Broadband Buddy disappearing - What a shame and why no bill reduction?

[Scotser]

So got a letter from Sky today saying that 'sorry Broadband Buddy is closing on 10 April'. Disappointed, as Broadband Buddy is a lifesaver with managing my childrens' internet access, and not really bothered about the other features of Broadband Boost (like weekend engineer visits, daily line checks), I phoned Sky to get Boost removed from my account. Why pay £3 a month if I don't need it eh?  1hr 30mins later I'm still trying to sort it out. Fair enough they did eventually agree to take the £3 off my contract, but in doing so managed to sign me up to another 18months. I don't want another 18 months, I just want to be compensated for receving a lesser service. I've ended up with topline support and they are trying to sort it out (good service), but at the same time, it shouldn't be so difficult to remove a small charge from the bill for a service I am no longer going to be getting. 

On a side-note, it's a real shame Broadband Buddy is going. Sky were more or less the only Broadband company which allowed parents to control which devices could get internet access, know what time those devices were using and more. Yes, the app was a bit rubbish and frequently crashed, but it was a real point of difference with other providers and convinced me that Sky took parental supervision seriously. A real shame.

[mae-3]

@Scotser 

It is a shame the broadband buddy isn't going to work in future. But the community is going to have to wait to see whether Sky introduce something better... But saying that no solution is foolproof for blocking children unless it is well expensive and even then it needs updating regularly to keep up with the tech-savvy youngsters. 😉

[Scotser]

But that was the beauty of it. It was very hard to get around. I'm tech savvy and I struggled. It had a setting where it would automatically block VPNs. Sky have really shot themselves in the foot here I feel. Parents need to have an option to control their children's access to the internet. I am amazed more suppliers don't major on it. It will be a serious factor in whether I renew with Sky in six months time. 

[TimmyBGood]

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@Scotser wrote:

I am amazed more suppliers don't major on it. 

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Possibly because they are concerned about liability when it (inevitably) doesn't make the internet a safe place?

[Axeman77]

Agree this was a great service and in the end I have purchased an ASUS RT-AX86S to use in place of my Sky broadband hub as it offers the parental controls and is a better performing WI-FI hub overall. 

My gripe with Sky is that they won't allow their Sky Q boxes or mini boxes connect to the 5GHZ channel on a third party router limiting the streaming through my sky boxes now. 

[Chrisee]

@Axeman77 its a function of the age of the Q system which was launched in 2016 and designed earlier. Sky have made chages but getting the mini boxes to connect to third party wifi has not happened and is likely only possible with major hardware changes which wont be happening now.

[Axeman77]

I was hoping new hardware might become available but maybe they are focussing g on streaming through Sky Glass or the Puck now. I got the main sky Q box & two mini boxes connected but only on the 2GHZ WI-FI channel. I just stream Netflix/Amazon/Disney directly through my TV on the 5GHz WI-FI channel anyway.

No other sensible options for parental controls and I am very impressed with the options available on the ASUS router.