Worst broadband ever

[bayounsa]

I lost my broadband connection tonight. I had important things to do online and everything ruined.

The call centre works until 23:30. There is no place to chat online on the website.

when you click on the Contact Us link, it leads you to some loop articles.

They even support the high-speed broadband in our area which BT support. When I ask to cancel this awful broadband they say you have to pay £170 extra to cancel. 

This is not fair at all. Please, help me to get rid of this internet provider.

[cookiemonsteruk]

@bayounsa 

Sometimes the isp's and openreach carry out maintenance and firmware upgrades around this time.  Its in our contract.

[brianholt]

@bayounsa your not going to get 24/7 immediate fix from any isp. As @cookiemonsteruk indicates their may have been maintenance needed either planned or unplanned which may have been out of Skys control. If your work is business critical then you should probably change to a business connection which has an appropriate premium and faster response. Unless you go with virgin who have their own lines you will find similar with other isp providers who all use bt openreach infrastructure. As per it being fair the early termination fees and notice would be part of your agreed contract. Not having broadband is frustrating but in these situations it may be an idea to have a backup such as a mobile you can tether to over 4g. Maybe not the answer you want to hear but the real world reality for us all as fellow customers.

[Chrisee]

@bayounsa it is annoying when services go down as it always seems to happen when you need the system but as you are using a domestic connection it is not really surprising you got no warning. Some business services are better at warning users but the drops still happen.Network maintenance is part of life just like road works there is nothing a user can do about it.

Even if Sky had staff taking your call they could not have restored your service again if you want 24 hour support you will have to pay for a service that includes that - though beware some ISPs switch to overseas call centres overnight who are effectively worse than useless.

Changing ISP is not going to stop things like this happening either as if the work is being done by Openreach you will still be using the same kit. All backhaul network providers have to maintain and improve their networks which is done overnight wherher its BT, Talk Talk or whoever.

If you can get Ultrafast services from BT Retail that Sky cannot match, which can happen but you often have to call to upgrade as the online tool fails, Sky will often release you from contract voluntarily if asked politely. 

[JPR007]

@bayounsa The reason you are being told to pay £170 to leave is because you are mid contract. Broadband like a lot of things in life is not 100% guaranteed, and if work is really that critical then you should have some form of backup.

[bayounsa]

The problem is that when I was with BT at my previous address, it was superb, and I've never needed any backup option.

I heard Sky is great and decided to use sky broadband in my new address. (such a big mistake)

when you start with Sky, they mentioned that it takes around 30 (or something) days for the broadband to settle and works properly. (almost same time you are able to cancel the contract) 

As I mentioned already, this is Essential speed, and I have no other option to upgrade (because Sky doesn't support better speed, which BT does.) This is not my duty to keep the Sky update (politely)

Upload speed is awful; download speed is so so.

I can't even do video call with this broadband which I can do so with 4G internet on the sim card.

Disconnecting is the last thing that I'm worried about.

I choose the wrong place to complain. This is what I will do. I will wait until the end of the contract. Never ever use Sky by me, family, friends and all people who know me on social media. This is wasting time and money. 

[TimmyBGood]

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@bayounsa wrote:

As I mentioned already, this is Essential speed

Upload speed is awful; download speed is so so.

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Yes: that's true of ADSL from any ISP.  Even an address right next to the telephone exchange with the best possible inbound (24Mbs) can only have an outbound of 1.4Mbs: this is inherent to the technology.

[JPR007]

@bayounsa Sounds to me that at your previous address you at least had FTTC broadband, whereas at this one you only have the older ADSL broadband which is much slower and not really suitable for today's needs (despite the dropouts). 

Sky will have stated to you what service and speed they were capable of providing when you signed up. Sometimes the reason they might not offer a certain product is because the street cabinet is full to capacity. For example, I already have FTTC broadband at my address, despite this however, if I look on either say BT or Zen (or any other isp), they only show ADSL as an available service at my address, the same slower service you would appear to have. Occasionally I have checked and then all of a sudden these other ISP's can provide me with the same service I have, so sometimes it is a waiting game and potluck depending on capacity.

Also, this is a public, customer to customer forum of other Sky (and non Sky) broadband users, not Sky themselves. If you wish to complain you need to contact Sky directly either by calling, or there are details on Sky's website.

Worth remembering too that Sky are one of the biggest ISP's, with millions of customers, and the majority are very happy with the service. It's inevitable there will be issues with some lines into some properties at any one time. 

[Chrisee]

@bayounsa if you had stayed with BT when you moved it is almost certain you would have an identical connection. All the major ISPs buy the connections from Openreach who while being part of the BT Group operate entirely independently.

Switching isps will only improve things if they use a different network which is mainly Virgin Media but they have their own issues.