Sky Broadband is a premium broadband service in the UK with some of the best speeds, services and add-on extras. Sky is a top broadband providers in the UK. They offer low prices with amazing value. Choosing Sky opens your broadband and home entertainment up to a world of fast speeds, top quality TV shows, endless hours of entertainment and fantastic customer service.
In 2022 Sky won the Choose Broadband Awards for the best customer service.
If you go for Sky you will not regret your decision but you will need to commit to an 18 month contract so it is best to read up on all the details and choose the best speed or package for you and your household. We have gone through their site and ther resources to provide all you need to know about Sky when it comes to making that final decision.
- Sky Broadband speeds are all fast compared with competitors
- Opt for Sky if you want more than just broadband, especially if you want home entertainment
- Customer Service is one of the best in the market
- There are plenty of deals on a regular basis so keep checking our deals page
- Sky offers the fastest speeds with lots of promises but make sure your devices are capable of handling the speeds or you may waste your money
Sky Broadband has so many options to choose from, their broadband selection starts with Superfast 35, Superfast, Ultrafast, UltrafastPlus and Gigafast. All Sky packages include line rental, Sky Talk and unlimited downloads. The Ultrafast, Ultrafast Plus and Gigafast services require Fibre to the Premise to make sure you can access the fastest speeds, these are limited to homes that have FTTP access.
When you order Sky Broadband, you will receive their Sky Broadband Hub Router which can support up to 64 devices at one time. You will get their speed guarantee and wall to wall wifi guarantee or you will get your money back. On top of this you will get the Sky Broadband Shield with keep you and your family or housemates safe from cyber threats for no additional cost.
Sky offer so many extras with their packages and we will do our best to include as many of them here so you can head straight over to Sky and pick up your broadband.
It is undoubtable that Sky Broadband is great value for money. Their services are made with the customer experience in mind. Everything from connecting your wifi to your landline, communicating with friends and family, streaming, browsing, gaming and watching home entertainment feel natural with Sky. They have done an amazing job at making you feel like you need the full set up, and you do need the full set up.
Broadband is the biggest commitment of all of their services but once you have this, it is very easy to upgrade or remove add-ons. Sky offers the option for upgrading or downgrading your service so if you are not sure, go with the speed level and price you feel comfortable with, you will likely want to upgrade at a later date if you need faster speeds or more entertainment.
The prices with Sky have become much more reasonable and competitive.
Prices for all speeds are very similar to even the budget competitor providers in the market. The low end and top end speeds are the most competitive, but the mid level speeds are more expensive than other providers. If you are looking to get more than just broadband, Sky would be your go-to option but if it’s just broadband you are looking for and you want to pick up a middle level speed, this might not be the best price on the market for your needs.
Superfast 35 is the slowest speed Sky offers while Gigafast is the fastest. Ultrafast is still very reasonable for the speed and price.
Sky ADSL has now been removed from their service packages. This was the slowest and cheapest option available but with the role out of Superfast broadband now available in all corners of the country, Sky ADSL is no longer an option. This may be accessible to rural areas but we would recommend going for a superfast speed if you have a choice.
Sky Superfast 35 is the slowest speed that Sky offers. The download speeds can range between 30-37Mb, and 8-9Mb upload speeds. With this service you will receive a minimum speed guarantee of 25Mb and you will have access to Wall to Wall wifi as part of Sky’s guarantee.
Using this connection you can download a HD movie in 5 minutes and 26 seconds. This option is good for a single occupant household, streaming, browsing and multiple devices can be supported by this connection.
Download speeds are 36Mb.
Upload speeds are 9Mb.
Sky Superfast has a similar name to the option above but it is much faster, double the speed in fact. Superfast offers an average download speed of 59Mb but the full speed is about 75Mb and between 16-18Mb estimated upload speeds. For Superfast the minimum speed guarantee sits at 50Mb.
Superfast can download a HD movie in 3 minutes an 19 seconds, if your devices can support the top speed and your house connection is clear. The Superfast service is great for streaming, downloading and gaming. It will support multiple devices. This will be suitable for couples or a small family who are not heavy internet users.
