SKY broadband 16mbit
 

well i finally took the plunge and have gone for the 16mbit ADSL package from SKY, contacted them today and as the online checker says i can now get 16mbit!

i did liase with sky sales and technical department who answered my questions regarding proxies, FUP, traffic shaping and it all seemed ok.

i also contacted BE unlimited who also happen to be active with 24mbit in this area, again answers were given swiftly and assuringly.

both compaines told me my maximum theoretical speed is 18mbits but is ofcourse subject to the usual factors, well im risking it, i just hope i can achieve near the top speed!

i was going to go for BE but i didnt think it was worth the risk of going through it all and i finding i cant even reach 20mbit.....

anyone have any experiances of SKY broadband and the max service ?

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

I was considering it when my current 12 month contract expires in February, so I may be asking you that in a couple of months ;)

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

well i might cancel it before i get everything up and running ;) or if i get a poor speed :shocked: :Yikes: :disturbd:

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Don't forget the forums over at adslguide if you want to get an idea of how Sky are performing. As you've touched on Kronas, it does depend on a few factors, as to what speed you can actually achieve. Are you already an adsl user, or are you moving from NTL ?

There is a good checker available from here, if you already have an adsl line, and want to check what sort of speed your line can support.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

im with NTL currently so i cannot do any diagnostics, none that i am aware of!

for the record:

You are approximately 314 metres from the exchange (straight line distance).

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Just out of interest, how far are you from your local BT exchange ?

Bugger ! You edited before I posted lol

Your distance is very good anyway, barring any line discrepancies, you should get close to full speed.

From what I've seen (looking at the comments at dslzone) I would be more inclined to go with Be. I've seen a lot of negative comments about Sky.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

but remember other factors come in to play, such as the way the line is routed through the streets, line quality, noise, and internal line length within the house.

:erm:

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

I did touch on that........

As you have no line stats to go on, it's hard to say what you're capable of.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

aye you did, just hope i get near max speed! wish me luck :D

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

If it's a BT line you could run a quick/ basic line test from the BT site here

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

I hope you have better luck with ADSL then I did. I'm about 1.5km from my local exchange.

ADSL Max (upto 8mb) all I could get was 1.5mb-2.mb tops.
ADSL2+ (upto 16mb) all I could get was around 4mb (according to the online checkers).

Told Pipex to stuff their contract up their **** and got me the hell out of ADSL land and into Cable world.

I will NEVER touch ADSL again.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

I am 261 metres away and I sync at 19mb on Be

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

thats not bad, still within the limits of what they told me, i still think i made the right decision for the price :)


thats a fault checker! :erm:

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

unless you are very unlucky (aluminium line or something) you can expect a fairly fast synch speed probably in excess of 12mbit.

---------- Post added at 17:02 ---------- Previous post was at 17:01 ----------

one example of those who state anything under 2km is good is innaccurate.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

not to mention the length of cabling inside the exchange ;)

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

He told us the distance from his exchange to his house in a straight line. I can guarantee his line does not take the same route it will be longer

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

the exchange is tiny so i dont think that will make much diffarence, yes i know your being pedantic ;) :p:

---------- Post added at 23:36 ---------- Previous post was at 23:36 ----------

yep, thats why im taking a gamble in doing this, but time will tell :erm:

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

very pedantic;)

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

of course but doesnt stop people been misled and using straight line distance thinking they going to get great broadband.

One reason I think BT should make actual line distances stored in their database public domain so when people run line checkers they can see a more accurate distance.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

To hard. Line distances can change if a BT engineer changes the line to different pair.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

I would assume the distance database is then updated. if it isnt kind of dumb.

Still would be more accurate then crow distances, out of date data vs straight line.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

I don't think there is any econmical way to measure and record the true cable lengths between all houses and the exchanges. There are cable testers out there (Fluke make good ones) that can accurate tell you cable length. I wonder if it'll work between a house and an exchange. If an engineer does go out to measure it, by then though, its too late. Or send an engineer out to every street?

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

My broadband with Sky was activated on Thurs. Can't complain aabout them at all. I'm paying £5 a month for the service (saving about £15 a month) and at the moment I'm getting the same speeds as I was getting with me previous ISP.

I signed up to the service that gives you 8Mb max, as Sky said they didn't think my line would take the 16Mb service. Was advised to go for the cheaper option, see what speeds/usage I get, and then upgrade if necessary (they charge you to downgrade within 1st year, but not to upgarde).

