A couple of questions about Sky...

[roger06]

Hi

I'm thinking of switching to Sky in Feb when my BT phone / broadband contract runs out but have a couple of queries...

1. How good's the Broadband ? Is it realiable? do they supply a wireless router or any other hardware?

2. If I go for just a standard Sky+ box but want to upgrade to HD in the future how's this done?

thanks...

 

[Anonymous]

1. I switched to sky broadband a couple of months ago. Very fast (compared to my previous ISP) and very reliable so far. A netgear wireless router is supplied.

2. I would recommend you go for the sky hd box. it puts the 'standard' box in the shade!

 

[Clare Newsome]

I'd second the Sky+HD comment - you've a 42in plasma, so the difference would be instantly noticeable. And don't forget, it's not just the HD shows that look better; even leaving the issue of upscaling aside, the Sky+HD box's HDMI connection enables a better picture than the regular Sky+ box's Scart socket...

 

[Anonymous]

I've just been through this transfer in July from BT to Sky for broadband, phone and TV and am pleased with the improvement of speed and the router they supplied. In terms of reliability I've had the phone service disappear once in the evening (hence broadband as well). Next morning everything was fine - no reason sought or given.

On the downside I was entitled to £50 of M&S vouchers when I signed up to Sky and despite complaining several times still have not received them. X-(

Kev.

 

[Pindi]

I still haven't received mine either! I need to chase them.

 

[GetCarter]

Have to say we found the whole experience from start to finish a complete cockup.

Ordered online, and accepted, they took the money upfront for the connection/hub, then did nothing for 3 weeks, failed to contact us at all, their online "status" system was always down, unable to track and tell us what was happening. We spent over 6 hrs on the phone trying to get in touch with a human being being passed from pillar to post, with no-one knowing anything, or caring only to find when we did that although the computer said "yes" our local exchange did not have any sky equipment in, so they could not offer us the package they had allowed us to sign up for therefore failed all the changover, which also meant that the number we had to get from BT for the changeover which only lasted 28 days was invalid because there was not enough time on it to change to another service, so we had to wait till that ran out and re-apply. All in all one almighty cockup, with only a very tacit apology in the end, with very little in the way of compensation for the massive inconvenience we suffered. (We have been sky customers since it started, having Sky+ on the day it launched, and sky hd on the day it launched, paying premium for service at launch each time)

We do still have sky tv (if you want the choice of channels there is no alternative) but we have found customer service when things go wrong to be really poor, as it is a nightmare trying to find someone to speak to.

If if goes right I'm sure its ok, but when it goes wrong, it really goes wrong.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

roger06:
Hi

I'm thinking of switching to Sky in Feb when my BT phone / broadband contract runs out but have a couple of queries...

1. How good's the Broadband ? Is it realiable? do they supply a wireless router or any other hardware?

2. If I go for just a standard Sky+ box but want to upgrade to HD in the future how's this done?

thanks...

The speed will depend on where you are. I'm lucky that at the end of my road is a phone exchange (or whatever it is you need to be close to). I find Sky very good though. Not sure if anyone has answered this but if you get Sky +, you can upgrade easily to HD in the future. All you would need to do is get an HD box and then swap it over (it connects the same as the Sky + box to your dish) and then call Sky to tell them to upgrade you.

I would say go HD now though - I can't imagine going back to SD.

 

[Anonymous]

Hey Guys,

Just thought i would add my two pennies worth!

I got sky HD as soon as it came out and love it.

The new EPG guide was downloaded about 2 wks ago to my Samsung HD box. I have to say whilst it is a-lot slicker, sexeier and easyer, but it is a hell of a lot slower than the old EPG guide.

One of the most annoying things about it is the Mini TV in the TV guide. When you select to turn thid option off, the sound from the mini TV continues

I spoke to Sky about this and apparently they have no fix for this at the mo!

As far as broadband goes i have had sky Broadband for about a year now and was majorly upset hen it turned up with a re-branded Netgear DSL router (cant stand netgear). I spoke to sky when placing the order they assured me that i could use my existing D-Link router.

I phoned them to ask for the user name and password to enter into the D-Link and they said that it was built into the Netgear router and they could not give it to me.

But good news after searching the web i found a website EDITED BY MODS - House Rules showing how to get your ADSL username and password from your netgear router

(search on Google for Sky broadband and username password) and hey presto i can now use my wey better D-Link router.

Apart from these small glitches with sky i can say that i am one happy customer with the quality of their products and services if they did Gas and Electric i would take that from them too!!

I have Sky talk, Sky broadband, Sky Player (get for free when you have sky BB max) and Sky+HD

Remember where there is a will there is away

 

[Anonymous]

i have to say, my experience was the opposite to GetCarter's experience. the whole process could not have been any simpler or any smoother. After one phonecall, i signed up for the sky phone and broadband package. the broadband was switched from my existing ISP on the date stated, and the phone was switched from BT again on the date stated. No issues, no problems, no further phone call required! Surprisingly i didnt even have to speak to BT about a refund of line rental for the remainder of the quarter ... a cheque arrived approx 1 week after the service was switched!

 

[roger06]

Thanks guys - that's REALLY useful.

I have certainly heard mixed views on Sky's customer service - but then but there are companies I'll never deal with due to bad service which others swear by so there's an element of luck I guess.

Of course I'm tempted by Sky HD but am trying to keep costs down to roughly what I'm paying BT at the moment for phone and Broadband (about £34 a month) which justifies it.

