Should I move to Sky?

I'm with Plus. No complaints, 1 month contract, �20 a month, 30GB downloads.

But I'm on an LLU exchange, close to the exchange, already use them for tv. So I'm looking at 50% cost for possibly 200% speed and increased download allowance (although a 12 month contract). I've seen that comments on Sky's broadband were pretty poor a couple of years ago but my impression is that these have decreased in number.

- Is the general impression that service has improved? Got worse?
- If I work from home, does anyone know if this is considered business use (in fact, I work for a non-commercial organisation)?
- How easy is it to get through to a knowledgeable engineer if there are teething problems (which I know are common with a new connection to any ISP)?

I'd appreciate any comments, positive or negative. I've been reassured by being on a one-month contract with Plus (for four years now) so a 12-month contract with my satellite company scares me a little...

Thanks in advance.

I can't say whether the service has improved because we've only been with them for a few months but our connection is very stable. There are occasional blips following power cuts when it takes a few days for the router to settle down again to a stable rate but once it has done so the connection is rock solid until the next power outage.

Re business use, if it's not personal/family use and is connected with your work, technically it's business use. Our connection is used for eBay quite a lot for an eBay shop (i.e. 'business') and we've not (yet?) had a problem. However, if, say, you had a busy website on your own server and was using Sky's connection to 'put it on the web' then you might get a problem. A question of conscience I guess...

Re 'engineer', we've never had to. See first answer. Some here have had difficulty getting past the stock answers for stock questions level but, I guess, all have had their problems sorted in the end (or left?)

t t

Thanks for your comment. I'll contact Sky themselves about "business" use. I think it's probably quite grey - should anyone that ever checked their work email be on a business use contract, for example? The stability of the same package from UKOnline attracts, but the price doesn't (and I work from home for my family's convenience rather than my employer's).

I have both home and business broadband, and the only difference that I can see between the two is that one gives a VAT receipt, and one does not, and one costs 3 times as much as the other

Hi, I can't find the link but in Sky's T's and C's it states I believe that this is not a business ISP and I don't believe they approve of business use! I doubt in reality an eBay business would be picked up, and if it was, change ISP's again...

I have myself used the tech help desk over the past couple of years and they have got a lot better; the last time I rung I was actually quite impressed for a friend of mine - my line has been rock solid from day one.

HTH - Blue

BlueHuman,

We're aware that Sky is not a business ISP. That's not the issue. What constitutes business usage is what is being disussed. I've contacted Sky about this (waiting for a response) but looking at discussions about this elsewhere, I'm not confident that I will get a response from the front-line helpdesk that is correct, whether they say yes or no.

Thanks for your comment about the helpdesk.

Good luck either way.

Blue

I think you'll struggle to get a definitive answer out of Sky, but I would imagine that they will frown upon the use of a Sky service to give access to a business server, or to resell the service to other users (i.e. in an internet cafe). Also, the discount given to Sky subscribers for ADSL is for private and not business users. Any other definitions would be impractical and almost impossible to enforce.

When I signed up for Sky broadband 3 months ago, when the sales woman asked me which package we wanted I said Max as both my partner and I work from home. NO mention was made by the woman about business use.

I did not read the T&C, and neither did the sales woman say I could not use the line for work. My assumption (and it is purely an assumption) is that they don't want you using a �10 a month line any hang 15-20 staff off it. I had similar terms when I was with NTL / Virgin 4 years ago (NTL has a similar clause, but it was clarified to me in the way I just suggested).

When I have called Support (I live a long way from the exchange, and when the DLM was going the connection was almost useless), I have also mentioned that we work from home - never any issue raised.

I think SidBarker has got it covered here. There is a world of difference between logging in to check and reply to work e-mails, working on a saved spreadsheet/presentation/document and running your own commercial website or internet cafe using Sky's connection. At the end of the day, without monitoring every user and checking on what they are doing with their connection, are Sky going to know or care? There are many 'private' users who use their connection to the max and beyond for downloads etc who tax the system far more than any 'home worker'. And I'm not criticising anyone, just making a comparison.

Good luck,

t t