Broadband connection dropping out every so often

[bryan]

I’ve been a Sky BB customer since 2006 with the same Netgear router and I’ve hardly ever had a problem in all that time until this week when the BB stopped working. I phoned Sky who went through a bunch of stuff none of which made any difference. So they said I should try my router on another connection and try another router on my connection. They also scheduled OpenReach to check things on Fri.

It appeared to me that my router was the problem as it wasn’t working on a neighbours connection so I phoned a friend of mine who had a Sky router he no longer used. His router is a Sagem I think and as soon as I connected it the connection worked again.

However I’ve now noticed that the connection has started to drop every 10 or 15 mins it seems although the first few hours with the new router seemed to go fine.

I’ve tried to call Sky many times this morning but the phonelines I’ve tried are engaged constantly. The other day I phoned the cancel BB line and was told it was so busy the waiting time was more than one hour and could I phone back later!

OpenReach never visited my home on Fri but they probably did something at the exchange and that was when the line went dead again for a while. It seems to me that whatever they’ve done hasn’t helped.

I am completely fed up with this situation, it seems like Sky are being overwhelmed by people having problems.

Any help I can get here would be greatly appreciated.

Bryan.

[Scubbie]

There was a large migration last Friday of ex-Be customers to Sky's network.

I suspect that the timing was particularly bad for you, but I am aware that several on-line systems were busy as well.

Give Sky another 'friendly' call today. Mention that you 'borrowed' your friend's router and need to return it.

There was a deal earlier this year which has finished, but it might be worth pursuing it. Basically Sky were sending out the new Sky Hub to people in order to help improve the WiFi range. A friendly person in the call centre may agree to send you a new router for free after your experiences.

Once you have the new router, you will then be able to confirm if your connection is stable or not. The connection issues could be down to another old router that had been kept in storage for too long.

[tenar]

new routers are not been given for free and very few departments have access to do this

[Scubbie]

I realise, but under the circumstances the OP may have a case.

[bryan]

There was a large migration last Friday of ex-Be customers to Sky's network.

I suspect that the timing was particularly bad for you, but I am aware that several on-line systems were busy as well.

Give Sky another 'friendly' call today. Mention that you 'borrowed' your friend's router and need to return it.

There was a deal earlier this year which has finished, but it might be worth pursuing it. Basically Sky were sending out the new Sky Hub to people in order to help improve the WiFi range. A friendly person in the call centre may agree to send you a new router for free after your experiences.

Once you have the new router, you will then be able to confirm if your connection is stable or not. The connection issues could be down to another old router that had been kept in storage for too long.

Thanks very much for that Scubbie. I actually spoke to Sky yesterday after posting here and they said that BTO had tried to call me on Fri to say they couldn't make the appointment which apparently is extremely rare and the lady I spoke to said she hadn't heard of this happening before. I emphasised that I had waited in for five hours for them to turn up and all they had done was try to call my mobile, the mobile reception is poor inside my flat and I asked why they hadn't also called my landline, she seemed to think the notes said they had but there wasn't one missed call on the landline esp from BTO.

Apparently they are going to try and call me two more times to make another appointment but no calls have come today. The good news is that the BB isn't dropping out today although the speed is a bit down on normal, just under 3.0...

It's good to know about the Sky hub offer and I'll keep that in mind if I'm going to stay with Sky BB but I'm considering going to BT BB with free BT Sport and a deal on the landline if 12 months are paid at once or even PlusNet both of which would give me a new router/hub and I would be able to cancel my Sky TV package when going away on holiday which I can't do at present which would save me quite a lot. I think Sky might want to offer me a new hub to retain my current level of monthly payment but I'm not 100% sure I would accept it as it ties me to keeping a basic TV package going 12 months a year.

I saw an advert in the Metro free newspaper today where Sky are advertising BB for £3.75 per month for 12 months to new customers but they need to look after their loyal long-term customers as well. I've been a Sky TV subscriber constantly since 1997 and for quite a lot of that time, at least half, I've had the Sports package as well.

I'll wait and see if BTO contact me or not now that the problem isn't quite so urgent.

[Scubbie]

Not easy at the moment since there are some good deals with the other providers.

BT PLC is using the money it has got from BDUK and the ISPs to promote their BT Sports and YouView.

Hopefully this issue will be resolved. The conspiracy theorists might suggest that BTO is doing this deliberately.