Sky Broadband Any Good

[amazingreflex]

I'm thinking of swapping to Sky for TV, phone and broadband.

Is the broadband any good?

What is the ping and upload speed like? Reliable?

What is the wireless router like?

[Rigid]

I've been with Sky for 15 months. Only had a couple of instances where the broadband has been down, both times lasting 3-5 hours.

The ping isn't brilliant as they won't turn interleaving off but if you ask they will turn it down for gamers.

Overall the speeds up and down are good.

The router I was sent is made by Sagem and allows both Xboxes on line with Open Nat. At the time they were also using Netgear routers and it was pot luck as to which you got.

[uberammerz]

I've been with Sky for a while now, got a sagem router which is good.

Ping speed is 70, which is not bad, broadband speed is what you pay for basically.

Been contacted by Sky recently to say they are changing their broadband choices shortly, £10.00 per month gets you up to 20mb.

Like any broadband provider some people say they have issues, but I've had no problems!

[darkyoung]

I've been with Sky for 2 years now and have mixed opinions. Here is my ping result from a few minutes ago:



which is pretty good, but I do seem to lose service with alarming regularity - at least once per week.

[amazingreflex]

I am with Be Broadband at the moment. Here is the connection I get:





I don't think it would matter if I went with Sky and got a ping of 30ms. Especially with my skills! I have 13ms ping and I still lose regularly!

As long as XBox Live shows open NAT with the router they provide.

I'm trying to save a bit of money by going all in with Sky.

I currently pay £19 for Broadband and £12 for BT line rental.

[Rigid]

Before asking for interleaving to be reduced my ping was around 70. As you can see it has improved but it's still above 30.

[amazingreflex]

OK,

Now on Sky phone line and sky broadband lite (2GB per month).





Seems OK but I'm already at 1.7GB for month (7th day). Will probably have to start paying £7.50 a month for unlimited (2GB limit is free with Sky phone line).

Just need to test online games now.

[forestrider44]

I think, with Sky being a copper connection - and through BT - people's experiences can vary so much. Mine were as bad as they could get. The best download speed I could get was average 800k and about 300k up. They blamed my house wiring although that had been installed only a few years.
I changed to Virgin XL recently and I'm getting 19+ mb down and 700+ k up. I can't believe it! After so many years I feel like I've died and gone to heaven! And the package i've got doesn't cost me any more
This isn't an ad for Virgin. I'm sure many people are getting good results with Sky - and maybe mine will deteriorate - who knows?
But, surely, the future is with fibre optics? Here's my ping Is it good?

[forestrider44]

And here's a full test

[amazingreflex]

If you can consistently get a ping of 10ms then I can't see how you could beat that.

I used to be with Be Broadband and got a consistent 16ms.

I think for XBox Live, having a good upload will probably result in your box hosting games more often. I think more than 1 meg up would be classed as a lot. Average would be 400k - 800k.

Having a short ping will mean you will be up to date as quick as possible during multiplayer. Might make the difference if you need it .

[forestrider44]

I was hoping it would get my kill rate up a bit on MW2. Maybe it has - Funny how can you think you've reacted quickly but the Deathcam shows you firing away from your killer. Trouble is - I don't WANT to be a run-around killing machine (even if I could) I prefer stalking trying to outwit the opponent but while I'm doing that I'm usually stabbed in the back. I suppose it's only fractions of a second that make the difference.

[amazingreflex]

I wouldn't be surprised if the other player's lag has a negative effect on your play. That's why it might look so different on the kill cam.

I think in the end if you are good at the game then that will override any problems with lag in the long run.

Trouble is, to be really good at the multiplayer shooters, you need to play online a lot to get your skills up. I don't have the time nowadays to invest. Play just for fun when I can.

[Biscitt]

I'm being switched to Sky next week and a bit worried about it. I can see my self being offline for a period of time while they sort out the problems.

Don't have the luxury of fibreoptics round here having only just converted to steam power from horse so will be pot luck what speed I get I suppose.

[forestrider44]

Hi Amazing - I'm a noob on anything like this at the moment.. My connection as nearly as good as they come. How does his lag work aginst me? Most people seem to be quicker than me - an age thing I suppose. I sometimes go into that "super alert" type of thing but too much and I reckon I may drop dead. I've struggled up to rank 50 but I usually die too mant times.

Apart from the age thing, the prospect of doing everything at top speed seems contrary to what I want to do. I would prefer to "stalk" - not neccessariy with sensor of sniper rifle but MW2 doesn't really work like that. If you're slow your dead I suppose
I need to find games with more depth and bigger areas. Every now and then. on MW2 I hit a lobby where a group of us are fairly equal rank and ability and it's really enjoyable but there are usually too may high speed super-killers for me I suppose.

Is Halo 1/2/3 the same type of scenario - loads of runners? If so, are there any war games that aren't?
Also, what goes on in this site? I see the clan "room" but can't get in without a password.What unspeakable things are going on in there?
Questions - so many questions. I'm old, confused, lonely out here , often mortally wounded and I need a female member to pat me on the head and give me a big "virtual" hug.