Claire - is it only the HD box that has the HDMI out? I'm about to pay carpet fitters to re fit the carpet over all the cables leading to the TV so I'll have to have a source where both video and audio plug into the Yammy AV amp only.

And if I get the HD box can I just get the SD stuff and upgrade later ? (I resent the £10 extra per month for HD!)

I'm happy to go with Sky's 2MB broadband as that's all I seem to get anyway. Despite only being 0.8 miles from the exchange putting my number into BT's broadband checker it states 512kbps - and although I actually get 2mbps I still think that's rather rubbish. (But I no longer work from home and have a MEGA fast connection during the day).

I'm fed up with BT charging me for things I've never used, being promised a refund which never materializses...plus they didn't put me on the phone contract I asked (and paid for) so when I complained they switched it but I only found out yesterday they put me on a new 12 month contract! - Sky cannot be any worse!

Cheers

 

[Clare Newsome]

roger06:
Claire - is it only the HD box that has the HDMI out? I'm about to pay carpet fitters to re fit the carpet over all the cables leading to the TV so I'll have to have a source where both video and audio plug into the Yammy AV amp only.

And if I get the HD box can I just get the SD stuff and upgrade later ? (I resent the £10 extra per month for HD!)

Virgin's HD box also has HDMI; the service is improving all the time, but Sky still eclipses it for HD content

Remember, when considering cabling, that current Sky+HD boxes output video via HDMI and sound via optical cable. No biggie, but worth mentioning.

roger06:
And if I get the HD box can I just get the SD stuff and upgrade later ? (I resent the £10 extra per month for HD!)

Nope. But HD is such a big uplift in quality....Like DVD vs Blu-ray, the choice is yours whether you pay a premium for that improvement.

 

[roger06]

Thanks Clare (apologies for previous mis-spelling!)

So the two cables from the Sky box can both go to the AV Receiver? or does that mean only the sound can and the video needs to go direct to the telly ?

 

[Dave_]

Clare Newsome:roger06:And if I get the HD box can I just get the SD stuff and upgrade later ? (I resent the £10 extra per month for HD!)

Nope. But HD is such a big uplift in quality....Like DVD vs Blu-ray, the choice is yours whether you pay a premium for that improvement.Actually,that's not strictly correct. You're not entitled to a subsidised HD box from Sky unless you take out an HD subscription.

However, you can source your own HD box,either by going through an re-seller and paying full RRP(around £250) or going the Ebay/second hand route(around £100).

You then don't have to take out an HD subscription,carry on with your SD subcription,but you will also get access to BBC HD,ITV HD(with New EPG),Channel 4HD and Luxe HD as there all FTA/FTV channels plus the added benefit of being connected by HDMI.

Note you will have to phone Sky to get them to pair your viewing card to the HD box, and make it clear to CS that you've sourced your own box and it's not subsidised by Sky....

 

[Clare Newsome]

daveh75:Clare Newsome:roger06:And if I get the HD box can I just get the SD stuff and upgrade later ? (I resent the £10 extra per month for HD!)

Nope. But HD is such a big uplift in quality....Like DVD vs Blu-ray, the choice is yours whether you pay a premium for that improvement.Actually,that's not strictly correct. You're not entitled to a subsidised HD box from Sky unless you take out an HD subscription.

However, you can source your own HD box,either by going through an re-seller and paying full RRP(around £250) or going the Ebay/second hand route(around £100).

You then don't have to take out an HD subscription,carry on with your SD subcription,but you will also get access to BBC HD,ITV HD(with New EPG),Channel 4HD and Luxe HD as there all FTA/FTV channels plus the added benefit of being connected by HDMI.

Note you will have to phone Sky to get them to pair your viewing card to the HD box, and make it clear to CS that you've sourced your own box and it's not subsidised by Sky....

Fair point - but you can't do it via Sky, and with no Sky already installed, it's going to be far from straightforward!

 

[Clare Newsome]

roger06:
Thanks Clare (apologies for previous mis-spelling!)

So the two cables from the Sky box can both go to the AV Receiver? or does that mean only the sound can and the video needs to go direct to the telly ?

Yes, you can plug both cables from the Sky box into your AV receiver. Depending on the make/model of receiver, the latter may well do a better job of upscaling SD Sky content than the Sky box itself, too.

 

[Dave_]

Clare Newsome:daveh75:Clare Newsome:roger06:And if I get the HD box can I just get the SD stuff and upgrade later ? (I resent the £10 extra per month for HD!)

Nope. But HD is such a big uplift in quality....Like DVD vs Blu-ray, the choice is yours whether you pay a premium for that improvement.Actually,that's not strictly correct. You're not entitled to a subsidised HD box from Sky unless you take out an HD subscription.

However, you can source your own HD box,either by going through an re-seller and paying full RRP(around £250) or going the Ebay/second hand route(around £100).

You then don't have to take out an HD subscription,carry on with your SD subcription,but you will also get access to BBC HD,ITV HD(with New EPG),Channel 4HD and Luxe HD as there all FTA/FTV channels plus the added benefit of being connected by HDMI.

Note you will have to phone Sky to get them to pair your viewing card to the HD box, and make it clear to CS that you've sourced your own box and it's not subsidised by Sky....

Fair point - but you can't do it via Sky, and with no Sky already installed, it's going to be far from straightforward!

That's very true,and i should have read the op properly in the first place,as i assumed Roger06 was upgrading from Sky sd and not a new customer!

 

[Anonymous]

my neighbours got sky+ fitted last week and it was a sky+hd box they put in even though he didnt subscribe to the hd package maybe its their way of planning for the future hoping you upgrade the package as you already have the box.