Moving to sky

I am considering moving to Sky. I am currently with Virgin Media adsl on a BT line. Virgin media cable is not available where I live

The Thinkbroadband speed test gives my current download speed as 1.56Mbps
If I reboot my router a couple of times I can usually get a download speed of 2.5Mbps though this lasts only a few hours before the speed deteriorates and I have to reboot the router again
Sky�s website estimates download speeds of 4.0 � 9.2 Mbps speeds which I think seem wildly optimistic for the area

Samknows website indicates I am 2.24km from the telephone exchange but obviously that is in a straight line and the correct length is probably a lot longer

First question is does anyone think I would see an improvement in speeds by moving to sky?

Secondly Sky supplies its own router and I understand that you cannot use a non Sky router. What happens if the router fails? Are you left without broadband for several days and do Sky charge for a replacement router? I ask this question as I am now on my sixth router in 7 years (a draytek,a couple of different netgears and a belkin have all failed for various reasons)

You can use other routers with Sky, but it is up to you to figure out how to do it. Plenty of examples via google, but otherwise if it breaks, then yes is a couple of days while a new one is sent out.

6 routers in 7 years, I'd suggest you may have an issue with mains supply, or affected by lightning a lot.

Rather than speedtests, what are the router stats, that forms the absolute maximum for what you can get, and you can estimate whether line is under performing from those figures too.

6 in 7 years. Must be something wrong there I have to agree.

Routers usually last me around 4 years (by which point I've normally upgraded)

Replacements free within 1 year and if you ask they get it sent within 24 hours. Even after one year they can make it free.

Edited by ukhardy07 (Fri 24-Aug-12 17:06:24)

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

You can use other routers with Sky

I seem to remember that if the exchange has been upgraded to Sky's new MER kit that most routers will not work with it. Been a little while since I was on Sky but pretty sure this is the case.

EDIT: After a quick look it seems it is working with some routers but with not necessarily in a very user friendly way.

Edited by ian72 (Fri 24-Aug-12 16:19:59)

In reply to a post by ian72:

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

You can use other routers with Sky

I seem to remember that if the exchange has been upgraded to Sky's new MER kit that most routers will not work with it. Been a little while since I was on Sky but pretty sure this is the case.

EDIT: After a quick look it seems it is working with some routers but with not necessarily in a very user friendly way.

For some routers, notably the ones based on DD-WRT seem to be quite complicated to set up for Sky MER. My personal choice would be the Billion BiPAC 7800N because it's quite easy to set up and will work with Sky's fibre service as well.

I'm currently using a BiPAC 8200N with SFUP although the firmware is still in beta and has a few sync problems.

Even on the new equipment ppoa still works so it's straight forward

The only one that has issues is the FTTC
Sky's fibre service requires custom firmware eg DDWRT to get it working as you must use MER

On LLU old or new equipment you just need the username and password. Any modem router would work

Edited by ukhardy07 (Fri 24-Aug-12 17:03:59)

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

Even on the new equipment ppoa still works so it's straight forward

Sky are gradually withdrawing PPPoA as more exchanges are switched over to MER espeicially now that all Sky routers, including their old Netgear's support it.

In reply to a post by simon194:

Sky are gradually withdrawing PPPoA as more exchanges are switched over to MER espeicially now that all Sky routers, including their old Netgear's support it.

But Oliver posted only a few days ago the opposite. ADSL users are going back to PPPoA and MER for fibre users.

Draytek and Billion have firmware that supports MER now.

Cant comment on Sky's service as have never used them but on your router issue you might want to connect it to a surge protector.

I think you are wrong here.

Thanks for all your replies
I did mean to include router stats but forgot so have given them below

The routers have all been connected to surge protectors but the problem seems to be that they or the power supply overheat.. I have tried standing then on end in stands or putting the feet on things to allow air to circulate underneath but same result. They are on a desk in the middle of a well ventilated room so shouldn't be a problem. Luckily the current router a Draytek R-ADSL-C4W-EG I borrowed from a friend when he joined Sky and it has been working well for over a year now

Router Stats
These stats were from when I was getting a download speed of 1.5Mbps. A reboot of the router gave very similar stats but download speed jumped to 2.5Mbps


Modem Status
Connection Status Connected

Trained Modulation ADSL_2plus
LOS Errors 1
Peak Cell Rate 1875 cells per sec
Path Mode Interleaved

Selected Modulation MULTI_MODE
SEF Errors 0
ATUC Vendor Code 50000000
ATUC Revision 2
Trellis 1
BitSwap 1
Showtime Count 3

