Sky Broadband vs Plusnet Broadband

Sky aims to offer a premium broadband product, with a WiFi 6 router upgrade, home phone line, excellent customer service, and the option to bundle Sky TV at a discounted price.

Plusnet, on the other hand, is specifically a no-frills budget provider, but their Yorkshire background makes them a strong customer favourite.

While Plusnet beat Sky on price, Sky offer a better all-round service. So, who wins will ultimately come down to a household's budget and what they want.

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At a glance

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Price

Winner: Plusnet broadband is cheaper than Sky broadband, but it's marginal and Sky include a home phone line which Plusnet doesn't.

Plusnet broadband is generally cheaper than Sky broadband across all package options, although the actual savings available aren't as big as you might expect.

Plusnet is actually only around £1 to £2 cheaper than Sky broadband, with some plans as little as just one penny less. The biggest savings are seen on their entry-level ultrafast deals, where Plusnet is £1.01 cheaper than Sky, and their gigabit plans, where Plusnet is £2.01 cheaper:

The superfast part-fibre and 500Mb plans are currently just one penny difference, so Sky is very competitively priced alongside Plusnet:

Upfront costs with both providers are free - with Sky refunding customers the £5 fee on their first bill. Customers also receive a similar spec router, although the Sky Broadband Hub does slightly take the edge, and it's also possible to upgrade to a more up to date model from just £3 extra per month.

Sky also include a home phone line with pay as you go calls and optional call add-ons with all of their broadband deals, which isn't even an option with Plusnet.

In terms of annual price rises, Plusnet have now moved to increasing prices by £3 per month effective in March of each year.

Sky don't specifically state how much they'll increase prices by, but just that they do. This means they can only increase prices by no more than inflation or customers can exit their contracts early.

For April 2024, Sky broadband prices saw increases of 6.7% on average, and broadband prices went up between £1 and £4 per month, making it a similar increase to Plusnet's new policy.

Overall, Plusnet are slightly cheaper than Sky, and similar annual price rise policies mean Plusnet is likely to remain cheaper over the length of the contract as well.

Read more about why broadband prices go up.

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Broadband packages

Winner: Sky offer more comprehensive broadband packages than Plusnet, as they include a home phone line as standard, plus the option to add a router upgrade and WiFi guarantee, and to bundle Sky TV.

Sky and Plusnet both offer a range of superfast and ultrafast broadband plans, with average download speeds from 70Mb all the way up to 1Gb.

Both providers offer a gigabit option, with Plusnet's Full Fibre 900 plan coming in a few pounds less than Sky's Gigafast package.

Sky and Plusnet also both resell broadband on the Openreach network, which means availability between the two providers is matched across all packages.

Superfast fibre

Sky offers two superfast broadband plans; Superfast 35 and Superfast. However, while Superfast 35 was launched as a budget-friendly entry-level plan at the start of 2022, it's often more expensive than the faster option.

Plusnet offer just the one part-fibre package with similar speeds to Sky's Superfast plan. Here's how they compare side-by-side:

Plusnet is marginally cheaper than Sky for superfast broadband, and their entry-level deal at just £25.99 per month will be attractive to those looking for the cheapest option.

However, for those living in full fibre enabled areas they'll only be able to sign up for either Sky Superfast or Plusnet Full Fibre 74, so Sky will become the cheapest option in this case.

Both providers are currently offering free setup (with Sky refunding the initial £5 charge), and the minimum terms run for 24-months.

It's also worth noting that all Sky broadband plans include a digital home phone line with pay as you go calls as standard, while Plusnet no longer offer this option at all.

Ultrafast fibre

Plusnet was fairly late to the table in terms of offering full fibre, but they did launch three speed options in August 2022; 74Mb, 145Mb and 500Mb. They also now offer a 300Mb plan and a 900Mb option too.

Sky also offer a choice of full fibre packages, their Ultrafast and Ultrafast Plus packages offer average download speeds of 145Mb and 500Mb, while their Gigafast package offers 900Mb.

