UK Broadband - any advice?

[djw180 6,977]

It's looking like I will be moving house in next few months, staying in the same city, just moving to place with a bigger garden (keeping the wife happy). My current ISP is Virgin Media and their broadband is great. Unfortunately they do not cover some of the areas of Sheffield we are looking at houses in so I may have to change ISPs. Therefore I wanted to get opinions from other UK-gamers about good broadband providers / packages, ones to avoid etc.

If we switch Sky is probably the one I would go for at the moment, in order to get the TV, phone & internet all in one bundle.

So anyone else use Sky broadband? Which of their packages would you recommend for gaming on the PS4 whilst your other half might be browsing or watching TV on her phone / tablet?

 

[Squirrel 5,180]

I used to be on sky, the maximum available speed wasn’t anything exciting. Switching from Virgin to any other provider is going to make a huge impact on your internet speeds, no other company gets close to what they can provide. 

If Virgin isn’t available in an area it will mean there is no fibre there. This is what will make the biggest difference. You won’t get higher than 17mb no matter the provider and it’s highly likely you’ll be way under that depending on your proximity to an exchange.  

 

[DavidCore89 7,404]

What Squirrel said, Virgin is miles ahead.

Pretty sure BT do more than 17 without fibre, but their TV sucks.

[Squirrel 5,180]

I did a quick google to find the fastest non fibre speeds, it’s probably used my location as a guide. I don’t think it will vary much more than that though.

When you find a potential house, use the postcode in a speed checker to get an idea of what is available before you even view it. Will help narrow down the options. When I moved, I turned down an apartment which was spacious, great views and very affordable. It didn’t have fibre so was off my list immediately.

Tell the mrs the alternative is that she won’t be able to stream or download anything while you’re gaming. That should help you both decide where to move to. 

[djw180 6,977]

58 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

I did a quick google to find the fastest non fibre speeds, it’s probably used my location as a guide. I don’t think it will vary much more than that though.

When you find a potential house, use the postcode in a speed checker to get an idea of what is available before you even view it. Will help narrow down the options. When I moved, I turned down an apartment which was spacious, great views and very affordable. It didn’t have fibre so was off my list immediately.

Tell the mrs the alternative is that she won’t be able to stream or download anything while you’re gaming. That should help you both decide where to move to. 

I have been using a broadband post code checker but I'm not quite sure I believe it. For the house she wants to view first it says Virgin isn't available (Virgin's own website agrees) but that various other unlimited fibre broadband services are, such as Sky Fibre Max (up to 76 Mbs).