Fibre broadband, I need some advice please.

manolo1975

Good morning everyone,

I have recently had a lot of issues with Sky and their broadband to the point that they consistently offer me a speed which way below acceptable (I have the superfast 67Mbps guaranteed and I am getting about 30 on a good day). To that effect they offered me the opportunity to cancel my contract immediately if needed.

I have looked online and I think I can get significantly better than Sky, for information I am right now on a "discounted" price of £31, down from £42 which seems to robbery for a connection that can barely provide more than 25Mbps.

I had a look at moneysavingexpert and it came back with a few options. The first one was 3 5G connection. I am just in the boundary of the 5G coverage area but I can still have it on my phone. I am not with 3 and I know that Sky is using the O2 network which also offers 5G in my area. Looking at my phone I can get something like 60Mbps with pitiful upload speeds so I am not convinced that would be the best option for me.

The company that keeps coming back heavily is Vodafone. Another one which seems to be highly rated in my area is Zen. My only concerns is that for the moment, my router is in middle of the house (corridor) and therefore I am a little worried that either the installation of the fibre hub will be disruptive to the property or they will have to locate the router in the front bedroom which I am not keen on to be honest. 

The final option are the hybrid ones however, I am not sure if the issue with the speeds are the connection outside of my house or if the issue is with my own connection at home. So I am worried that I may change the broadband provider but the issue remains the same long term.

So I need some help here. Does anyone has tried and tested a 5G router connection and how do you find it? I do the odd gaming (mainly flight simulator) and the usual streaming in HD. Therefore I would need the connection to be strong enough to support these and I have read that wireless is not what I should consider.

I am also interested to hear from you about the fibre installation and how disruptive it is or a pain to install. Again, if I wanted to bring the fibre all the way to the corridor, I am not sure how the technical team will do it or if it is even possible. If I have it next to the guest bed, how annoying would it be to people sleeping there. I have the fibre connected to my street on a pole so we are ready to go. Another option would be to stay with Sky and use the low connection speed to discuss a better price but to be honest that would be my least favoured option.

Any help advice on what you would recommend as well as the companies I should avoid would be highly appreciated. I live in Maidenhead.

Thank you

Ayr_Rage

With the 67 Mbps product you are on a hybrid system, the maximum speed will be UP TO 80 Mbps but entirely dependant on the length of your copper line to the fibre cabinet.

Your contract will have a Minimum Guaranteed Speed based on that, but if they are letting you leave because that is not being achieved then changing to another hybrid provider will not likely improve the situation.

Has reason for the low speed been investigated and what was the result?

littleboo

You are correct that if you speed problem is with your line, and you move to another Openreach provider, the problem will remain. If its a fault, it could just be that Sky haven't progressed it with Openreach, but that's an unknown and it may just be the maximum you can achieve.
You need to know what networks you have access to - is it just Openreach or are there others - Virgin, Cityfibre or an AltNet available to you. Vodafone use both Openreach and CityFibre for example.
https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL will tell you whats available from Openreach, but not other providers.
You mention Zen, they have historically been well regarded but some say the halo has slipped, there is an ongoing thread on here about them.
Regarding 4g/5g, some people have very good results but its very much down to location and is inherently more prone to variability, but again, depends where you live. I use it as a backup and get and my experience is that a good 4g signal is better than being on the edge of 5g. Mobile networks are probably using CGNAT which could be a problem for gaming.

manolo1975

Ayr_Rage said:

With the 67 Mbps product you are on a hybrid system, the maximum speed will be UP TO 80 Mbps but entirely dependant on the length of your copper line to the fibre cabinet.

Your contract will have a Minimum Guaranteed Speed based on that, but if they are letting you leave because that is not being achieved then changing to another hybrid provider will not likely improve the situation.

Has reason for the low speed been investigated and what was the result?

The reason was never reported. Sky told me at one point that this was an issue outside of my property however it seems that they could not resolve this issue. I am with you and I have dropped the idea of the hybrid solution. Thanks for the reply.

iniltous

I suspect you have misunderstood the way Sky are required to sell their 80Mb FTTC service ,they have to provide a pretty pointless nation average, in Sky case there 80Mb service has a national average speed of 67Mb , that’s simply an average of every Sky customer on the 80Mb service, it’s a big coincidence if your bespoke estimate was also 67Mb.

