Broadband & TV Packages (UK)

[Alock1]

What packages does everyone have? Would you recommend or avoid it?

Me and the partner are moving soon, they've just put in the 200mb Virgin lines at our new address (in the last few weeks) which is incredibly tempting. I stream/game/download a lot, but I reckon any fibre would 'do'.

I want sports but can make do with using a friends Sky Go and my Dads BT on browser but would love to get them included in a package if I can get it for a good price.

Really struggling on what to go for. BT have a good deal on but I've heard that their TV boxes are awful?

 

[Alock1]

Naughty..

 

[Rado_N]

We have BT Infinity and Sky TV.

BT is a bit pricey to be honest but it's faultless, very fast down and up, and consistent/reliable.

 

[Mr Pigeon]

Naughty..

I can only speak for myself but I usually get the 100Mb I'm supposed to.

 

[Alock1]

We have BT Infinity and Sky TV.

BT is a bit pricey to be honest but it's faultless, very fast down and up, and consistent/reliable.

I assumed that going with one for broadband and another for tv would be really expensive compared to getting a bundle?

Did you add BT Sports to your Sky or just use the browser? What Sky TV package did you go for?

Cheers in advance mate.

 

[Alock1]

I can only speak for myself but I usually get the 100Mb I'm supposed to.

Aye I know it was bullshit. Do you guys make use of the extra bandwidth? There's like 10+ devices connected at my family home and our 36mbps Sky Fibre seems to do a good enough job. I stream/game online a lot so would be the perfect candidate for taking use of the extra speed but I can't say I've felt a need for it as of yet.

 

[Rado_N]

I assumed that going with one for broadband and another for tv would be really expensive compared to getting a bundle?

Did you add BT Sports to your Sky or just use the browser? What Sky TV package did you go for?

Cheers in advance mate.

We didn't used to have Sky TV.

BT was the first company to offer fibre where we are and although Sky introduced it not long after their speeds were lower.

We then got offered a sky subscription for £25pm for the full package so took it.

BT Sport we added to the Sky box, we had to agree a new contract with BT but it was only a new 12 month deal and we were only 8 months into an 18 month one so no big deal.

I think BT Sport costs an extra £8 with HD.

 

[Mr Pigeon]

Aye I know it was bullshit. Do you guys make use of the extra bandwidth? There's like 10+ devices connected at my family home and our 36mbps Sky Fibre seems to do a good enough job. I stream/game online a lot so would be the perfect candidate for taking use of the extra speed but I can't say I've felt a need for it as of yet.

It's just me so I usually only use it for downloading games off steam or Netflix. Except the super fast downloads on Steam I don't really see much need for me to have such high speeds, but I'm an idiot who just saw big numbers on the ads and thought "hmm, I need that although I'm not sure why".

 

[Alock1]

We didn't used to have Sky TV.

BT was the first company to offer fibre where we are and although Sky introduced it not long after their speeds were lower.

We then got offered a sky subscription for £25pm for the full package so took it.

BT Sport we added to the Sky box, we had to agree a new contract with BT but it was only a new 12 month deal and we were only 8 months into an 18 month one so no big deal.

I think BT Sport costs an extra £8 with HD.

£25 for the full package, including sports and movies? That's good.

I can get Sky Original TV + Fibre (only 36mbps though) + Sports for £49.15 inc. line rental.

 

[Twigg]

I can only speak for myself but I usually get the 100Mb I'm supposed to.

Yeah usually get most of what I'm supposed to too.

 

[Rado_N]

£25 for the full package, including sports and movies? That's good.

I can get Sky Original TV + Fibre (only 36mbps though) + Sports for £49.15 inc. line rental.

Sorry just seen this, yea £25 is the full lot with Sports and movies, the only channels we don't get included within that are ones with a subscription cost outside Sky, namely BT Sport, MUTV etc. It's a discount with got through the missus' brother.

 

[Alock1]

Sorry just seen this, yea £25 is the full lot with Sports and movies, the only channels we don't get included within that are ones with a subscription cost outside Sky, namely BT Sport, MUTV etc. It's a discount with got through the missus' brother.

Cheers mate.

I'm lost as to what to go for atm.

