Currently have TV, Broadband & Landline with Virgin.

Got a deal on Sky installation when I bought my new telly, so I'm changing
the telly package to Sky.

The guy at Comet suggested we would be better off leaving the Broadband &
Landline with Virgin, but having looked at it I could save a good few quid
changing the lot to Sky.

So, is Sky broadband problematic? Unreliable? Terrible support?

Can't see the landline being a problem, but I don't want to end up with
dodgy internet connection.

Oh. Last night at just after 8pm I called Virgin;

"you now have 3 options".
"you now have 3 options".
"you now have 2 options"

After all that the message said "sorry, we are now closed! Why couldn't
they have said that in the first place!


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
...
Currently have TV, Broadband & Landline with Virgin.

Got a deal on Sky installation when I bought my new telly, so I'm changing
the telly package to Sky.

The guy at Comet suggested we would be better off leaving the Broadband &
Landline with Virgin, but having looked at it I could save a good few quid
changing the lot to Sky.

So, is Sky broadband problematic? Unreliable? Terrible support?

Can't see the landline being a problem, but I don't want to end up with
dodgy internet connection.

Oh. Last night at just after 8pm I called Virgin;

"you now have 3 options".
"you now have 3 options".
"you now have 2 options"

After all that the message said "sorry, we are now closed! Why couldn't
they have said that in the first place!


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk




critcher said..............................
never had a problem with sky broadband max, d/l about 8mb, reliable and
never had to call sky about any problem.Am now thinking of downgrading to
the middle package, because my bb package is now £15.00 per month, and my
usage is not a great amount.

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
...
Currently have TV, Broadband & Landline with Virgin.

Got a deal on Sky installation when I bought my new telly, so I'm changing
the telly package to Sky.

The guy at Comet suggested we would be better off leaving the Broadband &
Landline with Virgin, but having looked at it I could save a good few quid
changing the lot to Sky.

So, is Sky broadband problematic? Unreliable? Terrible support?

Can't see the landline being a problem, but I don't want to end up with
dodgy internet connection.

Oh. Last night at just after 8pm I called Virgin;

"you now have 3 options".
"you now have 3 options".
"you now have 2 options"

After all that the message said "sorry, we are now closed! Why couldn't
they have said that in the first place!


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk



Call VM on 150, ask to speak to retentions or choose the
thinking of leaving us option. Tell them your plans and ask
for an incentive to stay, be sure to request that it does not
tie you into a further 18 month contract and if you are happy
with their offer ask for confirmation in writing.

Sky BB is basically BT as that's whose line you will have to use,
the further from the exchange you are the slower your connection
will be. ("BE" as a provider are apparently quite good).
Check online for a postcode speed checker and see if it meets your
needs.

Sky support has a history of being bad but VM are giving them a
run for their money, the upside with VM though is that they are
responsible for maintenance to you STB and modem etc, that's
not the case with Sky.

IMPO, go for the TV with Sky but haggle for a better deal on your
BB and phone with VM, particularly the phone as line rental alone
is £11 pm.


--
The man who smiles when things go wrong has
thought of someone to blame it on.

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
...
Currently have TV, Broadband & Landline with Virgin.

Got a deal on Sky installation when I bought my new telly, so I'm changing
the telly package to Sky.

The guy at Comet suggested we would be better off leaving the Broadband &
Landline with Virgin, but having looked at it I could save a good few quid
changing the lot to Sky.

So, is Sky broadband problematic? Unreliable? Terrible support?

Can't see the landline being a problem, but I don't want to end up with
dodgy internet connection.

Oh. Last night at just after 8pm I called Virgin;

"you now have 3 options".
"you now have 3 options".
"you now have 2 options"

After all that the message said "sorry, we are now closed! Why couldn't
they have said that in the first place!
--
Dave - The Medway Handyman

No doubt one of the reasons they recently ditched their free support news
groups, where you would have got an answer with no waiting around or
phoning.

S

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
...
Currently have TV, Broadband & Landline with Virgin.

Got a deal on Sky installation when I bought my new telly, so I'm changing
the telly package to Sky.