Here are the prices of the currently available packages side-by-side:

Plusnet are only 1p per month cheaper than Sky for ultrafast fibre broadband, while their gigabit option saves customers £2.01 per month. However, it's worth remembering Sky's deals above come with a home phone line, while Plusnet's do not.

It's also worth noting, though it will only affect a small minority of customers, but Sky Ultrafast broadband is also available in G.Fast enabled areas. This is where a street cabinet has been upgraded to offer faster speeds, but the line is still copper to the home.

While G.Fast has been largely superseded by the fibre to the home rollout, it does give Sky slightly greater availability for ultrafast broadband than Plusnet.

Read more in our Sky broadband review, and our Plusnet broadband review.

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Broadband speed

Winner: Sky broadband offer a better speed guarantee compared to Plusnet, and customers also have better access to WiFi boosters.

Sky and Plusnet both offer superfast and full fibre broadband, with similar average download and upload speeds on all plans due to using the same underlying network and technology.

However, Plusnet do beat Sky for upload speeds - where their average upload speeds are a bit faster than with Sky.

Sky offer the following broadband speeds:

Advertised average speeds, as shown here, must be experienced by at least 50% of a provider's customer base during the peak hours of 8pm to 10pm in the evening.

Here are Plusnet's average broadband speeds:

We can see from these advertised speeds Plusnet offer slightly faster uploads on average than Sky broadband does, although download speeds are more closely matched.

As well as average headline speeds, we can also compare each provider's minimum guaranteed download speed, which is basically a service guarantee that allows a customer to exit their contract if a certain speed isn't delivered.

These minimum speed guarantees are part of Ofcom's voluntary code on broadband speed practice, and aim to give customers reassurances over the service they'll receive.

We tested two locations, one with part-fibre and one in an Openreach FTTP enabled area and received the following minimum download speed guarantees from Sky and Plusnet:

Sky offer noticeably faster minimum speed guarantees than Plusnet does, despite using the same underlying network. While this isn't indicative of the speed most customers will receive, it does mean those who experience problems will have to have a slower service with Plusnet in order to be able to exit their contracts.

In addition to this service guarantee requested by Ofcom, Sky also go one step further and offer customers money back if they don't provide minimum speeds.

Customers may be eligible for one month's broadband subscription refunded under Sky's Speed Guarantee if they fail to receive the minimum guaranteed speed for 3 days in a row in a 30-day period. It's possible to claim up to twice in one minimum term, or customers have the option to switch plans at no extra cost or cancel their contract early.

Overall, while Plusnet have slightly faster average upload speeds, we'd pick Sky for speed - we like their Speed Guarantee and customers also have more access to WiFi boosters and guarantees too.

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Router

Winner: Sky's Broadband Hub is slightly more advanced than the Plusnet Hub Two, which doesn't fully support mesh.

Launched in 2021, Plusnet now offer all their fibre broadband customers the Plusnet Hub Two. It's a rebranded version of the BT Smart Hub 2, which is still BT's current router.

The Sky Broadband Hub was launched in September 2019, but is a more superior router than the Plusnet Hub Two.

Here are the main specifications of each router:

The main drawback to the Plusnet Hub Two however, is that unlike the BT Smart Hub 2, it doesn't allow the router to be used as an access point when running a mesh setup.

This means customers with larger homes, or those who struggle with a strong wireless signal around their property won't be able to extend their network using mesh boosters as easily. While it can be done, customers will have to purchase third party mesh boosters and then run the Plusnet Hub Two in modem only mode.

The Sky Broadband Hub on the other hand offers mesh technology, with the option to take a whole home WiFi guarantee from just £3 extra per month. This guarantee promises minimum speeds of up to 25Mb in every room, and will supply mesh extenders to achieve this.

Sky's WiFi Max add-on also upgrades the router too, so customers also benefit from a newer WiFi 6 enabled device, the Sky Max Hub. For an extra £3 per month, it's a good value for money bundle to improve wireless speeds and coverage around the home.

Overall, while the Plusnet Hub Two is built on the BT Smart Hub 2 router, it lacks the more advanced features like mesh that the Sky Broadband Hub offers.

