Patchy WiFi

Duvaljones

so, my wifi speed with sky fell below the 300mbps promised for threes days so now I can now leave without penalty or choose another package.

Thing is we’ve been having connectivity issues (ps4 not connecting/glitching, one or more devices not connecting while others do, although speed test showing good speeds etc). I’ve done all the suggested steps on the sky app (and what Google/broadband threads) - i.e. reset router, unplug everything and reboot, resite router etc.

Sky gave us a new router but the issues persist. I’m going to ask sky to send an engineer round to review our set up but I’m also in the position to leave and go to EE who are offering 3 times the speed for £5pm less (so my ‘threat’ to leave sky won’t be the usual bluff to get a cheaper deal!).

Anyway, with 4 phones, a tv, ps4 and an iPad, is 300mbps enough (is that causing the connectivity issues?). Will 900mbps solve it or is it likely to be something else.

Cheers

kaMelo

It's not your speed, 300 Mb/s is more than enough for what you are doing.

From what you've written it appears to be your connection with Sky that's the problem but in your title you mention wi-fi which is nothing to do with Sky, so, could you clarify where you are experiencing connection problems, is it your actual broadband connection with Sky that's patchy or is connecting to your router wi-fi that is causing problems?

Duvaljones

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82142441#Comment_82142441

I should clarify, sky are both our tv and broadband provider. basically, all the devices connect to the WiFi, i do regular speed checks via online speed check sites which say (most of the time) that the speed is as expected. However, devices sometimes just don’t connect to the WiFi. My son couldn’t play online on the ps4 for a couple of weeks as it wouldn’t connect, even though the ps4 was connected via LAN/ethernet cable. Then last week i used my phone as a hotspot, the ps4 connected to it and hey presto, online gaming was back. This all makes me think there’s a deeper technical issue that’s beyond my understanding.

littleboo

As above, it's not an issue with your service speed, 300Mbps is more than enough

southsidergs

I'd check your guarantee, if on a 300 package 300 is not guaranteed

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82142616#Comment_82142616

Especially for WiFi. Might be lucky with a wired connection to router.

As WiFi speeds are more limited by system hardware connection constraints.

Amazing the number of people who think that their internet connection speed should be what their WiFi speed should be.🤷‍♀️

iniltous

If Sky have offered you a penalty free release you have nothing to lose joining a different provider, that may or may not solve your issues , but appreciating the different parts of your connection and who is responsible for each part may help determine if switching will solve your issues .

Because EE are your possible alternative who only use Openreach , presumably your Sky connection is also on Openreach , unless you have Sky with City Fibre , if it’s Openreach the FTTP connection to the headend from your house is the same so any problem here won’t disappear just because you switched (although in truth this isn’t likely to be the issue ) , from the headend into the ‘internet’ will change , EE and Sky use different ‘backhaul’ networks so if the issue is with Sky backhaul switching to EE may solve the problem, EE will supply a different router , this may solve issues if it’s the Sky router causing them , if it’s a problem inside your house ( like your house has foil backed plasterboard interior walls that ruin WiFi ) changing provider may not help , you may need WiFi extenders or another solution.

As far as is 300Mb is sufficient, it’s usually more than enough, watching a UHD stream for example is around 25Mb , a HD stream 5Mb , obviously things like game downloads can spank a connection, but playing a game that’s already downloaded , speed isn’t usually an issue (things like latency more of an issue than download speed ) ,browsing , emails etc consume relatively little bandwidth so 300Mb is fine for most households even quite busy ones ( internet wise )

If you can leave without penalty what’s to lose ? , it can’t be worse , but it could be much better , if 900Mb is a relatively small increase in price , and it’s not really a financial issue for you , that is also possibly worth doing , but it may be unnecessary.

Duvaljones

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82142616#Comment_82142616

yeah the guarantee has been triggered by sky themselves, they’ve told me as it’s been below the advertised/contract speed I can now leave without penalty.

Duvaljones

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82142689#Comment_82142689

thank you for patiently explaining, that’s very useful. So to my complete novice mind, speed isn’t necessarily the issue, it could be the stuff that’s out of my control (i.e. the service in the local area)?

I’ll speak to sky and see if they can dig a bit deeper.

iniltous

The local Openreach network is not that likely to be a problem, however there can be variations, if someone on a new build estate where only Openreach was available, and everyone had broadband, that network is going to be busier than an older area where some are on Openreach FTTP , some still on Openreach copper pairs , some on Virgin , maybe even an alternative FTTP network , but TBH , even in areas where it’s only OR FTTP , the total bandwidth is usually adequate, so personally I doubt this is where your issue is .

I’d have been confident it was a WiFi issue (not a broadband issue) so basically the router not able to service the entire property (so possibly needing WiFi extenders , or a mesh WiFi , or even using Ethernet cables for devices with Ethernet sockets) but because you said the problem also affected a wired PS4 , that would suggest it’s not WiFi anyway (you need to understand WiFi is just the wireless connection from the router ) the term broadband is the connection from the router to the ‘internet’ , it’s confusing when some providers refer to WiFi when they are selling broadband.

TBH , I don’t know what Sky can do further , if they have already sent you a new router, they may have techs that do home visits to establish if it’s your home environment , but as they have already offered you a penalty free exist , it seems they are effectively saying you either accept the limitations or leave , the only thing I wouldn’t do is up speed from 300Mb to 500/900Mb while staying with Sky , that’s the least likely thing to fix the situation.

Duvaljones

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82142731#Comment_82142731

thanks. I think the thing that really threw me was the ps4 not connecting while physically connected via Ethernet cable.

When, like me, you struggle to get your head around how the whole thing works, it can get frustrating.

Maybe getting some wifi extenders might help? Or am i grasping at straws.