Sky Essential, Superfast and Ultrafast Broadband Deals

Sky Broadband

Sky is one of the UK’s leading telecom companies, long known for its TV offerings, but it also offers a number of broadband deals with a range of speeds. Sky Essential, Sky Broadband Superfast, and Sky Broadband Ultrafast are their three main tiers of broadband package - but what’s the difference between them? And which one is right for me? Read on to find out.

Sky broadband deals at a glance

Deal	Sky Essential	Sky Superfast 35	Sky Superfast	Sky Ultrafast	Sky Ultrafast Plus
Download Speed	11Mbps	36Mbps	59Mbps	145Mbps	500Mbps
Time to download a 2hr HD movie	50 minutes	16 minutes	9 minutes	4 minutes	1 minute
Upload Speed	1Mbps	9Mbps	18Mbps	27Mbps	60Mbps
Time to upload a 1GB file	2 hours 15 minutes	16 minutes	8 minutes	5 minutes	2 minutes
Monthly Cost	£30	£30.50	£25	£33	£43
Setup Cost	£10	£0	£0	£0	£0
Contract Length	18 months	18 months	18 months	18 months	18 months

*Prices correct as of August 2022

Sky Essential Broadband Plus

Sky’s basic ADSL broadband package is known as Sky Essential, and with average download speeds of 11Mbps and upload speeds of just 1Mbps, it certainly won’t blow you away. That being said, these speeds should be sufficient for a small household (1-2 people) of light internet users. If you like to stream TV at the same time, however, you may need a faster package.

Costing £30 a month, you’d also be better off looking at similar entry level deals from rivals such as BT, TalkTalk, or Plusnet. In fact, many ADSL broadband deals start at under £20 a month, and you won’t find many packages offering slower speeds than Sky Essential.

So, we’d recommend Sky Essential if you’re set on the provider (maybe you’re eyeing up their TV options), but you can only access ADSL connections where you live. If Sky Superfast Broadband is available at your address, however, you should consider this improved package as the difference in price is somewhat negligible.

Sky Superfast 35 Broadband

For just 50p more per month, you can upgrade to Sky Superfast 35 Broadband, if it’s available where you are. This is Sky’s basic fibre optic connection, providing average download speeds of 36Mbps, which should be sufficient for small households of 1-2 typical internet users. Average upload speeds of 9Mbps is also much improved on the 1Mbps that Sky Essential provides.

But while 36Mbps is the advertised average download speeds, in reality they’re likely to be anywhere between 30-37Mbps. If you’re unsatisfied speeds, and you can show that you’re getting less than 25Mbps, you have the right to leave your contract without paying any exit fees.

Currently at £30.50 per month, however, you’re likely to find better value deals elsewhere offering similar speeds for a lower price. You could even find cheaper plans with higher speeds from Sky itself, as we’ll see with their next deal.

Sky Superfast Broadband

For £5 less per month, you can get Sky’s mid-range package, known as Sky Superfast Broadband.

This is Sky’s basic fibre package, offering average download speeds of 59Mbps which should be enough for most medium-sized families and households, even if you like to stream TV or play online games simultaneously. It’s average upload speed of 16Mbps is also vastly superior to the 1Mbps offered by Sky Essential, which is great for those that work from home.

Although Sky Superfast Broadband is technically the slowest Sky broadband package that uses a fibre optic connection, in reality it’s actually the fastest Sky broadband connection that the majority of the country can access. This is because the next best package, Sky Ultrafast Broadband, is currently only available to less than 20% of addresses in the UK.

Sky Ultrafast Broadband

Sky’s top-level broadband package, known as Sky Ultrafast Broadband, and can provide average download speeds of 145Mbps as well as upload speeds of 27Mbps. This is in line with some of the ultrafast, full-fibre packages on offer from rivals such as Virgin Media and BT, and should be enough speed even for large households of serious gamers.

Where Sky doesn’t quite match up to its rivals yet though is in its coverage. Sky Ultrafast Broadband is currently only available to around 18.5%* of homes in the UK, so you’re more likely to be covered by someone like Virgin Media.

If it is available where you live, however, we would recommend this package over Sky Superfast Broadband, as the speed you receive and overall performance is dramatically increased for just £8 extra a month.

*According to statistics on Sky's website as of 16/06/21

Sky Ultrafast Broadband Plus

If you want something even faster, take a look at the Sky Ultrafast Broadband Plus package, which is Sky’s fastest full fibre deal before entering gigabit territory. It offers average download speeds of 500Mbps, which even a large household of heavy internet users should be able to get along with. It also provides average upload speeds of 60Mbps, which is ideal for both online gamers and home workers. 

As this deal uses a full fibre connection, it’s currently only available to a fraction of the country, just like the Sky Ultrafast Broadband package. But if it is available where you are, £43 per month is not a bad price to pay for such blistering speeds.

Equipment: What router will I get with each deal?

As well as the speeds you receive and the price you pay, the router you receive can differ slightly depending on which deal you go for.

With Sky Essential and Sky Broadband Superfast, you will receive a Sky Hub router, which is its first generation model released in 2013. With Sky Ultrafast Broadband, however, you will get the newer Sky Broadband Hub, released in 2019.

While the Sky Hub doesn’t use newest technology and doesn’t come with the latest features, it will do what most users need it to - that is connect your devices to the internet. If you do want to upgrade your router, however, for £5 extra a month you can add Sky Broadband Boost to either your Sky Essential or Sky Superfast Broadband subscription.

