Sky Broadband Review

About Sky

Sky Broadband is an Internet Service Provider (ISP) for Sky Digital customers. Sky Digital, officially unveiled on 1 October 1998 is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting's digital satellite television & radio service before small tests were carried out prior to the launch. BSkyB made use of the newly-launched Astra 2A satellite, which has been broadcasting exclusively to the UK and Ireland ever since.

Sky Broadband claims to have around 1.428 million registered customers as of March 2008 covering nearly 70% of the UK by unbundling 1,179 exchanges. Sky Broadband boasts of adding 1 new customer every 40 seconds and as of 30 September 2009, it went on to grow its customer base by 2.3 million customers. BSkyB's analogue service came to an end in 2001, so the service is now more commonly available in the market in the name of just Sky.

Awards bagged by Sky Broadband

Awards and accolades serve as a testimony to the service rendered or products offered by a Company and Sky Broadband is no exception. In 2009, it was voted ‘Overall Winner for Bundled Services' at the BroadbandChoices.co.uk Customer Satisfaction Awards 2009, a classic example of its quality and reliability. In 2009, Sky Talk topped the list of all other home phone provider for the 2 nd year bagging 8 out of 11 awards as voted by their customers in uSwitch Home Phone Customer Satisfaction Report. Besides, it also received the 'Best Overall Customer Satisfaction', 'Best for Customer Service' and 'Best Deal for You' category awards.

Sky Broadband - Website Review

The website of Sky looks pretty cluttered with the integration of various elements at the Home page. What was intended to be a good ‘curtain-raiser' seemed to be a lot distracting to the eyes of the visitor to the website. Having said that, Sky has made sure that it has all the necessary ingredients on the Home page, but with far too many elements that make one wonder “why on earth Am I here?.

The broadband website of Sky (Refer: http://broadband.sky.com/) is no exception in design and presentation of information, again compounded by a lot of ideas that can well go against the needs of the Visitor and the User. It is a time for Sky Think-tank to re-think their strategy and present the Users with necessary information that persuade its visitor to stay on for a while to avail its various products or services.

Products & Services of Sky

It is time we have a quick look at some of the Products and Services offered by Sky before we take a deeper plunge into Sky Broadband.

Sky TV

Some of the Sky products include Sky TV where you have to pay for the TV so as to watch High definition channels, Sports, Movies, Entertainment channels, Supertelly 3D & 100's of extra channels at no extra charges. Sky also brings various entertainment packs including Variety Pack, Knowledge Pack, Style & Culture Pack, News & Events Pack, Children's Pack, Music Pack and more Popular Bundles, Sky World ( 6 Entertainment Packs + Sky Movies + Sky Sports Packs) & Digital Switchover for real Digital TV experience.

Sky Talk

Sky Talk is available exclusively to Sky TV customer as it offers two call plans, available from no monthly fee so that you can save some money. Sky Talk Freetime comes with no monthly fee,

UK evening and weekend landline calls absolutely free excellent value call rates to international landlines & UK mobiles. Sky Talk Unlimited that comes with a nominal monthly fee, unlimited calls to 20 international destinations & UK landline at anytime with excellent value call rates to UK mobiles.

Get All three (Sky Combinations)

Sky offers some useful combinations online for which you can call 08442 411 511 if you are new to Sky or Call 08442 411 333 if you are already a Sky Customer. Some of the combinations that Sky offers include Sky TV, Broadband plus Talk, Sky+HD, Broadband plus Talk, Sky Movies in HD, Sky+HD with Sky World or else you can either create your own combination or get all three with some cool offers - all these combinations coming at a nominal charge. In this section, you may also check out Sky Help Centre, Accessories you may need for installation, Set up and installation, Switching to Sky, More about Sky TV boxes, Sky Broadband options, Sky Talk options & FAQs.

Sky Broadband

It is here that we are going to deal with Sky Broadband in detail. Like all other Broadband Providers, Sky promises its higher tier broadband customers of delivering faster broadband speeds and on-network customers, a much reliable broadband connection as never before! It now offers download speeds close to 20Mb and that woks also depend upon the type of package, line quality and the location at no extra charges. Keeping the idea of better services in mind, Sky Broadband has gone to the extent of re-christening Sky Broadband Mid to nowSky Broadband Everyday and Sky Broadband Max has been now changed to Sky Broadband Unlimited.

