*** Sky Ultrafast Data BB Usage?

[MACAPPLE]

Every time we check our BB speed using the Sky App on our iPhones ("Test your BB Speed Now") to monitor our data usage and we were amazed to see that it was 396GB for period December 23rd 2021 to January 23rd 2022?

How is that possible?  We are using our iPhones a lot but that's just for surfing the web and, hardly ever use computers/laptops so, I doubt very much that our mobiles are using that much data?

My wife does record her favourite programs and films most days of the week so, would that account for the very high data usage!

As already stated, we have Sky Ultra BB and I'm sure that we have "unlimited data"?  Would Community members please confirm that please!

[Skull+Treaty]

@MACAPPLE 

Do you not download anything on Sky Q, or stream via Netflix/Prime/Disney (or others)?

Those shows downloaded/via catch-up onSky Q in HD or UHD can quickly rack up the data.

[TimmyBGood]

@MACAPPLE 

Sky ultrafast broadband is unlimited in data volume.

Recording from a live broadcast over the satellite link uses no internet data, but all on-demand, catch-up and watch-from-start does.

[MACAPPLE]

Hi, thanks for the replies!  I'm not sure what you mean by recording via live broadcast over the satellite link or on demand?

As far as I'm aware, my wife records the soaps, using Sky Q,, especially when she is not going to be in!

As for on demand, catch-up and "watch from the start", I'll need to ask her how she records!

I mean, with no data restrictions on downloads, it doesn't really matter! It's just that I was a bit surprised to read that we had used 396gb over a running month! 

[TimmyBGood · Accepted solution]

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@MACAPPLE wrote:

I'm not sure what you mean by recording via live broadcast over the satellite link or on demand?

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'Live' television (selected from the channel list as it is being broadcast) arrives over the satellite dish and can be recorded to the hard drive from there. Everything else is delivered online and downloaded to disk.

[MACAPPLE]

Hi, thank you to everyone who replied to my post!

It was quite difficult to choose just one because all answers were very similar but,  I had to choose one!

Thank you all again for input!

[jamesn123]

@MACAPPLE 

400GB a month is quite normal with Sky Q and just some phones to be honest. Here we use an average of about 1TB per month

[MACAPPLE]

Hi all, I'm sorry that this post is so long but it needed to be for me to get across our Sky issues so, before getting to our current issues, I’ll just recap!  We had Sky Q/TV installed on the 23rd December 2021 and our ULTRA Fast 1 Broadband was installed by Openreach on January 4th 2022!

As the Sky ‘info’ states,  for the BB speed, there is a ‘settling down’ period during which time the speed would fluctuate so, I didn’t really take too much notice of the speed!                                                                   

Note:  On Ultrafast 1, Sky promise d/l speeds of 145 M/bps and upload speeds of 27/28 M/bps! 

Once the BB settled down, the speed constantly started climbing from around 138/140 M/bps and right up to 159/160 M/bps!

Then, from around early April, the speed started dropping and at the moment (11th May), it is 119 M/bps at the lowest and I noticed that when checking the BB speed using Skys “Test Your BB Speed”, from before 21st April, I started getting messages such as, “the broadband speed from your Hub could be faster”, and, “looks like you’ve got an ‘on-going’ issue and, “book an engineer”! We were also getting an “AMBER explanation” notice!

Screenshots from "Sky Test Your Broadband Speed":

We followed the instructions from the messages to book an engineer and the Openreach engineer arrived a couple of days later on the 21st April!

Apart from discussing the speed drop with him, I also said that we weren’t happy with the internet calling which wasn’t as clear as we were led to believe and, I stated that we wanted to have our phone connected to the master box on the wall!

I also mentioned that the telephone number given to us during ‘sign up’, was supposed to be “ex directory” but, every single call we’ve received, has been from scammers so, that to me suggested that the given number had been ‘well used’ but, as we were “supposed to be” ex directory, we shouldn’t have been getting scamming calls so, I requested a new number which had not already been given to anyone else!

The engineer seemed to take no notice of my requests and we are still putting up with the scamming numbers but, I’ve now disconnected the phone from the router and the ‘so called’ internet calling so, he has obviously not passed our requests and concerns on to Sky!?

