No upgrade path from Ultrafast 1 (g.fast) to full fibre

[TimmyBGood]

@ade+harry 

We've had no information other than (as @Chrisee posted) there's currently no pathway for such an upgrade.

[ade+harry]

so poor from sky but thanks anyway

[TimmyBGood]

@ade+harry 

As I noted above, it may be that the marginal profitability on domestic broadband subscription pricing doesn't permit the cost charged by Openreach to Sky for a G.fast installation to be followed by another Openreach charge (this time for FTTP installation) without causing a Sky account to turn loss-making.

Also always possible that fixing the order process would cost more than the number of G.fast users makes viable, I guess.

[ade+harry]

fair points, let's hope they sort this out quickly as I for one, still have 13 months left out of 18 months on my contract😭

[rsmarshall]

They really should be making this clear on their website when ordering to be honest. I didn't see any mention that there is no upgrade path from Gfast to FTTP on their site. I'm outside the min contract, but as a staff account, it's an additional cost to move elsewhere.

They are still selling G-fast so really should be making this clear to people who might still be ordering it if nothing else is available.

[Shocked+Friend]

I'm in exactly the same position. But it took a long time for Sky to admit that I couldn't upgrade from G.Fast to FTTP. They kept saying that it wasn't available. It's only when my new neighbour got full fibre and I pressed the matter, that they admitted it was available but I couldn't upgrade.

As as long term Sky customer (almost 25 years), this is the most disapointed I've been.

When my contract ends in February, unless they can give me a definite date for when I can upgrade, I will cancelling my Sky Broadband

[janew]

I ended up cancelling (as Sky kept telling me they could do it and then sending/cancelling engineering visits so let me waive my contract 12 months early). 

Really disappointed with Sky here... I was with them for 14 years and wanted to stay but they just wouldn't let me and messed me around with false info for so long I gave up.

I am with a competitor now and happy.

[ade+harry]

thanks for those answers, guess I'm going to have to try to cancel as well as Sky really don't seem to value loyalty at all!

[BillyHey]

Sorry for resurrecting an old post.

Called tonight as was excited to see openreach have finally finished installing fttp in my area.  Currently on g.fast, since Mid 2020.  Initially told no other ultrafast fibre products were available in my area until I pointed out Sky's own website says it is, as does openreach.

Then got told that I'd have to downgrade to ADSL first, which isn't an option give I've got Glass and 3 stream boxes, work from home and have 2 teenage sons who game constantly and would kill me if we only got 4Mbps for even a second.

Next option they came up with was to change provider to a fttp product and then cancel during the cooloff period and come back to Sky.  Not sure why anyone would do that.

Was told it was a known system issue that was being worked on, but given this thread is 6 months old it doesn't seem to be a priority.

It's a ridiculous situation, I can only assume there aren't that many g.fast customers calling to upgrade (and then leaving when they can't) otherwise it would have been sorted by now.  I'm guessing here but I imagine the issue is the system sees it as a fttp product so then can't process the required open reach fibre/ont installation.  No idea why a downgrade to FTTC couldn't be done, which would be more acceptable than the drop to ADSL.

[ade+harry]

Finally had enough of Sky showing ZERO loyalty to it's long term customers so instead of waiting until Oct to upgrade (or paying their £76 early contract termination fee), I'm moving to another provider who pay upto £300 ETF

[Chrisee]

Sensible move @ade+harry which is effectively the advice we have been given by Sky staff with whom we have queried the issue. @BillyHey there is logic in downgrading to ADSL except it get might get round the issue which seems to be relsted to restrictions in Sky's internal systems. I am not 100% certain that would work in any case.

[BillyHey]

It's actually been known about for 2 years or more, so I doubt it'll ever be fixed.

I've now been given a new workaround to consider: create a new account and order fttp at my address.  Once it's active call Sky and they'll cancel the g.fast line, and then migrate the fttp line over to my main account.  The only downside is that I can't keep my existing phone number, as they can't process Sky to Sky number ports, the same issue that means they can't port numbers for house moves.

I might end up going with this, it's a pain to lose my number but I rarely use the home phone and the important people/places that have it can easily be informed.

[janew]

I'd just like to add that since switching from a g.fast connection with Sky to full fibre with a competitor, my line reliability has soared. My previous copper overhead cable was very temperamental in the winter or bad weather. Yes the added speed is nice too, but fibre as a delivery technology seems rock solid in comparison.

[Shocked+Friend]

I've just switched to Full Fibre through EE. It's been less than a day but I am very happy with it. Much more consistent speeds then G.Fast through Sky.

Also I was pleasantly surprised to find my Sky Q Mini Box still worked as a WiFi extender (my bedroom TV had terrible WiFi so I have it connected to my Sky Q Mini Box via an Ethernet cable).

[simon194]

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@Shocked+Friend wrote:

Also I was pleasantly surprised to find my Sky Q Mini Box still worked as a WiFi extender (my bedroom TV had terrible WiFi so I have it connected to my Sky Q Mini Box via an Ethernet cable).

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That's been a thing for quite a while now although it only 'extends' on the 2.4GHz band with non-Sky ISPs.