Never had a problem with Sky BB and we had our phone line with them too. We
only left because we weren't watching many channels which aren't available
on Freeview and Plusnet offer free daytime calls (Sky were just evenings &
weekends), BB & phone line for £notverymuchatall.

Si

In message , The Medway Handyman
writes
Currently have TV, Broadband & Landline with Virgin.

Got a deal on Sky installation when I bought my new telly, so I'm changing
the telly package to Sky.

The guy at Comet suggested we would be better off leaving the Broadband &
Landline with Virgin, but having looked at it I could save a good few quid
changing the lot to Sky.

So, is Sky broadband problematic? Unreliable? Terrible support?

Can't see the landline being a problem, but I don't want to end up with
dodgy internet connection.

Oh. Last night at just after 8pm I called Virgin;

"you now have 3 options".
"you now have 3 options".
"you now have 2 options"

After all that the message said "sorry, we are now closed! Why couldn't
they have said that in the first place!


AND ...

had my STB replaced at the tail end of last week

the new one is affected by the TV and AV amp remotes, operating them
brings up a text box (about text, believe it or not) on the screen

Phoned them yesterday, tech could come around today between 4 and 7pm.
Got a phone call - could he come around at 3:30 there was a cancelled
appointment

So I said yes, made sure I was home in time - no show

The telkkie had already been (at 1:45 ) when there was nobody at home.
They then tried to tell me that the appointment had been agreed for
between 12 and 4pm

lying *******s

offered me a fiver compensation

.... and next available visit is on saturday


--
geoff

The Medway Handyman wrote:
Currently have TV, Broadband & Landline with Virgin.

Got a deal on Sky installation when I bought my new telly, so I'm
changing the telly package to Sky.

The guy at Comet suggested we would be better off leaving the
Broadband & Landline with Virgin, but having looked at it I could
save a good few quid changing the lot to Sky.

So, is Sky broadband problematic? Unreliable? Terrible support?

Can't see the landline being a problem, but I don't want to end up
with dodgy internet connection.

Oh. Last night at just after 8pm I called Virgin;

"you now have 3 options".
"you now have 3 options".
"you now have 2 options"

After all that the message said "sorry, we are now closed! Why
couldn't they have said that in the first place!

TMH,

No wind-up for a change.

I changed to Sky from BT last week and swapped the whole package Broadband,
line rental and calls - and the whole lot went a damn sight better than I
thought it would.

Router still in the 'training mode' and I have jumped from a rock steady
1.8Mb connection to a rock steady 8Mb one - with no drop-outs.

The only two problems I have a

1 The loss of all newsgroup facilities - Sky has no News Servers.

2 A problem of getting Sky e-mail to work through Outlook Express on
POP3 (I will give their support a ring over the next day or two - and see
how they compare to BT's India mob).

The deal I had was:

Sky+HD box supplied and fitted for free, 3 months free telephone line
rental and 3 months free telephone calls.

As for reliabilty - all ok up to now, but No1 son has been with them for
around three years, and he thinks that they are the bee-knees both with
their service and technical support (and he plays with computers for a
living)

Be aware though, if you do get broadband with them, try and set up the
system without using their disc as it wanted to drop a few unwanted (for me
anyway) programs on my computer[s].

Manual set-up was easy on a hard-wired network, and once I found out how to
get into the router mechanics, wireless set-up seems easy enough (but I
turned that off anyway preferring to have a wired network)


Unbeliever


Bloody hell, I took you out of the 'bin' *and* typed all that *AND*
refrained from extracting the urine out of you - I must be feeling mellow
today. :-)

In article , The Medway Handyman
scribeth thus
Currently have TV, Broadband & Landline with Virgin.

Got a deal on Sky installation when I bought my new telly, so I'm changing
the telly package to Sky.

The guy at Comet suggested we would be better off leaving the Broadband &
Landline with Virgin, but having looked at it I could save a good few quid
changing the lot to Sky.

So, is Sky broadband problematic? Unreliable? Terrible support?

Can't see the landline being a problem, but I don't want to end up with
dodgy internet connection.

Oh. Last night at just after 8pm I called Virgin;

"you now have 3 options".
"you now have 3 options".
"you now have 2 options"

After all that the message said "sorry, we are now closed! Why couldn't
they have said that in the first place!