If you want the latest tech then you’re looking at a Sky Q Hub, which is only available to customers who sign up to a Sky broadband and TV bundle.

TV: What add-ons are available?

Sky have one of the widest selection of TV packages to choose from in the UK. Its basic entertainment package is also the most comprehensive entry-level TV subscription with over 300 channels included. They also offer comprehensive sports and movie packages, as well as kids’ packages, all of which you can mix and match to create the perfect TV package for your household.

You don’t necessarily have to be a Sky broadband customer to enjoy Sky TV, as all their subscriptions are available as standalone packages. However, bundling your broadband and TV together under one deal will save you money overall. For more information, check out our guide on Sky TV.

Phone: Is a landline included? And are calls included?

All of Sky’s broadband deals use the Openreach network to deliver internet to your home, which means data is transferred via the copper phone lines from the street cabinet to your router.

Therefore, line rental is included in each of the Sky Essential, Sky Superfast Broadband, and Sky Ultrafast Broadband. However, all these call packages are on a pay as you go basis, so no free calls. Luckily, this may not matter to most people as home phones have become somewhat obsolete with the rise of smartphones.

If you do want calls included with your Sky broadband deal, you have three options:

• Free evening and weekend calls for £5 a month
• Free anytime UK calls for £12 a month
• Free international calls for £14 a month.

Price: How does it compare to alternatives?

Sky Essential alternatives

Sky Essential (11Mbps) currently costs £30 a month, but for two thirds of that price you could be getting much faster, fibre speeds, as well as free calls, with NOW Broadband’s Super Fibre + Anytime Calls (63Mbps) package.

If you’re happy with basic ADSL speeds, however, you could save over £12 a month by going for Shell Energy Broadband’s Fast Broadband package, which for the same speeds as Sky Essential costs just £17.99 a month.

Deal	Average Download Speed	Monthly Cost
Sky Essential	11Mbps	£30
NOW Super Fibre + Anytime Calls	63Mbps	£20
Shell Energy Fast Broadband	11Mbps	£17.99

Sky Superfast 35 Broadband alternatives 

Sky Superfast 35 Broadband will currently cost you £30.50 per month, and with that you’ll get average download speeds of 36Mbps. But for essentially the same price (£30/month), you could be getting over 5 times the speed with Vodafone’s Ultrafast 200 package (200Mbps).

If you have no need for these kinds of speeds, however, and prefer to save money on your broadband, consider Plusnet’s Unlimited Fibre pacakge. This currently costs just £22.99 per month, and you’ll get the same download speeds (36Mbps) as Sky’s Superfast 35 deal.

Deal	Average Download Speed	Monthly Cost
Sky Superfast 35 Broadband	36Mbps	£30.50
Vodafone Ultrafast 200	200Mbps	£30
Plusnet Unlimited Fibre	36Mbps	£22.99

Sky Superfast Broadband alternatives

Sky Superfast Broadband (59Mbps) will currently set you back £25 a month, and for that speed it’s actually comparable to similar deals from rival providers. With Vodafone’s Superfast 2 package, however, you’ll get slightly higher speeds (67Mbps) for a little bit less a month (£22).

But if you’re happy spending £25 a month, you should consider Hyperoptic's Fast 150Mbps Broadband Only deal if it’s available where you are, as for the same price you’ll get more than double the download speed (158Mbps).

Deal	Average Download Speed	Monthly Cost
Sky Superfast Broadband	59Mbps	£25
Hyperoptic Fast 150Mbps Broadband only	158Mbps	£25
Vodafone Superfast 2	67Mbps	£22

Sky Ultrafast Broadband alternatives

For just £33 a month you can get download speeds of 145Mbps with Sky Ultrafast Broadband, which is actually more speed than what you’ll get for a similar price with rivals such as Vodafone and EE. However, if you’re lucky enough to live in an area served by Hyperoptic, you could get their Fast 500Mbps Broadband + Phone package for £37 a month.

But if it’s ultrafast speeds you’re after, you’re better off with Sky than BT’s Full Fibre 100 (150Mbps) package, which costs £39.99 a month. You can find cheaper packages with similar speeds, for example with Community Fibre’s 150Mbps package, but again this is only available in limited areas.

Deal	Average Download Speed	Monthly Cost
Sky Ultrafast Broadband	145Mbps	£33
Hyperoptic Fast 500Mbps Broadband + Phone	522Mbps	£37
BT Full Fibre 100	150Mbps	£35.99

Sky Ultrafast Broadband Plus alternatives

Sky Ultrafast Broadband Plus currently costs £43 per month, and for that price, we couldn’t actually find any providers offering anything faster, so it’s actually a great deal if 500Mbps is what you’re after. If you’re willing to sacrifice speed for something else, say a sports TV package, consider NOW’s Brilliant Broadband + Sport deal for the same price, which gives you access to Sky Sports, although it’s a pretty poor broadband connection of just 11Mbps. If this is too low for you, consider adding Sky Sports to your Sky Broadband package instead.

If you’re dead set on getting a 500Mbps internet connection, the only provider really undercutting Sky is Gigaclear, with its Ultrafast 500 package costing just £27 per month. However, Gigaclear only operates in rural areas that tend to lack coverage from other providers, so the chances of it being available where you live are pretty slim.

Deal	Average Download Speed	Monthly Cost
Sky Ultrafast Broadband Plus	500Mbps	£43
NOW Brilliant Broadband + Sport	11Mbps	£43
Gigaclear Ultrafast 500	500Mbps	£27