With reference to the checking the Hub speed, the engineer informed me that after carrying out his necessary checks and, despite the fact that although he could find nothing wrong, he informed me that the current speed after checking was 140 M/bps but I declined to check his findings because I knew that it was a lot lower!                                                         

As he was leaving our home, the engineer said that, because of the HUB issue messages, he would advise Sky that a replacement Sky SR204 Hub was necessary and added that we should expect a call from Sky within the next 24 to 48 hours but, we received no such call!  

Note:  I carried out a speed test with the engineer, using the Sky app on my Iphone and, part way through the test, “the HUB issue error messages” appeared on the display in front of him but, he ignored it!  

Minutes after the engineer left, I carried out another speed check using Skys own “Test your broadband speed” app which I trust to be accurate and, the speed shown to be just 126 M/bps!  

Sky promise 145 M/bps with “Ultrafast 1” and state the the speed may go up or down a little but, I wouldn’t call dropping “26 M/bps down”, “a little”! That’s a hell of a lot lower that 145 M/bps!

Especially so, because after the first two weeks settling down period and, right up until ***********, we were constantly getting up to 159/160 M/bps!

After the engineer left, our BB speed continued to fall and, as of today at 11:58, Wednesday 11th May, the current speed using Skys own app, is 119 M/bps and, the “up” speed is always around 128 M/bps!

I should also add that, within 24 hours after the engineer left, we received a message from Sky which said, “we are pleased that we have fixed your issues” but, as far as we are concerned, every issue we reported is still there!

Sent from my iPhone

[TimmyBGood]

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@MACAPPLE wrote:

Apart from discussing the speed drop with him, I also said that we weren’t happy with the internet calling which wasn’t as clear as we were led to believe and, I stated that we wanted to have our phone connected to the master box on the wall!

'Internet calling' is from the Hub.  Once an SOGEA Ultrafast product is in place at an address the 'master box on the wall' no longer carries PSTN (voice signal) to-and-from a telephone exchange so connecting a handset to it is not an option.

I also mentioned that the telephone number given to us during ‘sign up’, was supposed to be “ex directory” but, every single call we’ve received, has been from scammers so, that to me suggested that the given number had been ‘well used’ but, as we were “supposed to be” ex directory, we shouldn’t have been getting scamming calls so, I requested a new number which had not already been given to anyone else!

The engineer seemed to take no notice of my requests and we are still putting up with the scamming numbers but, I’ve now disconnected the phone from the router and the ‘so called’ internet calling so, he has obviously not passed our requests and concerns on to Sky!?

Scammers typically use automated random dialling within the range of all possible numbers: 'ex directory' means unlisted, not unreachable.  Openreach have no dealings with the allocation of phone numbers by an ISP/telco to subscribers, and I doubt they have any mechanism to pass such 'requests and concerns' onwards.  Sky themselves suggest activating Sky Talk Shield to reduce (but not remove) the incidence of dodgy calls which remain an industry-wide problem.

As he was leaving our home, the engineer said that, because of the HUB issue messages, he would advise Sky that a replacement Sky SR204 Hub was necessary and added that we should expect a call from Sky within the next 24 to 48 hours but, we received no such call!  

ISPs typically don't make outbound support calls, and an Openreach person should not be making promises on behalf of an ISP: they have zero authority to do so, and typically little knowledge of any particular ISPs policies and procedures.

Sky promise 145 M/bps with “Ultrafast 1” and state the the speed may go up or down a little but, I wouldn’t call dropping “26 M/bps down”, “a little”! That’s a hell of a lot lower that 145 M/bps!

I believe the 'guaranteed minimum download speed' for Ultrafast 1 over either G.fast or FTTP is 100Mbs.  145Mbs sounds like a particular form of national average which Ofcom (and the ASA) permit ISPs to use in advertising.

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You seem to be misunderstanding the relationship between any ISP and an Openreach person attending a booking: essentially nothing an Openreach person says to a broadband user necessarily carries any weight with an ISP, and vice-versa.  Communication between them is severely restricted to particular limited channels through Ofcom regulatory oversight, largely to prevent BT Group gaining any competitive advantage from continuing to own Openreach itself.