Cancelling my account and moving to Sky Ultrafast Broadband questions.

[paulguk1]

In September my VM contract is up for renewal and I’m not expecting to get a good renewal offer going on recent posts in this forum. In previous years I have been held over a barrel because VM was the only way to get fast broadband and they knew that. This year Openreach have installed super fast broadband in my area and by taking out a contract with Sky who I have my TV with there is a good offer which I doubt VM will be willing to match.

I know that I will need a new installation to my house but is the cable inside my house also different. My VM router is upstairs in the spare bedroom so I would want the Sky router wired in the same. 

Is there anyone on here that has gone down the same route, was it easy and is the connection and wi fi as good. Any other advice welcomed. 

[goslow]

No experience of using Sky but have had fibre installed by Openreach for a BT FTTP service ...

Openreach bring a fibre optic cable to your home from either a pole or underground duct depending on how your home is served.

On the outside of your home you will get a grey box which is a splice point for the fibre from outside to inside. The cable is spliced there to an internal cable which is run into your home.

Inside your home you get an optical network termination (ONT) device which presents the service on a RJ45 network socket. You use a network cable to connect your router to the ONT. You should be able to choose where you want the ONT but, because it uses an ethernet connection, it can be up to a total of 100m from the router (fixed cable+patch leads).

The Openreach bit is here

https://www.openreach.com/help-and-support/full-fibre-broadband-installation-checklist

On a BT service you can use your own router to plug into the ONT. Don't know if Sky needs you to use their own router or not.

[Alby41]

Hi there presumably you have done your homework on Sky and want that ....but there are others in play for you as well also giving great deals and offers and as you have openreach fibre available now the world is your oyster .. check EE / BT use TV recording units just like sky .. if you want a landline as well also deal thrown in ...use fibre to get internet from any provider ... look at ispreviews .. if you want a digital phone connected up .. look at a company called phonely only just willing to help so really not a problem ... consider a freesat recording set up also ... I will be in your position soon not yet and there a many options internet,phone ,TV recording options ... the full hit from EE is on offer at the mo ...from what I know SKY can be just as costly as VM...just saying good luck....😊

[unisoft]

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@paulguk1 wrote:

In September my VM contract is up for renewal and I’m not expecting to get a good renewal offer going on recent posts in this forum. In previous years I have been held over a barrel because VM was the only way to get fast broadband and they knew that. This year Openreach have installed super fast broadband in my area and by taking out a contract with Sky who I have my TV with there is a good offer which I doubt VM will be willing to match.

I know that I will need a new installation to my house but is the cable inside my house also different. My VM router is upstairs in the spare bedroom so I would want the Sky router wired in the same. 

Is there anyone on here that has gone down the same route, was it easy and is the connection and wi fi as good. Any other advice welcomed. 

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Note: Sky are doing some changes to their network by implementing MAP-T (Mapping of Address and Port using Translation).

See here for fuller explanation:

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2024/06/isp-sky-broadband-uk-deploying-ip-address-sharing-via-...

[Cardiffman282]

Sounds like a really clever and flexible implementation by Sky UK. 

[Adduxi]

Also be aware the ONT needs to be beside a power socket, so think about placement.  I believe you can use a 3rd party router with Sky, but from memory it needs to support DHCP Option 61?

For my Openreach install, I had already picked a location for the ONT, added a new double socket, installed trunking for the fibre run and cabled a Cat 6a cable from my Router to said location.  So on the day, it was only a matter of powering up the ONT and connecting the ethernet cable.  Sorted  🙂

[paulguk1]

Well at the moment I have the Virgin cable running up the side of the stairs and into the spare bedroom where my super hub is. I’m guessing I would be replacing the coax with a cat cable running up the side of the stairs. I need the router upstairs like that because it is connected to my NAS which sits beside it.

[Adduxi]

You could connect the NAS to your LAN by Ethernet?

But yes, Cat 6 cable up the stairs would do the trick. Alternatively you might be able to get the ONT installed upstairs if you ask the engineer when installing? They could run the fibre on the outside up to the first floor and in through the wall?

Of course it may also be a cable from a pole at that height anyway…..

[paulguk1]

Yes that is an alternative. I do have my NAS connected to my VM router now that’s why I have the 2 sat next to each other upstairs.