Sky Mobile, coming to Ireland

Before you leave…

Switch data roaming to ‘on’ in your phone’s settings.

In the Sky app, request network settings and apply them when received. This should ensure that your APN settings are correct.

I usually reboot my phone once landed.

I would strongly recommend people stay away from Sky. I know some people have had an ok experience but I have had a complete nightmare and it now looks like I may lose my original phone number which I've had for years because of issues with their account/billing system.

I was previously with Vodafone and had no issues with them at all but wanted to try Sky because it was much cheaper. I signed up on Saturday and received my eSIM details that evening. I put in the request to move my number from Vodafone and this morning my number was successfully transferred. Everything was working fine initially but an hour or so later my SIM stopped working. I couldn't make calls/texts or access the internet and when I went to my account on sky.com, it said it had been 'restricted'.

I called their customer support, and was told it was a technical issue which they would escalate but it could take up to FIVE DAYS to fix the issue! After jumping through a tonne of hoops I was eventually told the problem was that I'd failed a 'background check' so my SIM was immediately cancelled. This is completely bizarre to me because I have never run into this with other providers or heard of it happening. No one at Sky could tell me why I failed – one agent said I might have outstanding bills with Vodafone, but I called them and I don't. There's also no way to repeat the checks so I was told that my only option would be to move another provider.

This was super frustrating but I decided I'd just go back to Vodafone and that's where things got even more tricky. My phone number had been transferred to Sky, but the SIM was now deactivated, so there's no way for me to receive the verification codes to transfer the number (or request a PAC code by text).

I called Sky back and no one knew what to do about this, they just kept transferring me to different departments. After speaking with 4 different people, I finally got someone who said they could try temporarily re-activating my SIM so that I could receive the activation codes. However, this requires them to make a request with their backend team and will still take 24-48 hours. He also admitted that this may not be possible for them to do, in which case I will just lose the number.

I've spent the whole day dealing with this and at this stage am completely at a loss. If you're happy with your network don't move to Sky.

Comreg

Get a complaints number from sky and go to comreg.

The roaming issue is so frustrating.. Takes about 30 mins after landing and manually selecting network before it works..

Even when landing back in Dublin and trying to connect to Sky again. I got the below error. Bizzare

Other than changing networks, I haven't had any issues so far 🤞

Just spoke to Sky again and they told me it could take up to TWO WEEKS for me to get my number back (minimum a week). I explained that this was completely unacceptable and eventually the support agent spoke to their supervisor to come with another solution. They assigned the issue to some team which handles SIM card issues but I was told that I would still need to wait 3 days for them to call me back. It's still not clear what they'll do or how long it will take. Also how can I wait for a call-back if I dont have a phone? I had to sign up for a PAYG SIM with vodafone in the meantime. Wish I could go back in time and never sign up for this terrible service

Make sure to get your complaint reference number from Sky now (if you don't have already) as you have to wait 10 working days before making a complaint to comreg and you will need to provide them with that reference number.

It's been 3 days and I still haven't been contacted by anyone at Sky. I called in myself and was told it's actually going to take 5 working days so I'll need to call back next Tuesday. This whole thing is so incredibly frustrating. I've got a complaint reference number though so if it goes beyond the 10 day mark I'll be reporting them to Comreg for sure

I have the opposite experience with Vodafone's network, Three had constant issues with stability and Eir was fine but the download and upload speed was extremely poor. Back on a Vodafone eSIM now and happier than ever.

roaming being busted is a complete deal breaker for me. As soon as I get home to Ireland, I’m going to try and get out of this contract asap.

I’m in Japan at the moment. Sky eSIM picked up a network automatically but no sms were coming through to me. I had to select another operator manually for sms to smart coming through to my phone. This was very similar to a problem I faced when I was in the uk.

now, on the network I had to manually switch to, no sms are being delivered to me. Total shambles.

These look like the right roaming settings?

I'm not sure how easy this would be to get someone in Vodafone to do it/know how to request it but they should be able to do a Port Reverse within 30 days of a port out. It's more like reinstating the old account and sim than walking into a store and saying you want to Port In and setting up a whole new account. I've very little faith in Vodafones main customer care team but if you called and ask them to do a Port Reversal they should be able to get someone in their porting team to do it for you and possibly quicker than having to get Comreg involved.

true but if the mobile number was live on Sky for an hour the port itself most likely completed into Sky who many have subsequently cancelled the account thereafter. Vodafone would be able to see on their side (as should Sky) if the port out completed or not

Has anyone's internet gone down today? I. The west of Ireland.