Sky Broadband

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. 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 download speeds of up to 20Mb/s (from Sky enabled exchanges, by means of LLU), using ADSL2+ via an Openreach landline (often still referred to as a BT line).

Sky also introduced a free broadband and calls package for its digital TV subscribers within the Sky Broadband network area. This means anyone on Sky can get free broadband (with a 2GB usage limit) and free evening & weekend calls, as long as the line is in a Sky Broadband network area.

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

Broadband Packages

Sky Broadband Everyday Lite and Sky Broadband Unlimited packages are available if the line is in a Sky Broadband network area. Sky Broadband Connect is an alternative package for lines that are not in a Sky Broadband network area.

Package Name	Headline Download Speed	Average Download Speed	Headline Upload Speed	Monthly Usage Allowance	Information	Price is only applicable with a Sky TV Package - min £20 a month (without is £5 extra)
Sky Broadband Everyday Lite	up to 20Mb	7.4Mb - 8.8Mb	up to 1.3Mb	2GB	Sky Broadband network area only	Total cost £12.25
Sky Broadband Unlimited	up to 20Mb	7.4Mb - 8.8Mb	up to 1.3Mb	Unlimited	Sky Broadband network area only	Total cost £19.75
Sky Broadband Connect	up to 8Mb	2Mb - 5Mb	up to 448Kb	40GB	For lines not in the Sky Broadband network area	Total cost £29.25
Sky Broadband Unlimited Fibre	up to 40Mb	Not known yet as Sky are still testing FTTC Technology*	uo to 2Mb	Unlimited	Sky Broadband Unlimited Fibre launches hopefully in April	£32.25 per month (tbc) All prices include the manditory line rental of £12.25

Speeds

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

Lines are initially connected at 4Mb/s and gradually increased over the 10 day "training period" until the line shows signs of instability, this allows Sky to know what speeds the line can handle whilst remaining stable.

Changes to packages

From the 1 June 2010, Sky Broadband packages available are Sky Broadband Everyday Lite and Sky Broadband Unlimited. Sky Broadband Everyday Lite offers a headline sync 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 Broadband Unlimited also has a headline sync 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 £10.00 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.

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 will be launching fibre based broadband products in April 2012. [1]

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
• [2]