each service (Mobile, Fixed line broadband etc)! 

Be sure to use the address checker on the various broadband provider's websites which should then give you a run down of what is available. Sometimes the "Full Fibre" products may be listed further down, or along the page, so it's worth checking that as well since they may in fact be cheaper than older products that may be on the top/left hand side (BT sometimes do that for instance)! 

Happy browsing! 

prowla

Sky or Virgin BB?

I've got both!

Since I WFH, I've got a fail-over capability if one ISP has an issue.

Both's connections to my house are wired (one 150 Mb and one 200 Mb).

I might upgrade to a faster service on either or both at some point; it could be next year before FTTP is available over the BT network (on which the Sky service sits) and it's difficult to find if I can get the Virgin Gb connection (as when I give my address or login to my account it says to call for details if I click on anything to do with Gb or upgrades).

As for phones; I have my long-standing number on the Sky service and the Virgin one always came out cheaper with a phone than without (though I never use it and have unplugged it due to sales/scam calls).

SummerSun10

Thank you Prowla, that's interesting. 

Especially having two connections. Worth it if your are working from home though. 

prowla

SummerSun10 said:

Thank you Prowla, that's interesting. 

Especially having two connections. Worth it if your are working from home though. 

Thanks - I did the two connections years ago, on the basis that if it saved me one trip a month into the office in London it'd still be cost-effective; I've just kept it ever since.

SummerSun10

Very clever!