Sky broadband review 2025

"As much as Sky has super popular TV bundles, they can be a lot more expensive than just having a broadband deal, and paying separately for a streaming platform, such as Netflix, Prime, Disney+ etc. Especially if you make the most of free trials - some of which are a year long! Really think about what you’ll watch - because paying for channels you’ll never use is a big waste of money." - Charlotte Burns

Known mostly for its impressive array of TV packages – including blockbuster movies and Premier League football – and excellent Sky Q service, in recent years Sky has been right alongside the likes of BT and Virgin Media for its broadband offering.

This includes standard, ADSL broadband plus fibre optic and ultrafast broadband to the home.

Question is, though: is Sky the best choice for you? Here’s everything you need to know:

Our rating: Four and a half out of five

Sky Broadband is the real deal, with lots of reasons to recommend it. Including:

• A great range of speeds, from a basic 11Mbps (only sold via contact centres) right up to lightning fast 900Mbps connections

• Good prices, with a slight edge on BT Broadband

• An excellent router. The new Sky Broadband Hub 4 has eight antennae, smart channel selection and is future proofed for fibre connections that come straight into the home

• Sky TV bundles offer the very best in entertainment and sports

• Additional services such as Broadband Boost and Sky VIP give it an edge on the competition

• Wide availability throughout the UK

Is Sky broadband any good?

There’s no doubt that Sky matches BT in terms of choice. And if you want telly to go with your internet – including the latest movies and top- flight football – there’s usually lots of time-sensitive deals to choose from.

Moreover, because Sky uses BT’s Openreach network to connect your home to the internet, it’s widely available across much of the UK, although it's easy to check if you can get Sky.

Speeds are good too. And should they fall below the speeds you were promised when you signed up for at least three days in a row in a 30-day period, you’ll get your money back.

It sells ‘Broadband Boost’, which is currently free for three months, and then £6 a month after that, which gives you premium engineer visits on evenings and weekends, Wi-Fi boosters at no extra cost if your home needs them, and promises Wi-Fi in every room in your house or you get your money back for Boost. This might be worth it if you have one of those homes that is difficult when it comes to getting signal.

So what’s the downside? Well, it’s not the cheapest. If you go for broadband, phone and TV together, expect to pay a fair amount at the end of each month.

That said, Sky will have a broadband package to suit you and your family. Depending, of course, if it’s available where you live.

Sky broadband packages review

Just like its TV packages, Sky’s broadband offering is comprehensive. As well as a standard ADSL package, there's a wide range of fibre broadband options – as such, there's a package for most users.

Its entry-level ADSL package, Sky Essentials, which is sold via its contact centres, not website - is best suited for smaller households, where the internet is used primarily for surfing the web now and then, checking emails and maybe streaming the odd film. It’s the cheapest of Sky’s packages, but also offers the lowest speeds at 11Mbps.

Sky Superfast 80, on the other hand, is ideal for larger households. With speeds of 61bMbps, it can handle online gaming and streaming with ease.

Getting to the faster end of the spectrum, Sky Ultrafast and Ultrafast Plus use Openreach’s full fibre network. As such, they boast average speeds of 145Mbps and 500Mbps respectively – perfect for streaming movies and playing games in crisp 4K quality, plus sharing large files for home working.

At the time of writing (June 2023), Sky Ultrafast is only available to around 41% of UK households.

Finally, Sky Gigafast is the latest and greatest of Sky's offerings. Using 'Fibre to the premises' technology, it has average speeds of 900Mbps. It's best suited for power users, and is available to more than 10 million homes or 35% of the UK.

All packages come with an 18-month contract.

Average Sky broadband speeds

Sky Broadband Essential

This is Sky’s entry level offering, perfect for those who like to browse the web and maybe stream a film once in a while. You won’t find it on Sky’s website, but if you speak to its contact centre, you can get the package there.

With speeds of 11Mbps, it’s not the fastest around, but it’s ideal for those who only need broadband for the basics.

Sky Superfast 80

Sky Superfast 80 has average speeds of 61 Mbps.

This is great for average-sized households who want fibre broadband that doesn’t break the bank.

If you stream movies in the evening and work during the day while the kids are at school, then Sky Superfast is a great bet.

Sky Ultrafast

There are two versions of this service. Namely Ultrafast and Ultrafast Plus, with speeds of 145Mbps and 500Mbps.

Both use fibre to the premises (FTTP) tech to bring super speedy internet into the home.

And both are great options for larger households where each member uses a different device at the same time, or for those engaged in intensive activities like gaming or working from home.

Sky Gigafast

With speeds of a colossal 900Mbps, Sky Gigafast is only available to 35% of the country, so use our postcode checker to see whether you can get it.

This is strictly for hardcore users willing to pay a premium to future proof their internet connection and make gaming, streaming, browsing and smart home action a breeze.

Upload speeds

With Sky Superfast 80, you get 16Mbps upload speeds, with 9Mbps with Sky Superfast 35. That drops to 800Mbps with Sky Broadband Essential.

Unsurprisingly, Sky Gigafast offers the best upload speeds of all its packages, at an average of 100Mbps. Ultrafast upload speeds clock in at 27Mbps, rising to 60Mbps for Ultrafast Plus.

Sky Fibre review

With the exception of Sky Broadband Essential, all Sky packages are fibre broadband.

However, Sky Superfast doesn’t use fibre to the premises (FTTP) tech, instead completing the last section using older copper connections.

