HUNDREDS of Sky customers are reporting problems with their internet connection this morning following a major outage last night.
Over 70,000 Sky broadband users were affected by the outage on Monday night according to Downdetector – with over 1,500 problems still being reported on Tuesday.
One furious customer said: "Absolute terrible quality service for the money being asked, constantly having problems since I took out a contract. Seems Sky has taken down their service status page down what a surprise. Think I’ll be cancelling my direct debit if they don’t sort it out quick."
The outage, which started around 10pm BST on Tuesday, is continuing to affect customers as hundreds continue to report issues this morning.
The broadband provider said: "We are aware that some Sky Broadband customers have been experiencing issues. Our engineers have now resolved this however If you continue to experience issues please complete a power reset on your Sky Broadband Hub. We apologise for any inconvenience caused."
Read our Sky outage blog for the latest news and updates…
- By Louis Allwood
UK outage heatmap
This heat map shows where user-submitted problem reports are concentrated over the past 24 hours.
It is common for some problems to be reported throughout the day.
Downdetector only reports an incident when the number of problem reports is significantly higher than the typical volume for that time of day.
- By Louis Allwood
Thousands still affected by broadband outage
Thousands of Sky Broadband customers are still reporting issues with the provider.
According to DownDetector, over 1,500 customers are still dealing with connectivity issues.
- By Carsen Holaday
Best broadband provider UK: At a glance
- Best overall: Virgin Media Broadband, 362mb, £21pm (first 6 months)
- Best broadband provider for price: Utility Warehouse, 35mb, from £21.60pm
- Best budget broadband provider: Now, 63mb, £22pm
- Best broadband provider for deals: Shop Three’s broadband deals
- Best broadband provider for speed: Hyperoptic, 500mb (ultrafast), £30pm (£19 activation)
- Best fibre broadband provider: Vodafone, up to 910mb with full fibre 100, £22pm
All recommendations within this article are informed by expert editorial opinion. If you click on a link in this story we may earn affiliate revenue.
- By Louis Allwood
Sky claims broadband issues have been 'resolved'
Sky Broadband has claimed that their services have resumed after issues were "resolved" by engineers.
The broadband provider said: "We are aware that some Sky Broadband customers have been experiencing issues.
"Our engineers have now resolved this however If you continue to experience issues please complete a power reset on your Sky Broadband Hub. We apologise for any inconvenience caused."
- By Carsen Holaday
What does BT stand for?
The BT group is the UK's largest telecommunications broadband and TV provider, and also one of the most popular.
Crazed football fans routinely hunker down and tune in to Premier League clashes and UEFA Champions League ties on BT Sport.
It is considered one of the 'Big Four' telecom providers alongside Sky, Virgin Media and TalkTalk,
And now, many are shocked to learn that the acronym BT simply stands for 'British Telecom'.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
SAY WHAT People are only just realising what BT stands for and they’re baffled
- By Carsen Holaday
Reports have dropped
After multiple outages from Sky, BT, and Now reported by users in the past 24 hours, the problems seem to have dropped significantly.
At the time of writing, only 30 users are reporting problems with Now TV on Downdetector.
After reaching over 72,000 outages last night, Downdetector now shows under 300 reports of issues with Sky.
Finally, the number of BT users currently reporting issues with the service has dropped into the single digits, according to Downdetector.
- By Carsen Holaday
You may be entitled to compensation
You may be entitled to compensation if you have suffered issues with your internet, call or mobile services.
Internet firms usually pay out £8 for each day broadband and home phone services are not repaired after two full days of no service.
They will also pay £25 for each missed appointment, or for appointments cancelled with less than 24 hours notice.
Plus, you’ll get £5 for each calendar day delay to the start of the new service. This is usually automatic.
If you’re a mobile customer and you suffer from a lack of service then depending on the circumstance you may be entitled to a refund or account credit.
- By Carsen Holaday
You might be able to get a free Wifi booster from Sky
If you’re having trouble getting connected to your Sky broadband in all rooms in your house, it may be worth enquiring about a booster.
You may be entitled to a free booster, but only if you meet the following criteria:
- You’ve already added Sky Broadband Boost to your internet package. This costs an extra £5 a month.
- You’re not getting at least 3Mbps WiFi in every room.
- An engineer can’t fix your problem.
How to test your internet speed, part two
So are you getting the right speeds?
Check with your internet provider, log into your broadband account or take a look at your bill to find details of your package.
A simple search should tell you what speed you’re getting.
- By Carsen Holaday
How to test your internet speed
There are loads of online tools that let you test your internet speed.
But arguably the most popular is Speedtest.net by Ookla (a US data firm), which you can find here.
You can also download the app here:
- Speedtest on iOS – download
- Speedtest on Android – download
It tests your speeds in a number of ways using local servers, giving you a fairly accurate representation of your real-world download speeds.
Remember that if you’re testing on mobile, make sure you’re connected to WiFi to test the broadband speed. Otherwise, you’ll be checking your mobile speeds instead.
How to cut your bill
If you think your bills are too high and want to drive them down, the first thing to do is find out what the cheapest deal on the market is.