 

[SCM]

BT Sports currently running a deal as I changed my package for it on my Sky box yesterday and it went from £28.99 to £13.99 for the next 12 months. All i did was remove a second sky box and got the current deal they have going of £9.99 plus £4 for the HD on top

 

[hp88]

Speed is getting faster but my bills are ridiculous, I'm having to pay a three figure Sky bill at moment but that includes the line, unlimited phone / fibre optic and full tv package expect movies. Is anyone getting a similar pack for around £90?

 

[Brocky]

Naughty..

Is this one of the chaps on the web-chat thing that pops up on the Sky website?

If so, I wouldn't buy water from him if I was stranded in a desert. That's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard. "Virgin give you speeds for the entire area which is distributed". What does that even mean?!

I'm on 100meg with Virgin. Around 70% of the people on my street - around 70 houses total - are on Virgin. Here's my speed test...

 

[Alock1]

@Brocky, if I go for one of these half price for 9 months deals - what can I expect in 9 months?

There's no way I'll be able to afford the £120 or whatever the package I'm interested in will go up to. What sort of negotiating room will I have on that.

 

[acnumber9]

@Brocky, if I go for one of these half price for 9 months deals - what can I expect in 9 months?

There's no way I'll be able to afford the £120 or whatever the package I'm interested in will go up to. What sort of negotiating room will I have on that.

None I'd imagine. You'd have signed the contract. They offer those deals so they can make their money in the long run. They'd have no obligation to negotiate and no real reason.

 

[Brocky]

@Brocky, if I go for one of these half price for 9 months deals - what can I expect in 9 months?

There's no way I'll be able to afford the £120 or whatever the package I'm interested in will go up to. What sort of negotiating room will I have on that.

To be frank, none. The only way to reduce the price, at least until the end of the contract term, would be to reduce the package. Once you are at the end of the minimum term, then you are able to angle for a retainer deal.

You're signing up to a contract for a package at the full price but have a portion of that at a discounted rate. People forget that and get blinded by the bright lights of a shiny discount price. Then they resort to "Those cnuts Virgin/Sky/Whoever have put the price up" in nine months time, which makes me laugh. Take the whole deal into account and even work off a monthly average over the 18 months and weigh the 'value' up from there.

 

[Alock1]

Aye, that's what I've been doing but wondered if at 9 months I'm forced to continue at that price. I wasn't even aware I'd be able to reduce the package, I assume that's discretionary and currently just dependent on me making a fuss?

If I could have confident that I'll be able to ring in 9 months and remove the sports/movies and be on the standard Kahuna package at £79 (inc line rental) then I'd probably take it.

 

[Brocky]

@Alock1 - Following on from that, your best bet is to try and get as much value as you can up front, when the salesperson is dying to get your name on his sales sheet, yeah? Never take the first close. There are bits and bobs that the agent can offer to close the deal, which they are not allowed to actively promote. This sometimes extends to even going and asking their manager for a one-off credit on the first bill. Obviously, don't expect the earth. If you're taking a decent package, then getting the equivalent of a month free is a result and about as far as the sales agent can go.

As with trying to get a retainer/loyalty deal - Do your research. Check comparison sites such as USwitch etc. These usually have 'affiliate' deals that are slightly better than the deals on the Virgin website. Also, never sign up online. Phone and speak to someone, as they can usually honour web deals, but there are also sometimes things you can get over the phone that you can't online.

 

[Brocky]

Aye, that's what I've been doing but wondered if at 9 months I'm forced to continue at that price. I wasn't even aware I'd be able to reduce the package, I assume that's discretionary and currently just dependent on me making a fuss?

If I could have confident that I'll be able to ring in 9 months and remove the sports/movies and be on the standard Kahuna package at £79 (inc line rental) then I'd probably take it.

You can. Sky Sports & Sky Movies are premium add-ons. You can add and remove them month-by-month, if you like.

The Kahuna is £68.99, btw....unless you've added extra stuff on.

 

[Alock1]

You can. Sky Sports & Sky Movies are premium add-ons. You can add and remove them month-by-month, if you like.

The Kahuna is £68.99, btw....unless you've added extra stuff on.

That's what I meant sorry, yeah

Spoiler

So if I take the above, after 9 months that'll go to £102 or something. At that point I can remove Sky Sports & Movies and pay £69 - both including £18 line cost.

