Forums Forums Enthusiast Forums A - Z Gadgets & Tech a few sky/virgin/BT Questions

After a bit of sitting down, thinking and discussing with the wife, We have decided that we dont watch much TV, its mostly NICK jnr thats on our TV. so anyone got any idea what the smallest/cheapest SKY package is that still gets Nick Jnr and enables us to the free/£5 broadband?

and even if we dont subscribe to any mixes can the sky+ and series link still be used on the free channels, i.e Ch4?

also anyone got BT Broadband, what sort of speeds do you get and what are their prices like?

and last question for now, can I have VM tv and BT phone and BB?

ok, this is really my last question in this post, can I run VM broadband and an ADSL broadband at the same time and would this double my speed or would they conflict.

£16.00 per month

You can use Sky+ for free on any package, provided you are not using Freesat. The cheapest package as far as I am aware includes 1 mix. Im not sure if there is a Sky+ option on Freesat, but if there is, it will be £10.00 per month. Freesat is a false economy for most people anyway, £150 for a standard box, whereas you can get it for free with free installation on a contract for just under £200 per year (indeed a free Sky+ via me).

Im unable to answer about the speeds from experience, however, people I know on the service are pretty happy with it. They dont like the customer support (BT customer support is pathetic) but the service itself is fine. Pricewise, they are expensive, when compared to most competitors, and their caps are very restrictive.

I believe so, although Virgin do prefer it if you take a phoneline with their TV service, I think it is standard for them to include it anyway, although you can choose not to have it installed.

Yes, you can have both services as they are bosed based on different technologies. However, to run them as one connection, you would need a Load Balancer, which to be honest is an enterprise standard piece of kit, and will cost hundreds, if not thousands.

I am unaware of one off the top of my head that will support both DOCSIS and DSL especially, but provided both connections provide an ethernet link from the modems, you should be able to use a generic load balancer.

TBH Im happy with the VM tv service, the current channel line up, the TVoD etc.

Im happy with the phone service.

But Im pissed with this fair use policy on the broadband. 350mb is a tiny amount nowadays,

little question, if the fair use policy is 350mb between 4pm and midnight, and Im surfing a site that has 350photos that a 1mb in size each, is that my bandwidth reached, or is it only based on downloaded mb's.

That is your bandwidth reached as everything you do on the net, even just general browsing, is via the downstream channel, so is being downloaded.

You also might like them to clarify if the fair use policy is the downstream traffic combined with the upstream traffic, or whether they are under seperate fair use policies, as every request you make on the net (by clicking into this thread you have "requested" it) also uses upstream bandwidth... not much, but it all adds up very quickly, especially if transferring a few files, FTPing etc...

Im leaning towards SKY more and more, purely for their BB price and service.

I just liked the idea of a BT homehub, with inclusive wifi minutes. lol

how do I find out what speed I would get from SKY?

cheapest subscription is £16, but all 6 mixes are £21, might aswell gett all the mixes for the extra fiver.

Yeah the Wifi is a great advantage of BT Homehub, but the problem for most people, including myself is the cost of their services and the limitations with regards to data transfer etc...

Having said that though, to be completely fair, they are providing a complete solution, for a fair and realistic price. And imho, they are the only company doing this right now. It just means the deal isnt as "good" for the end consumer.

Sky can only offer their solutions because they bought Easynet and are not making much profit from it, its sort of a loss leader to get more television customers, as the TV market is pretty mature and they had to find a new way to entice customers.

Together with the new landline service (which I am a happy user of lol), I predict they will be advertising it strongly next year, as a complete TV, internet and phone solution, which will begin to allow them to poach customers away from Virgin Media, especially with the full Tvod service on the Horizon.

why are you not a happy customer of their landline service, would you advise to stay clear.

Sky will give you 2Mbps inclusive in the price of the subscription. 95% of lines in the UK will be able to provide this speed without any issues at all.

For £5 per month, you can get "upto" 8Mbps... this means you will get as fast as your line can handle but capped at 8Mbps. 90% of users see in excess of 4.8Mbps according to some survey I saw. I see around 7Mbps on this service. I have peaked at past 8Mbps though, according to my internet monitor. And I have screenshots (posted on the forums as well) of downloads coming down at like 8.2Mbps or summit like that.

For £10 per month, you can get "upto" 16Mbps... this means that you will get as fast as your line can handle but capped at 16Mbps. A few people I know are on this service, and they all seem to get around 10 - 12Mbps, but none ever see the 16Mbps speeds. Still, for £10 per month, they get nearly 1Mbps upload as well, so its ideal for their needs.

Personally, unless you need the higher upload or are likely to be downloading a lot more then 60GB every month, stick to the 8Mbps for best value, unless you can make do with the 2Mbps service, which is fast enough speed wise, but 2GB data transfer probably isnt enough for most people. Its aimed really towards basic users, but dont take the 2GB rule as set in stone, it would be good for upto around 4 - 5GB per month, Sky wouldnt cut you off for using 3GB a month lol.

Sorry, I mean I am, typo lol - now corrected. Im even happier because they gave me 3 months half price for being one of their first customers on it (i noticed it on my online account rather then them advertising it yet) and this month they havent charged me anything as the billing system isnt fully setup for it, and have advised me they wont be charging me for this month at all haha!

Here is the post with the screenshots in:

https://www.wikiwirral.co.uk/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=166677#Post166677

You know them vouchers you got Matty, any chance you can give CS a ring and tell them that you have a freind interested in:

SKY HD, with 6 mixes, no premium channels tho
Sky landline with free evening and weekend calls
8mb Broadband

and see if they can sort out a offer or deal, to get a free HD box etc, I know Im pushing it. Bu I tried to do the National trust offer but it wouldnt let me add phone or broadband options.

I can give them a ring in the week if you want and see if I can get them to sort any special deals.

I really cant see them giving you a free HD box though, I can ask about the £199 box with all the extra's ye want if you like.

Put simply, the HD service is their premium service, where the Sky+ service was 3 years ago. It is high cost atm, the boxes cost a fair amount more to manufacture and they also have to claw back some of the hundreds of millions they have invested in the service.

Analysts currently predict we wont see free SkyHD boxes until 2009, Sky+ is only set to go free in early 2008. The free Sky+ offer sent out to some customers is to trial the launch of the free Sky+ box service.

Even if you took Sky World, Sky Landline, Sky 16Mbps Broadband and Sky Talk Anytime, they wouldnt offer you a free SkyHD box lol. A free Sky+ probably, but a free SkyHD, no.

On top of all this, atm, they are gaining tons of customers, thanks to Virgin Media going downhill for a lot of people, and their excellent brodband pricing enticing new customers. So they are not in a position to give out offers really, because put simply, they dont need to, their churn rate is stupidly high already, why lose money gaining a few new customers when you are already gaining a consistent high volume without it.

was this 1 mix?

so am I right in saying with all mixes it would be:
- Sky Digital TV - £21
- Sky Talk Freetime
- 8Mbps Broadband - £5
- Sky Talk Landline £10
- SKY HD subscription - £10
- £46.00 per month

any tips Matty......

Thats correct matey. Dunno any tips to give otherwise I would hehe.