Switching from Sky to NOW Broadband?

Silverking

The switchover finally happened, here are a few notes:

I received letters in the post confirming that broadband would switch on 27/03 however the other letter said SkyTalk would end on 12/03. I assumed that was an error as I thought they would need to switch both at the same time. However looking at my NOW bill, they began tracking/charging calls on 12/03 so it must have switched then. This was a totally smooth process, I didn't even notice We've still got our existing Sky landline number and calls are working as normal.

I switched the hubs on 27/03 in the evening, Sky was still working when I made the change. I checked the Sky speed before disconnecting using Ookla, it was 50.9 Mbps download and 15.8 Mbps upload. Once the NOW hub was setup, I did a test and got 40.7 Mbps download and 2.42 Mbps upload. We already had a Netgear router (which my brother had set up a few years back) so I had also linked those up. Initially, the connection was a little iffy, when streaming it would freeze here and there. I then split the wifi-bands to see if it would help. Since then I've checked the speed using Ookla, I've had:

26/03/2023 - 50.9 / 15.8 (with Sky Broadband)
27/03/2023 - 40.7 / 2.42
27/03/2023 - 33.9 / 13.9
28/03/2023 - 49.0 / 15.4
29/03/2023 - 35.8 / 14.8
02/04/2023 - 40.0 / 15.4

It seems to fluctuate a little bit as you can see but it's all working fine for me now. Besides that first day of having issues with the streaming, I've not had any other issues since. I've got streaming setup to connect to Netgear (the signal is better than the NOW router) and my laptop/PC connects directly to NOW. Everything seems to be working as it was with Sky, I know the speed above is slower but I've not really noticed any difference. I'm glad I made the switch, I'm paying less than I was before plus I got the cashback from Quidco.

JSmithy45AD

Silverking said:

The switchover finally happened, here are a few notes:

I received letters in the post confirming that broadband would switch on 27/03 however the other letter said SkyTalk would end on 12/03. I assumed that was an error as I thought they would need to switch both at the same time. However looking at my NOW bill, they began tracking/charging calls on 12/03 so it must have switched then. This was a totally smooth process, I didn't even notice We've still got our existing Sky landline number and calls are working as normal.

I switched the hubs on 27/03 in the evening, Sky was still working when I made the change. I checked the Sky speed before disconnecting using Ookla, it was 50.9 Mbps download and 15.8 Mbps upload. Once the NOW hub was setup, I did a test and got 40.7 Mbps download and 2.42 Mbps upload. We already had a Netgear router (which my brother had set up a few years back) so I had also linked those up. Initially, the connection was a little iffy, when streaming it would freeze here and there. I then split the wifi-bands to see if it would help. Since then I've checked the speed using Ookla, I've had:

26/03/2023 - 50.9 / 15.8 (with Sky Broadband)
27/03/2023 - 40.7 / 2.42
27/03/2023 - 33.9 / 13.9
28/03/2023 - 49.0 / 15.4
29/03/2023 - 35.8 / 14.8
02/04/2023 - 40.0 / 15.4

It seems to fluctuate a little bit as you can see but it's all working fine for me now. Besides that first day of having issues with the streaming, I've not had any other issues since. I've got streaming setup to connect to Netgear (the signal is better than the NOW router) and my laptop/PC connects directly to NOW. Everything seems to be working as it was with Sky, I know the speed above is slower but I've not really noticed any difference. I'm glad I made the switch, I'm paying less than I was before plus I got the cashback from Quidco.

I'd give it a few more days perhaps to settle down (don't turn off the router) as you should be getting around the same speed on Sky & Now.

JSmithy45AD

mgns said:

JSmithy45AD said:

I've done it in both directions a few times. No trouble keeping the same number and the router is exactly the same. You also get free calls with NowTV at least on new contracts. They automatically renewed on a rolling 12 month deal with calls included awhile back as well which was welcome.

I'm not sure that's the case anymore for new contracts. I think it is £4 p/m for 'Evening & Weekends' and £8 p/m for 'Anytime' calls.

With regards to improving the Wi-Fi signal, I've seen people recommend using the Sky SR203 router (which you may already have as a Sky customer) instead of the NOW router. If your current Sky setup is serving you well, then you don't need to swap any equipment over as it should all still work with NOW.

I was able to keep my landline number when switching from Sky, a few years ago. Even though the sign up process says it will be ok, I still wouldn't consider it to be guaranteed that your number will be retained when the changeover happens. So be vigilant when your switch day comes.

No, you're correct. I didn't know they'd dropped that for new customers.

I'm using the NR801 router which gives me the same speed regardless of where in the house I am compared to wired but then it's a small house.

supermario64

Hi there, I just completed  my order to switch from sky broadband to Now. In my case I just wanted a service with no min. term since hyperoptic seem to be close (!) from arriving to my home (on the other hand who knows what that means, I just couldn’t continue paying full price out of contact when it could still take a while…).