Download speeds are 75Mb.
Upload speed are 18Mb.
Sky Ultrafast is the first top end speed that Sky has to offer. The average download speed is 145Mb, with a top end speed of 151Mb and top upload speed of 27Mb. The minimum speed guarantee is 100Mb. With these speeds it’s good to remember that this greatly depends on your devices, wiring in your home, wall thickness and other important factors like the age or software on your devices.
This connection can download a HD movie in 1 minute and 21 seconds, which is amazing for the price.
Download speeds are 151Mb
Upload speeds are 27Mb
Sky Ultrafast Plus is the second highest speed currently available with Sky. The capabilities with this speed are limitless, online gaming, downloading whole games in a matter of minutes, very fast movie downloads and supporting as many devices as you like all at the same time.
The average download speed for this connection is 500Mb, but the top end speeds can be as high as 515Mb, upload speeds range between 58-60Mb and the minimum speed guarantee is 400Mb.
All of this means that you can download a HD movie in 23 seconds. This service is great for large families or households who use lots of devices or several people all working from home.
Download speeds are 515Mb
Upload speeds are 60Mb
Gigafast is the newest service released by Sky in 2022. Truly the fastest speeds available anywhere and this will allow you to future proof your home. If you choose this service, you will not need to upgrade for some time, by this we mean years. The average home will take a few years to catch up with new devices and home upgrades to be able to access these speeds. We have made an article about Gigafast or Ultrafast and is it worth it here.
Ultimately, it’s down to you if you think your household will be capable of accessing these speeds or not. You could be wasting money every month on a speed that is not compatible with your devices, so we recommend you find a way to check how capable the devices in your home are or upgrade all of your existing equipment as well as your home in general.
The average download speeds are 900Mb with a top end speed of 930Mb and an upload speed of 100Mb. The minimum speed guarantee is 600Mb.
You can download a 2 hour movie in 13 seconds in HD. This service can support anything if you can access it but that is the real issue, make sure you can support the speeds. Often you will need to plug your device directly into the router to get anywhere near the top speeds. It’s a tough one for us, because we want to recommend this being the fastest speed but we want to make sure you can use it.
Download speeds are 930Mb
Upload speeds are 100Mb
Sky Broadband has many add-on features but Boost is so directly connected to the main broadband service that it’s important to keep it next to the broadband services because it can really impact the performance of your connection.
Sky Broadband Boost offers line check for any issues or faults on a daily basis. You will get engineer visits throughout the week, on weekends and evenings. Wifi boosters will be included if your wifi doesn’t cover your whole house for no extra charge. You will get the best wifi experience in every room in your home or you will get your money back for boost.
For streaming, the minimum you want to enjoy your viewing experience would be about 50Mb. This will allow you to download and stream but you won’t be waiting for the video to load.
For gaming, the fast the better. It depends on what type of gamer you are and how competitive you are. If you are a casual console gamer, the 50Mb option will be enough for you to play but you should expect some lag. For casual gamers who want to make the most of their gaming experience, Ultrafast is a good starting point.
Any PC gamers or competitive players should be looking at Ultrafast Plus or Gigafast and they should be connecting their PC or Console directly to the router for the very fastest speed possible.
There are three Sky routers available: Sky Hub, Sky Q Hub, Sky Broadband hub. Let’s look at each one.
The Sky Hub is the oldest router that Sky offers. It has been around since the early 2010’s and it was mostly used for the Sky Essential or ADSL connection. This hub is slowly being phased out, it is unlikely that you will ever see this one if you are new to Sky. This router is slower and less reliable than the other options so if possible try to pick up the other routers. It can support around 32 devices.
Sky Q Hub is a Sky Q service hub so if you go for the Sky TV and broadband package with a lower speed, you may still receive this hub. They are moving towards the Sky Broadband hub as the main and only option now. This hub would allow you to connect to as many as 64 devices.
