Sky Broadband.

airuser

Gone to Sky site all info should be there. I believe that one has to take their phone package.

tripper63

phone package compulsory but you can opt for lite package along with broadband unlimited much better value

smileyj1987

tripper63 wrote: »

phone package compulsory but you can opt for lite package along with broadband unlimited much better value

Thats what I signed up for yesterday . I will be paying €40 a month on top of my Sky Tv bill .
They are giving me free local and national calls at evenings and weekends .
Up to 24 mb Broadband . They ran a few tests at different stages yesterday and told me my line could handle 20mb but I won't see that speed all the time . I also have un-limited downloads .
They told me that if I change my mind within 30 days of the BB going active then I cancel with no fee's .
There is no set up fee but you need an active landline to sign up with them and they give you the Sky Hub for free aswell .
Above all else they explained to me yesterday that their service is normal broadband and can be slow at times but they did say they wouldn't throttle my usage ( We will have to wait and see on that one )
They also showed me a demo of the wireless dongle they have for the Sky box and I ordered one of them . I can control my sky box from my iphone and watch tv while on the go .

To simplify it if you can get UPC in your area go with them . If you are on normal broadband go with the cheapest comapany you can find that will provide you with the service you need .

Israeli Superiority

airuser wrote: »

UPC can offer they higher speeds as the are running through the TV cabling system.

They have been upgrading their system for many years.

With SKY, Vodafone and all the other ISP'S they have to relay on Eircom unbundling the exchanges. Remember that Eircom have the control of the Telecom system up to your front door. Antthing done on that system has to be cleared with the,

In Ireland we have a mismatch of exchanges.

Those that have never been upgraded, and never will.

Bundled ones, unbundled one( other ISP's can use their equipment)

NOW COMES THE EXCITING BIT.

The NGB. this can be for speeds from 8M Up To 24M. Depending on several factors the Line it self. distance, and the exchange.

Then the Latest NBA up to 70 - 100M. The former only available with Fibre to Cabinet. That Cabinet on the road side and has a what looks like a big block of steel as a lock. Then to the old fashioned cabinet in ones Estate or nearby.By copper wire. So one could have the Fibre some way from ones home. Therefore 70M could be a little off.

Up to 100M could be achieved where it is Fibre to Home. This would be to homes where `fibre cable has been installed in the last couple years.

I have been asked if I would like 70M by my previous ISP.

At present my line is capable of 16M(when my stats are worked out), however, my profile is 10.239M and receiving 8.65M.

Remember "up to" whatever. is in the minds of the supplier.

Have never had an honestest answer from and ISP about speeds.

I have a upgraded Eircom Master Socket installed. Made very little difference in the % speed.

Promised 12M.
Achieved 10.239M
Actual 8.65M

Fiber to the home is a lot faster than 100mb. UPC are providing 150mb with fiber-powered copper lines.

Google fiber are doing 1Gb lines.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber_to_the_x#Benefits

cuilteanna

I'm thinking of going to Sky... they say the max available is 11.7 Mbps, right now I pay Eircom for 24 and on a REALLY good day get maybe 7! I am wondering if Sky's stated max speed bears any relation to what you actually get, or will it be as ridiculously bad as Eircom.

amdaley28

cuilteanna wrote: »

I'm thinking of going to Sky... they say the max available is 11.7 Mbps, right now I pay Eircom for 24 and on a REALLY good day get maybe 7! I am wondering if Sky's stated max speed bears any relation to what you actually get, or will it be as ridiculously bad as Eircom.

I have found they will give you whatever your line can take.
Just because you pay someone for 24Mb doesn't mean you will ever get near 24Mb.

adrianm68

I am moving to Ireland in a week from Europe, since all you guys are so happy and welcoming.. :-).

But I don't have any ideas on what service provider I should choose. I'm moving to Kilmacow near Waterford, enjoy telly and fast internet, and perhaps a few international calls (currently using Skype). Is the latest offering from Sky better than much of the other providers?

What would you recommend a newcomer? I have had a brief look at the other thread on broadband, but get the impression much has changed with the new sky offerings, is that true?

The house I am moving to already has a sky HD box, but without the Skycard, if that makes any difference.

Cheers!

Adrian

smileyj1987

Hi Adrian welcome to boards .

To get the Broadband the house will need an active telephone line because Sky won't let you sign up without one . I would recommend browsing the website for sky because you might get a good deal to sign up with sky . To sign up for Sky you need the Telephone number and UAN . If you need a line you will have to get in touch with Eircom . They will probably charge a fee to install a line if you aren't taking a contract with them .

Some of the Bundles are listed here .
http://www.sky.com/ireland/bundles-offers/featured/

adrianm68

Thanks for the info smiley.