Strengths of Sky Broadband

Award-winning service: Winner at the 2008 awards, consumers voted Sky Broadband as the overall winner for bundled services in the BroadbandChoices.co.uk 2009 customer satisfaction survey and highly appreciated for faster download performance for bundled services and value for money.
Excellent Network Coverage: Sky Broadband network area covers nearly 71% of the UK population and claims that you could still experience uninterrupted, fast download speeds even when your location lie outside its coverage area.
Range of Options : Sky Broadband's wide range of options available to its customers meant that they can enjoy 10Mb Broadband everyday at a nominal charge and you get added benefits if you take up Sky Talk as well for a cheaper cost.
Great Value Broadband: Sky Broadband customers wouldn't have missed out in getting a Wireless Router that helps them to get connected wherever they are with no real fuss by connecting messy wires
Online Security: Sky Broadband customers would also get a free online protection trial that includes the likes of McAfee Internet Security Suite 2009 or McAfee Virus Scan anti-virus software in case you are Mac user. More to come besides these include Sky Email and Tools that is powered with 10 sky.com email addresses, etc.
Easy Installation: A step-by-step instruction for installing makes it pretty simple to set up your router and get connected
Easy to switch : If you are already under the services of another broadband supplier and looking for a switch-over, it is quite easy to make a switch-over to Sky Broadband with the minimum of disruption and you could well experience up to 2 hours of downtime and that too in the day of switch-over. Just register your thoughts and interests if you are still in the midst of a current broadband contract, Sky makes sure you let know all about the available options for you to avail of.

Sky Broadband Packages - Prices & Options

The section "Prices & Options" is an exclusive section that lists out all the packages of Sky Broadband in a comprehensive way. Sky Broadband offers its broadband services in the form of four packages namely Sky Broadband Base, Sky Broadband Unlimited, Sky Broadband Everyday & Sky Broadband Connect . Let us see all four packages as we move further into this section.

Sky Broadband Unlimited

Sky Broadband Unlimited as the name implies is an unlimited broadband edition with 20Mb download (again a variable of your location) that enables you download loads of your favorite music and videos and Upload Speed up to 1.3Mb . It is packed with a Wireless Router, latest version (2008) of the McAfee Internet Security Suite that offers total online protection free for 12 months. Mac users can also make use of free McAfee Virus Scan anti-virus software free for 12 months and a host of FREE Sky Email and Tools to stay connected and organized with minimum Line Rental .

Sky Broadband's 24/7 technical support is always an added advantage that you can make the most of. Customers would also get free evening & weekend UK landline calls and experience excellent value call rates to international landline numbers and UK mobiles. Note there is no set-up fee for either new or existing customers. You can also get Free Sky Broadband Unlimited for 6 months with Sky Talk package and also watch Sky TV channels live online for free that includes Sky Sports & Sky News, 1000 of hours of on-demand movies, programmes & highlights and what you can watch is of course dependent on the Sky TV packs that you subscribe to.

Sky Broadband Everyday

Sky Broadband Everyday finds itself for those who engage themselves in essential downloading and browsing. It is powered with up to 10Mb download speed, up to 600Kb upload speed, monthly usage allowance of 10GB, a one-off nominal set-up fee with minimum Line Rental, Free UK calls & Wireless Router, online protection in the form of McAfee Internet Security Suite & McAfee Virus Scan anti-virus software for Mac Users (for 3 months), 24/7 technical support and Sky Email & Tools.

Sky Broadband Base

Sky Broadband Base is ideal for Browsing & emailing and is packed with up to 2Mb download speed, up to 400Kb upload speed, monthly usage allowance of 2GB, free UK calls & Wireless Router at a cheap cost (just make sure you got a wireless card in your PC or laptop) , online protection in McAfee Internet Security Suite & McAfee Virus Scan anti-virus software for Mac Users (for 3 months), Sky Email & Tools, 24/7 technical support. All these come with a one-off nominal set-up fee and minimum line Rental!

Sky Broadband Connect

Users who do regular browsing and downloading would find Sky Broadband Connect to be pretty perfect as it comes with up to 8Mb download speed, up to 448Kb upload speed, monthly usage allowance of 40GB, free UK calls & Wireless Router at a discounted rate (ensure you got a wireless card in your PC or laptop) , online protection with McAfee Internet Security Suite & McAfee Virus Scan anti-virus software for Mac Users(for 3 months), Sky Email & Tools, 24/7 technical support - all these features and more at minimum line Rental and one-off nominal set-up fee!

