Sky Broadband

jaxxx

Hello everyone. For those of you with Sky, what is your experience with their broadband service? I've been with them for over a year now and the general quality is ok. I used to be with Eircom who were absolutely abysmal.

I should note that I am not in a fiber broadband area, so any super broadband packages are not available here. Best packages in my area are 10mb. But therein lies my issue with Sky.

At the very fastest, our Sky broadband would have a download speed of 8mb. Which for me is more than enough. But it's never that high ANYMORE. I know realistically that you should expect about half of the speed which your package state (i.e. in my case, 5mb). But even then it is rarely that high.

The first year was pretty good. And even now even an average 4mb speed does my just grand. However during the past few days the speed has plummeted, to sheer intolerable levels. To put it into perspective... a small file which would normally take 10-15 secs to download, actually took 13 minutes yesterday.

Now I've called Sky and explained. All I get from them, as ever, is the same old routine of plugging out/restarting router, etc, etc, etc. The same procedure every time which never works.

I spend a lot of time online for gaming, so a steady and solid connection is pivotal for me. And of course the reality is that that has been the exact opposite during the past few days.

So anyone else with or previously with Sky, did you experience similar or are currently experiencing similar? Thanks in advance.

Oh, if I've posted this in the wrong place, please do move it to the appropriate subforum. Thanks.

J.

Nollog

They get really bad at peak times, worse than any other provider I've been with.

I'm only with them because they're the cheapest over the shortest time possible while I wait for jiggabit whenever that finally arrives.

Their modem is archaic. 100mbit, wireless g. It causes me frustration. They just sent me a new one and it's the exact same too, so probably not improving any time soon.

SONIC2008

I just changed from Eircom to Sky last week. We use the internet alot here and I just had terrible download speeds with Eircom. I thought Eircom were bad but I'm sorry now that I changed.

Eircom was really slow alot of the time. Sky can work incredibly fast and then not work at all for hours on end. Even now I'm using my phone as a hotspot to access this on my laptop! I'd sooner take a constantly slow connection than one that works quickly for a while then drops completely for hours.

I have 14 days to change back anyway. I don't know what to do now. I assume I will need to upgrade to fibre broadband because it is available in my area. I was just hoping to keep the bills low but this is Sky broadband is absolutely dreadful.

SONIC2008

Update: I just phoned sky again to see what the problem was. Because I am a new customer they have to find the best speed for the line. They had upped the speed more than the line could handle so it was something he could adjust over the phone. They were very quick to solve the problem and it is running very quickly now. If it stays like this I will be one very happy customer!

Nollog

Yeah, all providers do that now as far as i know, it'll take a few days for them to find the best speed your line can handle.

jaxxx

SONIC2008 wrote: »

Update: I just phoned sky again to see what the problem was. Because I am a new customer they have to find the best speed for the line. They had upped the speed more than the line could handle so it was something he could adjust over the phone. They were very quick to solve the problem and it is running very quickly now. If it stays like this I will be one very happy customer!

Ya had something similar when we joined. The lines we have weren't capable of the speeds so they lowered it and that improved.

Anyway turns out Eircom were working on the lines, hence the slow/dead connections. But surely notice should be given before this kind of maintenance is done? A lot of people need their broadband for work like.

SONIC2008

Yes, they should give you notice. I'm not working at the moment, but occasionally I have to complete online job application assessments and Skype interviews at a specific time. There should be some sort of notification sent to customers prior the outage.

jaxxx

SONIC2008 wrote: »

Yes, they should give you notice. I'm not working at the moment, but occasionally I have to complete online job application assessments and Skype interviews at a specific time. There should be some sort of notification sent to customers prior the outage.

Which you can bet happens in other countries, but not Ireland of course. We have to be different. Either that or I'm being somewhat pessimistic.

avrilbowe

Dear Sky, sky customers, anyone thinking of switching,

PLEASE READ THIS !!!

I am a final year student undertaking my final placement in a primary school for five weeks.
This requires me to plan to teach all day every day, lesson plans materials charts for to facilitate the children's learning in my classroom. It is a very stressful and anxious time for students especially those myself who suffer fromanxiety.

SKY ARE NOT HELPING WITH THIS!

FIRST TIME IT WENT
Tuesday 4.00pm- get home from school. internet gone for the first time. Restart computer, close all windows. Go to box reset the button, plug out for 15 seconds still no joy. Father rings sky at 8pm. Tell him the same thing.
Internet returns at ten.

TEACHER GOES TO BED AT 3 am to be in school for 8am

WEDNESDAY 6 am- Gone again. Sky tells me the microfilter is broken to change it to a new one. AGAIN MORE OF MY TIME WASTED. Change the box in morning before school. No internet light comes on. Sky tells us to put internet wire straight into phone. MEANING NO PHONE INTO OUR HOUSE. Internet goes a 4.00 pm, comes back at 5 goes again at 6 until 8pm.

TEACHER HAS PANIC ATTACK DUE TO STRESS.

TEACHER EXPECTING HER FIRST INSPECTION ON THURSDAY GOES TO BED AT 4.00 am.

