Sky Broadband Speed Issue

[markysimmo]

Have Sky wireless broadband, I get 7mb normally , crap I know but its fine for what I want to use it for and Ive not had a problem with it in the 2 years Ive been in my flat

Last 4 nights between 7pm till bedtime, my speed when downloading has gone down to less than 1mb at all other times its 7mb

I rang Sky and they said 1, reset the router, 2, try it as a cabled connection to see if speed is still low, 3, channel router channel

Before I do any of these, is there anything else I could check ????

 

[diego_maradona]

Sounds like they are capping it at peak hours although they don't usually admit to it. But less than 1meg is slooooow! What's the advertised speed that you signed up to

 

[Superhudd]

I know they say unlimited but isn't there a fair usage thingy in the T&Cs

 

[GlennGoddle]

Mine also does sometimes at peak hours. Never normally a drop that drastic though.


Superhudd - I have had their broadband for a good few years and had no trouble with a fair usage cap and I download a ridiculous amount of tv,films & music

 

[markysimmo]

Reading on here its common and Sky wont admit it

http://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Broadband-Speed/bd-p/sky_broadband_speed

 

[Baleforce]

they've flooded their system with more customers than they can handle

if you cut the phone lines going into your neighbours houses you should see an improvement ;-)

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

Read this a month back

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21164871


Sky Broadband struggles with demand after adding subscribers


Sky has acknowledged that some of its customers are experiencing slow internet speeds as a consequence of it signing up new subscribers.
The firm said that it was working to boost capacity at telephone exchanges in the worst hit areas.
The news coincided with the launch of Sky Go Extra - a service allowing users to download movies and TV shows so they can be watched offline.
One expert said the product might add to the strain.
Sky Go Extra still works at slow internet speeds - however, Sky's other streaming services rely on the user having a 2 megabit per second connection. Some subscribers have complained their download speeds have fallen below this level at peak times.
A Sky spokeswoman apologised for the problems.
"Following a combination of an underlying increase in network traffic as well as a high rate of new customer additions, we are aware of capacity issues in a small number of exchanges," she said.
"We are working on adding new capacity to those exchanges as quickly as we can. We apologise to all customers who have been impacted by this issue."
She confirmed a report by The Register that users in Doncaster, North Wales and Bristol were among those affected, but declined to be more specific or name other locations.
However, the firm has provided an online postcode checking facilityfor its subscribers to check if their local exchange has been flagged as having an issue.
Sky also indicated that less than 5% of its broadband customer base used the affected exchanges.
'Unlimited downloads'Andrew Ferguson, editor of the Thinkbroadband news site noted that Sky had recently run a major promotion highlighting the fact it did not place "fair use" caps on the amount of data its customers use.
As a result, he said, the firm had probably attracted subscribers who downloaded significantly more than the average 23 gigabytes per month consumed by the average UK broadband user.
"Sky had this problem last year in some of its exchanges, and it's definitely not the only service provider to have experienced this problem," he told the BBC.
"It's very much related to the firms' promotional activities. Sky has also been pushing its fibre products recently - they offer higher speeds and people who sign up generally use more data afterwards."

 

[markysimmo]

Im defo ringing and asking for a reduction in my bill with this current situation

 

[Gordinho]

Im defo ringing and asking for a reduction in my bill with this current situation

Don't ring and ask, ring and tell. State they're in breach of contract and you're leaving, let them fight to keep you rather than you ask to get a reduction from them. Have an alternative provider's details and prices to hand, it will strengthen yours.

 

[BushHillSpurs]

Don't ring and ask, ring and tell. State they're in breach of contract and you're leaving, let them fight to keep you rather than you ask to get a reduction from them. Have an alternative provider's details and prices to hand, it will strengthen yours.

I work for a service provider. (Openreach, Colt, Virgin Media, etc,) - Pick one
The Communications providers are very good at wording their contracts. They provide "Up to" speeds. In essence, they are never in breach of their contract.

 

[DHSF]

I work for a service provider. (Openreach, Colt, Virgin Media, etc,) - Pick one
The Communications providers are very good at wording their contracts. They provide "Up to" speeds. In essence, they are never in breach of their contract.

It is a big caveat and I guess technically they are not of course in spirit they are but we all know businesses dont act in spirit.

I have joined sky from virgin recently and whilst i cant compare like for like (eg less people in the current house, and diff area) I have felt the sky broadband is fine and better than the virgin equivalent.

 

[Gordinho]

I work for a service provider. (Openreach, Colt, Virgin Media, etc,) - Pick one
The Communications providers are very good at wording their contracts. They provide "Up to" speeds. In essence, they are never in breach of their contract.

They can't hide behind that any more despite what they'll have you believe, once they've done a line test and promised you a speed, even if it's not the the full speed in the up to package, they have a duty to maintain that speed.

I'm with Virgin, in my area BT can only offer me 3Mb after testing my line, if that then dropped to one after I'd been achieving three, I'd want out, simple as that.

 

[a spur from swansea]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21627614

just bought O2 broadband business.

 

[scaramanga]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21627614

just bought O2 broadband business.

That makes me angry. I've been with Be for ages as they're one of the few decent providers and they don't have any kind of cap at all - I'll be moving to another provider now I suspect.

 

[Baleforce]

i've got a bethere connection as well, i'll be surprised if they try and change the terms of service just because of this

although the email they just sent me had a dead link to an info page so who knows

 

[scaramanga]

i've got a bethere connection as well, i'll be surprised if they try and change the terms of service just because of this

although the email they just sent me had a dead link to an info page so who knows

Live now. They keep using the word unlimited without actually specifying no caps or restrictions - makes me very suspicious.

 

[markysimmo]

Rang them again tonight, the guy told me my exchange is badly congested and is to be upgraded within 2 weeks then the issue will go away

 

[Spursalot]

Rang them again tonight, the guy told me my exchange is badly congested and is to be upgraded within 2 weeks then the issue will go away

That's likely a standardised response. They'll just hope you'll forget about it and then they're fine.

 

[BushHillSpurs]

Rang them again tonight, the guy told me my exchange is badly congested and is to be upgraded within 2 weeks then the issue will go away

So basically their blaming it on Openreach? Who looks after the external network. Hmm...
I'd take that one with a pinch of salt

 

[markysimmo]

Last 2 posts are exactly what I thought myself