Sky Broadband

Sky Broadband

Type	Broadband Internet Provider
Industry	Internet
Founded	2006
Headquarters	London, UK
Area served	United Kingdom
Key people	James Murdoch
Products	Internet service
IPv6 support	No
Parent	British Sky Broadcasting
Website	http://www.sky.com

Sky Broadband is an internet service provider for Sky customers. As of March 2008 Sky claims to have reached 1.428 million customers, and unbundled 1,179 exchanges, covering 70% of the United Kingdom. In October 2007, Sky reached the 1 million mark in terms of customer numbers, and claim to be adding one new customer every 40 seconds.^{[citation needed]} From a marketing perspective, Sky Broadband is an example of converged service. As of 30 September 2009, it had 2.3 million customers.

Networking

Sky Broadband provides Sky customers with Internet download speeds of up to 20Mbit/s (from Easynet enabled exchanges, by means of LLU), using ADSL and ADSL2+ technologies via an Openreach copper landline (often still referred to as a BT line).

Sky also introduced a free Broadband pack for its digital TV subscribers within its LLU coverage. This means anyone on Sky can get Broadband (with a 2GB usage cap) for free, as long as they live in a covered area and pay the connection fees.

For customers whose local exchange has not been Easynet enabled, the Connect service is available using the BT Wholesale network.

Broadband Packages

Sky Everyday Lite and Sky Unlimited broadband packages are available if the house is in a Sky Broadband Network. Sky Connect is an alternative package for houses that are not in a Sky Broadband Network, the price is higher and the speed is slower.

Package Name	Download Speed	Monthly Usage Allowance	Information
Sky Broadband Everyday Lite	Up to 20Mbps	2GB	Comes through Copper line
Sky Broadband Unlimited	Up to 20Mbps	Unlimited	Comes through Copper line
Sky Connect	Up to 8Mbps	40GB	Option if the house is not in a Sky Broadband Network area

Speeds

As with all ADSL connections, the further away from the telephone exchange the customer site is, the slower the speed will be. Sky use DLM (Dynamic Line Management) over the first 10 days of a new connection to stabilise the DSL line at an acceptable downstream and upstream speed in order for the connection to remain stable.

Lines are initially connected at just 4mbps and gradually increased over the 10 day "training period" until the line can not cope with the speed, this allows sky to know what speeds the line can handle whilst still remaining stable.

Changes to packages

From the 1 June 2010, Sky Broadband packages available are Sky Broadband Everyday Lite and Sky Broadband Unlimited. Sky Everyday Lite offers a headline speed of Up to 20Mb, dependent on factors affecting the line, such as distance from the exchange, speed of the computer or number of people online during peak times and has a download usage limit of 2GB. Everyday lite is free to customers with a Sky Talk Calls or Line Rental product or £5pm without. Sky Unlimited has a headline speed of up to 20Mb, dependent on affecting factors but offers unlimited download usage with no fair usage policy or traffic management. The price of Broadband Unlimited is £7.50 for Sky Talk Customers or £12.50 for non-sky talk customers per month. To return to the Sky Broadband Everyday Lite package after exceeding the 2GB usage limit per month for at least two months in a six month period is £20.00. Sky Talk Line Rental is priced at £12.25 with a free evening and weekend calls package or an unlimited calls package, including 20 international destinations for an extra £5 per month. Sky has the intention to increase the prices further from 1/9/11 though prices are to be confirmed in the future.

Customers on previous Sky Broadband packages will be migrated to the new packages by 1 September 2010 with a new 12 month minimum term which does have an opt out option.

Sky Wireless Router

The Sky Wireless Router is a wireless router distributed to all Sky Broadband customers when they order their Sky Broadband packages.

During 2006, Netgear were the only manufacturer of Sky Broadband routers, which were made in white. From 2008, Netgear and Sagem were the manufacturers of the Sky Broadband routers, made in black and shaped to match the Sky+ HD box. Both routers are also distributed in smaller boxes (The boxes are now the size of the routers) as part of BSkyB’s low carbon scheme in turn reducing postage costs. The Sagem router unlike the Netgear router has added restrictions to features such as the built in inbound firewall settings and outbound/inbound VPN connections. However a firmware upgrade is available upon request, for users wishing to connect to an outbound VPN connection using Sky Broadband, while maintaining restrictions on the inbound firewall and inbound VPN connection.

Towards the end of 2010, D-Link starting producing routers for sky. The D-Link router is the DSL-2640S.

Sky Anytime+

Sky have created Sky Anytime+, which will combine Sky Broadband and Sky+ HD to offer a true on-demand service using the Ethernet socket of the Sky+ HD box and the Sky Broadband router. Sky Customers will be able to connect their Sky router to their Sky+ HD box via an Ethernet cable or Wi-Fi adapter, and stream content directly to their television. Unlike other VOD services, Sky Anytime+ video will count towards a users data usage.

Controversy

On 21 September 2010, the website of ACS:Law was subjected to a DDoS attack as part of Operation Payback. After the site came back online a 350mb file was uploaded containing Spreadsheets listing more than 8,000 Sky broadband customers accused of pirating adult films, this raised issues concerning Sky not following Data Protection Act guidelines.

See also

• British Sky Broadcasting

External links

• Sky Broadband at sky.com
• SkyUser - The Unofficial Sky Broadband Forum - Help with setting up and email etc
• Can I get Sky Broadband?
• Is Sky Broadband any good?
• An insiders view on Sky Broadband
• BBC article
• A UK Blog about Free Broadband Providers including Sky Broadband
• A consumer's (and former ISP manager/systems administrator) experience of Sky Broadband