Sky broadband vs BT broadband

Sky broadband have the UK's best customer service record, and all full fibre customers now get the latest WiFi 6 enabled Max Hub router.

BT offer a range of premium service extras, but are lagging behind with no updates to the BT Smart Hub 2 and higher prices overall.

Ultimately, Sky beat BT for broadband as their prices are cheaper, yet customers can access a better router and get a phone line included free.

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At a glance

Best deals

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Price

Winner: Sky broadband is cheaper than BT broadband by some margin and across all equivalent package speeds.

Sky broadband costs less than BT broadband, with their entry-level Superfast and Full Fibre 75 plans coming in at just £26 per month for 24 months, compared to £29.99 per month with BT Full Fibre 2 offering equivalent speeds.

Prices for faster full fibre broadband are also cheaper with Sky Full Fibre 150, Sky Full Fibre 500, and Sky Full Fibre Gigafast all coming in up to £10 per month less than the equivalent plans with BT:

Cheaper prices with Sky carry on to setup and activation - with BT charging up to £31.99 for setup, while Sky charge a refundable £5.

Sky also include a home phone service at no extra cost, while this costs an extra £5 per month with BT. Sky's WiFi Max whole home WiFi guarantee is also cheaper at just £3 per month extra, compared to £10 per month for BT Complete WiFi.

For those who want to bundle broadband and TV, Sky is also generally cheaper than BT, as we look at in our guide to BT TV or Sky TV, although, BT TV is cheaper than Sky for TNT Sports.

Annual price rises

Both Sky and BT increase prices on an annual basis, and these rises are contained within their broadband contract.

However, while BT now specifies an annual price rise of £3 per month in April of each year, Sky only say that prices may change. The difference means Sky broadband customers are usually given the option to end their contract early if prices go up, while BT broadband customers won't have this option.

In Spring 2024, BT increased prices for its broadband customers by 7.9%, while Sky increased prices by around 6.7%, so we'd expect future rises to follow similar patterns.

Read more about annual price rises on broadband.

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Broadband packages

Winner: Sky broadband have an equivalent package range to BT broadband, but prices are generally cheaper and include a home phone line as standard.

Sky and BT broadband both resell connections over the Openreach part fibre and full fibre networks, which means package choice between the two is fairly similar.

Both providers also aim to target customers looking for a more premium service, with both also owning a no-frills budget provider in Plusnet (BT) and NOW Broadband (Sky).

The cheapest plans are found on their entry-level full fibre broadband packages, which also have equivalent part fibre connections for those yet to be passed by full fibre broadband:

At the time of writing, Sky Full Fibre 75 (and Sky Superfast - the part fibre version) is cheaper than equivalent superfast plans from BT by £3.99 per month.

In addition, Sky's prices above include line rental with pay as you go calls, while BT customers would need to pay £5 per month more to get a home phone line.

Sky full fibre broadband also now comes with a WiFi 6 router, while Sky part fibre and all BT broadband deals are still supplied with an older WiFi 5 device, although Sky Superfast customers can upgrade for an extra £3 per month.

One similarity between the two providers is that Sky broadband now comes with the same 24-month minimum term as BT does, moving up from their previous contract length of 18 months.

Faster broadband packages

Those looking for faster broadband can find this with either Sky or BT, with both providers offering download speeds up to 900Mbps on average in Openreach FTTP network areas.

Customers can check availability in their area on our broadband deals page, but here are the prices of each provider's ultrafast and gigabit full fibre plans:

These deals are fairly similar on a like-for-like basis, although Sky broadband is as much as £10 per month cheaper than BT for equivalent download speeds.

It's also worth pointing out for faster deals especially, Sky include a WiFi 6 router and their whole home WiFi guarantee promises 25Mbps speeds in every room for an extra £3 per month.

In comparison, BT only provide the WiFi 5 BT Smart Hub with their faster plans, and customers need to pay an extra £10 per month to access their Complete WiFi guarantee for whole home coverage.

Overall, we think Sky broadband is better than BT broadband as they combine cheaper pricing on both standard plans and service extras, and bundle a newer WiFi 6 router.

Read more in our BT broadband review and our Sky broadband review.

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Broadband speed

Winner: Draw - both BT and Sky offer gigabit broadband speeds, although BT has slightly faster upload speeds.

Sky and BT broadband offer similar broadband speed options, with both providing a gigabit broadband deal with average download speeds of 900Mbps.