Compare Options

Why do we need to compare all the Broadband Packages? Just because our requirements and applications vary and so is the budget that goes a long way in deciding the type of Package and deal one would opt for. And precisely why "Compare Options" section makes a quick comparison of all the Sky Broadband packages including its Monthly Cost (with Sky Talk), Monthly Cost (without Sky Talk), Maximum Download Speed, Upload Speed, Monthly Usage Allowance and Application & Set-up Fee (with Sky Broadband alone). Make sure you have a quick look at this all important comparison section before you opt for the Broadband Package of your choice.

Sky Email and Tools

Sky Email with virtually unlimited storage makes sure that is not another run of the mill email service. It has all the ingredients that Sky Broadband Customers need to keep in touch, get organized and stay connected even when you are on the move. This section would offer assistance in setting up your email program with Sky Email.

Watch out Sky Email Powered by Google . It comes with v irtually unlimited storage (10GB) so that you do not have to delete another email, Google search technology to help you track emails, unique 'conversations' views to maintain a record of your conversations and Mail Fetcher to help you fetch mail from up to 5 other non-Sky Email accounts.

Calendar helps you to set reminders on upcoming events, meetings via email and SMS, track, share calendar with family and friends and in general be organized. Chat facility helps you to send instant messages to your contact when they come online with Quick Contacts to view who is online and save, store, forward and save chats just like emails. Thanks to Snapfish as you can create, organize, view and share photos or albums with your kith and kin anywhere in the world, create slideshows and share the same your friends and family just at the click of a mouse and order mugs, photo prints, T-shirts and calendars with Photo facility service .

Online Security from Sky Broadband

All Sky Broadband customers would receive a free trial of the latest version (2009) of McAfee Internet Security Suite and Mac users would get free McAfee Virus Scan anti-virus software to make sure that you protect your PC or Laptop from spam, adware & online scams, enforce parental control for the safety of your children, protect your online identity and hide your computer from the hands of the hackers and enhance your PC's performance.

Store & Share

Store & Share , a secure, online storage facility stores almost any files including documents, photos, music, videos, etc and share the same with everyone, anywhere at anytime, free up space on your PC or Laptop, get access from any computer with the help of an internet connection and do away with the transfer of files while changing of computer. The good news out here is that you do not have to be a Sky customer and is open to everyone as it is available online for anyone visiting sky.com ! Here too you could find 3 packages of Sky Store & Share namely Starter, Standard & Premium.

Starter Package comes with no monthly >cost, online storage of 1GB and is ideal for storing music, photos sufficient for up to 250 x 4MB music files. Standard Package comes with a nominal monthly cost, online storage of 10GB, Auto Backup and is ideal for storing 5000 x 2MB photos or 2500 x 4MB music files automatically. Premium Package ideal for automatically storing all your essential files (worth 60 GB storage capacity of data) is packed with online storage of 60GB, Auto Backup all at a nominal cost. You can also try out the trial version. A unique section for ‘Store & Share' helps you on how to get the most of this option with step by step instructions on how to upload, store and save photos, videos, music & document files separately. Here, you can also sign up to avail this option or try out a free version in case you feel like doing a test drive.

Help & Questions on Sky Broadband Connection

'Help and Questions' can come to your rescue in case you are confronted with technical issues like

requirements so as to enjoy Sky Broadband including Phone line requirements & Minimum PC specifications besides guides & tutorials for the set-up and installation of Sky Broadband, quick & easy switching to Sky Broadband, FAQs covering all the features of Sky Broadband connection, Download & Installation of McAfee Site Advisor, registration, payment, installation & usage of Sky Broadband, switching from another provider and cable.

Customer Support FAQs include practical guide to fixing technical issues like Getting Online, Connection Help, connecting games consoles and handheld devices, Equipment & Wireless Security Help, McAfee Security Help, Staying Safe Online, Sky Identity Shield & Sky Parental Alert from Sky's Help Centre pages.

Sky Broadband Upgrades

Sky Broadband Upgrades helps you to upgrade online within a few minutes to experience more available broadband usage and faster download speeds if you feel like having more of surfing and downloading power and that is all you need to do in order to get your new Sky Broadband option the very same day. Sky customers are offered with 2 options namely Sky Broadband Unlimited & Sky Broadband Everyday.

