Sky Business broadband review 2024: Is it any good?
Dan Howdle • October 14th, 2024
Sky is well-known for its top-tier TV and entertainment services, but it’s also a growing force in the business broadband market. With Sky Business, Sky aims to provide small and medium-sized businesses with reliable internet connectivity, backed by competitive speeds, flexible phone line options, and added services like 4G backup. In this guide, we’ll explore what Sky Business has to offer and assess whether it provides good value for your business.
Sky Business offers broadband packages with speeds ranging from 61Mbps up to 500Mbps, as well as options to add 4G backup for extra reliability. With fixed-price contracts, advanced digital phone line features, and a range of cybersecurity solutions, Sky is positioning itself as a strong contender in the UK business broadband market. So is Sky Business the right fit for your company?
Key features
Here’s a quick look at the key features of Sky Business broadband.
| Prices from | £27.95 per month (Essential package) |
|---|---|
| Top download speeds | Up to 500Mbps |
| Top upload speeds | Up to 60Mbps |
| Contract length | 24 or 36 months |
| Inclusive calls | Optional or included (depending on package) |
| Router | Sky Business Hub |
| Static IPs | Not included by default |
| 4G Backup | Included with Pro and Plus packages |
Broadband speed and packages
Sky Business offers a range of business broadband packages available on either 24 or 36-month contracts, with Sky’s VoiceEdge digital phone line included. The packages are Essential, Pro, and Plus. The Essential package offers speeds of up to 76Mbps, making it suitable for smaller businesses and sole traders with moderate internet needs. Meanwhile, the Pro and Plus packages provide download speeds of up to 145Mbps and 500Mbps respectively, and come with Sky’s automatic 4G backup to ensure your business stays online, even if your broadband connection goes down.
Sky Business also offers ultrafast speeds of up to 900Mbps with its top-tier packages, Pro and Plus, for an additional monthly fee through the Speed Flex add-on. Speed Flex is a temporary boost, but sadly there's no way to permanently get 900Mbps or faster with Sky Business Broadband unless you pay for Speed Flex every month. The Pro package comes with one digital phone line, while the Plus package includes two phone lines. Both plans offer call forwarding, voicemail, and other advanced features. Unlimited UK calls are standard across all Sky Business plans.
Sky Business Broadband boasts the UK’s only business-grade 4G backup service, known as the Sky Stay Connected Guarantee. This feature is included in the Pro and Plus plans and ensures that your business remains connected through a 4G backup if your connection drops. The 4G connection is always active in the background, and your hub can seamlessly switch to mobile network connectivity within 30 seconds if needed.
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61Mb average speed
- Unlimited monthly downloads
- Zero one-off cost
- 24 month contract
- Pay as you go calls
All Sky Business packages include anti-phishing and malware protection for your broadband network. This security feature remains active even if the 4G backup service is engaged.
Although Sky Business offers a Stay Connected Guarantee, it's important to note that none of its broadband packages come with a Service Level Agreement (SLA). For businesses that rely heavily on internet connectivity, it's worth considering that if your broadband goes offline temporarily, you'll be reliant on the 4G backup or must wait until full broadband service is restored, which could affect your business operations.
Sky Business call packages and digital phone lines
The latest phone line technology now plugs directly into your broadband connection using fibre optic cables, as the UK phases out copper wires, which powered traditional phone lines. The old copper infrastructure is becoming outdated and less reliable, and the goal is for the UK telecoms industry to switch entirely to digital phone services by 2025. With the shift to digital phone lines, all business landline phone calls will soon be delivered over your internet connection, similar to services like Zoom or Skype.
All Sky Business Broadband packages come with their digital phone line service, depending on availability. The Essential package includes one digital phone line, with unlimited calls and up to 12 voice features. The Pro plan provides one line with up to 16 voice features, while the Plus package includes two digital phone lines with access to all 22 voice features.
While many premium business broadband packages from competitors include a static IP, Sky Business Broadband does not. Not as standard. However, you can add a static IP to your service for an additional one-time setup fee and a small monthly charge.
Is Sky Business broadband fast enough for your needs?
Sky Business Essential Broadband offers download speeds of up to 76Mbps and upload speeds of up to 19Mbps, which should be plenty for small businesses or sole traders who just need reliable internet for daily tasks. If your business needs more, the Pro and Plus plans offer speeds of 150Mbps as standard. You can also upgrade these plans with the Speed Flex add-on boosting your speeds to 300Mbps or even 500Mbps for an extra monthly fee.
With Full Fibre becoming more widespread, faster speeds are now the norm for both residential and business broadband. Speeds like 500Mbps and above are standard on premium packages from providers like Sky Business Broadband and Virgin Media Business Broadband. And many providers offer gigabit or faster speeds. Having some kind of idea as to what speed your business needs is advantageous.
Sky Business broadband upload speeds
Sky Business offers a range of available download speeds for business broadband, ranging from up to 76Mbps to up to 500Mbps, but upload speeds are up to 19, 28, and 60Mbps, depending which of the three packages you choose.
Installation
If you are switching to Sky Business from another Openreach provider, your installation can be managed by Sky, but if you’re switching from Virgin Media, your new provider will have to inform Virgin Media you're leaving. This is usually automatic, but in our experience it's good to know because you may get a phonecall from Virgin Media when they get wind of your departure.
Installation is about two weeks from the date you sign up or switch and there shouldn't be any downtime.
Router
Sky Business customers receive the Sky Business Hub, which is equipped with WiFi 6 technology for fast and powerful wireless connectivity. The hub can support up to 100 devices simultaneously and offers seamless Guest Wi-Fi access for customers. Self-installation is possible if your business is already connected to Openreach, but an engineer may be required if additional setup is needed or you're going from Standard Fibre to Full Fibre. A delivery fee applies for the hub, and Sky provides an easy-to-follow installation guide to get up and running quickly.
Reliability
Sky Business Broadband is designed to be ultra-reliable, offering consistent connectivity via its Stay Connected Guarantee. If there's a broadband outage, the automatic 4G backup service ensures your business remains online until the issue is resolved. The backup kicks in within 30 seconds. Also, Sky's Service Status webpage allows you to monitor any outages in real-time.
Customer service
Sky has a reputation for excellent customer service, but this comes at a premium price, and this holds true for Sky Business broadband as well. Sky Business offers live chat services, dedicated account managers with select services, and premium support by phone, though it isn’t the cheapest business broadband provider around. If good customer support is important to you and your business, it’s worth considering Sky Business for your connection.
Conclusion
Sky’s home broadband services are well-known for bundling TV and internet, but Sky Business is making a strong entry into the business broadband market. While it may not be the cheapest provider, Sky Business offers reliable connectivity, quick speeds up to 900Mbps with Full Fibre, and useful features like automatic 4G backup through its Stay Connected Guarantee. The addition of options such as a static IP service and advanced cybersecurity protection (via SecurityEdge) makes it a solid choice provided you're not running some thousand-employee empire.
Sky Business is particularly well-suited to small and medium-sized businesses that value customer service and easy switching, especially if you’re already familiar with Sky’s home broadband. Download speeds are competitive (if you can forgive 900Mbps only being available through an add-on), but while upload speeds can reach 60Mbps on top-tier packages, that's actually quite slow compared to some other providers. Although Sky Business doesn’t provide service level agreements (SLAs), if your business requires a stable, secure connection without the need for ultra-high upload speeds, Sky Business is definitely worth considering.