I was happy to pay the £70 setup (the excess I was paying on my sky bill covers that in two months). But my only concern is losing Sky Boost. My house is relatively narrow but split across three floors. The sky extender worked extremely well and I suppose I’ll have to return it. Another concern is that from what I read the router signal isn’t as strong as sky’s, so I definitely antecipate some issues here.

1- Does anyone know if Now Tv help with boosting signal and providing the best hardware?

2-Besides the sky booster I think our sky q hub (I’m still keeping sky tv) also served as a booster. Anyone know if the Now tv router can use it as an extender as well?

3- Any other setup you might recommend? I actually have an old fritzbox and extender from when I had Zen but didn’t find it as good..

Silverking

@supermario64 It might be worth asking this on the NOWTV Broadband forum, they might be able to give more specific advice.

mgns

supermario64 said:

Hi there, I just completed  my order to switch from sky broadband to Now. In my case I just wanted a service with no min. term since hyperoptic seem to be close (!) from arriving to my home (on the other hand who knows what that means, I just couldn’t continue paying full price out of contact when it could still take a while…).

I was happy to pay the £70 setup (the excess I was paying on my sky bill covers that in two months). But my only concern is losing Sky Boost. My house is relatively narrow but split across three floors. The sky extender worked extremely well and I suppose I’ll have to return it. Another concern is that from what I read the router signal isn’t as strong as sky’s, so I definitely antecipate some issues here.

1- Does anyone know if Now Tv help with boosting signal and providing the best hardware?

2-Besides the sky booster I think our sky q hub (I’m still keeping sky tv) also served as a booster. Anyone know if the Now tv router can use it as an extender as well?

3- Any other setup you might recommend? I actually have an old fritzbox and extender from when I had Zen but didn’t find it as good..

Unless Sky have directly requested that you return your router/extenders, then I would leave everything as is - it should work fine. The NOW router is just a rebadged Sky Q Hub (ER110/115).

With regards to WI-FI, some NOW customers bought Sky SR203 routers (which you may currently have) to use instead, as they found it offered a decent improvement over the lacklustre wireless performance of the NOW router.

I'm not aware of any 'Boost' equivalent from NOW but you can always speak to them for help, as it just may not be advertised. I could be wrong, but Sky Boost looks like a guarantee of a level of service rather than anything technical.

APM1984

Hello,

We switched our Broadband from Sky to Now back at the end of May. The Sky WiFi worked perfectly, and we got coverage all over the house. Since being with Now, the coverage has become terrible. We don’t get WiFi in all the rooms, and sometimes when you’re in the same room as the router you still don’t get Wi-Fi coverage. We were paying for a boost with Sky, but I thought that Now and Sky were pretty much one and the same and so there shouldn’t be much difference.

I’ve been in touch with Now about this, and they sent an Open Reach engineer to try and resolve the problem around the house. The engineer suggested that it is a dodgy router. When I called Now back about this, they informed me that blaming the equipment is Open Reache’s MO and there’s nothing wrong with the router. They have suggested that I buy a Wi-Fi extender.

My question is, would a Wi-Fi extend a resolve my issues? Or is it worth getting back in touch with now about this? Or should I buy a new router? 

Thanks

iniltous

If it’s Now that have requested the Openreach visit at least you shouldn’t get charged for what will be a completely pointless visit ….., what exactly did ( or does ) a Sky boost consist of ? , as you state nothing really has changed as far as Openreach are concerned, provided you are on the same profile , that’s 40Mb or 80Mb , you may not get the maximum due to the distance you are from the cabinet but this distance is obviously the same with Sky and Now , so if your WiFi speed ( I presume this is wireless devices, phones , tablets etc and not wired PC etc ) is worse with Now , either their router is crap or it’s using a congested WiFi channel, where the Sky router was on a different less congested channel ( this is an environmental thing , nothing to do with Openreach , it’s basically your neighbours WiFi affecting yours ) .

Without knowing what Sky boost is ( I presume WiFi extenders ) if you had extra kit with Sky that you don’t have with Now , it’s pretty clear what the problem is .

APM1984

My understanding is that a Sky Boost is something that guarantees your Wi-Fi in every room. Now requested the Open Reach engineer so it hasn’t cost me anything. The Wi-Fi speed is not necessarily an issue, it’s just that the Wi-Fi drops out from devices when you’re in different rooms. We do not live in a large house so I’m unsure why it is becoming an issue! Open Reach say it’s the router, Now say the router is fine and I need to pay for some Wi-Fi extenders.

iniltous

Just googled what Sky boost is and it’s a bit of a rip , you get their best router ( but the customer may already have that ) they monitor your connection and if necessary send out a tech , they guarantee 3Mb in every room ( although this can’t be done by this remote monitoring so how do they know unless you tell them ) , you get evenings and weekend visits ( if necessary ) without the £15 premium being charged and extra data if you are on Sky mobile for £5 a month , most of the benefit is (imho) worthless….so as the boost isn’t the difference, it’s either your Now router is the pits or more likely it’s using a congested channel , As far as I know , your Sky router ( if you still have it ) can be made to work on Now , ( they  are basically the same network anyway ) so unless you had to send the Sky router back , explore if you can reconnect it in place of the Now one.