Its Ultrafast and Gigafast use FTTP, but be aware that you’ll need to have had this technology installed in your area if you want to take advantage of it. Check your postcode first.

The speeds available, ranging from 36Mbps to 900Mbps, are comparable to BT Broadband and TalkTalk, although Virgin Media does have a 1.3Gbps[1] product, albeit not widely available.

In terms of cost, Sky is largely similar to its bigger rivals, although it does come out slightly cheaper than BT for its very fastest packages.

Sky TV review

Sky TV remains the pinnacle of paid-for telly in the UK, and with good reasons. It has the latest movies in Sky Cinema and the highest number of Premier League games on Sky Sports.

Pairing broadband with Sky TV and a phone line, as well as a mobile deal, is a great way to save money and take advantage of the best all round packages you can get.

Its set top box is a breeze to use, while Sky Q and the new Sky Glass 4K TV continue to lead the way in at-home entertainment. That said, it doesn’t come cheap. The best Sky shows and football matches can be accessed using NOW TV, Sky’s streaming service, with passes available to choose what you want to watch when you want to watch it.

If you don’t want to shell out every month, buying one off passes for sports or movies is a better way to go. It often also offers free trials. At the time of writing (June 2023), you can get a seven day trial for NOW, so if there’s a big show you want to binge on, you can do it for free.

NOW also offers its own affordable broadband, so this is something to consider if you want a Sky package for less. Compared with BT, TalkTalk and Virgin, Sky TV comes out well on top.

You can get TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) channels as part of your Sky TV package, while the overall experience of the other providers’ TV services is well below that of Sky.

For all things Sky TV, check out our comprehensive guide.

Sky Router

The new Sky Broadband Hub 4 is the real deal, with older customers clamouring to get in on the action. It’s easy to see why.

It has eight antennas for widespread connectivity, can support 64 devices at once (a winner for smart home fanatics), smart channel selection, smart scan to ensure peak performance at all times and four ethernet ports for connecting consoles and other web connected devices.

Sky calls review

Sky Talk Evenings and Weekends Extra includes unlimited evening and weekend calls to UK landlines and mobiles.

Sky Talk Anytime Extra, on the other hand, lets you call UK landline mobiles any time you want. And if you have relatives abroad, Sky Talk International Extra includes unlimited landline calls to up to 50 international countries.

Lastly, Sky line rental also comes with features such as Caller Display, 1571 Return Call and number withhold feature.

Sky broadband costs

Sky broadband costs vary depending on speed (as well as when you purchase and where you are in the country). At the time of writing (June 2023), its packages start from:

• Sky Broadband Essentials - £30

• Sky Superfast - £34.50 (though on offer at £17 until the end of the year)

• Sky Ultrafast - £38

• Sky Ultrafast Plus - £48 (though on offer at £24 until the end of the year)

• Sky Gigafast - £58

Compared to some other smaller providers, Sky certainly isn’t cheap. However, it does have a wide array of packages to choose from, plus some great deals on its TV service for its broadband customers.

If you want a comprehensive TV package to go along with your broadband, Sky is a good option for you. But if you’re on a budget, and aren’t really bothered about getting a package with bells and whistles, TalkTalk or Plusnet might be a safer bet.

Extras

Sky regularly offers incentives to its new and existing customers, including money off its TV packages as an incentive to bundle your services together.

Moreover, Sky’s Broadband Boost is also available as an add-on to your broadband package. This means you’ll get priority access to engineers if your broadband needs fixing, WiFi guarantees and access to the Sky Broadband Buddy app to control your family’s screen time.

Lastly, Sky’s VIP benefit scheme rewards loyal customers with tickets to Premier League football matches plus access to exclusive prize draws.

Customer service with Sky broadband

Sky customer service was rated highly in the latest Ofcom report on the subject, with 88% of customers pleased with the overall experience.

Only GiffGaff and Tesco Mobile scored higher. If you value being able to contact someone quickly and having issues fixed as fast as possible, Sky is a good bet.

What are the pros and cons of Sky broadband?

Still not sure if Sky is for you? Here’s a list of the pros and cons:

Pros

• Sky Q set top box lets you pause, rewind and record hours of TV

• Plenty of choice

• Sky VIP benefit scheme

• Available in lots of places

• Excellent choice of movies via Sky Cinema and On Demand

Cons

• Cheaper broadband and TV deals available elsewhere

• If you want TV via Sky Q, you’ll need a satellite dish

• You can get Sky shows and sports using cheaper NOW TV passes

Our best Sky broadband deals

How does Sky broadband compare against other providers?

Now that you know more about Sky broadband, do you think it’s the best choice for you? If not, here’s how it compares against other providers:

Sky broadband vs Virgin Media

When it comes to the fastest broadband, Virgin Media trumps Sky here.

Its superfast packages are more widely available than Sky’s 145Mbps Ultrafast package, too, so you’re more likely to get them where you live.

Sky broadband vs TalkTalk

Both providers offer similar speeds and because they rely on the Openreach network to deliver broadband to the home, they’re widely available, too. Difference is, TalkTalk costs less.

Put simply, if you’re looking for a deal that incorporates loads of TV channels, and you’re willing to pay a bit more for it, go with Sky.

But if you’re not too bothered about extras, and only want a reliable broadband service, TalkTalk is your best bet.

Sky broadband vs BT

When it comes to broadband speeds, both are almost neck and neck – BT is better by only a couple of megabits per second.

Sky is the best choice for TV though. It’s got the best TV offering in the country, plus hundreds of movies – including the newest movies – in its Sky Cinema package.