Pity they just can't seem to sort out their customer service but having
said that I'd be very reluctant to give up my VM BB, a 10 meg constant
speed service.. we commercially rent several BB lines out in the sticks
and a new one last week struggles to reach 400 K/Bits!...

And I know a lot of people who are "off" the VM net who'd pay double the
cost just to have it!..

Thats one thing they do rather well BB, and ADSL via whoever has some
catching up to do especially in more rural areas...
--
Tony Sayer

In article , Unbeliever
scribeth thus
The Medway Handyman wrote:
Currently have TV, Broadband & Landline with Virgin.

Got a deal on Sky installation when I bought my new telly, so I'm
changing the telly package to Sky.

The guy at Comet suggested we would be better off leaving the
Broadband & Landline with Virgin, but having looked at it I could
save a good few quid changing the lot to Sky.

So, is Sky broadband problematic? Unreliable? Terrible support?

Can't see the landline being a problem, but I don't want to end up
with dodgy internet connection.

Oh. Last night at just after 8pm I called Virgin;

"you now have 3 options".
"you now have 3 options".
"you now have 2 options"

After all that the message said "sorry, we are now closed! Why
couldn't they have said that in the first place!

TMH,

No wind-up for a change.

I changed to Sky from BT last week and swapped the whole package Broadband,
line rental and calls - and the whole lot went a damn sight better than I
thought it would.

Router still in the 'training mode' and I have jumped from a rock steady
1.8Mb connection to a rock steady 8Mb one - with no drop-outs.

How on earth did you manage that?. Did you move into the exchange;?.

And why was that so bad before to suddenly so very, very, good?.




The only two problems I have a

1 The loss of all newsgroup facilities - Sky has no News Servers.

Eternal September Org works fine..


--
Tony Sayer

The Medway Handyman wrote:

Currently have TV, Broadband & Landline with Virgin.

Got a deal on Sky installation when I bought my new telly, so I'm changing
the telly package to Sky.

The guy at Comet suggested we would be better off leaving the Broadband &
Landline with Virgin, but having looked at it I could save a good few quid
changing the lot to Sky.

So, is Sky broadband problematic? Unreliable? Terrible support?

Can't see the landline being a problem, but I don't want to end up with
dodgy internet connection.

Oh. Last night at just after 8pm I called Virgin;

"you now have 3 options".
"you now have 3 options".
"you now have 2 options"

After all that the message said "sorry, we are now closed! Why couldn't
they have said that in the first place!



You need to check if your exchange is Sky (easynet) LLU enabled.
*http://www.samknows.com/broadband/checker2.php
If not you would be on BT Wholesale ADSL services, which would be a disaster
compared with VM cable.
\0

tony sayer wrote:
In article , Unbeliever
scribeth thus
The Medway Handyman wrote:
Currently have TV, Broadband & Landline with Virgin.

Got a deal on Sky installation when I bought my new telly, so I'm
changing the telly package to Sky.

The guy at Comet suggested we would be better off leaving the
Broadband & Landline with Virgin, but having looked at it I could
save a good few quid changing the lot to Sky.

So, is Sky broadband problematic? Unreliable? Terrible support?

Can't see the landline being a problem, but I don't want to end up
with dodgy internet connection.

Oh. Last night at just after 8pm I called Virgin;

"you now have 3 options".
"you now have 3 options".
"you now have 2 options"

After all that the message said "sorry, we are now closed! Why
couldn't they have said that in the first place!

TMH,

No wind-up for a change.

I changed to Sky from BT last week and swapped the whole package
Broadband, line rental and calls - and the whole lot went a damn
sight better than I thought it would.

Router still in the 'training mode' and I have jumped from a rock
steady
1.8Mb connection to a rock steady 8Mb one - with no drop-outs.

How on earth did you manage that?. Did you move into the exchange;?.

No I still reside about a mile from the exchange as the crow flies - but god
knows far as the cables run! ;-)

And why was that so bad before to suddenly so very, very, good?.

Quite simple, I refused point-blank to renew my broadband contract with BT,
and was 'stuck' on their 2Mb connection for around 8 years.

They really ****ed my off by continually changing their minds about their
T&Cs, methods of payment, fair-usage policies and prices - and when the time
came to jump ship, I didn't have a contract to worry about.