Looking at the forums on ADSL Guide have seen people who have a similar setup to me (ie their ADSL/router connected to an extention socket rather than master) who have noticed improvement in speed by connecting to the Master, so will try that tonight.

All in all though, so far can't complain about Sky's service, modem delivered on time, activated on time adn its a lot cheaper too :)

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

I have been with Pipex for about 4yrs with no problems. Considered moving to Sky but heard a couple of bad things about distance from exchange etc. My info is.......

You are around 320 metres from your exchange (as the crow flies).

Is this a long way ?

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

That's pretty close, I'm 2.4km (as the crow flies) from the exchange and I'm getting about 5Mb with Sky, which is up 1Mb over Freedom2Surf.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

320m is not far but your better off driving between the exchange and your house to see what distance you cover as that would be closer than a "as the crows fly" measurement.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

I think you know 320m is very good, are you aware the distance thing also applies to your pipex? so if thats fine there is no reason to think sky will be bad it goes over the same phone line.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Thanks. I just wondered generally about performance, but as you say Pipex is cool, so Sky should be. Might think about switching in the new year.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

well im on and i can get about 13-14mbit, im running an internal extension so the speed drops a bit, line connection is about 15.3mbit upload is 764kbits.

browsing is smoother and faster, no incomplete web pages!

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

I sync at a lovely 16mb on my Bulldog line, but my god, is it unstable

It drops the connection at least once an hour, then reconnects
I've called them about 20 times in the past 6 months, had a BT engineer up, still not fixed
Bulldog is deserving of their poor reputation

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

What upload speed do you get with Sky 16mb broadband?

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

8Mb/400Kb
16Mb/768Kb

source.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

im just wondering, how long does it take sky to connect you once you order and i dont want wireless, can i just use a ethernet cable to the wireless router/modem they provide?

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

I think the wireless router they use is a Sky branded version of the Netgear DG834G. Like pretty much all wireless routers, it should have a built-in 4 port switch, so you can use ethernet if you want.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

on sky people have had their tier capped to a lower speed, lines maybe able to sync at close to full speed but if its pushing your line to its limits then you will see drops, i have heard of people on the 16mbit service being capped to 8096 down 416up, after that their broadband works fine.

yes it is that router and has four ethernet ports, im using wired as its better throughput and response :)

i must add its oh so sweet to be proxyless :D

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

how long did sky take to connect you, also on speed checkers tec they say i sohuld be able to round 3MB what is the possibility of me getting higher on sky, what i dont understand is that they till offer me 16MB when i should realyl only sign up to up to 8MB?

Thanks

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

that bulldog line probably has a too low snr margin and getting noise bursts, if they increase the snr margin target by a few dB that may be enough to stabalise the line, or if you get a speedtouch 546/585 router you can use dmt to adjust the snr margin yourself.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

It is, i setup my friends one for them

Ironicly replacing their existing DG834G (i think it was it looked identeical) with the Sky one. Least i didn't have to mess about behind their cabnet re running the cables seeing as the psu for their old router had the same as the one (i did carefully check the voltage/polairty/current rating before plugging it in)

with the sky router i just used the one that was already there rather than pull out all their neatly run cables to the old router.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

it took 10 days for BT to complete their end and the next day i was online by just connecting the router up.

they will offer you max maybe, they really shoudlnt but it is 'upto' so thats the get out clause for them, your not guaranteed those speeds, even on the lower tiers, thats the nature of ADSL, you have to take the risk and go with a provider and chance it, i had good stats to go with before i was connected, but its still arisk because even though i am close to the exchange in straight line distance it very much depends on other factors too, they have been discussed in this thread.

:)

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

given Skys pricing most people probably wont mind if they don't get the full 16mbit

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

I might just go for mid and see how that goes, if i only get around 3MBS i will stay on mid but if i get over i might risk to upgrade to max, you say there is no fees to upgrade and you can upgrade when ever you want?

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

yes there are no fees to upgrade i have been on sky BB for a few days my wired pc downstairs get aroung 1300kb/s were as my pc upstairs which is wireless gets aroung 9000 - 10000

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

i thought if it was wired you would get a better connection??

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

i do my pc upstairs is wireless and i get less on that

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

does anyone have NTLS address to sed a letter to, even though my contract ends on the 17th of jan can i still phone now to cancel when my contract ends?

