Sky Connect Broadband - Are you being slowed down?

[Smithy99]

IsItMe is right in what he says, but even when it is fixed, you will not be able to use the Connect for gaming.

Capacity is in short supply and when peak time is reached all the data queues to get through, lots get lost and have to be re-transmitted causing massive delays (massive in terms of electronic data) and gaming will become totally unusable.

For surfing the net and e-0mail it is still bearable for gaming it is not.

[Undecided Adrian]

I agree you will need to go to LLU on an ISP or go to a more expensively priced ISP that has little or no traffic shaping on the rebadged BT product to game realisticly.

even fairly low useage games like WoW will be very hard to play let alone something with more reqiurements on connect.

[davedarave01uk]

I wouldn't chance it, just get out, you will never be able to game with the way Connect is running.

Pings are all over the place, just move whislt you still can, don't let Sky talk you into staying, you will regret it for the 12 months you will be stuck with them.

Try Plusnet, IdNet or Zen, they should all give you a good gaming experience and I think they all have 1-3 month contracts just in case.

I repeat, IF YOU ARE A SERIOUS GAMER GET OUT NOW!!!! or even if you are a social one

Thanks for the advice.
Ive been told that I have to wait 10 days before they can do anything to really help as I'm in the 10 days grace period which sucks but Im prepared to take a chance.
I can get my Mac code easily now seeing as they cannot keep it from you any more.
Ill see how it goes and if it stays the same then Ill move supplier

[Smithy99]

They cannot help, even after the ten days. Short of buying £100,000's worth of capacity or enabling your exchange for LLU your pings will not impprove, or at least not during peak times.

Once you are out of the 8 days, you will be forced to pay the contract off, 11 x £17, that's one hell of a risk.

Just look at this thread, not one person who has posted on here will advise you that Connect is going to be good for gaming, even the ones who work for Sky.

Do yourself a favour, get out while you still have the chance to do it at no further cost. It will never work for the usage that you have for it, gamers require good latency, you certainly wont get that.

Can anyone on connect do a few ping times for this guy, just so he can see?

[Smithy99]

Ok, here's a guy on connect that is currently posting about pings:-

http://www.skyuser.co.uk/forum/gamin...oor-pings.html

[davedarave01uk]

Looks like I will be changing then.

Shame really as it's took a month just to get connected as BT said my line did not exist to start with and Sky have done alot of chasing around to get me connected.

[steve16751]

davedarave01uk
Hi again as Smithy99 says for gaming it is useless the amount of post on this thread that mention gaming and pings and at the moment Sky are not saying a word about it. A lot of us had similar problems with Bt and Sky rang me to say I now could join Sky BB connect max. Anyway what ever you decide remember Smithy99 and Undecided Adrian only there to give good advice that is what we all do on this forum help each other.

[smith2001]

I took the plunge and moved to o2 as the speeds in the evening were unbearable. I got my mac code without any hassle, they ofc tried to keep me but the guy i spoke to actually had connect and knew it was ****e so handed it over no questions. moved to o2 in around 5 days with no interruption in service, infact i think something went wrong as sky is still working if i plug in their router. anyway the speed is better, i now get 3mb not 2mb and in the evening it does go slightly slow but not as bad as before, and at least o2 have identified that their access product is slow and they are doing something about it by mid april. my advice to all. Move when u you can.

Dan

[Smithy99]

Looks like I will be changing then. Shame really as it's took a month just to get connected

It is a shame but this package is not aimed at people like yourself who require an uncluttered network.

I am not anti Sky on this issue, in fact I still think for the money the Connect package is a bargain for people who are not so critical with their usage, my parents would be able to use it without problem as they do the normal day to day surfing and e-mail checking.

Even the odd downloading is not an issue if you are not watching the clock. The 40gb download limit is on the larger side for this type of package and there are not many ISP's out there without the same issues certainly not at this price and with this amount of download limit.

For gaming you need an ISP who will not allow traffic to bottleneck, or at least prioritise the gaming packets over less critical ones. Plusnet do a specific package aimed at gamers with this in mind, now they are owned by BT they should be a pretty safe bet.

The one thing I cannot understand about this thread is the people who complain but do not choose to leave, well actually Steve if I'm honest as it is turning into his blog Why is that? other than it's not in my nature?

[Isitme]

My line speed should be 3.5mbps
Im currently using the test scoket lol doesnt sound good at all.

Ive had BT broadband on the line before and it was getting 1.5-2 Mbps with no problems

Don't read too much into online checkers, on ADSL2+, in theory with a very good line you could get 3-4Mbs. Unfortunately, theory and practise are two very different things, in practise ADSL2+ may not work on your line at all and you certainly will not get that with the Connect package.

If you were getting 1.5-2Mbs previously, you would have been on a fixed 2 Mb package, which does not require the line to be so 'clean'. There is also a good chance your external line has deteriorated, which as long as the voice part is working, BTO will not fix.

As mentioned, if you go over the 8 days, there is every chance you will be held to your contract and face a real fight to get away. This is one of the anomalies with Connect and to a certain extent LLU, you have an 8 day cooling period but the line can take 10 days to 'settle'. A condition heavily loaded in the suppliers favour. Get your MAC now and give notice to cancel before the 8 days are up.