Sky prices have gone up again, our Sky box needs replacing and the internet is shite so am looking at options.
BT are doing an Infinity package with line rental and free calls for £35 PCM - am I going to be just as hacked off with BT in 6 months as I am with Sky ATM?
I'm with BT and Infinity for me has been great but they do put their prices up as often as sky IME.
Phone sky. I do every year and they offer me half price everything. No reason they shouldn't send you a new box also if you whinge about the current one.
What DBG said.
I did it a few months ago, and got everything you're asking for there for about that price. I wrote about it here:
TBH, that whole thread is worth you reading.
We changed from Sky to BT last summer, no issues to date.
Don't forget to sign up for BT or another ISP via Topcashback, we got £120 cashback last summer and I think the offer is even better since! 😉
I'm with BT and Infinity for me has been great but they do put their prices up as often as sky IME.
I phone BT every year around the time that my 12 month contract expires to make sure that I'm on the best deal. Every year for the last 5 it's gone down in price, sometimes it's only by a pound or two but it's not gone up.
IMHO you'd onky go with Sky as you want the TV. As soon as you are not tied to their TV service provision there are better choices. I have unlimited standard broadband from BT but its rubbsih (1-4mps) now fibre is available I will switch as its same price. I suppose what I am saying is you want fibre.
Just cancelled - no offers to stay so I just need to decide on Plusnet or BT now
Just binned Sky myself - there's so much choice online now with various other providers I don't know why anyone would bother with Sky IMHO..
What DBG and muppetwrangler said - doesn't matter which one you are with you will need to ring them at renewal time and haggle.
BT here, no issues in several years.
You don't need BT to get the fibre.
Consider PlusNet. They're actually owned by BT but cheaper and same fibre cabinet connection. Infrastructure may be shared a bit now too. Been rock solid for me and support is great.
There all run by the same people IME, Sky, BT, Vodaphone, Barcleycard, RBS. Its a jobs merry go round so they all end up equally crap.
wilburt - Member
Its a jobs merry go round so they all end up equally crap
Except Virgin, formerly known as NTL, formerly known as CableTel (and to a lesser extent the cable franchises they bought).
They excel in being more crap than anyone else.
I've no experience of the phone and broadband, but the telly package BT offer is just freeview with a couple of extra sports channels. Thats fine if you want to watch the Champions League ( though they may not have that for much longer) but not worth paying for.
The BT Vision box is possible the biggest piece of shit in existence. The BT TV content is ok, but the box was virtually unusable in my experience. Slow, unreliable, switches off randomly, freezes without warning, recordings fail etc. Had two boxes and both were the same and my girlfriend has it at her house and it's just as bad there. The poor hardware was the reason I went back to Sky after a year.
I can't get fibre at my place, but we're moving soon - once we do I'm ditching Sky for Zen Fibre and NowTV, it's bascially Sky's online only service for £6 a month, I'll get Apple TV to run it for the sake of my technophonic Wife.
I'm fed up of giving Sky £70+ a month. I stuck with it for now because I get the F1 legacy package, but I'm pretty bored of F1 now.
Just orderd Plusnet Fibre - saves @£35 a month over what I'm paying now which is for standard broadband - now to see how we miss the ability record and pause when watching TV - a Freesat box may be the next thing to look at
The BT Vision box is possible the biggest piece of shit in existence
Not if TalkTalk are still handing out those Huawei YouView boxes it isn't! I thought the BT boxes were Humax, they're supposed to be quite good aren't they?
Isn't Plusnet a BT brand?
Plusnet here (after leaving Sky). They are a re-seller as I see it- their support was helpful when I moved.
Go for a Freesat box for sure - it takes seconds to swap the cables over, and the HD is free and instant.
And spend the money saved on bikes.
Consider PlusNet.
I'd rather consider having herpes than using plusnet.
Except Virgin, formerly known as NTL, formerly known as CableTel (and to a lesser extent the cable franchises they bought).They excel in being more crap than anyone else.
Very few issues with using virgin over the last ten years or so.
They're actually owned by BT but cheaper and same fibre cabinet connection. Infrastructure may be shared a bit now too.
This fibre nonsense. Yes they may have it as a backbone, but unless you are willing to pay for a fibre optic cable straight to your house, you will still be down the end of a crappy rented BT telephone line.
Except Virgin, formerly known as NTL, formerly known as CableTel (and to a lesser extent the cable franchises they bought).
Virgin are NTL? That's a revelation give that NTL were Cable & Wireless IIRC.
going from SKY TV interface to BT TV will make you want to smash your face against a wall on a daily basis
Googling, this is a really interesting (if off-topic) read if you're in any way interested in the history of comms in this country. And an intriguing legacy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_Communications
The BT Vision box is possible the biggest piece of shit in existence..
+1 It's a shocking piece of kit compared to the Sky interface...drives me crazy its so cumbersome and laboured.
El-bent - Member
I'd rather consider having herpes than using [s]plusnet[/s] Virgin.
Very few issues with using [s]virgin[/s] PlusNet over the last ten years or so. 😛
PlusNet have some issues, but rarely find anyone I've recommended have issues and generally full of praise for the customer service. At least as much as you can be with an ISP.
Almost always any hassles are down to BT Openreach.
CableTel/NTL (I left before they became Virgin) cost me a fortune with time off work due to colossal cock ups and engineers missing appointments and having the cheek to turn up on the wrong day and blame me for not being in. They could never provide a stable connection. Though a lot of it is a flaw in the antiquated hybrid fibre-coax cable system that was designed for analogue cable TV, not broadband. Noise and leakage on the cable was a nightmare.
Cougar - Moderator
Virgin are NTL? That's a revelation give that NTL were Cable & Wireless IIRC.
Originally CableTel.
CableTel bought NTL which was a broadcasting infrastructure network and adopted the NTL name. They bought up a load of cable franchises including Cable & Wireless, then did a merger with Telewest and finally bought Virgin's broadband spin off and got the rights to take on the Virgin brand.
NTL... remember nthellworld? That bad they had a popular forum spoofing NTL's own site, just for having a moan about them. Often frequented by their staff.