The evening slowdown is probably the early signs of congestion on the backhaul but the drop isn't serious enough for Sky to sort it out yet. Once it does become a problem Sky are usually fairly quick at increasing capacity.

At my exchange my speeds were dropping from 70 Mbps down to sub-1 Mbps speeds in the evening and at weekends. It was all sorted out within a month although it would have been done quicker if there wasn't a communication breakdown and the Alcatel engineers couldn't gain access to the exchange on their first visit.

It's funny as I was speaking to Zen yesterday who said they can only offer WBMC on my exchange but he rarely sees congestion.

Makes me wonder if it is worth jumping ship, it's the same price and I have a get out of jail card because of the LR and call package cost increase...

In reply to a post by fireants:

My £16 all in contact for Sky landline and internet expires soon and the cost is going to rise to £26 per month....has anyone in a similar position managed to negotiate a reduction? Service is fine and as usual I don't want to go through the rigmarole of changing ISP. Thanks!

Sorry for the late entry to this thread,

I tried to help a recently rested gentleman reconstruct his Sky account recently with very little success!

As Sky where at first keen to point out he had been a loyal TV, Phone and Broadband customer for 3+ years and hadn't had much from them during that time but standard services.

He has there Unlimited ADSL Broadband, Anytime Landline Calls, Standard TV and Line Rental...

He needed to cut his monthly costs of £54+ down due to his income shrinking overnight.

They said that they could cancel his TV service as he wasn't using the subscription channels, but that was it!

They told him he was facing a £4 price rise starting in December into January and that they wouldn't be willing to do any offers.

Even reeling off some offers from competition wasn't getting them to budge, with many years experience in this area it was very strange, but that was all...

So the gentlemen has now opted for service from an alternative provider who is going to give him a years free Broadband and half price calls package for 18 months and to mobiles too! (and they have already risen prices)

"Even reeling off some offers from competition wasn't getting them to budge, with many years experience in this area it was very strange, but that was all..."

Do you mean "years of experience" of negotiating for a reduced offer? No wonder telcos are having to increase their prices on a regular basis.

We all go shopping every week but do we haggle in Tesco, Sainsbury's, etc. These companies manage to keep prices low because we just take our wallets elsewhere if we're not happy.

LMAO.... theres haggling a few pound discount on an overprice phone package, or a bundle of TV, Broadband and Phone.... but then theres haggling a discount of £5-£10 for a broadband service without any calls package or extra content....

Also this is for a pensioner who's usage is barely costing the ISP anything, where as some on here negotiate a discount from an already value broadband supplier and then use that like it going out of fashion...

So before you "try" and blame me for the rising costs because I hate seeing pensioners subsidising the costs of others, think about what I said above regarding retiree...

PS. the account in question has in three years only had one offer/discount and that was a £3.75 discount on Broadband for the first 12 months....

So 3 years of full price line rental, anytime calls and TV and two years full cost broadband, why can't they have a few pounds of when the company is pushing another increase their way...

I'm sure you've had more discount in the past few years than they probably have in there Broadband and Telephone lives!

No! I've paid my flat rate £7.50 for BB for the last 3 years. Trying to save a couple of quid a month seems a bit pointless when the insurance companies (car/home) send out renewals at over £200 extra per year. So switching insurance companies every year is more important.

Good for you, but the £7.50 broadband wasn't the issue, the issue was the £8 phones and £17.40 line rental....

Anyway, your missing the point, If an already value provider can subsidise someone £5+ a month then why can't a provider "that isn't known as value" subsidise £2-£3 a month for someone who been loyal and paid full price for oh so many years.

I'm not sure how insurance prices are related in this instance, but you have a fair point.

In reply to a post by mlmclaren:

Good for you, but the £7.50 broadband wasn't the issue, the issue was the £8 phones and £17.40 line rental....

Anyway, your missing the point, If an already value provider can subsidise someone £5+ a month then why can't a provider "that isn't known as value" subsidise £2-£3 a month for someone who been loyal and paid full price for oh so many years.

I'm not sure how insurance prices are related in this instance, but you have a fair point.

They are related because exactly the same business model is being used. More and more it is the customer who just pays on renewal without question that is being used to fund the discounts that the rest of us are demanding. In many cases automatic renewal of insurance using a credit card authorisation allows insurance companies to "think of a figure" until it becomes so absurd that the customer rebels or, more often, an astute son or daughter happens upon the ridiculous amount that is being paid.

In the telecoms/broadband/tv industry the customer has been duped by the "bundle" where a myriad of prices are increased at varying times and rates together with a locked in contract often with varying end points for individual bits of the bundle. The annual line "saver" is the classic marketing tool that has become little more than an invitation to pay a year up front for virtually no discount at all and no chance of getting out of it even if other price moves offer you that chance. (A classic move to benefit the consumer arranged by Ofcom that manages to be useless if you pay line rental up front)

It's not until the customer sits down and adds up all the bits of the contract when renewal time arrives that he suddenly shouts to anyone in ear shot "HOW much???"

The subsequent calls to try to get a discount seem to encounter another factor. The call centre plans which seem to allocate each member of staff a set of targets including how much they can discount in a certain period. Talk to one, you'll get a rubbish offer. Ring back you'll get a bit better. Ring at one minute to midnight when the moon is full the guy has a target to fill and you'll get the jackpot, everything for a fiver for ever! Do these folk see what has already been offered? Who knows

The final sanctioon is to move supplier. It's an absolute pain. They know that. They rely on the fact you can't really be bothered. But at the rate that the complete bundle price is rising for all of us I suggest more of us are having to bite the bullet

Ofcom, as usual, like Ofgem is no friend of the consumer.

In reply to a post by 961a:

The final sanctioon is to move supplier. It's an absolute pain. They know that.

I don't agree. I've switched a few times and I've always found it a painless process. At worst you just have to plug in the new router when the old connection drops, and reconnect wireless devices (if any) to the new router with the new SSID & wireless key.

In reply to a post by Oliver341:

At worst you just have to plug in the new router when the old connection drops, and reconnect wireless devices (if any) to the new router with the new SSID & wireless key.

I prefer to

a) Use my own router when changing ISP
b) OR change the wireless details in the router to match my equipment (one place to change!)