Vodafone broadband vs Sky broadband

Vodafone offers both budget and premium broadband deals, with a WiFi 6 router and home phone line included in all plans.

Sky meanwhile, excels at customer service, but also offers competitive pricing and premium service extras, including a new WiFi 6 router and WiFi boosters.

Ultimately, the choice could come down to other services, with Vodafone offering discounts to pay monthly mobile customers, while Sky discount broadband & TV bundles.

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At a glance

Best deals

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Price

Winner: It's a tie. Vodafone offer cheaper broadband prices than Sky does, although which is actually cheapest will vary depending on customer requirements.

Vodafone broadband starts at just £24 per month for both part and full fibre plans with average download speeds of 65Mb or 73Mb. In comparison, Sky's equivalent plans, Superfast and Full Fibre 75, start at £26 per month.

However, whether Sky or Vodafone is cheaper will vary depending on any extras a customer wants, and what services they have already.

Vodafone discount all broadband plans from £2 per month for Vodafone pay monthly customers under their Vodafone Together promotion.

Yet, for those who want to access WiFi boosters with a whole home WiFi guarantee, Sky's prices only increase by £3 per month, but Vodafone's Super WiFi plans cost an extra £8, tipping the scale back in Sky's favour.

Both Vodafone and Sky broadband include a home phone line at no extra cost, but unlimited anytime calls are just £8 per month with Vodafone, but cost £16 with Sky. Out of allowance call charges are also cheaper with Vodafone.

Minimum term contracts are 24 months with both Vodafone and Sky, and their annual price rise policy is similar, with Vodafone implementing flat rate £3 per month increases in April of year, while Sky say 'prices may rise', but often follow a similar amount to other providers.

For faster broadband speeds, Vodafone are also cheaper than Sky, although at the time of writing, both of their Full Fibre 500 plans cost the same, while Vodafone has the cheaper gigabit deal:

Overall, Vodafone broadband is cheaper than Sky broadband, even before Vodafone Together discounts are taken into account for Vodafone pay monthly mobile customers.

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Broadband packages

Winner: Vodafone have a wider selection of package options than Sky does, although for the majority of customers they cover the same bases.

Vodafone offer three package choices for broadband customers;

• Standard (with a WiFi 6 router);
• Super WiFi (with additional WiFi 6 boosters);
• and Pro II (with a WiFi 6E router and 6E boosters).

Vodafone customers can also add Xtra to each of these plans for an extra £14 per month, which includes anytime landline calls, an Apple TV 4K box, and a 24-month subscription to Apple TV+.

For Sky, all broadband plans can be upgraded to their WiFi Max guarantee, which includes up to three Plume WiFi Pods, and all can be bundled with Sky TV for extra discounts.

Sky's options will cover the needs of most households, while Vodafone also offer customers the chance to access the latest WiFi 6E router and an automatic 4G back-up device with their Pro II plans.

Looking at Sky and Vodafone's standard broadband package options, they compare side-by-side this like for entry-level full fibre speeds:

As mentioned, each of these can be customised to add a WiFi guarantee for £3 extra with Sky, and £8 extra with Vodafone.

For faster broadband speeds, both providers offer 500Mb and 1Gb options at a similar pricing point, while Vodafone also offers a multi-gigabit plan:

Vodafone full fibre broadband is available across both Openreach and CityFibre FTTP networks, while Sky currently only use Openreach FTTP.

You can check availability in your area on our main broadband page, but for those still living within part fibre areas, the providers also offer these superfast packages:

Check availability for Vodafone and Sky broadband with our free postcode tool.

Overall, Vodafone do beat Sky for broadband packages, with more options to customise and access premium service upgrades of the router system. Yet, for most, Sky also cover the main bases with a home phone line, WiFi 6 router, and WiFi guarantee add-on.

Read more in our full reviews of Vodafone broadband and Sky broadband.

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Broadband speed

Winner: Vodafone offer multi-gigabit broadband speeds up to 2.2Gbps and symmetrical uploads, depending on location, while Sky's top speed is still 1Gb.

For those who want the fastest possible speeds, Vodafone offer 1.6Gbps in Openreach areas, and up to 2.2Gbps in CityFibre areas, while Sky's top speed is 900Mbps.

In terms of average download speed on other packages, Vodafone is also faster, with marginally speedier average speeds at peak times compared to Sky.

Here's how Vodafone and Sky look for average download speed in Openreach network areas across equivalent plans:

While those living in CityFibre network areas will be able to choose from these speeds with Vodafone:

These advertised average download speeds must be received by at least 50% of a provider's customer base during the peak hours of 8pm to 10pm in the evening when the network is busiest. So, we know they're a reliable gauge of how fast our broadband will be.

Minimum download speeds

Minimum guaranteed download speeds are now given to customers at the point of sign up by most broadband providers, and this includes both Vodafone and Sky.

They basically represent a service guarantee, whereby if a customer receives speeds lower than the given minimum for at least 3 days, and the provider can't resolve the issue within 30 days of being notified, the customer is free to exit their contract without penalty.

While it's really an option of last resort, minimum guaranteed download speeds also give us an idea how the provider thinks their broadband will perform, so a faster minimum speed could be more reassuring to sign up to.

We tested a location with Openreach FTTP availability, and were given these estimated speeds and minimum speeds for Vodafone and Sky broadband:

On full fibre broadband plans, Sky have much faster minimum guaranteed download speeds than Vodafone, despite Vodafone offering faster averages at peak times.