When you joined Sky they gave you a bespoke estimate based on your individual distance from the cabinet , if this happens to be 67Mb and you only get 30Mb , it’s no skin of Skys  nose to report it to Openreach to fix whatever the issue is , if you have misunderstood the average 67Mb and your bespoke estimate was for example 30-40Mb , and you get 30Mb then your line is performing as expected, thats the problem with quoting an average national speed ……say a new ISP starts up and only has 2 customers, one lives really near the cabinet and gets 80Mb , their other customers lives very far away from the cabinet and only gets 30Mb not faulty just because of that large distance , the way they have to advertise what an average customer will get is 80+30/2 so 55Mb average, if their next customer lives near the cabinet they get told the average is 55Mb , but they get 80Mb and are delighted that they are getting better than they expected, however if the next customer lives far away , they were told 55Mb average but get 30Mb they will be disappointed, that’s why as well as the average speed in the main advert , the ISP also provides a more bespoke estimate, you need to find out what Sky guaranteed you , as it’s too much of a coincidence that it’s 67Mb 

Rodders53

What speeds does the BT checker link provided, above, suggest you should get down and up?

BT/$ky/Vodafone/TalkTalk/Zen will all use the same copper-Fibre to the Cabinet if that's all you can get at present.

VDSL used to be sold as up to 40 at a lower monthly price than the up to 80 variant.  
(The latter is typically advertised as sixty-something average speed, nowadays.)

My predictions have changed over time and now estimate up to 48Mbit/s.  Today I'm connected at 39.7 down 6 up... Ookla measures around 36Mbit/s.  That speed is more than adequate for our household use.  But then I can remember using dial up modems.  Thus, for me, any provider suggesting I can get " 60Mbit/s " would just be lying (albeit that 'offering' of up to 60 may be all they do and 30-40 Mbit/s is "up to 60"!

FTTP is not yet available at my address (despite the fact the brand new houses built at the bottom of the road have got it).  So a fibre install may or may not be available to you.

manolo1975

iniltous said:

I suspect you have misunderstood the way Sky are required to sell their 80Mb FTTC service ,they have to provide a pretty pointless nation average, in Sky case there 80Mb service has a national average speed of 67Mb , that’s simply an average of every Sky customer on the 80Mb service, it’s a big coincidence if your bespoke estimate was also 67Mb.

When you joined Sky they gave you a bespoke estimate based on your individual distance from the cabinet , if this happens to be 67Mb and you only get 30Mb , it’s no skin of Skys  nose to report it to Openreach to fix whatever the issue is , if you have misunderstood the average 67Mb and your bespoke estimate was for example 30-40Mb , and you get 30Mb then your line is performing as expected, thats the problem with quoting an average national speed ……say a new ISP starts up and only has 2 customers, one lives really near the cabinet and gets 80Mb , their other customers lives very far away from the cabinet and only gets 30Mb not faulty just because of that large distance , the way they have to advertise what an average customer will get is 80+30/2 so 55Mb average, if their next customer lives near the cabinet they get told the average is 55Mb , but they get 80Mb and are delighted that they are getting better than they expected, however if the next customer lives far away , they were told 55Mb average but get 30Mb they will be disappointed, that’s why as well as the average speed in the main advert , the ISP also provides a more bespoke estimate, you need to find out what Sky guaranteed you , as it’s too much of a coincidence that it’s 67Mb 

Thanks for the reply. I received an email from Sky in December allowing me to cancel my contract since they have accepted the fact that they cannot provide me the service that I signed for. Thanks for your reply.

manolo1975

Rodders53 said:

What speeds does the BT checker link provided, above, suggest you should get down and up?

BT/$ky/Vodafone/TalkTalk/Zen will all use the same copper-Fibre to the Cabinet if that's all you can get at present.