Showtime times 3
DSL Uptime (s) 14:09:00
Last DSL Uptime (s) 2:45:10

Up Down
________________________________________
Rate (Kbps) 795 3146
Margin (db) 5 10
Line Attenuation (db) 34 55
Transmit Power (dbm) 12 21
Payload (Kbps) 34827648 229685664
Max Attainable Bit Rate (bps) 796000 3552 k
Superframe Count 2996686 2996687
CRC
Fast 175 0
Interleaved 0 772

DSL Statistics
Near End F4 Loop Back Count 0
Near End F5 Loop Back Count 0

Modem Status
Connection Status Connected

Trained Modulation ADSL_2plus
LOS Errors 0
Peak Cell Rate 1931 cells per sec
Path Mode Fast Path

Selected Modulation MULTI_MODE
SEF Errors 0
ATUC Vendor Code 50000000
ATUC Revision 2
Trellis 1
BitSwap 1
Showtime Count 1

Showtime times 1
DSL Uptime (s) 0:12:27
Last DSL Uptime (s) 0:00:00

Up Down
________________________________________
Rate (Kbps) 819 3289
Margin (db) 5 9
Line Attenuation (db) 32 56
Transmit Power (dbm) 12 21
Payload (Kbps) 3754368 12646608
Max Attainable Bit Rate (bps) 820000 3728 k
Superframe Count 44290 44291
CRC
Fast 5 0
Interleaved 0 22

DSL Statistics
Near End F4 Loop Back Count 0
Near End F5 Loop Back Count 0

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

I think you are wrong here.

Guess it must have been some sort of weirdness going on then because my backup non-Sky router wouldn't sync with 0/38 VPI/VCI and VC-based encapsulation but did with 0/40 and LLC-based encapsulation and then wouldn't log on of course. Had no internet for almost a week whilst I waited for a new router to turn up.

Anyways it will happen eventually because is there isn't any real reason to support the old ATM system when the network is being upgraded to an IP based one especially, as I said before, all Sky routers support MER now.

In reply to a post by simon194:

Guess it must have been some sort of weirdness going on then because my backup non-Sky router wouldn't sync with 0/38 VPI/VCI and VC-based encapsulation but did with 0/40 and LLC-based encapsulation and then wouldn't log on of course. Had no internet for almost a week whilst I waited for a new router to turn up.

Anyways it will happen eventually because is there isn't any real reason to support the old ATM system when the network is being upgraded to an IP based one especially, as I said before, all Sky routers support MER now.

As has been mentioned here, my experience was that I originally had PPPoA only, then a period of months with both PPPoA and MER enabled (with the Sky router defaulting to MER). Then suddenly the Sky router defaulted back to PPPoA and I can't even establish a MER connection anymore.

What happens in the future is anyone's guess.

In reply to a post by wood49:

First question is does anyone think I would see an improvement in speeds by moving to sky?

Thought so until I saw your stats. Seeing that your router is currently trained to use ADSL2+ (so I'm assuming it does) made me more pessimistic. Sky's LLU is ADSL2+ so you can expect around the same sort of speeds you're getting now. My relative who switched from his rather over priced Virgin ADSL broadband to Sky saw a leap in speed purely because he was on ADSL max BTW with Virgin.

In reply to a post by wood49:

Secondly Sky supplies its own router and I understand that you cannot use a non Sky router. What happens if the router fails? Are you left without broadband for several days and do Sky charge for a replacement router? I ask this question as I am now on my sixth router in 7 years (a draytek,a couple of different netgears and a belkin have all failed for various reasons)

While it is possible to use a router of your choice, it leaves you breaking the T&Cs and perhaps even liable to being cut off. If your router fails within contract, then great, Sky'll send you a free replacement. Out-of-contract however, I've heard of people paying £50 for a new router. Also, 6 routers in 7 years? Are you an exceptionally heavy user or do you turn your router off when your aren't using it? These are 2 big causes of router failures and fry-ups.

A new router is £35 if out of warranty. However if out of warranty you're also out of contract, so threatening to leave will get you a new one for free.

In reply to a post by Oliver341:

As has been mentioned here, my experience was that I originally had PPPoA only, then a period of months with both PPPoA and MER enabled (with the Sky router defaulting to MER). Then suddenly the Sky router defaulted back to PPPoA and I can't even establish a MER connection anymore.

What happens in the future is anyone's guess.

Same here. Happened about 6 months ago. Was on MER from migrating to Sky BB over a year ago and then suddenly went over to PPPoA. Same thing happened at the same time to someone I know who's on the same exchange.

Edited by _Resonance_ (Mon 27-Aug-12 09:35:01)