I don't presently have a phone line in the house, and wasn't planning on getting one outside of a package deal. These days with mobiles, who needs a landline?

I'll have to work out if Sky is still worthwhile given the additional costs of gettting a phone line connected with Eircom. Perhaps an Eircom bundle will be a better deal.

Thanks

Adrian

wonski

adrianm68 wrote: »

Thanks for the info smiley.

I don't presently have a phone line in the house, and wasn't planning on getting one outside of a package deal. These days with mobiles, who needs a landline?

I'll have to work out if Sky is still worthwhile given the additional costs of gettting a phone line connected with Eircom. Perhaps an Eircom bundle will be a better deal.

Thanks

Adrian

Eircom is your only bet (for fixed broadband if upc is not there) - paying for instalation/line activation on top of monthly bills makes any offer expensive. Stick to Eircom, and after 12 months you can go elsewhere.
This is providing they still offer free instalation if contract is signed for 12 months.
If you stay for short time you may want to try some of mobile providers, or wireless broadband. Location is crucial to determine what is best for you.
Good luck!

adrianm68

wonski wrote: »

Eircom is your only bet (for fixed broadband if upc is not there) - paying for instalation/line activation on top of monthly bills makes any offer expensive. Stick to Eircom, and after 12 months you can go elsewhere.
This is providing they still offer free instalation if contract is signed for 12 months.
If you stay for short time you may want to try some of mobile providers, or wireless broadband. Location is crucial to determine what is best for you.
Good luck!

Thanks,

I'll give UPC a call when I arrive, and check to see if they are available in my area. According to their speedtest I am currently enjoying 40 Mbps.

Is there any logic around the requirement to have an active home phone with Eircom before Sky will consider you a customer?

From your post, I assume UPC does not have this requirement.

Thanks for your help

Adrian

James__10

Switching to Sky broadband myself I was in with the sky Representative today and I got a message to my phone saying the phone line will be in tomorrow. I'm just waiting on the modem to be posted out so basically once I get the modem posted out i'm good to go then?

Icyseanfitz

Well after 2 weeks of trouble shooting and endless cs calls (from me) they sent me a new hub, plugged it in and it still aint working :X giving them one more call tomorrow and if it doesn't get sorted before the weekend I'm canceling it and going somewhere else, should have had broadband from the 26th of April, unacceptable in my opinion

James__10

May be a silly question but is there a usage cap with the Sky unlimited broadband?

notahappycamper

James__10 wrote: »

May be a silly question but is there a usage cap with the Sky unlimited broadband?

Nope - it does exactly as it says on the tin!

steps_3314

Just plugged in my Sky hub as the line was activated today.

Slightly concerned as I am hitting speeds of 0.81MB/s. have run speediest.net at least 5 times and not surpassing 1MB/s.My line speed was tested and I was told it supported 24MB/s so I was hoping to get at least 10MB/s.

I called up Sky who said this is normal in the first 24 hours and to check the speed again tomorrow before calling back....

Anyone else experience slow connection on the first day but improved overtime

jca

steps_3314 wrote: »

Just plugged in my Sky hub as the line was activated today.

Slightly concerned as I am hitting speeds of 0.81MB/s. have run speediest.net at least 5 times and not surpassing 1MB/s.My line speed was tested and I was told it supported 24MB/s so I was hoping to get at least 10MB/s.

I called up Sky who said this is normal in the first 24 hours and to check the speed again tomorrow before calling back....

Anyone else experience slow connection on the first day but improved overtime

Yes mine was very slow for the first 24 hours then rapidly improved. I get between 11 and 12 meg now.
Make sure to leave the hub turned on.

steps_3314

Just tested again and it's jumped to over 4MB

Nonoperational

Mbit not MB

jca

Nonoperational wrote: »

Mbit not MB

Blah blah. We all know what he meant.

James__10

Just got connected to sky about a hour ago and i'm currently only getting a speed of about 0.88Mbps

amdaley28

James__10 wrote: »

Just got connected to sky about a hour ago and i'm currently only getting a speed of about 0.88Mbps

Give it a chance. You will go up & down for up to ten days until Sky settle on the best speed for your line.

naughto

James__10 wrote: »

Just got connected to sky about a hour ago and i'm currently only getting a speed of about 0.88Mbps

how come you dident wait to see if you can get eircom fiber?

James__10

naughto wrote: »

how come you dident wait to see if you can get eircom fiber?

I switched to Sky tv so it was handier just to switch to Sky broadband.

James__10

Getting around 10Mbps now

steps_3314

steps_3314 wrote: »

Just tested again and it's jumped to over 4MB

4Mb didn't last long. Have been getting .82Mb since I recorded 4Mb.

Cancelling Asap

Israeli Superiority

steps_3314 wrote: »

4Mb didn't last long. Have been getting .82Mb since I recorded 4Mb.