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

From my house to my exchange is 1.5km in a straight line but i know from a friend at bt who works at the exchange that the full lenth of my line is over 4km

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

I'm thinking of getting Sky BB.

My exchange is 1.13 kilometers away (as the crow flies). Is it worth getting Sky BB at this distance?

What kind of speeds can I expect? Over 8mbit?

DSL Zones BB Checker says my area is ADSL enabled up to 8 Mbps. Does that mean my exchange isn't ADSL2+ enabled and I can't get over 8mbit?

Thanks.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

There is no way anyone can estimate what speed you will get from the straight line distance.

We would need line attenuation before that and what exchange are you on?

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

I'm on the Heaton Moor exchange.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Heaton moor is enabled for Sky BB.

DSL zone does not report what speeds ADSL2+ will give only ADSLMax which is standard for ADSL1 now.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

even with attenuation estimates could be off, the ultimate factor is noise on the line.

1.13 km, ofcom claim the average real distance vs straight distance is 140% so on that you would expect to get a line about 1.6km which would give something over 8mbit, but I would expect a line probably between 2-2.5km based on what I have seen from other users. But I could be way off its possible to have it as low as just abit more then the straight line distance or it could be tripled or more.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

well im on skyBB had it almost a month now started off with a 15323 kbps connection only had 1 prob which was fixed by bt faulty downwire from the roof box to master socket.

im at 700m away from the exchange and my Line Attenuation 18.5 db

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Well, I guess 8mbit is fine too for £10 a month. So even if my local exchange had ADSL2+ DSL Zone wouldn't show it? Which site would show it?

Also, with the other Sky BB packages having a usage limit of 40GB and the MAX package having 'unlimited' use but with a 'fair usage policy' in place does anyone know what threshold Sky expect you to stay under every month on the MAX package? 100GB?

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

DSL Zone will say if the exchange is unbundled and from what isp. Your exchange is unbundled by sky and therefore you can get up to 16mb. If it was not then you would only get up to 8mb for £17 i think it is

---------- Post added at 09:13 ---------- Previous post was at 09:12 ----------

18.5 attn is about 1.4km line length. My attn is 18 and I sync at 19600 kbps which shows Sky do cap the service at 16mb

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Ah, I see so having a LLU'd exchange means its ADSL2+ enabled.

I'm going to get Sky BB as soon as I can.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

18.5 can be easily applied to 700metres, dont over rely on atten for calculating distance if his copper is poor quality ie. thin gauge or even aluminium then the attenuation vs distance is much higher.

By your figures my 2.96km line should be abour 37-40 attenuation and is actually 49 attenuation.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Thats why I never said definitely. It was always estimated.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Can you clear this up for me?

So I currently have Sky DTV, ntl telephone line, ntl 10mbit BB and ntl's Talk Unlimited. I used to have a BT line about 10 years ago, the socket is still there.

So do I just cancel the ntl BB and telephone line, ring up Sky to order their BB service and Sky Talk, call BT to have the line re-activated (no phone package) and thats it? :confused:

I want to do it right, thats all :disturbd:

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

I think you need to order the BT Line first with a package and then move over to sky.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

I am tempted to move over to sky broadband due to cost savings, nothing against the ntl service as been great all the time i have had them, i should get fairly decent speeds i would have thought as samknows puts my exchange as : You are approximately 182 metres from the exchange (straight line distance).

its either that or wait for be* to enable the exchange which would be June

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Got my MAC on Tuesday, so have now signed up to Sky's 16meg "Max" service :erm:

Now waiting for the router to arrive, & the migration to take place.......

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

How close to the exchange are you? I Live a few miles up the A14 from Cambridge, so i have to stick with NTL although it's faultless in speed where i am.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Currently have 2meg ADSL.


Not expecting the full 16meg...faster than 2 meg + no usage limit + saving of £15pcm will still make me happy.


I would've happily stayed with ntl when I moved last January (I'd had ntl for years), but I'm in a non-cable area now.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Actually in Cambridge or a Village like me? :)

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Still in Cambridge, but a recent-ish development which never got cabled :(

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

good luck 1.48 isnt that short for straight line (I am 1.65 and get 4mbit) but if your line is fairly direct route and of good quality it can perform well and you can synch above 8mbit. The fact you had fixed 2meg probably means your line has attenuation below 43db and should hopefully give at least 8mbit.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

I have just switched to sky (Have both sky and NTL running at the moment)
happy with the speed etc only thing I can moan about is the length of the IP lease. Changes about once a week. Which makes it hard for running servers etc :(
But you can get around it, you kinda get spoilt with NTL IP not changing in around 6 months! haha

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Always had fixed 2meg, still on normal ADSL - didn't regrade to ADSLmax as my small ISP didn't offer it until later & I think it'd have meant a new contract.