Also, in May when the football ends, could I remove Sky Sports - even though I'd be in my 9 month discounted period? Just to make it a bit cheaper for a few months.

 

[Igor Drefljak]

I'm with virgin.
Fibre speeds are excellent. Just tested now, getting 150mb, but I do usually get more around 180-200mb (wireless)
Although a lot of people don't realise, you need devices with a 5ghz signal to get these speeds, or you will be capped around 80mb.

So internet speeds are excellent.

As for the TV, it is pretty ancient stuff. The boxes are not great and run slow. I've noticed since changing to Virgin over sky, I definitely don't watch as much TV. More just programmes that I know are on and want to watch

 

[Brocky]

That's what I meant sorry, yeah

Spoiler

So if I take the above, after 9 months that'll go to £102 or something. At that point I can remove Sky Sports & Movies and pay £69 - both including £18 line cost.

Also, in May when the football ends, could I remove Sky Sports - even though I'd be in my 9 month discounted period? Just to make it a bit cheaper for a few months.

That's The Big Daddy, not The Big Kahuna - http://store.virginmedia.com/big-bundles/big-daddy.html

First of all, don't sign up wherever that sign is. You'll get the same price over the phone, plus be able to put into practice what I've said above and maybe get a bit extra off. Also, the call is recorded, so your back is covered much more than by some guy in a shopping centre.

Big Daddy comes with the unlimited calls, 1TB Tivo and HD Premiums. The Kahuna is weekend calls, 200meg, everything except Sky Sport & Movies, 500GB Tivo, so that's where you'd have to come down to, to be at £68.99 after the discount period, but yu'd keep the 1TB Tivo. However, because Big Daddy is a set bundle, i'm not 100% sure that you can downgrade. Sky Sports & Movies are add-ons, so can be added and removed whenever but the anytime calls is a part of the main package, so you may not be able to downgrade that. I would ring up and get it confirmed that you can definitely drop down to Kahuna with no penalty.

Check your PM.

 

[711]

I'm with Virgin, full package. I got it the very day game of thrones series 5 started.
Be aware Virgin does not include Sky Atlantic.

 

[Brocky]

I'm with Virgin, full package. I got it the very day game of thrones series 5 started.
Be aware Virgin does not include Sky Atlantic.

Got a mate with Sky that doesn't have BT Sport and has a spare Sky Go device slot? Swap Sky Go / Virgin TV Anywhere details. Profit!

 

[711]

Got a mate with Sky that doesn't have BT Sport and has a spare Sky Go device slot? Swap Sky Go / Virgin TV Anywhere details. Profit!

Bloody hell, that's a good idea. Amazing what you get from the Caf.

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

Got a mate with Sky that doesn't have BT Sport and has a spare Sky Go device slot? Swap Sky Go / Virgin TV Anywhere details. Profit!

Is this allowed?

 

[20solskjaer]

Is this allowed?

Yeah, my brother uses my skygo on his ipad and i use his virginanywhere on my laptop, ive never been able to get it to work on my phone/ipad though

 

[iammemphis]

As a new home-owner and not tied to any particular provider i am looking around for Broadband deals.

Im actually getting the Sky Q for free for a year (the £20 a month package) as my dad bought some massive TV in January that came with Sky but he's already a customer.

So.. Any advice? For me its between Sky, Virgin and BT but i dont need the TV packages.

 

[dellboyy]

Look into something like plusnet maybe, good price, no usage limits, and i've had no connection issues and good speeds. You can move your phone over too for line rental deals by paying the year up front.

I'd avoid Sky, they limited my speed from about 15mbps to 5mbps because apparently my line couldn't handle quicker... now i'm with plusnet i'm back to 15. And BT, i've heard bad things about in terms of monitoring and usage restrictions, but i've never used them.

 

[vanthaman]

Yeah, my brother uses my skygo on his ipad and i use his virginanywhere on my laptop, ive never been able to get it to work on my phone/ipad though

iPhone/iPad anywhere app only works for streaming on same wifi network as your TiVo box I think which is pretty pointless. Especially as it doesn't work over 4g

 

[Brocky]

If you can get it, Virgin. Hands down.

I'm on 152Mb...