I don't know about everyone else but for me lack of sleep, stress equals someone who is not able to function every well in school. To think on their feet or even think.

SORRY SKY BUT I thought we pay you for both phone and line rental.


THURSDAY- DAY 3 intermitttent internet and no phone line still no inspection so teacher has to stay up all night again.

Call sky again, they tell us its our phone line that its up to high. Which it is not possible because we only have one phone in the house and its been plugged out since Tuesday.

TEACHER GOES TO BED AGAIN AT 4 am to be in school for 8 pm.

FRIDAY- EMOTIONAL TIRED AND STRESSED. I have my inspection. Yes it goes well.


CALL SKY FRIDAY NIGHT- They tell me that they their tach guys leave at nine so Ill have to call back on Saturday to ask them to lower the profile of the phone line, again more of my time wasted, I ask her how long that will take to fix the problem she tells me 24 hours, I ask what if it does not fix the problem, she tells me we don't need to jump that far ahead yet, i tell ACTUALLY yes I do because I need to go to a library then if I cannot use internet in my own home. This board is written from a library.

She says then that if it is not fixed, they raise fault with eircom. TAKES 2 DAYS for eitcom to pick up the fault and an addtional 3-5 working days for them to sort it.

8 DAYS!!!!!!!!

Mention it to someone in the school, living in Tallaght who is also having the same issues the past few days

I am fed up with an unreliable service. I AM MOVING TO UPC for a better service .

Signed,

Exhausted and Stressed

mass_debater

avrilbowe wrote: »

Dear Sky, sky customers, anyone thinking of switching,

PLEASE READ THIS !!!

I am a final year student undertaking my final placement in a primary school for five weeks.
This requires me to plan to teach all day every day, lesson plans materials charts for to facilitate the children's learning in my classroom. It is a very stressful and anxious time for students especially those myself who suffer fromanxiety.

SKY ARE NOT HELPING WITH THIS!

FIRST TIME IT WENT
Tuesday 4.00pm- get home from school. internet gone for the first time. Restart computer, close all windows. Go to box reset the button, plug out for 15 seconds still no joy. Father rings sky at 8pm. Tell him the same thing.
Internet returns at ten.

TEACHER GOES TO BED AT 3 am to be in school for 8am

WEDNESDAY 6 am- Gone again. Sky tells me the microfilter is broken to change it to a new one. AGAIN MORE OF MY TIME WASTED. Change the box in morning before school. No internet light comes on. Sky tells us to put internet wire straight into phone. MEANING NO PHONE INTO OUR HOUSE. Internet goes a 4.00 pm, comes back at 5 goes again at 6 until 8pm.

TEACHER HAS PANIC ATTACK DUE TO STRESS.

TEACHER EXPECTING HER FIRST INSPECTION ON THURSDAY GOES TO BED AT 4.00 am.

I don't know about everyone else but for me lack of sleep, stress equals someone who is not able to function every well in school. To think on their feet or even think.

SORRY SKY BUT I thought we pay you for both phone and line rental.


THURSDAY- DAY 3 intermitttent internet and no phone line still no inspection so teacher has to stay up all night again.

Call sky again, they tell us its our phone line that its up to high. Which it is not possible because we only have one phone in the house and its been plugged out since Tuesday.

TEACHER GOES TO BED AGAIN AT 4 am to be in school for 8 pm.

FRIDAY- EMOTIONAL TIRED AND STRESSED. I have my inspection. Yes it goes well.


CALL SKY FRIDAY NIGHT- They tell me that they their tach guys leave at nine so Ill have to call back on Saturday to ask them to lower the profile of the phone line, again more of my time wasted, I ask her how long that will take to fix the problem she tells me 24 hours, I ask what if it does not fix the problem, she tells me we don't need to jump that far ahead yet, i tell ACTUALLY yes I do because I need to go to a library then if I cannot use internet in my own home. This board is written from a library.

She says then that if it is not fixed, they raise fault with eircom. TAKES 2 DAYS for eitcom to pick up the fault and an addtional 3-5 working days for them to sort it.

8 DAYS!!!!!!!!

Mention it to someone in the school, living in Tallaght who is also having the same issues the past few days

I am fed up with an unreliable service. I AM MOVING TO UPC for a better service .

Signed,

Exhausted and Stressed

If you have a problem with the internal cabling in your house it's not sky's fault or problem.

avrilbowe

So the internet cabling in my home is wrong and and the 1000s of other peoples homes in other posts I have read about the unreliability of sky internet broadband, people who have also experienced slow or no internet in the past few days.

So yes, it is skys problem! That her home broadband service is slow. A sky SUPPORT line is meant to do exactly that give support to its customers that are having difficulty.
After explaining my situation to sky every night this week, the problem has not been resolved. The representatives on the phone basically only told me to turn it off and on again. They have not fixed the problem.

IT IS A DISGRACEFULLY SERVICE!

