Broadband totally down for over 2 hours

[Lal123]

My broadband has been down for two hours all of a sudden. Please help

[GD1]

@Lal123   First thing to check is this link to see if there are any outages in your area:

https://www.sky.com/servicechecker

If there isn't try running the line test here:

https://www.sky.com/help/articles/broadband-diagnostic-start

You can also run the test via the MySky app on a mobile data connection.

After this has finished and if it reports back all is good click on broadband to run an updated test. If you get amber or red please follow the on screen instructions.

[Lal123]

I understand there's a confirmed outage in my area, but the duration is concerning. We're already past the 2-hour mark. Given this is a contracted broadband service with a 2-year commitment, surely maintaining consistent service should be a priority?

[Lal123]

Thanks for your help though. Is this common with Sky? Once an outage happens, do they take hours or days to resolve? If so, it's a very poor customer experience.

[TimmyBGood]

@Lal123 

Openreach target time to fix domestic broadband provided by any of their client ISPs is within two working days starting the following working day morning after a fault is logged with them by an ISP.  They report to Ofcom that they meet this target in around 85% of cases.  Sky is one of numerous Openreach clients, which also include BT/EE/Plusnet, TalkTalk and Vodafone.

Unfortunately domestic broadband subscription rates of £1 to £2 per day just don't cover faster response, and realistically two hours is barely enough time to drive to some cabinets.  No ISP guarantees uninterrupted service or immediate action because that's simply impossible.

[Lal123]

Anyway, Sky's poor service quality extends beyond broadband. Their Mac application still runs the Intel version, and despite Apple Silicon being available for over three years now, Sky hasn't bothered to update their app. This clearly demonstrates their lacklustre approach to customer service and product maintenance.

[TimmyBGood]

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@Lal123 wrote:

Their Mac application still runs the Intel version, and despite Apple Silicon being available for over three years now, Sky hasn't bothered to update their app. 

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Quite possibly, but that has nothing to do with the Openreach monopoly of UK network service provision as a legacy of British Telecom privatisation in the 1980s, or the increasingly dire state of the aged copper infrastructure while it's being replaced by optical cable.

[Lal123]

Ofcourse. I wonder if other European countries or the US offer broadband services in general?

[TimmyBGood]

@Lal123 

Historically European nations are more likely to have (or had) state-run national telecoms while in the US it's always been regional private monopolies, often with 'Bell' in the name.

Outside a few places such as Singapore and some Gulf states you'd struggle to find a country on the planet where existing infrastructure resilience matches the current importance of always-on high-speed internet access: that's just a product of history.