Sky Vs BT Broadband Speed Help Needed Please

[MissChief]

Big Tav said:

Any updates on this? Can anyone help? Should I stay with Sky or BT? How can I check if I am on Sky's LLU exchange.

I can check tomorrow when I'm at work. Check your email again Tav.

[Big Tav]

Thanks Chief!

[bad company]

Thought I would bump this thread to see if anybody has an update.

Currently I have BT for phones & broadband and Sky for TV.

It seems that I can save £16 monthly by changing to Sky for the phone & broadband which is very tempting but it is any good?

[Big Tav]

Sky is twice as fast at my house than BT.

[bad company]

Big Tav said:

Sky is twice as fast at my house than BT.

Looks like you live in a city, I'm in rural Essex with no fibre optic stuff so all a bit slow.

[FlossyThePig]

Big Tav said:

Sky is twice as fast at my house than BT.

How can that be, they both use the same network? Are you using actual measured speed or a marketing man's dream?

[Accelebrate]

FlossyThePig said:

How can that be, they both use the same network? Are you using actual measured speed or a marketing man's dream?

Not necessarily all the same network, could be an LLU connection, and the BT equipment in the exchange might be congested.

[Big Tav]

I live just outside Edinburgh. I have done a speed test on my line while using sky and it is twice what BT said the can guarantee. I think there is a new sky unbundled exchange or something next to me.

[Big Tav]

I think it was called a LLU. The speed difference is why I have stayed with them. BT said if that was really the speed (which it is) they can't match it.

[bimsb6]

Big Tav said:

I think it was called a LLU. The speed difference is why I have stayed with them. BT said if that was really the speed (which it is) they can't match it.

Llu ( local loop unbundling) is where the pair of wires from the exchange to the end user is rented from bt and maintained by openreach with the comms provider having their own exchange equipment connected .so a comms provider with the latest high speed connections in the exchange can give a higher connection speed over a comms provider using older slower equipment although the line length and quality of the line will restrict the attainable speed as well.

[onomatopoeia]

Accelebrate said:

Not necessarily all the same network, could be an LLU connection, and the BT equipment in the exchange might be congested.

BT (the wholesale bit that provides backhaul to other ISPs as well as to BT Internet) have a policy, which by all accounts they actually adhere to, of not being the point of congestion on any links they control and upgrading the capacity if it looks like becoming a problem. Contention is more likely at the ISP's connection to the BT IP network or their connectivity to the Internet as a whole (the capacity of these is specified by the ISP)

[bad company]

Just tested on www.uswitch.com and got:-

Upload - 0.5Mb
Download - 10Mb

From the site that looks better than I can expect from Sky or Talk Talk.

[bimsb6]

bad company said:

Just tested on www.uswitch.com and got:-

Upload - 0.5Mb
Download - 10Mb

From the site that looks better than I can expect from Sky or Talk Talk.

Who is that with then?

[bad company]

bimsb6 said:

bad company said:

Just tested on www.uswitch.com and got:-

Upload - 0.5Mb
Download - 10Mb

From the site that looks better than I can expect from Sky or Talk Talk.

Who is that with then?

BT

We are a bit restricted on choice here in 'cowpat lane'. No cable and no fibre optic broadband so I'm thinking that is probably as good as it can be?

[boothy1987]

Is Virgin not an option?

We were getting 3-4mb download and a ridiculously slow upload with Sky on their unlimited package

Switched to Virgin and we now get somewhere between 100-120mb and around 12mb upload. Not had a single problem with them either in almost 18 months

[bad company]

boothy1987 said:

Is Virgin not an option?

This area is not covered by Virgin as no cable.

[JimClark49]

Im moving to north west wales to rent a house in a few weeks.
The property currently has BT, but looking at their packages they are quite expensive.

Was thinking of going for Plusnet 4mb broadband. Anyone know if plusnet are good?
They also offer 30mb fiber broadband. What is fiber broadband and does it involve any modifications to the property/sockets that I should tell landlord about?

Also, how long do switchovers take?

[MissChief]

Fibre broadband involves no internal changes.

Plusnet are owned by BT anyway.

[ASK1974]

After being a BT client for many years I will never, ever buy from them again. The product was fine but customer services is amongst the worst I have ever experienced. I have Sky ADSL and have had for a while now, not the fastest but it's been very reliable and I get to speak to UK based customer services if needed - I know some have had bad experiences with Sky but IME they are better than any other large company.

I could upgrade to BT infinity but we were so badly treated and messed around that will never happen. Shame really.

[bimsb6]

ASK1974 said:

After being a BT client for many years I will never, ever buy from them again. The product was fine but customer services is amongst the worst I have ever experienced. I have Sky ADSL and have had for a while now, not the fastest but it's been very reliable and I get to speak to UK based customer services if needed - I know some have had bad experiences with Sky but IME they are better than any other large company.

I could upgrade to BT infinity but we were so badly treated and messed around that will never happen. Shame really.

If you can get bt infinity you can get sky fibre .