The Ultimate Sky Broadband Deals Guide

Sky Broadband is one of the UK's biggest telecom providers and one of the country's most well-known brands. The company is perhaps best known as a pay-TV provider, offering premium channels and TV bundles to the content-hungry masses. However, in recent years people have come to recognise the brand for its other services, including broadband and mobile.

Types of Sky Broadband Packages

When browsing for Sky Broadband deals, you'll repeatedly encounter the same terms, so it's essential to familiarise yourself with what these words mean.

Sky Broadband offers three fibre broadband packages and one standard (ADSL) package. However, it's worth noting that Sky seems to be steering people away from its ADSL package in favour of fibre as fibre accessibility increases across the UK. For example, they often offer their cheapest fibre package at a lower cost than their standard broadband, and finding the ADSL plan on their website involves some searching. If you currently have an ADSL package with Sky Broadband, don't worry, it's still supported, but you might want to consider upgrading to one of the fibre packages when your contract runs out.

Sky Essential Plus

This is the standard broadband package with average download speeds of 11Mbps and upload speeds of 0.8Mbps. While these speeds won't blow you away, they are sufficient for small households with light-internet users. Essential Plus also comes with extra features like flexible engineer visits and daily line checks.

Sky Broadband Superfast

This is Sky's basic fibre package, offering average download speeds of 59Mbps and average upload speeds of 16Mbps. The Superfast package is great for medium-sized households (2-4 people) with regular internet usage. It's enough for browsing the internet, streaming TV, and playing online games in moderation. For example, you should be able to stream HD-quality video on up to 10 devices at the same time or 4K video on two devices at the same time.

Sky Broadband Ultrafast

As the name would suggest, this package offers ultra-fast broadband with average download speeds of 145Mbps and upload speeds of 27Mbps. These impressive speeds are sufficient for large households of internet users who like to stream in 4K while gaming online.

Sky Broadband Ultrafast Plus

Described as the best broadband experience for broadband hungry homes, this package offers eye-watering download speeds of 500Mbps and upload speeds of 60Mbps. In reality, these speeds are likely more than the vast majority of households need, but that doesn't mean there aren't some crazy high-usage households out there that would benefit from Ultrafast Plus. Currently, Ultrafast Plus is available to 15.7% of UK homes.

It's worth noting that while Superfast is technically the slowest fibre broadband package that Sky offers, it's actually the fastest one available to most people. The next best package, Ultrafast, is currently only available to around 25% of addresses in the UK. The good news is that Ultrafast rollout is increasing, so if you find yourself in need of faster speeds, you probably won't have to wait too much longer.

While monthly cost is obviously a key factor when choosing your next broadband package, it's also essential to weigh up the benefits of each package as a whole. By this, we mean, if you live in an area that offers Sky Broadband Ultrafast, it might be worth paying a little extra to get better speeds and overall performance, especially if you have a lot of devices.

If you want something more than just broadband, Sky also delivers in this area. For example, you can find packages with added extras Sky TV, Netflix, and sports channels.

Lastly, no matter what Sky Broadband deals you encounter, you're guaranteed unlimited broadband. Unlike many other providers, Sky Broadband doesn't impose data caps, traffic management, or fair use policies on their broadband package.

Why Pick Sky Broadband?

Sky Broadband has a good reputation for customer service, which should give many consumers peace of mind. Encountering WiFi performance issues can be incredibly frustrating, affecting livelihoods and even income for those working from home. With that in mind, the last thing you want to deal with is a taxing or slow customer service process to get things back on track. Luckily, it's not something you have to worry about with Sky Broadband. They beat many of the major broadband competitors in this area, although they're not quite rivalling EE and Plusnet just yet.

Sky Speed Guarantee

If your internet speed falls below your guaranteed minimum download speed for at least three days in a row in a 30 day period, Sky Broadband will give you your money back. Your speed guarantee starts 14 days after your broadband is activated.

Excellent Router

The latest router, Sky Broadband Hub, is a significant improvement on its previous routers, including the Sky Q Hub. The new router is supplied as standard across all Sky Broadband deals except Essential Plus. It's dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz), comes with smart channel selection, and has eight antennae, so it should provide a strong signal across your home. You can also connect up to 64 devices to your hub!

Discounts

Many Sky Broadband deals offer discounts when you add a mobile plan. If you want more entertainment, Sky is a great way to get a wide range of TV shows and fibre broadband at an affordable price.

Switching is easy

It's never been easier to switch with our address-level accurate broadband deals finder.

Contract Length

All Sky Broadband contracts now last 18 months. While this is unlikely to be a problem for most consumers, clearly, it's not ideal for people renting short term or otherwise needing a more flexible arrangement.

Other Key Points About Sky Broadband Deals

Sky Broadband uses the BT Openreach network to deliver its service.

You can add Sky Broadband Boost to your plan for a small monthly cost. Boost includes added features like 'WiFi Guarantee', where if you experience broadband speeds slower than 3Mbps in any room of your home, you'll get your money back. Sky Broadband will also conduct daily broadband speed checks on your line.

As of July 2021, Sky Essential Plus is only available with Broadband Boost included, so if you don't want the extra boost features, you'll have to opt for one of the other packages.

What's the Verdict?

Sky Broadband's biggest strengths are its ability to offer excellent entertainment packages and fast broadband speeds at an affordable price across the UK. Some other providers beat Sky Broadband on cost for fibre-only deals, but they lag behind in the range of features, router, and customer service.

Sky Broadband FAQs

How do I get Sky Broadband as an existing Sky TV customer?

Existing Sky TV customers can add Sky Broadband by visiting the upgrade page here.

How do I get Sky Broadband Boost?

Sky Broadband Boost is available for customers with Superfast, Ultrafast and Ultrafast Plus packages. Installation of Sky Broadband Boost is free, find more details here.

What is Sky Talk and do I get it with my Sky Broadband Essential package?

Sky Talk is Sky's very own home phone service and is one of the many extras that Sky Broadband is able to offer as part of a bundle or add on. All Sky Broadband customers are able to use Sky Talk even those with the most basic Sky Broadband Essential package. Without any further upgrading, the pay as you go Sky Talk is first in place but there are multiple other plans available for those who would like to upgrade.

What is Sky Broadband Buddy?

Sky Broadband Buddy is a very nifty tool that allows you to restrict and monitor the content accessible on your Sky Broadband package. With tons of options and filters, Broadband Buddy is perfect for parents or guardians with children online. You can find more info on Sky Broadband Buddy here.