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Call plans

Winner: Sky include a home phone line as standard on all their broadband deals, while Plusnet has withdrawn their home phone service entirely for new customers.

Sky's broadband packages cost a little more than Plusnet's, but they do come with a home phone line as standard, which isn't available with either Plusnet part-fibre or full fibre plans.

Sky customers will get pay as you go calls on all plans, and they can upgrade to off-peak or anytime calls, as well as an international talk plan too.

Here is the latest pricing for Sky call plans:

Overall, Sky is the better bet than Plusnet for those who want to retain a home phone line. Ultimately, it's just no longer an option with Plusnet, but all Sky deals come with a home phone line as standard so there aren't extra costs to pay unless a customer also wants a talk plan.

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TV

Winner: Sky TV is a comprehensive premium TV service, while Plusnet no longer offer a TV service.

Plusnet decided to scrap their YouView TV service in January 2021, and announced it would be closing for existing customers as well in August 2021.

They also no longer offer any discounts on BT Sport or TNT Sports, despite obvious links with their parent company BT.

Sky on the other hand are well known for their comprehensive TV service, having extended their offering to those without a satellite dish in October 2022 by launching their Sky Stream box.

Sky TV can be taken without broadband, but customers who bundle both services will get a discount of around £10 per month over taking the services separately. This makes Sky broadband more cost effective to bundle with Sky TV than Plusnet broadband.

Here is the latest bundle pricing:

Overall, Sky easily win this category as Plusnet no longer offer a TV service, and the discounts for bundling Sky broadband with Sky TV are worthwhile.

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Customer Service

Winner: Plusnet have a reasonably strong customer service performance for a budget provider, but Sky ultimately have the best track record.

Sky have an unparalleled customer service record, which we cover in depth in our guide to broadband customer service. They also have the lowest complaints in the industry, and have done for several years.

Plusnet have improved their complaints record in recent years, and had well below the industry average of complaints in the latest Q1 2024 report.

Here's how Plusnet and Sky look side-by-side for customer service metrics from Ofcom's Comparing Service Quality research:

Plusnet perform well against Sky for customer satisfaction, although Sky customers are more satisfied with how their complaints were handled and have less reason to complain overall.

Ofcom's research also found customers of both Sky and Plusnet were more likely to recommend their provider to a friend, out of just three providers, including EE.

Our own research into customer satisfaction of 2000 broadband customers found the majority of Plusnet customers rated the provider 5 out of 5 for customer service, while Sky customers rated their provider 4 out of 5.

Plusnet are also known to be one of the most reliable broadband providers, with the lowest number of faults in the market, and the highest rate of fault resolution on first contact.

Plusnet have UK based call centres, with Plusnet sticking to their Yorkshire branded roots, while Sky have been outsourcing some of their call centre jobs recently, although this has yet to affect their customer service metrics.

Overall, while Plusnet have seen improvements over recent years, Sky is unmatched for the best customer service in the market.

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Verdict: Sky or Plusnet broadband?

Overall winner: Plusnet have more competitive pricing than Sky, but Sky is our winner due to their range of extras, optional TV plan and excellent customer service record.

Plusnet and Sky are two popular, but different, providers, with Plusnet marketed as a no-frills budget broadband service, and Sky a more premium offering.

However, Plusnet also won our Most Reliable Broadband award, with the lowest number of reported faults across all providers, as well as the lowest number of customers who have to contact them more than once about the same fault.

Sky have great service too, winning our Best Customer Service award and having the lowest level of complaints in the industry across broadband, landline and pay TV sectors.

Both providers now offer full fibre broadband, and so the main difference between the two in terms of packages is Sky's home phone plan, WiFi guarantees, and the option to bundle Sky TV for extra discounts, none of which are available to customers of Plusnet.

Ultimately, the choice between Plusnet and Sky will likely come down to household preferences, whether a good service for the cheapest price is the deciding factor, or if people want a home phone, optional TV service, or just the assurance of the best customer care.

Read more head-to-head guides such as Sky vs BT and Plusnet vs BT.