Current router stats:

Downstream Line Attenuation 39 db, downstream Noise Margin 10 db.


Not sure whether ADSL2+ can stretch much more out of that than bog-standard ADSL or ADSLmax (RADSL?)... don't know much about ADSL.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Based on your line attenuation you will get between 8-12mb

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

You are still on fixed 2 meg now?

your attenuations suggests speeds as Be* suggested but your noise margin is very poor, you have 10db on 2megabit which doesnt leave much scope for more speed.

Lower speeds normally have high noise margins on good lines and as you increase the synch speed noise margin is sacrificed usually people who achieve 8mbit will normally have around 30db noise margin on 2mbit. Is it possible to get your output power stats as it could be the dslam is pumping out the signal at low power hence your low snr margin.

My guess is you are using a extension socket for the adsl or you have extension sockets and you have ring wire interference (more info on adslguide) but with those stats it doesnt look great (ok attenuation, poor noise margin).

6db is considered the lowest for a stable connection and only if there isnt much interference, 10db which you have now isnt particurly high.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

That's fine for me :)





Yeah, had ADSL for almost 1 year, & been on fixed 2meg the whole time.

How'd I find the output power stats? Is that just the upstream attenuation & upstream margin?


Upstream Attenuation: 12.5 db
Upstream Noise Margin: 30 db



Extension socket - yep.


The master is in the hall.

The modem/router is plugged into an extension socket in the lounge (Sky STB is also plugged into the same socket). There's another extension the other side of the lounge, with a DECT phone plugged in, & an extension in the bedroom, with nothing plugged in.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

the power stats will be reported by your router somewhere, not all routers may show it but even the router aol provide show the stats.

Rather then looking for it try this.

Move the router to the master socket then recheck the stats to see if the downstream noise margin goes up, if it shoots up you all good and the line is capable and you have found the problem.

Although attenuation is a good guide to the general line distance and quality it isnt the be all and end all and the ultimate deciding factor is the noise margin, your noise margin is poorer then mine, I would probably have over 20db on a 2mbit synch.

I entered your values in the speed estimator on dsl zone website.

The adsl2+ checker only uses attenutation and assumes the noise margin is healthy and rated you at 8-12mbit.

The adsl1 checker also uses the noise margin and gives this for your line stats.

"Based on the values you entered, we estimate that your line can support around 2.3 - 3.0 Mbps"

I wouldnt panic yet tho, the chances are the problem is local and will improve when using the master socket.

http://www.dslzoneuk.net/maxspeed.php

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Hmm. I'll give it a go, although using the master would be a pain. We'd be tripping over the router every time we came in or went out.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

There are ways to make it work properly via extension sockets, but this is the easiest way to hunt down why your nosie margin is low.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

depends on the line though on mine i get a stable 7.6mbit sync (dslmax) if i plug it into the master socket or the extension.

So i use the extension becuase theres not a power socket within easy reach of the master socket

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

I am talking about matt's specific situation, to temporarily plug into his master socket and check the stats. If they improve then he has found the culprit and can then do a more permament fix by removing the ring wire.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Haven't had a chance to try it yet, but will do.



Got home today, to find a card from Parceline.

Failed delivery attempt for the Sky router.

They're gonna try again tomorrow...which is fairly useless, as Ally & I will both be at work. Which is the only time they deliver. Convenient.

When I ordered it last week, I did ask the Sky person on the phone if they could deliver it to a different address to the home/billing address, and he said no as it was "too late". Too late? Muppet never asked me at any point during the call if I wanted it sent somewhere else, never gave me an option, & then when I do ask, it's "too late". Do they really expect people to normally be at home "between 8am & 5pm" on weekdays?

Can't pick it up from the Parceline depot - Peterborough.

May have to phone up & pay for a Saturday delivery :rolleyes:

Just hope we get it before the line switches over!

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Got the router now. Just waiting on the migration/activation... should allegedly take place on Monday.


Hooked up my current router to the BT master socket yesterday, as suggested by Chrysalis.