VDSL used to be sold as up to 40 at a lower monthly price than the up to 80 variant.  
(The latter is typically advertised as sixty-something average speed, nowadays.)

My predictions have changed over time and now estimate up to 48Mbit/s.  Today I'm connected at 39.7 down 6 up... Ookla measures around 36Mbit/s.  That speed is more than adequate for our household use.  But then I can remember using dial up modems.  Thus, for me, any provider suggesting I can get " 60Mbit/s " would just be lying (albeit that 'offering' of up to 60 may be all they do and 30-40 Mbit/s is "up to 60"!

FTTP is not yet available at my address (despite the fact the brand new houses built at the bottom of the road have got it).  So a fibre install may or may not be available to you.

The checker is showing between 60 to 80.

iniltous

If that the case then Skys response to simply let you leave is baffling, it’s Openreach not Sky that provide the prediction of speed , and much like you can leave Sky if the guaranteed speed cannot be met , ultimately it’s Openreach that have the task to attempt to provide the speed they said was available, not Sky , so why didn’t they take that option, it costs Openreach the time and effort to do this , it doesn’t cost Sky a penny .

As already stated , Sky sell you service over Openreach wires and Openreach FTTC equipment, if you swap to Vodafone or Zen , the exact same wires and equipment are used , so unless your Sky router is faulty and by changing to VF or Zen and using their router removes this defective piece of kit , then the expectation is that they both will return similar connection speeds as Sky .

Obviously if your intention is to leave landline type service completely and use mobile 4G/5G , then a good idea is to buy a PAYG tester sim with some included data and try that in a phone set up as a mobile hotspot to gauge how usable it will be , for some it’s a good alternative for others it’s not very good , no point committing to a long contractual period until you have a reasonable idea what type of service it will deliver 

uvarvu

Use bidb.uk to get a view of mobile operator availability in your area as well as alt nets.    

35har1old

manolo1975 said:

Good morning everyone,

I have recently had a lot of issues with Sky and their broadband to the point that they consistently offer me a speed which way below acceptable (I have the superfast 67Mbps guaranteed and I am getting about 30 on a good day). To that effect they offered me the opportunity to cancel my contract immediately if needed.

I have looked online and I think I can get significantly better than Sky, for information I am right now on a "discounted" price of £31, down from £42 which seems to robbery for a connection that can barely provide more than 25Mbps.

I had a look at moneysavingexpert and it came back with a few options. The first one was 3 5G connection. I am just in the boundary of the 5G coverage area but I can still have it on my phone. I am not with 3 and I know that Sky is using the O2 network which also offers 5G in my area. Looking at my phone I can get something like 60Mbps with pitiful upload speeds so I am not convinced that would be the best option for me.

The company that keeps coming back heavily is Vodafone. Another one which seems to be highly rated in my area is Zen. My only concerns is that for the moment, my router is in middle of the house (corridor) and therefore I am a little worried that either the installation of the fibre hub will be disruptive to the property or they will have to locate the router in the front bedroom which I am not keen on to be honest. 

The final option are the hybrid ones however, I am not sure if the issue with the speeds are the connection outside of my house or if the issue is with my own connection at home. So I am worried that I may change the broadband provider but the issue remains the same long term.

So I need some help here. Does anyone has tried and tested a 5G router connection and how do you find it? I do the odd gaming (mainly flight simulator) and the usual streaming in HD. Therefore I would need the connection to be strong enough to support these and I have read that wireless is not what I should consider.

I am also interested to hear from you about the fibre installation and how disruptive it is or a pain to install. Again, if I wanted to bring the fibre all the way to the corridor, I am not sure how the technical team will do it or if it is even possible. If I have it next to the guest bed, how annoying would it be to people sleeping there. I have the fibre connected to my street on a pole so we are ready to go. Another option would be to stay with Sky and use the low connection speed to discuss a better price but to be honest that would be my least favoured option.

Any help advice on what you would recommend as well as the companies I should avoid would be highly appreciated. I live in Maidenhead.

Thank you

Vodafone would over the likes of 150 full fibre but your guaranteed speed would only  be 73