Why choose Sky?

All Sky broadband packages come with a free wireless router, which means you can get online anywhere in your home. The Sky Hub is the standard model and is fitted with Sky Smart Signal technology. This scans the home for the best wireless channel to give the most stable, fastest connection available.

As well as being easy to set up, the Sky Hub stands out for its intelligent power consumption feature, which automatically switches the router to low power mode when not in use.

There’s also the Sky Q Hub, which is a higher-end router. In addition to the above features, it’s designed to deliver faster speeds and allows you to connect up to 64 internet-enabled devices simultaneously.

Sky’s broadband service itself is available in standard ADSL and super-fast fibre-optic options, which offer maximum speeds of 9Mbps and 34Mbps respectively. Sky’s broadband packages also include unlimited downloads to let customers download and stream content without restrictions.

But Sky’s real USP lies in the breadth and quality of its TV packages and its broadcast output. With over 240 free-to-air, non-subscription channels that are included with all Sky TV packages, it offers four times as many viewing options as Freeview.

The company’s 40 paid-for standard and HD channels — taking in the likes of Sky Atlantic, Sky Cinema, HBO and Sky Sports — feature exclusive programming from the US and UK, as well as coverage of crown-jewels sports events and Premier League football.

There’s also a large library of box sets, documentaries and kids’ shows.

At the heart of Sky’s TV offering are its Sky Q set-top boxes. These both allow you to pause and pick up TV shows on multiple TVs and devices around the home (although this feature requires a Sky Multiscreen subscription).

They also offer storage space for hundreds of hours of TV and the option to record multiple channels simultaneously while watching another channel live. The higher-end Sky Q 2TB box features the option to watch content in UltraHD (4K), too.

Customer service

Sky’s customer support lines are open 7am-11pm, seven days a week. Calls are free for Sky Talk customers; otherwise, calls are charged at a local rate.

Alternatively, for virtual assistance, Sky has live online chat and a comprehensive FAQ section.

Company history

Sky Broadband is part of British Sky Broadband (BSkyB), a company which was formed when Sky Television and BSB merged in 1990. Sky Television pioneered satellite television with their revolutionary Astra satellite, and BSB provided similar services to customers in the UK.

Though the company was primarily recognised as a satellite (and subsequently digital) television provider, they’ve extended into providing broadband services. In 2005, BSkyB took over the ISP Easynet, an active broadband provider across Europe.

Sky has since been at the forefront of UK entertainment innovations. After introducing the UK to interactive TV back in 1998, it followed this up with another first in 2006 with the first-ever nationwide high definition channel in the form of Sky+.

Since then, Sky has continued to transform the way we watch TV, with the arrival of online and on-demand TV. 2010 saw the arrival of 3D channels for the first time in UK homes, and in 2011, the company unveiled Sky Go, allowing Sky TV customers to watch live TV on the move on laptops, PCs, Macs, smartphones and tablets.

Alongside the company’s offerings, its broadband service has consistently grown in scope and scale. 2012 was marked by Sky joining the super-fast revolution with its first-ever fibre broadband products, offering speeds of up to 34Mbps.

In 2013, Sky underlined its ambition by agreeing to acquire O2 and Be’s broadband subscriber base in a £180 million deal. The transaction saw Sky become the second-largest provider in the UK fixed broadband market, behind BT.

2014 saw the launch of another dedicated sports channel in the form of Sky Sports 5. Billed as the home of European football, the channel airs England games and coverage of the Champions League.

In 2016, Sky unveiled the Sky Q TV service and re-launched its Sky Movies channels as Sky Cinema.