Sky Broadband Unlimited comes with up to 20Mb download speed, unlimited usage allowance helping you to download loads of videos and music, free evening & weekend UK landline calls, excellent value call rates to international landline numbers & UK mobiles, no set-up fee, minimum line Rental. You can also receive Free Sky Broadband Unlimited for 6 months with Sky Talk package and also watch Sky TV channels live online for free that includes Sky Sports, Sky News, 1000 of hours of on-demand movies, highlights, programmes and what you can view is of course is also variable of the Sky TV packs that you subscribe to. Sky Broadband Unlimited helps you to upload photos and videos faster with speeds of up to 1.3Mb. It also comes with a Wireless Router, latest version (2008) of the McAfee Internet Security Suite for 12 months & free McAfee Virus Scan anti-virus software free for 12 months for Mac users and a host of FREE Sky Email and Tools to stay connected and organized with 24/7 technical support. Just call 08442 411 818 to receive Free Sky Broadband Unlimited for 6 months.

Sky Broadband Everyday finds itself for users who engage in regular downloading & browsing and helps them in offering faster browsing experience, faster downloading of music, video clips, photos, sending & receiving more emails with large attachments and is excellent for connecting more than one household computer instantaneously. It comes with up to 10Mb download speed, up to 600Kb upload speed, 10GB monthly usage allowance, a one-off nominal set-up fee, minimum Line Rental, online protection with McAfee Internet Security Suite & McAfee Virus Scan anti-virus software for Mac Users (for 3 months), Free UK calls & Wireless Router, Sky Email & Tools besides 24/7 technical support.

Switching to Sky

Switching to Sky helps you in switching to Sky Broadband seamlessly with step-by-step instructions on how to switch from your current Broadband Provider & Cable Provider to Sky and is a must read for all those who are looking to switching over to Sky to obtain a basic know-how on how start the proceedings. Here, you can also check Sky Broadband availability in a particular area by entering your full postcode in the space provided in the Postcode Checker Page . In case you already have a MAC code you could obtain Sky Broadband connection in a matter of 15 days with not much loss of broadband service. Using a MAC also ensures a smooth transition and goods news is that you should only be without internet connection for only around 30 minutes to 2 hours on the day you switchover to Sky Broadband.

'I have my MAC' section should help you to make the switch-over pretty much a child's play and do find time to go through this section in the event of a switch-over. Also, make sure that you also quickly run through Sky Broadband's Terms and Conditions comprising Sky Broadband's Usage Policies, Code of Practice & Privacy Notice just to make sure you adhere to its usage policy, lest you may run into some sort of disappointment later. It is important that you go through the website of Sky website at www.sky.com thoroughly before availing any of its services or products, though we have tried our best to compile and provide information on Sky Broadband as accurately as possible for you to make use of.

Summary of Review: Sky Internet Service Provider

Year of Start	1 October 1998
Strengths	Award-winning Broadband service Excellent Network Coverage Range of Broadband Options & Packages Great Value Broadband Excellent Online Security Easy Installation Easy to switch over to Sky Broadband
Products/ Services	Sky TV Sky Talk Get All three (Sky Combinations) Sky Broadband
Sky Broadband Package Details
Broadband Packages	Sky Broadband Base Sky Broadband Everyday Sky Broadband Unlimited Sky Broadband Connect
Other Broadband Services	Sky Email and Tools Online Security (McAfee® Internet Security) Sky Store & Share
Broadband Speed Limit	Up to 20Mbps
Usage Allowance	Unlimited usage allowance
Set-up fee	No (for Sky Broadband Unlimited)
Free Online Security & Free Wireless Router	Available (Sky Broadband Unlimited customers get McAfee® Internet Security Suite & McAfee VirusScan anti-virus software for Mac Users both free for 12 months)
Free evening & weekend UK landline calls	Available
24/7 technical support	Available
Requirements for Installation	BT line plus a computer that meets particular specifications.
Sky Broadband Website Details
Postcode Checker	Available
Regular updation of website	Yes
Dedicated Help & Support	Available
Sky Broadband's Usage Policies / Code of Practice & Privacy Notice	Available
Security Centre	Available (on McAfee, Store & Share, Parental Alert, Identity Shield & Identity Patrol)
Sky Help Centre	Available(On Product Help, Account & Billing, Sky Services, Sky Online, Installation details & How To Get Sky)
Accessibility Information	Available
Contact Address (for General & business Enquiries)	Sky Broadband PO Box 99 Livingston West Lothian EH54 7DD Web site: Sky.com/help
Call (for General & business Enquiries)	08442 410 515 (8:30am to 11pm)
Website	http://www.sky.com (Corporate website including Broadband at http://www.sky.com/portal/site/skycom/skyproducts/broadband ) http://www.broadband.sky.com/ (For Broadband)