Sky Reviews

Please read this review, because if you're considering O2, you shouldn't be.

When it comes to gaming, the lag is terrible, for most download services the ISP caps terribly (I've run tests to check this, a speed test reveals about 500~KiB/s, whereas downloading from Steam would go at about 3.2KiB/s, and that's too selective to be congestion) but that's not all.

I'm well past the ADSLMAX tests now, and I've noticed that whenever I'm doing anything that uses a tiny bit more bandwidth than browsing, the results are almost always the same.

Gaming: Disconnects.
Downloads: Disconnects.
Skype: Disconnects.
Watching videos online: Disconnects.

And these disconnects can leave me without any form of Internet from between five minutes to half hour, it's unbearable and it's driving me insane. I had better service from Tiscali, back when I was on dial-up and they disconnected every two hours! Yes, better service from Tiscali! It's THAT bad, and worse.

I was on an ADSLMAX service before I switched to O2 and it was incredible, I saw none of this capping or disconnects, which proves it's entirely on O2's end. The reason I switched from my last service is because they went from being an unlimited service (they couldn't afford to be any more). Everything I'm seeing is what O2 is choosing to do, and it's terrible.

They're not providing the service they promised me (and the endless, continuous disconnects especially are the largest breach), so I'm going to see if I can get out of the one-year contract. PROTIP: I was a sucker, notice the one-year contract, it's so that they can sucker you into a terrible service for a year. I feel furious about this.

Trust me, no matter who you choose, don't choose O2, and don't choose BE's ADSLMAX service either, because O2 is supplied by BE Internet, so both are horrendous. So please listen, as I'm warning you now: AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE. If you don't take heed of this review, it'll be your own undoing.

I don't know whom to suggest in their stead, I don't know who might be better, but AOL's service is stellar compared to this. I've never seen so many continuous disconnects on one service in my life, and I've been with the Internet for as long as there has been Internet available in the UK.

So please, don't get suckered like I did. It's just not worth it. I'd give them bloody minus scores if I could.

(I'm downloading at 13KiB/s right now... and wondering when the first disconnect will kick in.)

top quality, highly recommended

I changed from orange to O2 as i was so fed up of awfull orange customer service. At first internet seemed fine, past couple of months im getting at best 0.2Meg, compaired with 6 on orange. This seems a common problem on the latest reviews.

I called to ask them to improve the speed as it so slow, firstly i was told to check im using the master phone socket and then i have to reset it........ you know the usual rubbish that takes all evening and does nothing - its so frustrating that ISP`s seem to think their customers are idiots.

I call again and speak to a chap who politly informs me that they have too many customers and their system cant cope and that there is nothing they can/will do as it states in the contract terms and conditions that as long as i can get the internet (even though its slower than dial up) they are still forfilling their part if the contract end off

Thanks O2 - great service

If you are looking for a new ISP be very warned... its like going back to 90`s.

Stay away.

Be with O2 broadband for nearly a year with no problems whatsoever until a month ago.

Currently i'm getting 50-100k broadband speeds during peak times, unable to watch videos on you tube or iplayer.

Pings are now 140+ms Xbox live is unplayable as is Playstation Network.

I mainly use o2 for gaming and i'm suffering for COD5 withdrawl symptons, all my mates think i'm Dead!!

I'm currently trying to cancel with 2 months left on my contract which i'm told will cost me £50.

If your thinking of using this service stay well away at the moment untill they sort it out

i have been with sky 2 years in may 2009 i have never had to contact customer service, uk based,
my broadband has never broken down unlike my previous 3 ISP's all bigger than sky,
i live in ilford essex and i am constantly on 10 meg or higher with speedtest.
i think sky are one of the best.

I moved to O2 from Titan-ADSL purely as a financial decision - my Xbox Live use was putting me over my usage allowance and it got expensive!

I've been with O2 for a few months now and have found the service to be excellent.

Speeds have mostly been excellent, around the 7Mbps down and 1Mbps, with a fast ping speed, except on a couple of occasions when technical issues have caused a severe downgrade in service. I can only remember this happening 3 times so far, however.

I'm paying only £7.50 per month (as I'm an O2 mobile customer), for a fast service that does genuinely appear to be unlimited. I do a lot of online gaming, and watch a lot of video online and I've never had as much as a warning under the advertised fair use policy.

And contrary to some other experiences shared by some of the more recent reviews, I've had no issues with online gaming at all.

The techincal support is nowhere near the level of Titan (who to be fair are exceptional) but far better than AOL or Toucan ever managed. And for £7.50 per month, I'm not complaining at all.

Highly recommended.

i use the net after work and i cant get iplayer at all now, not even you tube works. if you dont mind using the internet in the middle of the night and early mornings o2 might be ok for you but it just doesnt work at any other time of day.

Catastrophically slow in evenings and at weekends - at times scarcely better than dial-up - unusable for gaming, streaming video etc. Avoid.

Moved to O2 access recently from my previous ISP and since then my problems beacme worse. the speed is very slow even during off peak hours let alone peak hours.

seems to be getting my full speed for a couple of hours during the day early in the morning. Most of the time its 256 kbps to 512 kbps.

No wonder UK is in recession with all theese crap broadband providers playing their part in it.

Support is fantastic but the service has gone downhill. Speeds are very slow, pings can be out of this world and the ISP routing isnt great by the looks of things.