Here are the average download and upload speeds of BT broadband:

Sky offer a similar range of packages to BT, with both providers using the same underlying network:

Sky's average broadband speeds are slightly slower than BT in some cases. Broadband providers have to advertise the speeds at least 50% of their customers receive during the peak hours of 8pm to 10pm in the evening. So, it's possible Sky broadband customers are getting slower speeds than BT customers on average.

Real-world research by Ofcom into broadband speeds, also found BT is delivering marginally faster speeds than Sky broadband:

Minimum guaranteed speeds

While advertised average speeds are now a more reliable indicator, both BT and Sky broadband offer customers personalised estimates and a minimum download speed guarantee when they sign up.

We tested the same location with BT and Sky and were given the following speed estimates and guarantee on an entry-level full fibre plan:

Sky Full Fibre 75 offers a faster minimum guaranteed speed compared to an equivalent package from BT broadband.

Looking at their fastest plans, this switches around however, with BT Full Fibre 900 offering a faster minimum speed guarantee than Sky Full Fibre Gigafast:

The minimum speed guarantees on the 150Mb and 500Mb plans are more in line with each other, but the differences on the other packages are worth considering.

These differences could be down to how each provider believes their service will perform, but is also the point at which they'd let a customer cancel their contract as the minimum speed guarantee works like a service guarantee in that if customers don't get these speeds they can exit their contract without penalty.

Overall, speeds between BT and Sky are similar enough that'd we call this round a draw.

Read more about broadband speeds and how they work.

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Router

Winner: Sky provide full fibre customers with a new WiFi 6 router, while Sky part fibre and all BT customers receive a similar WiFi 5 device.

Sky full fibre broadband customers are now provided with the new Sky Max Hub, a dual-band WiFi 6 router with 8 internal antennae and WPA3 encryption.

However, Sky part fibre customers, like those taking Sky Superfast, are still provided with the previous Sky Broadband Hub, which only supports up to WiFi 5. Although, these customers can upgrade to the Sky Max Hub in the WiFi Max add-on for an extra £3 per month.

Sky Broadband Hub and BT Smart Hub

BT broadband customers, on the other hand, are all provided with the BT Smart Hub 2, which is a dual-band WiFi 5 router, and has 7 internal antennae. There are no options to upgrade from this router however, so BT don't yet offer a WiFi 6 device.

Here are the specifications of the Sky and BT routers side-by-side:

The BT Smart Hub 2 supports intelligent mesh, which means the wireless network can be seamlessly extended using mesh boosters. BT call these boosters WiFi discs, and they're included in the BT Complete WiFi add-on.

This router also hosts other advanced features, such as smart wireless channel selection and seven internal antennae for a stronger signal. However, it was first launched in November 2018 and is lacking the latest technology including support for WiFi 6 and WPA3 security.

The Sky Broadband Hub is a little newer than the BT Smart Hub 2, having been launched in 2019, yet it offers a similar level of features.

It does support intelligent mesh with the Sky Broadband Boost add-on, but this service is now only available to Sky Q customers, with all others needing to purchase the WiFi Max add-on instead.

Sky's WiFi Max add-on provides customers with an updated router as well as WiFi boosters, so they'll receive the newer Sky Max Hub if they don't already have it.

The Sky Max Hub supports the latest WiFi 6 protocol, and has more advanced security, supporting WPA3 encryption. The WiFi boosters included with the add-on use Plume, which is the same equipment Virgin Media uses, and promises minimum wireless download speeds of up to 25Mbps in every room.

Overall, while the standard routers from Sky and BT are very similar, Sky win the router category for giving full fibre customers a WiFi 6 model, and others the option to upgrade.

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WiFi guarantee

Winner: Sky's new WiFi Max promises minimum download speeds of 25Mbps in every room, while BT Complete WiFi only promises a 'strong' signal.

Both Sky and BT broadband offer customers the ability to upgrade to a whole home wireless guarantee.

These service extras provide customers with up to three additional WiFi booster devices, which when placed around a home can seamlessly extend a wireless network over a larger area, helping to boost wireless speeds significantly.

There are some noticeable differences between the guarantees offered by Sky and BT however, with the main details being:

BT Complete WiFi gives customers a £100 bill credit if they don't receive a 'strong' signal on the MyBT app in every room of their home. However, the add-on can't be cancelled so customers will have to continue paying for the devices for the 24-month term.

