R.I.P Now Broadband

[chilli2]

It looks like Now Broadband of old is no more

Now was Known for its short term contracts ( with set up fee) or 12 month contracts, and now these are no more, Sky branding is being pushed to the front and it is now

Now Broadband Powered By Sky, with all contracts now having a minimum term of 18 Months, but these come with a "wall to wall Wi-Fi guarantee" new router? or just some cheap extenders? -

plus these "deals" also come with an unspecified "price may change during 18 month minimum term"

all links state "go to sky.com"

Deals are:

 Now Superfast Powered by Sky £24/month

18-month minimum term

looks like VDSL/copper based with average speeds of 61mbps

Full fibre 75, £24/month

Full fibre 100 £26/month

more here: https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2024/06/now-broadband-launch-sky-uk-powered-75mbps-full-fibre-...

[RoyB]

@chilli2 

A Sky Router is supplied. A wall to wall guaranteed normally would involve extenders though, as even BT have to employ. But we need to know if ‘your money back’ means ‘and we’ll give you the broadband free’ or ‘OK, now #### off elsewhere for your broadband’, the second option being rather less attractive than the former.

Support is going to be a nightmare. Now, no longer must we ask ‘broadband or streaming?’, we have to ask ‘Now broadband, Sky broadband, or streaming?’ 😛

But none of this is a particular surprise; Now Broadband’s technical reliance on copper to the exchange with every line has not only been badly limiting who Now can supply broadband to, but is also going in the wrong technological direction for the future, where VoIP is going to first become the norm, and later become the only option, even if that now looks like it won’t be until the 2030’s.

And noone, I trust, will lament the death of the execrable Now router 😛

[RoyB]

Hmm, go through to Sky for one of these deals, and all the Sky deals appear, with the speeds faster than the Now ones, including the ones I am considering for when my BT deal expires later this year:-

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[chilli2]

Its been a while since i did a price check of the various providers - my current deal with now has a little while to run .

 Had Now not offered a deal, then my plan was ( and still is to an extent) to get a full (FTTP) fibre connection, and run both until the  FTTP is running then port the "landline" number to a Voip provider .

 For the sajke of simplicity these are the current deals

FTTP 75 ( or near enough/equivalent)

£24 Now

£27 Sky

£25 Plusnet

£26 Vodafone

£28 Talk Talk

£30 EE

FTTP 150 ( or there about)

£29 Now

£29  Sky ( why go through Now when the parent is the same?)

£28 Plusnet

£28 Talk Talk

£31 EE

Those are just base prices advertised on the website , and dont take into account cashback offers or other special offers.

 With the demise of Now Broadbands "offers" there doesnt seem to be much in the way of  genuine low price no frills offer out there , Now is just £3 a month cheaper than its parent Sky on the 75mbps bracket, and the same price as the parent on the 150(ish) speed

Likewise, Plusnet isnt much of a low cost option compared to its parent EE - taking into account BTs current spasms at re organising its consumer stuff as EE and business products as BT - with plusnet being the not that much lower cost no frills option.

 Plusnet is, for me a tempting place to go to if i need to move from Now as i was with them for 18 years with no issues at all - I only left after they wouldnt price match anything despite them being keen to offer good retention deals for the prior 18 years or so I was with them.

But as it is as long as everything chugs along as is with Now broadband then until the end date of my current offer i have no reason to move - unless an alltnet appears in my area.