The only two problems I have a

1 The loss of all newsgroup facilities - Sky has no News
Servers.

Eternal September Org works fine..

Yep I've been using them for years with very few problems as a back-up - I
just wish now I could find a free binary news-server just to keep a track on
two groups I was subscribed to, but they seem rarer than rocking horse crap,
and for the use I have of them, it's uneconomical to pay several pounds a
month to subscribe to the likes of GigaNews!

Unbeliever

So, is Sky broadband problematic? Unreliable? Terrible support?

Check over at http://www.samknows.com to see if your exchange is
LLU enabled - if so, Sky are very good (from personal experience)
- almost no hitches in service in the 3? years I was with them,
and good speeds given my distance from the exchange (several km).
I got between 6 and 7.5Mbit consistently.

If your exchange is _not_ LLU enabled, Sky buy (or did buy) the
service in from someone else, and it was reputedly crap.

Support wise - wouldn't know, never needed to call them, other
than over the initial fiasco where they moved to googlemail...
they closed the old mail servers within 48 hours of sending the
first warning of the change, and if you didn't check your email
in that time you couldn't because they closed the server - and
you couldn't access the new account because you had no access to
the details that were sent to the old account / server :-}

There's no "training mode" if you're on an LLU exchange, it'll
always connect as fast as it'll allow given the line conditions
at the time.

Overall, i'd be happy to recommend them - although i'm currently
on Virgin due to a house move and the offer of £130 cashback at
the time I signed up :-}

In article , scribeth
thus
On 11 May,
tony sayer wrote:


Eternal September Org works fine..


It isn't today!



It is here tho there were some interruptions recently..
--
Tony Sayer

I changed to Sky from BT last week and swapped the whole package
Broadband, line rental and calls - and the whole lot went a damn
sight better than I thought it would.

Router still in the 'training mode' and I have jumped from a rock
steady
1.8Mb connection to a rock steady 8Mb one - with no drop-outs.

How on earth did you manage that?. Did you move into the exchange;?.

No I still reside about a mile from the exchange as the crow flies - but god
knows far as the cables run! ;-)

And why was that so bad before to suddenly so very, very, good?.

Quite simple, I refused point-blank to renew my broadband contract with BT,
and was 'stuck' on their 2Mb connection for around 8 years.

OK so that was restricted in the exchange then as distinct from a line
issue?..

They really ****ed my off by continually changing their minds about their
T&Cs, methods of payment, fair-usage policies and prices - and when the time
came to jump ship, I didn't have a contract to worry about.

The only two problems I have a

1 The loss of all newsgroup facilities - Sky has no News
Servers.

Eternal September Org works fine..

Yep I've been using them for years with very few problems as a back-up - I
just wish now I could find a free binary news-server just to keep a track on
two groups I was subscribed to, but they seem rarer than rocking horse crap,
and for the use I have of them, it's uneconomical to pay several pounds a
month to subscribe to the likes of GigaNews!

Unbeliever




--
Tony Sayer

tony sayer wrote:
I changed to Sky from BT last week and swapped the whole package
Broadband, line rental and calls - and the whole lot went a damn
sight better than I thought it would.

Router still in the 'training mode' and I have jumped from a rock
steady
1.8Mb connection to a rock steady 8Mb one - with no drop-outs.

How on earth did you manage that?. Did you move into the exchange;?.

No I still reside about a mile from the exchange as the crow flies -
but god knows far as the cables run! ;-)

And why was that so bad before to suddenly so very, very, good?.

Quite simple, I refused point-blank to renew my broadband contract
with BT, and was 'stuck' on their 2Mb connection for around 8 years.

OK so that was restricted in the exchange then as distinct from a line
issue?..

Yes Tony, but I should have kept my thoughts to myself though, as over the
last few days the line speed has gradually dropped down to 6.74Mb (as of
tonight).

Not sure at the moment whether that is due to network traffic (I've had no
end of problems connecting to the BBC sites and their ilk over the last few
days) due to this bloody election - or an internal line problem.

As an aside, the problems with the BBC site may be due to the fact that it's
undergoing some changes at the moment, so that may be slowing things down a
bit.


Unbeliever