ISP Sky Broadband Officially Launch New Router and WiFi Guarantee

UK ISP Sky Broadband has today taken the official wraps off their new Sky Hub (SR203 / Sky Q Hub 2) wireless broadband router and confirmed the launch of a new Sky WiFi Guarantee, the latter of which also comes with the existing “Boost” add-on features but costs +£5 extra per month instead of the current +£2.50.

The new router and WiFi feature, some details of which have already been widely leaked by ISPreview (here and here), are being launched as somewhat of a complement to Sky Broadband’s new G.fast based “ultrafast” packages (here); FTTP is still expected follow by the end of 2019 (Openreach based).

Oddly Sky chose not to confirm the new Sky Broadband Hub router at the same time as their recent ultrafast broadband announcement, even though it’s perhaps one of their worst kept secrets and has been pictured on their website for awhile now. It’s a similar story with the updated Booster 4 device but we’ll come back to that.

We begin with confirmation of the new Sky WiFi Guarantee and the details are much as we leaked last month, albeit with a few changes in approach and cost.

Sky WiFi Guarantee (Sky Broadband Boost)

The guarantee – due to go live from 6th September 2019 – essentially forms part of the optional paid Sky Broadband Boost add-on and it’s intended to work in a similar way to BT’s Complete Wi-Fi feature. The guarantee promises to deliver “reliable WiFi in every room” in your house (i.e. network speeds of at least 3Mbps – testable via Sky’s online checker or My Sky app) and if you can’t get that then the guarantee kicks in.

However one big change from our earlier leak is that from today the original Sky Broadband Boost add-on (+£2.50 extra) will no longer be available to new customers. Instead Sky will only offer the option of their new WiFi Guarantee alongside an updated Boost add-on at an extra monthly cost of +£5 (i.e. existing customers would need to re-contract the Boost in order to get this extra feature).

What do you get for the extra £5 (monthly)?

* Sky WiFi Guarantee

* Sky Mobile customers with Boost will also get 2GB of data in their Sky Mobile Piggybank, if their broadband line drops out.

* Evening & weekend engineer visits at no extra cost.

* Daily line checks; we’ll text you if we need to fix anything.

* Use the Sky Broadband Buddy app to manage each screen in your home:

• Set time limits and filters so family members only see what they should
• Pause the internet for extra family time
• Keep tabs on what your family does online
• Works across 3G, 4G and WiFi

Customers looking to take advantage of the guarantee will first be offered an upgrade to the new Sky Broadband Hub router (assuming they don’t have one already) and if that doesn’t work then Sky will send you the latest Sky Broadband Booster (SE210 / Booster 4) device. Failing that Sky said they will send out one of their Tech Team engineers to help identify and resolve the problem for you.

The booster is essentially a WiFi extender that can also work within Sky Q’s existing mesh style network of WiFi linked devices. All of this will be supported by a moneyback guarantee, which means Sky will refund the “full amount paid for Sky Broadband Boost since start of contract, until date you claim, and we waive the boost fee for remainder of the contract” (they may also let you keep the Booster 4 device – at least that’s our understanding).

Aman Bhatti, Sky’s Head of Propositions, told ISPreview.co.uk:

“WiFi Guarantee reflects Sky’s commitment to innovation and technology that matches our customers’ evolving connectivity needs.

The need for fast and reliable broadband that reaches every room is more important than ever before – but as you can’t physically see your WiFi signal, it can be difficult for most people to understand what makes it stronger or weaker.

Our WiFi Guarantee, combined with the new Sky Hub, genuinely guarantees a strong signal in every room of the house – strong enough to stream movies and TV from Sky Go and Netflix – or your money back.”

The booster itself adopts a similar style to the new Sky Broadband Hub router and stands up like a long tower rather than sitting flat, although on the back it only features a power connector and single Gigabit Ethernet LAN port. A Wi-Fi Protected Set up (WPS) button is also present on the side to help with linking the booster into your network of Sky devices (Hub, Box and Minis).

Sky added that their engineers will also get the tools to see how the WiFi signal is flowing in an individual home and to help them show customers how to get the best signal in each room. “Engineers can effectively ‘heat map’ WiFi around the home and look for unique problems, such as spotting a device which is using up a lot of bandwidth in the home,” said the ISP.

Some subscribers have already been supplied with the updated version of this booster for awhile now, which we note is no longer being sold separately (although from time to time the odd one does pop up on eBay).

Sky Broadband Hub

The new Sky Broadband Hub (SR203) wireless router (pictured – top) is of a similar size to the current Sky Q Hub, albeit with 4 x Gigabit LAN ports (the Q Hub only had 2) – one of which is for WAN – 2 x Telephone ports (ATA for VoIP connection via older analogue handsets and SOGEA / SoG.Fast lines), a built-in G.fast / VDSL2 / ADSL2+ modem and 8 antenna. We believe it’s combined WiFi speed peaks at around 2Gbps (theoretical).

Users of the new Sky Broadband Hub will also be able to check their own internet speeds and connected devices online or through the My Sky app.

Sky has said they will provide us with the full specification sheet for their router, although at the time of writing we don’t yet have it.

UPDATE 11:39am

We’re still awaiting the full spec sheet for Sky’s new router but in the meantime we have confirmed a few other details. The new router will be supplied to both new and existing ‘Boost’ customers, as well as all new superfast (fibre) customers (plus their ultrafast ones too of course). Apparently those who take out the Boost will be sent the router straight away.