Sky also offer customers a more robust speed guarantee, offering customers one month's broadband subscription refunded as well as the option to cancel, while Vodafone only offer the option to cancel in line with Ofcom's recommendations.

Overall, Vodafone offer faster headline speeds than Sky, including multi-gigabit options and symmetrical speeds in CityFibre areas, however, Sky's speed guarantee is more reassuring.

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Router

Winner: Vodafone customers can upgrade to a WiFi 6E router, although both providers now include a WiFi 6 device as standard.

Vodafone broadband packages now all come with the WiFi 6 enabled Power Hub as standard, including their budget-friendly standard plans.

Customers can then choose to take either the Super WiFi add-on for access to WiFi boosters, or the Pro II plan for an upgrade to the WiFi 6E Ultra Hub and WiFi 6E boosters.

All Sky full fibre broadband customers get the new Sky Max Hub as standard, which also supports WiFi 6, while Sky part fibre customers get the previous WiFi 5 enabled Sky Broadband Hub, with the Sky Max Hub included in the WiFi Max add-on instead.

Here's how the devices look side-by-side:

Both Sky and Vodafone have a proprietary mobile app offering additional tools and controls for their router and network settings.

The MySky app can help users test their broadband speed as well as provide access to parental controls, network controls, and security tools. Advanced options are also included within Sky's WiFi Max add-on.

Vodafone's award-winning Broadband app also allows customers greater control of their home broadband network, including access to connecting devices, parental controls including scheduling access times, device boosts, and security tools.

Overall, for most customers Sky and Vodafone are neck-and-neck for their router system, but for those willing to pay more, Vodafone offer a more advanced WiFi 6E system as well.

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TV bundles

Winner: Sky offer substantial discounts for customers wanting to bundle their broadband and TV, while Vodafone only offer an Apple TV+ subscription.

Sky is the easy winner in this category over Vodafone, as they also offer a comprehensive and dedicated TV service, which can also be bundled with Sky broadband for substantial discounts.

Vodafone, on the other hand, don't specialise in providing TV, so instead only offer customers the option to bundle an Apple TV 4K box and Apple TV+ subscription in their Xtra plan.

Here's how the provider's look side-by-side for a basic TV and broadband bundle:

Sky Superfast or Full Fibre 75 broadband is reduced in price to as little as £17 per month when bundled with Sky's TV Entertainment & Netflix plan at a cost of £20 per month for the first 24 months.

Customers get 150+ channels, including Sky Entertainment and a subscription to Netflix Standard with Ads. Sky TV customers also get Discovery+ Basic, and the option to add TV packs from Sky Sports, Sky Cinema, TNT Sports, Sky Kids, and many other on-demand apps.

Vodafone's Full Fibre 74 Xtra package doesn't cost much less than Sky's deal, but only includes Apple TV+, which could be added to Sky's Stream box in any case.

Overall, we'd pick Sky for broadband and TV bundles over Vodafone. Sky include premium content as standard as well as offer support for a wide range of additional apps, with notable discounts on Sky broadband.

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Customer service

Winner: Sky have an excellent customer service record, while Vodafone often receives more complaints than the industry average in Ofcom reports.

Sky have some of the lowest complaints records in the industry, consistently coming in as the provider with the fewest complaints in Ofcom's quarterly complaint reports.

Vodafone, on the other hand, tend to have more complaints than the industry average, and their most recent spike of complaints was in Q2 2023, when Ofcom reported the high number of complaints were mostly due to faults, service and provisioning.

In the most recent complaints data, Q1 2024, Sky received just 6 complaints per 100,000 customers, while Vodafone received 16 complaints per 100,000 customers. The average among all major providers for the quarter was 11.

We can also look at research carried out by Ofcom into customer satisfaction, most recently published in May 2023:

While Sky have greater satisfaction among customers for complaint handling and less customers with a reason to complain, Vodafone actually have higher levels of satisfaction overall and for the speed of their service.

Overall, while Vodafone have good levels of satisfaction among customers, Sky win for customer service for having the fewest complaints over time.

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Verdict: Sky or Vodafone broadband?

Overall winner: Vodafone is the best choice for those who have a Vodafone pay monthly contract, while others may benefit from Sky's excellent customer service record.

Vodafone and Sky broadband are actually hard to choose between on a general level, as differences will come down to individual customers and the services they want.

Pricing is at a similar level, although Vodafone has the outright cheapest deals, and standard provided router equipment and service extras like home phone and WiFi guarantees are also on a par.

Vodafone will ultimately be the best choice for those with a pay monthly contract with them able to benefit from the Vodafone Together discounts. While Sky is an obvious choice for those who want to bundle Sky broadband with Sky TV.

For Sky broadband, they're better than Vodafone for:

• The cheapest price for entry-level deals with the WiFi Max guarantee included
• Bundling broadband with Sky TV for substantial discounts
• Those who want the reassurance of an excellent customer service record

Yet, Vodafone broadband beat Sky for:

• The cheapest outright prices on entry-level part and full fibre plans
• Part fibre plans where customers want a WiFi 6 router included
• CityFibre network areas, with symmetrical upload speeds and faster plans
• Discounts for existing Vodafone pay monthly mobile customers
• Options to access the latest WiFi 6E router equipment and a 4G back-up device

Overall, while Vodafone perform exceptionally well for both budget plans and premium services that may benefit those who need extra resilience, Sky's excellent customer services may put them ahead for many, as most other comparables are on a par.