In contrast, Sky promise broadband customers a minimum download speed over wireless of 25Mbps in every room on packages with download speeds of 150Mbps or more, customers on slower plans are promised 10Mbps instead. If they don't get that they'll get one month's broadband and WiFi Max subscription refunded, although like BT, the add-on can't be cancelled early.

Sky Broadband Boost and Sky WiFi Max also include a few extras, including daily line checks, off-peak engineer visits (if required) and 2GB of mobile data for a Sky Mobile SIM if their fixed line broadband goes down at all.

BT customers who want a mobile backup service, will have to upgrade to Hybrid Connect, which costs an additional £7 per month, or BT Halo 3.

Overall, both BT and Sky offer decent whole home WiFi guarantees, ranking in our top three out of all major providers. However, we think Sky's plan is just slightly better with a more specific speed guarantee and more affordable monthly price.

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TV & broadband bundles

Winner: Sky TV and broadband is cheaper than BT TV and broadband, and Sky TV is also a more comprehensive service than BT TV.

While it's possible to sign up to Sky TV separately, those who bundle a plan with Sky broadband can save more overall, with entry-level deals discounted to just £17 per month.

BT TV, on the other hand, is only available to BT broadband customers, and while its low-cost as an add-on, it's ultimately more expensive than equivalent TV and broadband plans from Sky.

Here are some of the cheapest deals available with Sky Entertainment and Sky Sports channels from both providers:

Sky's new Stream Puck box means customers no longer need to have or install a satellite dish on the side of their homes as the service is now available over the Internet.

Sky TV includes over 150 live TV channels, while BT TV is more limited, offering access to just 24 channels through NOW Entertainment and Freeview.

Sky TV also includes Eurosport as standard and customers can optionally add Sky Sports and TNT Sports packs. BT TV customers need to take either the Sports or Big Sports plans to get sports content.

Overall, BT TV is the cheaper way to watch TNT Sports, but for all other requirements, Sky TV is generally cheaper, especially when customers take it with Sky broadband.

Read more in our BT TV or Sky TV guide.

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Call plans

Winner: Sky include a home phone line as standard with all their broadband deals, while BT charge customers extra.

Sky broadband customers get a home phone line with pay as you go calls included in all plans. For BT broadband customers, they have to opt-in for a digital phone line which costs an extra £5 per month.

Looking at inclusive call plans, Sky are also cheaper than BT, with unlimited anytime calls to UK landlines and UK mobiles costing £16 per month with Sky, while BT charge £18.

Here are the prices of Sky and BT call plans side-by-side:

Overall, Sky offer broadband customers a cheaper home phone option, with pay as you go calls included as standard and cheaper anytime calls available.

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Customer service

Winner: Sky has a better complaints record than BT, but both providers have similar levels of customer satisfaction.

Sky have a long history of performing well for broadband customer service, and they've had the fewest number of complaints amongst all major providers for the past four quarters.

BT also performs well however, with complaints levels often around or below average, ranking as one of the third or fourth least complained about providers.

In the most recent Q1 2024 report, Sky received 6 complaints per 100,000 customers as the provider with the fewest complaints, while BT received 9 complaints, which was still below the industry average of 11 for the quarter.

In addition, BT and Sky both have high levels of satisfaction among existing customers, although Sky have slightly fewer customers with a reason to complain.

Both providers also have entirely UK-based call centres, which can suggest a good link to better customer service provision.

Overall, while BT has strong performance in some categories, Sky have consistently less complaints, along with equally high satisfaction levels.

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Verdict: Sky Broadband or BT Broadband?

Overall Winner: Sky offer a similar broadband service to BT, but they have cheaper prices on broadband, home phone, WiFi extras, and TV plans.

Sky broadband and BT broadband are both premium providers offering customers a good experience with high levels of satisfaction and low complaints.

While features and extras are generally matched between Sky and BT, Sky consistently offer lower prices than BT, making them a better choice financially.

Sky's new Max Hub and WiFi Max add-on include support for WiFi 6 which exceeds the technology on offer by BT, although it's likely only time before BT catches up here.

Looking at broadband and TV bundles Sky is also cheaper than BT, except where a customer's main priority is TNT Sports. Sky TV is also full 1080p HD as standard, while BT customers have to pay more for this.

Ultimately the closer you make equivalent packages between Sky and BT, the cheaper Sky starts to look, yet, Sky's features are often on a par or even better than BT's. So, Sky are our clear winner up against BT for broadband.