This is the main hub that Sky is working with and has been around since 2019. This comes with all the broadband packages, so it is unlikely you will get anything other than this hub. It offers better range, signal and a stable connection to your entire home.
New customers will have this as standard as part of their broadband service. For Existing customers, you can buy one from Sky directly, or upgrade your service with an add-on like Boost which will include the new Sky Broadband Hub. If you are on a lower speed and you want to upgrade to a faster speed, the Sky Broadband Hub will be included with this too.
Your Sky Broadband Hub will include the following features:
Multiple Device Support – The hub can support over 60 devices.
Voice Calls – For those who do not know what VOIP is, it basically means calls over the internet and allows you to call people, friends and family.
Wifi Channel Selection – Internet has many different frequencies to deliver your data, the Sky Broadband hub will choose the best and most reliable frequency to make sure you are always connected.
Connection Checks – The hub will scan your broadband connections to make sure there are no problems. If the hub detects a problem, it will restart to try to improve the connection.
There are many more technical aspects of the hub that have been improved but we do not want to get bogged down in technical information, the above are the most important parts.
Getting started with Sky is really easy and they will handle most of the set up for your broadband. First you need to click one of the links in this article and buy your broadband package on the Sky site or click here after reading.
When you book your engineer visit, Sky will handle a lot of the set up. You need to let your current provider know that you are changing provider, if you have one.
Sky’s engineer will arrive usually within a couple of weeks and install your internet connection. Sky are moving away from the dishes for their TV and the engineers only need to connect a phone line or special fibre to the premise line if you do not already have one.
The engineer visit can take an hour or so to set up but once this has been connected, you can plug in your router and you will be able to get online.
Sky have lots of offers on and we add these to our Sky Deals page so if you want to find out about any of these deals, head over to there and click through on the “get deal” buttons to find the deal on their site. If it’s not there, then the deal has expired: https://switchking.co.uk/coupon-list/sky-deals/
Sky’s customer service is award winning and they have received the Gold Award 2022 by Choose for the top class level of their customer service.
You can contact the Sky Support and your issue will be dealt with quickly and if possible over the call.
Sky Glass is a new service launch in 2022 by Sky. It is a flat screen TV which Sky TV and Sky Broadband built into the TV. There are various options with Sky Glass and they can all be found here.
The speed guarantee with Sky means that if after 14 days since activating your Sky broadband, your download speed falls below the minimum download speeds listed on the deal for more than 3 days in a row, you can get your money back. To do this, you need to call Sky and explain the situation. If is good to use a Speed checker and take screenshots so you can prove the speeds have been lower than advertised.
You will get 1 months subscription back, and if it’s within the 30 days the set up cost as well.
The wall to wall wifi guarantee is similar to BT’s complete wifi, it promises to give you one months subscription fee back if your internet speed drops below 3Mb in every room of your house.
Sky uses the same lines that BT uses which is the Openreach network. This covers the entire country.
We will do our best to answer all your questions about Sky Broadband.
Sky Broadband prices can range from £23 to £50 depending on speeds and deals that are available.
Depending on the Broadband service you choose, installation fees can be between £20 and £35 as a one time set up fee.
Sky uses the same network as BT which is Openreach.
BT and Sky prices are very similar, but deals and location can impact the price from person to person.
Sky and BT services are very similar. If you want to go for the full home entertainment that Sky has to offer, then you should consider Sky as your main option but if you just want good stable broadband, they are both good. We recommend reading through our product pages to understand if the service and all the add-ons are right for you.
Sky uses Openreach whereas Virgin has their own fibre connections. We’ve found that Virgin can take a very long time to set up the connection for customers who do not have the line already connected. Underground cables are not susceptible to strong weather conditions but they are more difficult to maintain. Virgin customer service is one of the worst out there and they have upped peoples monthly fees without notice, so we would recommend Sky over Virgin.
You will get the Sky Broadband hub.
It can take 2 weeks to install your Sky broadband.
Sky will include a landline with your broadband, but no, you must have a landline.