Oh and get this while I was put on hold on the phone the waiting sounds are them telling you how great their internet it is.

mass_debater

avrilbowe wrote: »

So the internet cabling in my home is wrong and and the 1000s of other peoples homes in other posts I have read about the unreliability of sky internet broadband, people who have also experienced slow or no internet in the past few days.

So yes, it is skys problem! That her home broadband service is slow. A sky SUPPORT line is meant to do exactly that give support to its customers that are having difficulty.
After explaining my situation to sky every night this week, the problem has not been resolved. The representatives on the phone basically only told me to turn it off and on again. They have not fixed the problem.

IT IS A DISGRACEFULLY SERVICE!

Oh and get this while I was put on hold on the phone the waiting sounds are them telling you how great their internet it is.

If the internet light us cutting in and out there is a cabling/signalling issue. This is not something that can be fixed by a phone call to support. Eircom are responsible for the line, but only to the master socket (if there is one). Many houses had lines installed for phone service, broadband is an afterthought, the standards has changed many times over the last 10-15 years

StonyIron

Plug in a phone (A wire line one not cordless)
Dial any digit on the keypad and listen.

If there are noticeable crackles, you've a line fault or wiring fault.

If you've modern Eircom wiring (white sockets with two screws at the front lower 3rd), remove the screws and lift the front plate off.

You'll find a second test socket behind this.

Plug your modem in here and see if it's stable.

If it is, you've an internal wiring fault.

Neither sky nor Eircom own your internal wiring beyond the master socket. So, either disconnect it and just use the Eircom socket for everything or, you'll need to get someone to rewire it, an electrician should be able to, if you're unable yourself.

If you've beige sockets (the older type) isolating internal wiring is trickier.

If the modem fails to connect in the test socket, you've a line fault.

When you order efibre or any of the fibre products including sky fibre, Eircom Wholesale actually sends a technician to isolate and filter your internal wiring from the modem. They basically ensure you've a clean line as part of the installation.

Self install ASDL doesn't do this at all. It's always been a problem as home phone wiring was never intended ho handle data. A lot of it dates from the 1970s, 80s and 90s ...

mass_debater

Post a pic of the socket

ftakeith

avrilbowe wrote: »

Dear Sky, sky customers, anyone thinking of switching,

PLEASE READ THIS !!!

I am a final year student undertaking my final placement in a primary school for five weeks.
This requires me to plan to teach all day every day, lesson plans materials charts for to facilitate the children's learning in my classroom. It is a very stressful and anxious time for students especially those myself who suffer fromanxiety.

SKY ARE NOT HELPING WITH THIS!

FIRST TIME IT WENT
Tuesday 4.00pm- get home from school. internet gone for the first time. Restart computer, close all windows. Go to box reset the button, plug out for 15 seconds still no joy. Father rings sky at 8pm. Tell him the same thing.
Internet returns at ten.

TEACHER GOES TO BED AT 3 am to be in school for 8am

WEDNESDAY 6 am- Gone again. Sky tells me the microfilter is broken to change it to a new one. AGAIN MORE OF MY TIME WASTED. Change the box in morning before school. No internet light comes on. Sky tells us to put internet wire straight into phone. MEANING NO PHONE INTO OUR HOUSE. Internet goes a 4.00 pm, comes back at 5 goes again at 6 until 8pm.

TEACHER HAS PANIC ATTACK DUE TO STRESS.

TEACHER EXPECTING HER FIRST INSPECTION ON THURSDAY GOES TO BED AT 4.00 am.

I don't know about everyone else but for me lack of sleep, stress equals someone who is not able to function every well in school. To think on their feet or even think.

SORRY SKY BUT I thought we pay you for both phone and line rental.


THURSDAY- DAY 3 intermitttent internet and no phone line still no inspection so teacher has to stay up all night again.

Call sky again, they tell us its our phone line that its up to high. Which it is not possible because we only have one phone in the house and its been plugged out since Tuesday.

TEACHER GOES TO BED AGAIN AT 4 am to be in school for 8 pm.

FRIDAY- EMOTIONAL TIRED AND STRESSED. I have my inspection. Yes it goes well.


CALL SKY FRIDAY NIGHT- They tell me that they their tach guys leave at nine so Ill have to call back on Saturday to ask them to lower the profile of the phone line, again more of my time wasted, I ask her how long that will take to fix the problem she tells me 24 hours, I ask what if it does not fix the problem, she tells me we don't need to jump that far ahead yet, i tell ACTUALLY yes I do because I need to go to a library then if I cannot use internet in my own home. This board is written from a library.

She says then that if it is not fixed, they raise fault with eircom. TAKES 2 DAYS for eitcom to pick up the fault and an addtional 3-5 working days for them to sort it.

8 DAYS!!!!!!!!

Mention it to someone in the school, living in Tallaght who is also having the same issues the past few days

I am fed up with an unreliable service. I AM MOVING TO UPC for a better service .

Signed,

Exhausted and Stressed

do a private message to 'talk to sky ireland' on boards.ie

bt ireland/eircom have screwed up my sky phone line connection so far

I am committed in getting sky fibre broadband as I know it will be better than upc broadband