Sky admits to oversubscription

BenMcr · 22-01-2013, 14:07

Just to prove that these can happen to all ISPs:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01...apacity_after/

Quote:

Sky has confessed it has overloaded its broadband service by putting far too many Brits onto its network. The media giant told The Register that it has run out of capacity in certain corners of the UK, which has knackered its users' internet connectivity at peak times.

Mick Fisher · 22-01-2013, 15:29

Well nobody is perfect.

Although it is disappointing to hear, from what I deduce from my, admittedly, short time with Sky BB they are relatively quick to provide extra capacity.

Unlike certain other providers who can take forever to relieve congestion in certain areas, particularly those areas with a large student component.

In the meantime my SkyFibrePro remains rock solid and performs as per my sig.

thenry · 22-01-2013, 16:37

someones popular

**Hugh** · 22-01-2013, 17:20

Mod comment - play nicely, boys and girls....

Qtx · 22-01-2013, 20:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenMcr

Just to prove that these can happen to all ISPs:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01...apacity_after/

As you say, all isp's can have these issues so you would have to compare how often, how many areas and how long it takes them to resolve the issue.

Sky seemed to have been honest and admitted the problems along with a fix time a few weeks away. If you look at the register article you will see one of the affected areas is Bristol and there is a very good reason for that. Virgin customers have been switching to other isp's in the area big time due to massive problems which have taken forever to fix. They claimed to the Bristol advertiser that it was just 8 nodes in the area and it would be fixed by the end of December. Now they have had to admit that the problem is bigger and they are still trying to fix it now after 6 months. This VM Bristol thread was created after months of problems and is still going, 120 pages later.

Virgin have lost a lot of customers due to oversubscription and Sky will do the same if they have as many as virgin and take as long to fix them as Virgin do. The article would suggest Sky will be fixing these problems about 4 or 5 months quicker than it would take Virgin though

Stuart · 22-01-2013, 21:10

I think it's fair to say that customers of ANY company will sometimes have problems. The real test of that company is how they deal with with those customers, and how quickly those problems are resolved.

I suspect all ISPs have capacity problems from time to time, but we hear more about Virgin because a) they serve more customers and b) we are primarily a forum for Virgin Media customers.

Qtx · 22-01-2013, 21:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart

I suspect all ISPs have capacity problems from time to time, but we hear more about Virgin because a) they serve more customers and b) we are primarily a forum for Virgin Media customers.

Would be interesting to know how many signed up to the forum as a virgin customer but are now with another provider.

23-01-2013, 07:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qtx

Would be interesting to know how many signed up to the forum as a virgin customer but are now with another provider.

Their results are out in the next couple of weeks so that should give an indication at a high level as they will publish their latest churn figures.

denphone · 23-01-2013, 08:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qtx

Would be interesting to know how many signed up to the forum as a virgin customer but are now with another provider.

But the same can be said of other forums used by many Sky/other providers customers who then move to Virgin.

dilli-theclaw · 23-01-2013, 08:41

MMmmm I used to be with NTL and still would be if I could get it. The only option would be offnet - but that's pretty dire so BT is best for me at the moment. Still when I move I hope to get cable broadband again.

Oversubscription - well I'm sure most if not all isp's have had this problem.

Itshim · 23-01-2013, 08:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart

I think it's fair to say that customers of ANY company will sometimes have problems. The real test of that company is how they deal with with those customers, and how quickly those problems are resolved.

Well said

Sorry Ben, but your spin, I feel is back firing.

denphone · 23-01-2013, 09:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Itshim

Well said

Sorry Ben, but your spin, I feel is back firing.

Morning Victor and nice to see you are in your usual form this morning.

BenMcr · 23-01-2013, 10:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Itshim

Well said

Sorry Ben, but your spin, I feel is back firing.

What spin?

Mick Fisher · 23-01-2013, 15:26

Hmmm.., Just had a thought.

The vast majority of Sky's BB services are totally unmanaged while all of VM's BB services are extremely managed with not one but two systems. One wonders if Sky employed the same extreme network management techniques as VM would Sky still be suffering over capacity problems? No way to know for sure but their is a good possibility they would not.

As the BB services offered by these two providers are so different a direct comparison is not possible. The only valid comparison is how responsive the relevent company is to:

Admitting they have an issue and what it is.

Fixing the issue in an acceptable timeframe.

From what I see and hear Sky appear to be winning hands down.

Qtx · 23-01-2013, 15:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mick Fisher

From what I see and hear Sky appear to be winning hands down.

The irony is that Sky's issue in 1 of the 2 areas (50%) mentioned is probably due to VM's own utilisation problems in the area which are still ongoing 6 months later. All the customers virgin lost in that area caused an unexpected surge for the other isp's they went to.