Cancelling Asap

Wait until 10 days after you plugged your hub in. Sky run a line test for the first two weeks to see how much your line can handle.

Stinicker

Anyone else here still getting throttled in the evenings, since I joined in February I am throttled from 8mb to 3mb between 7pm to midnight; however in the last few days I am throttled down to 0.5mb or 1mb, it is an absolute joke as I can't run youtube or stream anything right at the time I'd most like to use it in the evening. I am defintely going back to Eircom once my contract is up and may yet take Sky to the Small Claims Court if they don't start giving me bandwidth in the evening.

degsie

A mod recently mentioned that Sky will engage more with the boards.ie community, so, where are they? Other ISP's actively engage in 'Talk to..' forums. Are Sky too shy or possibly too embarrassed to talk to us? Just sayin'

CJKeane

smileyj1987 wrote: »

Hi Adrian welcome to boards .

To get the Broadband the house will need an active telephone line because Sky won't let you sign up without one . I would recommend browsing the website for sky because you might get a good deal to sign up with sky . To sign up for Sky you need the Telephone number and UAN . If you need a line you will have to get in touch with Eircom . They will probably charge a fee to install a line if you aren't taking a contract with them .

Some of the Bundles are listed here .
http://www.sky.com/ireland/bundles-offers/featured/

Tried this today as there has never been an active phone line in my parent's new house. The house is only 5 years old and it's in a new estate and everything. Was told by Sky CS that I would need to get Eircom to activate the line and then everything would be okay to go after that.
After 30 minutes on with Eircom CS, and numerous operators who couldn't comprehend why anyone would want to just activate a line and not want to sign up for a 12 month contract, I was eventually told that I would have to get Sky to contact the Eircom wholesale office and that Sky would have to do everything themselves. Sky have no technicians on the road yet and would not tell me when they were going to get them, except that it would be "soon."

My head is absolutely wrecked at this point and I don't know what to do. Anyone know how I can hack the Eircom box on the footpath outside the house and connect the phone line? :pac:

10belowzero

Absolutely nothing to do with Eircom ,you place an order for service with the company of your choice , there are then regulated channel's that the order proceed's thru , if you have a problem it's up to the company you contacted to sort out the problem , like other OLO's do , if the company you are dealing with cannot resolve the issue , then move on to a company that can, it's a free open market.

wonski

It has a lot to do with Eircom. All you need to do is order phoneline with Eircom, but if you don't want to sign contract with them, you will have to pay installation fee of ~150 euro. Makes no sense, as it is much cheaper to sign up to Eircom, and after 12 months is up you are free to go elsewhere.

from Eircom website:
eircom Price List 2013
Part 1.1
5.2 A minimum contract term of twelve
months from the completion of your
order applies to all PSTN Resident
ial lines Customers subject to a
minimum term contract will be liable
for, and agree to pay to eircom, a
termination charge if the Agreement
is terminated during the relevant
minimum period. The maximum app
licable termination charge is the
Residential PSTN rental due for the
unexpired portion of the minimum
term. [END OF QUOTE]

Looks like there is no way around this...

They told me i had to sign up for 12 months to have free installation, now it looks like you have to sign up for contract even if you pay the fee???
Confused...

7upfree

CJKeane wrote: »

My head is absolutely wrecked at this point and I don't know what to do. Anyone know how I can hack the Eircom box on the footpath outside the house and connect the phone line? :pac:

:eek: I would think very carfully about this for obvious reasons:

1. Even if you could "hack" the box there are numerous H&S issues.

2. People are specifically trained and qualified for this work.

3. It is Eircom's property.

4. Even if you could "hack" a connection the line wouldn't be activated.

5. Trespass.

The list is endless.

jca

7upfree wrote: »

:eek: I would think very carfully about this for obvious reasons:

1. Even if you could "hack" the box there are numerous H&S issues.

2. People are specifically trained and qualified for this work.

3. It is Eircom's property.

4. Even if you could "hack" a connection the line wouldn't be activated.

5. Trespass.

The list is endless.

I think he was joking... Wouldnt make any difference anyway, the connection needs to be completed at the exchange.

Israeli Superiority

Yeah, I never heard of anyone hacking/stealing DSL. Cable television, however...

7upfree

jca wrote: »

I think he was joking... Wouldnt make any difference anyway, the connection needs to be completed at the exchange.

see 4. above.

Kristopherus

CJKeane wrote: »

Tried this today as there has never been an active phone line in my parent's new house. The house is only 5 years old and it's in a new estate and everything. Was told by Sky CS that I would need to get Eircom to activate the line and then everything would be okay to go after that.
After 30 minutes on with Eircom CS, and numerous operators who couldn't comprehend why anyone would want to just activate a line and not want to sign up for a 12 month contract, I was eventually told that I would have to get Sky to contact the Eircom wholesale office and that Sky would have to do everything themselves. Sky have no technicians on the road yet and would not tell me when they were going to get them, except that it would be "soon."

