Sky Broadband offers a range of broadband plans, some of which include TV. Three of these packages use superfast technology while the other three offerings are full-fibre services, offering even faster speeds.
Their offerings start with the 'Superfast 35' plan priced at £26.00 per month. This plan, with an average speed of 35 Mbps, is ideal for general browsing and streaming on a few devices. At the same price, they offer the 'Superfast' package, delivering a higher average speed of 61 Mbps, perfect for households with multiple devices and for uses like HD streaming and online gaming.
Interestingly, the 'Superfast + Sky Stream' plan is also available for £36.00 monthly. Although it has a slightly less average speed (59 Mbps) compared to the 'Superfast' plan, it is bundled with TV, creating an all-in-one entertainment and broadband service.
For consumers seeking superior internet speeds, Sky Broadband provides the 'Ultrafast Plus' and 'Ultrafast' plans, both of which feature full-fibre technology. They deliver an impressive average speed of 145 Mbps at costs of £40.00 and £29.00 per month respectively.
For those demanding the most speed, the 'Gigafast' plan, also based on full-fibre technology, delivers an eye-watering average speed of 900 Mbps, priced at £49.50 per month. It is an ideal plan for heavy users that require ultra-fast downloads, seamless online gaming, and 4K streaming on multiple devices.
All of these plans are provided on an 18-month contract term with no setup fees, according to the data. This provides consistency for customers and ensures they can budget effectively for the duration of their contract.
Sky Broadband's performance over the past year was evaluated in some of the largest cities in the UK, using speed test data collected from Sky Broadband users residing in those cities.
In Greater London, a considerable number of tests were performed by users, with Sky Broadband recording an average download speed of 43.58mbps, and a median speed of 35.12mbps. However, when compared to all providers in the city, Sky Broadband's average and median download speeds are significantly lower with all providers recording an overall average speed of 145.19mbps and a median speed of 68.06mbps.
In Birmingham, Sky Broadband performed better with an average download speed of 60.91mbps and a median speed of 42.73mbps. Despite this, there is still a noticeable discrepancy when compared to all providers in this city, who have an average download speed of 127.44mbps and a median speed of 68.05mbps.
The city where Sky Broadband performed best was Leeds, where they achieved an average download speed of 74.13mbps, which is significantly higher than in both Greater London and Birmingham. They also achieved a respectable median download speed of 42.31mbps. This however still fell short when compared with the average and median download speeds recorded by all providers in Leeds.
In the cities of Glasgow, Sheffield, Manchester, Bradford and Liverpool, Sky Broadband displayed similar performance. The average download speeds across these cities ranged from 56.56mbps to 62.45mbps, while the median speeds ranged from 35.96mbps to 38.94mbps. Meanwhile, across all providers, the average download speeds for these cities ranged from 95.91mbps to 121.50mbps, while the median ranged from 47.52mbps to 63.73mbps.
The data points to Sky Broadband performing well in general, but their speeds are still significantly lower when compared to the averages and medians recorded by all providers across these cities. This suggests that while Sky Broadband may be a reliable provider, there are certainly faster options available in each of these cities.
Sky Broadband is a major broadband provider, with substantial user activity data available for analysis. Over 4.3 million speed tests have been conducted by real-world users of Sky's broadband service, providing a significant sample size for understanding the company's performance.
As of the last update, the average download speed for Sky Broadband users stands at approximately 57.31 Mbps. This measurement is higher than the median download speed of 38.21 Mbps, suggesting a slight skew towards faster download speeds within the dataset. The median upload speed is slightly lower but not far behind at 37.38 Mbps. This suggests a balanced ratio between download and upload speeds which is crucial for internet activities such as video conferencing and online gaming said to be considered good.
An insightful point from the data reveals that 50% of the speed tests conducted result in speeds higher than 40.15 Mbps. This signifies that half of the users can expect speeds above this rate, which is slightly above the median speed.
When looking at the broadband speed over a few years, the data exhibits an impressive rate of progress. The median download speed tells a tale of steady improvement, increasing from 10.76 Mbps in 2018 to 39.82 Mbps in 2023. Similarly, the average download speed shows a healthy increment from 13.81 Mbps in 2018 to an impressive 59.83 Mbps in 2023.
The median latency, which is the delay in the transfer of network data, stands at 13 milliseconds. Brief latency is crucial for a smooth and lag-free internet experience, and this value signifies that Sky Broadband maintains a high standard in this area.
In conclusion, Sky Broadband's performance exhibits a steady and remarkable improvement over the years in terms of both download and upload speed. Furthermore, they provide a balanced download-upload speed ratio with relatively low latency, which contributes to a high-quality broadband experience for their users.