You can use this rate as a bargaining tool to get a better offer from your provider.
Get in contact with your provider to see if they can match this rate – if not, you might want to switch instead.
Sites like MoneySuperMarket and Uswitch all help you customise your search based on price, speed and provider.
This should make it easier to decide whether to renew your contract or move to another provider.
A handy broadband speed guide
Knowing what speed you need your broadband to be can be difficult, but having the right speed for you is more important than ever.
With that in mind, here is a handy guide for broadband speeds:
- 0.5 megabits per second – Required broadband connection speed
- 1.5 megabits per second – Recommended broadband connection speed
- 3 megabits per second – Recommended for SD quality
- 5 megabits per second – Recommended for HD quality
- 25 megabits per second – Recommended for 4K quality
Sky says issues are 'resolved'
Sky Broadband reports that the issues are now resolved, according to a message on their status site.
"We are aware that some Sky Broadband customers have been experiencing issues," the message says.
"Our engineers have now resolved this however If you continue to experience issues please complete a power reset on your Sky Broadband Hub.
"We apologise for any inconvenience caused."
Reports of Sky Broadband's outage have dropped to 380, according to Downdetector.
How to check Sky broadband service
Sky has a dedicated page where you can check whether you’re suffering from a broadband outage, and if an issue is widespread in your area.
You can also use it to check the service for Sky TV, Sky TV apps and Sky mobile services.
This link will take you to the website, where you can enter your landline number to check the service.
You can also run a test on your home wifi to see if there’s anything you can do to get it up and running again.
Can I get a refund?
You may be entitled to compensation if you have suffered issues with your internet, call, or mobile services.
Internet firms usually pay out £8 for each day broadband and home phone services are not repaired after two full days of no service.
They will also pay £25 for each missed appointment, or for appointments canceled with less than 24 hours' notice.
Plus, you’ll get £5 for each calendar day delay to the start of the new service. This is usually automatic.
If you’re a mobile customer and you suffer from a lack of service then depending on the circumstance you may be entitled to a refund or account credit.
- By Carsen Holaday
How to reset Sky Broadband router
You may want to try rebooting your Sky broadband router to see if that fixes your internet issue.
To do this, turn your router off from the main plug, wait 30 seconds, and then turn it back on.
There’s no guarantee this will fix any broadband problems.
- By Carsen Holaday
Sky shares message on website
On Sky's website, the company shares a message to customers acknowledging the outage.
"We are aware that some Sky Broadband customers are experiencing issues," the site's message says.
"We are investigating the issue and we are sorry for any inconvenience this may be causing."
At the time of writing, over 5,000 users are still reporting issues with the service, according to Downdetector.
- By Carsen Holaday
How to cancel Now TV subscription
If Now's outage is your last straw, you can cancel your subscription using these instructions:
- Start by logging into your Now TV account online.
- Then click the My Account button which can be found in the top right-hand corner of the screen. A drop-down menu should pop up on your screen.
- Next, click on the Passes and Vouchers option in the list.
- Select the pass you are wishing to cancel and press the Cancel Pass button.
- You will then be asked to select a reason for why you are canceling that specific subscription. Click the reason for your cancellation.
- A further screen will appear asking if you wish to cancel. If you are happy to carry on click I still want to cancel.
- A confirmation message will then appear on screen and you will also receive an email to your registered account.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
STOP IT NOWOur guide to cancelling your Now TV subscription
- By Carsen Holaday
Now TV issues begin to drop
As of midnight, the number of users reporting issues with Now TV has dropped to around 1,400.
At around 10pm BST, the number of reports had spiked to over 5,700, according to Downdetector.
- By Carsen Holaday
Reports begin to drop
After spiking around 10.30pm BST, user reports of issues with Sky have gone down, according to Downdetector.
As of 11.30pm, reports have dropped from over 71,000 to just over 31,000 outages.
- By Carsen Holaday
Now TV users demand refunds
Now TV customers are taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, to ask the service for a refund as Downdetector reports that over 6,000 users have reported issues with the service since 10pm BST.
"WiFi refund for this month," one person replied to Now's most recent post.
Another was more polite, saying: "Can you please fix the wifi outage in the UK thanks."
- By Carsen Holaday
'No known issues'
Sky's service status page shows "no known issues" for Sky Broadband & Talk, Sky TV, Streaming TV, Sky Mobile, and Sky TV apps.
The page does not recognize the number of customers, which is now over 72,000, who have reported issues with the internet service, according to Downdetector.
- By Amanda Castro
One user makes claim to get you online
A user in the Downdetector comments said that using a VPN might get customers back online.
They wrote: "They're reporting a dns problem, if you can connect to your router using a vpn gets you online."
- By Amanda Castro
Users complain of outage
People are taking to the Downdetector comments to complain about the issues they are experiencing.
One person wrote: "Down in Manchester area… feel sky throwing lots of customers a bone.. and on champions league night.
"I have nothing but trouble with sky speeds at the moment."
- By Matthew Aquino
Heat outage map
Below is a heat outage map of the UK provided by Downdetector which shows where users are experiencing the most issues.
Heat outage map of the UKCredit: Downdetector
Source: Read Full Article