My head is absolutely wrecked at this point and I don't know what to do. Anyone know how I can hack the Eircom box on the footpath outside the house and connect the phone line? :pac:

Contact Eircom and ask them can you get efibre. You may very well get a good offer.

Mr. G

Stinicker wrote: »

Anyone else here still getting throttled in the evenings, since I joined in February I am throttled from 8mb to 3mb between 7pm to midnight; however in the last few days I am throttled down to 0.5mb or 1mb, it is an absolute joke as I can't run youtube or stream anything right at the time I'd most like to use it in the evening. I am defintely going back to Eircom once my contract is up and may yet take Sky to the Small Claims Court if they don't start giving me bandwidth in the evening.

The Small Claims Court can only advise, but can't prosecute so you may not get anything out of that.

degsie wrote: »

A mod recently mentioned that Sky will engage more with the boards.ie community, so, where are they? Other ISP's actively engage in 'Talk to..' forums. Are Sky too shy or possibly too embarrassed to talk to us? Just sayin'

Nobody is going to answer this it is not discussed with mods, and even if it was, it would not be professional of a mod to discuss it. I don't even know if Sky are in contact with the boards office. Just because other ISPs are on boards doesn't mean they have an obligation to come on boards.

degsie

Mr. G wrote: »

Nobody is going to answer this it is not discussed with mods, and even if it was, it would not be professional of a mod to discuss it. I don't even know if Sky are in contact with the boards office. Just because other ISPs are on boards doesn't mean they have an obligation to come on boards.

Well, in fact Sky have been talking to Boards according to Dav:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=84310709&postcount=267

AdamD

Anyone know if sky will be reselling Eircom's fibre?

Vico1612

AdamD wrote: »

Anyone know if sky will be reselling Eircom's fibre?

http://helpforum.sky.com/t5/ROI-Broadband-Talk/Sky-and-Eircom-eFibre/td-p/983554

DupsTheKid

Anyone else's sky connection get throttled recently? I've been on sky since the end of January and until the last day or two I had only good things to say about them. Everything was perfect, was getting decent ping and 6mb which the most I got with any other company was 5. I'm now getting a ping of roughly 1000ms and download speed of 1000kbps. Shocking!!

jca

DupsTheKid wrote: »

Anyone else's sky connection get throttled recently? I've been on sky since the end of January and until the last day or two I had only good things to say about them. Everything was perfect, was getting decent ping and 6mb which the most I got with any other company was 5. I'm now getting a ping of roughly 1000ms and download speed of 1000kbps. Shocking!!

Im the very same as you. I was delighted to be taken on as part of the trial and it was brilliant. Since it went live the speeds in the evenings are terrible.

Kenny Logins

Yeah, can't watch Youtube in the evenings. Not impressed.

smileyj1987

I Just got mine set up 15 minutes ago .

jca

smileyj1987 wrote: »

I Just got mine set up 15 minutes ago .

All is great at this time of the day. From 7pm is when the trouble starts. I get so fed up with it in the evenings I just switch off the wifi on my phone and use the 3g network. Stuck with this crap until next January. Not happy at all.

DupsTheKid

Yea my main troubles seem to start in the evenings. YouTube unusable and same with playing online with the Xbox. I'd be lucky if Google loads up cleanly. It's not too bad now but still only getting 3mb of the usual 6mb. I'm stuck in contract till January too. Any way to get out of it? This ain't worth the 10 euro a month trial price!

Vico1612

DupsTheKid wrote: »

Yea my main troubles seem to start in the evenings. YouTube unusable and same with playing online with the Xbox. I'd be lucky if Google loads up cleanly. It's not too bad now but still only getting 3mb of the usual 6mb. I'm stuck in contract till January too. Any way to get out of it? This ain't worth the 10 euro a month trial price!

One poster said that he called Sky who investigated the issue, without success and they let him move ISP without penalty.
Would be worth calling them to get the ball moving.

jca

Vico1612 wrote: »

One poster said that he called Sky who investigated the issue, without success and they let him move ISP without penalty.
Would be worth calling them to get the ball moving.

I think I will. Ive had bb since 2005 and never had a service as bad as this. Xbox, ps are a no no according to the children. The. Lagging is terrible.

smileyj1987

jca wrote: »

All is great at this time of the day. From 7pm is when the trouble starts. I get so fed up with it in the evenings I just switch off the wifi on my phone and use the 3g network. Stuck with this crap until next January. Not happy at all.

No problems for me so far anyway .