Review of Sky See, Speak & Surf Base 1
- Well priced 2Mb Sky broadband, phone and TV bundle with broadband effectively free
- Choice of 2 Sky digital TV channel mixes
- Free Evening and weekend calls to UK landlines
- Add more TV mixes for just £1 each per month
- Great value for money
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LONG before Virgin Media and Tiscali muscled in on the scene, Sky were the very first provider to offer broadband, phone and TV bundles, allowing users to mix and match the various options available to create a broadband bundle package that suited both their tastes and their budget.
This Sky See, Speak & Surf Base 1 broadband bundle is exceptionally good value and offers a great range of features.
2GB usage allowance
Your broadband part of the bundle is the Sky Base package which is not the fastest connection available (up to 2Mb) with a monthly usage allowance of 2Gb.
This is probably not suitable for heavy downloaders, but is more than ample for basic web browsing and emailing.
Remember also, this is Sky free broadband. You are only paying for the phone and TV part of the Sky bundle.
Free evening and weekend calls
Sky's FreeTime, which gives you free evening and weekend calls to all UK landlines is this Sky package's bundled home phone add-on.
Keep in mind that while you get your off-peak phonecalls included in the price, you will still have to pay line rental to BT, so consider that when you are comparing this package to any of the Virgin Media packages which doesn't require line rental because it's a cable service.
Sky TV
The 'See' part of the Sky package is your TV choice and here you get to choose 2 of Sky's TV 6 'mixes':
- Variety
- News & Events
- Knowledge
- Music
- Kids
- Style & Culture
You can, of course, add extra Sky TV mixes to the package for just a £1 per month each. You can also drop one of the two mixes, reducing the price by a pound a month, but it's hardly worth doing for such a small saving.
As an additional extra each month you can optionally add Sky Sports and/or Sky Movies to your TV package.
Pause, rewind live TV
You can also, if you wish, buy a Sky+ box (currently £99) which allows you to pause, rewind or record live TV and has enough memory to store 40 hours worth of programmes. There used to be a subscription fee for this service, but that's been scrapped so now is a great time to take Sky up on the offer.
Did we mention you can now text your Sky+ Box to record something if you can't make it home in time?
If you like your TV extra crisp (four times sharper than normal TV, to be precise), you can buy a Sky HD box which functions just like the Sky+ box but delivers your picture in crystal clear High Definition.
There is, unfortunately, a monthly subscription fee for this though, but wow, is it worth it!
A little more detail
Broadband
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Special Note.. |
Any good? |
| Package Name: |
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Base |
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| Connection Type: |
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ADSL |
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| Max Speed: |
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2Mb |
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| Usage Limit: |
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2Gb |
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| Hardware: |
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Wireless Router |
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| Anti-virus Protection: |
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Yes |
Free McAfee Internet Security Suite for the first 12 months |
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| Firewall: |
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Yes |
Free McAfee Internet Security Suite for the first 12 months |
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| E-mail Account: |
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Yes |
Up to 10 email addresses |
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| Webspace Provided: |
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No |
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| Domain Included: |
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No |
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| Backup Dialup: |
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No |
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| Consoles Supported: |
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All major consoles supported |
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Home Phone
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| Package Name: |
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FreeTime |
| UK Weekend Tariff: |
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Free to UK landlines |
| UK Evening Tariff: |
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Free to UK landlines |
| UK Peak Tariff: |
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4p per minute (same as BT) |
| International Tariff: |
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International rates 5% lower than BT |
TV
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| Package Name: |
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2 mixes |
| Included Channels: |
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Over 59 digital channels |
| Optional Channel Add-ons: |
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Add SkyMovies and/or Sky Sports for an additional monthly fee (from £17) |
| Video on Demand: |
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Yes |
| Pay Per View: |
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Movies and other pay per view events available |
| Record TV / TV Hard Drive: |
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Yes (with Sky+ box, £99 one off purchase) |
| Hardware: |
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Sky Box |
| Extras: |
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Payment, Installation and Contract
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| Payment Method(s): |
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Direct Debit / Credit Card |
| Activation Fee: |
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Free |
| Installation: |
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£30 (TV). Free (broadband). |
| Minimum Contract: |
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12 months |
| Line Rental: |
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BT Line Rental required |
| Support: |
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0870 support line. Free email support. |
Actual User Ratings
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At a Glance
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Bundle details: |
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Phone: Evening and weekend calls to UK landlines |
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TV: Choice of 2 Sky digital TV channel mixes, plus Sky Sports and Sky Movies for an additional cost |
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Mobile: Not included |
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It is best suited for: |
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TV-loving web users wanting a good value broadband connection for light web surfing and email, a chosen mix of 59 Sky TV channels and free evening and weekend calls to UK landlines |
Customer Reviews
Remember, the customer reviews below are subjective (and are not the opinions of ChooseISP.co.uk).
Sorry, but there are no customer reviews available for Sky.
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Sky See + Speak + Surf Base 1 Broadband Bundle
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