Definite improvement on the 10db noise margin I had via the extension when I checked the stats last week.


So I then connected it back up to the extension as normal, & checked the stats again.


Odd :confused:


The stats are pretty much identical via master or extension - & the noise margin is for some reason better than it was when I checked a week ago: 10db on 26th Jan, 17db now.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Could be to do with the weather? or maybe you knocked the extension wiring when you took the faceplate off and fixed a lose connection (unlikely but possible)

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Haven't touched the faceplate though...

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

could be weather i guess... changes in temprature, humidity amount of rain, wind.

depending ofcouse if its Underground cable or not...

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Activation took place today, bang on time.

Set up the "Sky Broadband Box" (Netgear DG834GT) this evening.


Seems more like "up to 8mbps" than "up to 16mbps" though...last couple of speed tests I did were around 4meg.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Matt what I should have told you to do is take the faceplate off and try the test socket, as this bypasses all the extenstion cabling stuff.

It should be easy, 2 screws come off and the front comes off like a lego piece, behind that you see another socket like the socket on the faceplate, plugin the router there as normal and see if the stats improve.

If they do then you need to do a more permenant fix in removing the ringwire.

The 4mbit you getting isnt a big shock considering your noise margin. :( Welcome to the world of adsl where its entirely possible to only burst to a fraction of the max speed.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Speed test from this evening, of my "up to 16meg" Sky BB connection:

http://www.dslzoneuk.net/speedtest/s....php?id=425823


I'll do some more, using different sites/tests, through the week.





I know.


:erm: I wish I had ntl :(



To stop me hijacking this thread any more for my noise issues, I've started a new one (so this one can stay more Sky BB specific, rather than have me drag it off even more):

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...php?t=33607542

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

You are around 1.53 kilometres from your exchange

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Yay?

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Since moved to a non-cable area having to get sky TV and an ADSL. Any reason to avoid sky BB? What do people recommend?

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Be unlimited

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

I moved to a non-cable area a year ago, & went with Firefly ADSL. Pricey compared to Sky & others with subsidised deals, but the service & the customer service were top notch.


Switched to Sky Broadband a couple of weeks ago, when my Firefly contract ran out.


No problems so far (apart from some noise/speed issues I'd have had with any ADSL ISP offering more than 2mbps via ADSL Max or LLU).


It's insanely cheap. £10/month for "up to" 16mbps download, 768kbps upload, & "unlimited" usage (subject to FUP).


Only able to stretch about 8-9mbps out of my line, 'cos of noise & attenuation, but still happy to pay the tenner for the "Max" service. Could've gone with the "Mid" service (up to 8mbps) for £5/month, but the upload is lower (400ish kbps IIRC) & it's capped at 40GB/month.

The free Sky branded router is pretty good...it's a Netgear DG834GT (I was previously using a DG834G with Firefly).


I have heard that the Sky Broadband customer service is pretty pants, although I haven't had to deal with them yet. Still, I had ntl Broadband for over 5 years, & although the service itself was almost always rock solid, the CS/TS was often poor (hence getting help via here when I needed it).


Have a read around http://www.ispreview.co.uk/, http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ (formerly ADSLGuide UK), & http://www.skyuser.co.uk/forum/ (kind of a Sky equivalent to CF).

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

According to this site:http://www.samknows.com/broadband/index.php Be is not going to be supported by my exchange for a few months while sky is already there (not sure if this site is reliable, just found it).

My current thinking is to get sky because of the package deals since we are getting their core tv package too.

That being said dunno when we set it up, at uni currently so can't nag, I mean advise. ;). So might change.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Samknows is very reliable indeed :)

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

I used to get one meg with bt and now i get a fuilly 10 meg with vm

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Sky activated a week ago, from what I'm told last week it synced at about 11000, today it got up 14000.

Will experiment with it myself when I go home next week.

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

Syned at 13033 kbps
Downloading from file planet 1.06MB/S :D :D :D

Re: SKY broadband 16mbit
 

I migrated over to sky broadband last week as part of our digital tv package deal we just bought from them. As the telephone exchange is about 5 mins walk away im currently getting my full 16mb usage, downloading at around 1.5mbps

Can't fault it so far, its excellent :) Although was pretty peeved when they were due to install the dish last week for the tv, and was told he coulden't because they had to put the dish higher up so health and safety dictates that it requires 2 people. so stuck with vm for another 2 weeks now :(