Hello, Thinking of Joining Sky....

Ceri · 30-12-07, 12:34 AM

There's a few things i have heard that is stopping me from going for the see speak surf package.. they all come on the "surf" side of the deal.

Obviously, i am a mac user (Powerbook G4, Mac mini), i also have a wii.
I am currently accessing the internet via a netgear DG834PN and my service provider is Pipex.

I live miles and miles away from the exchange and in broadband terms i am on "the end of the line" so to speak.. so i can't go for anything faster than "base"

I am happy with pipex, but for the same money i pay to pipex i can get the see speak surf package and as i'm not due to get digital in my area till 2011 i'd really like to have sky put in.

There are a few things i have been told that bother me.

1. I can't use my own router and although the one sky provides is a netgear its a lesser model than the one i have.

2. Issues with connecting the Wii to the sky router.

3. The sky router firmware can't be updated.

4. The sky router doesn't cope well with a "dirty line"

5. The majority of the settings on the Sky router can't be changed.

I would like to go for the sky package but i need to keep my current router because it's worked perfectly for over a year when others have caused problems.

can anyone help?

many thanks and apologies for a long winded first post!

James67 · 30-12-07, 01:06 AM

You do have to use the router provided by Sky. I'm afraid there is no way around this. The biggest difference between your current router and the Sky router is that your current routers supports what is known as Wireless-N networking. The Sky router only support the older Wireless-G system - Wireless-N works at speeds up to 300Mbit/sec, whereas Wireless-G works at speeds up to 54Mbit/sec. But if your broadband connection only goes up to 2Mbit/sec, then there's absolutely no advantage to having really fast wireless networking, unless you have two or more computers in your house which you want to do file transfers between. The data from the Internet can't go any faster than the smallest bottleneck, which in your case will be the broadband connection between the exchange and your house. If you are really set on continuing to use your existing router, it is possible to set up your router to act as a wireless access point, whilst using the Sky router to provide broadband access - although it can be a bit fiddly to set up.
I'm sure that the people who have reported problems with connecting their Wii consoles would have encountered the same problems if they had had the DG834PN. There's no special communication mode on the DG834PN that makes it more able to connect to a Wii, than either of the latest Sky routers. In other words, if you managed to get your Wii connected successfully to the DG834PN, then I'm sure you'll have no problems getting your Wii to connect to a Sky router.
The Sky router is not updateable by the customer, although Sky can update the firmware remotely if a problem is discovered in the firmware.
The old Sky router - the white one - is a second-rate piece of junk, particularly on "marginal" lines. It will remain so until Sky finally get their finger out and release the firmware update for it. However, the new Sky routers (and all new customers receive these) don't have the problems that the old router had.
As for the settings on the Sky routers - quite a few things are disabled, but most are not. Is there something in particular you need to have control over?

I hope this addresses the issues you're worried about. To be honest, I wouldn't recommend Sky Broadband to anyone, and that's because of their idiotic decision to force people to use the router that they supply.

Ceri · 30-12-07, 01:34 PM

Many thanks for the quick reply.

The reason i bought the router i have is because i need to do large file transfers from computer to computer. I work on a large screen and G5 from my home "office" and when i take my work away with me i transfer it onto my powerbook or mac mini.

Also, i've had a lesser netgear router before and the signal wouldn't reach the next room! (old house, thick walls). The one i have now seems to have a lot more poke.

So changing the router isn't an option for me.. i can't believe sky are allowed to do this, it must be contrary to some consumer right surely. As far as internet is concerned you are paying them for the service, not the equipment.

I don't know what to do now, i can't really justify paying extra for sky on top of my internet subscription. I want to shift from Pipex because its now Tiscali.. and i've had a nightmare with them in the past.

pah.

gill07 · 30-12-07, 01:41 PM

There is ways that you can use Sky without there router however this is in breach of the contract. If you are that desperate to keep your own router then maybe Sky isn't the best option for you.

Ceri · 30-12-07, 06:21 PM

don't really know what to do now. I want to have digital tv, can't justify spending out on both.

Anderzander · 05-01-08, 10:41 PM

I use Macs, have a wii, and am at the end of a line.....

I got one of the new routers sky are sending out, the sagem one, and it has great range and has been rock solid for me. Better than the airport express I used before, which I have now just linked into the network to extend the range and run a printer from.

I only got 512kb before because that was all my line scanned as being able to deliver - with sky I consistently get 1.5mb - not sure why that is but I'm pleased with it.

I've not attempted to sync the wii with it yet - but I do have about 8 other wireless devises synced to it and they've all been a piece of wii (as they say).

I have a good clean internal line with a proper faceplate and no phone extensions. You can improve your own if it needs it.

I'd give it a go.

Ceri · 25-01-08, 11:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anderzander

I use Macs, have a wii, and am at the end of a line.....

I got one of the new routers sky are sending out, the sagem one, and it has great range and has been rock solid for me. Better than the airport express I used before, which I have now just linked into the network to extend the range and run a printer from.

I only got 512kb before because that was all my line scanned as being able to deliver - with sky I consistently get 1.5mb - not sure why that is but I'm pleased with it.

I've not attempted to sync the wii with it yet - but I do have about 8 other wireless devises synced to it and they've all been a piece of wii (as they say).

I have a good clean internal line with a proper faceplate and no phone extensions. You can improve your own if it needs it.

I'd give it a go.

My walls are over a foot thick, it just worried me that the signal won't reach upstairs.. my previous 2 netgear, 1 belkin, 1 D-link routers weren't up to the job.

richone54 · 26-01-08, 12:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ceri

My walls are over a foot thick, it just worried me that the signal won't reach upstairs.. my previous 2 netgear, 1 belkin, 1 D-link routers weren't up to the job.

you could run an cat5 extention, or buy some powerline adapters (which i use with my PC)