By Sky offers full fibre (FTTP) broadband. You’ll get download speeds of up to 900Mbps, with the UK’s most reliable broadband technology.
If you’re looking to upgrade your home to the latest broadband technology, Sky offers full fibre (FTTP) broadband with average download speeds between 75Mbps and 900Mbps.
By making use of a dedicated fibre optic cable that goes all the way into your home, you’re able to get much faster speeds and a more reliable connection than you would on normal fibre. This means fewer dropouts, less slowdown at peak times, and the ability to connect up to 120 devices to the internet at the same time.
In this article, we’ll look at Sky’s full fibre broadband, including how it works and the benefits of upgrading. We’ll also look at how it’s installed in your home, and the latest deals that are currently available in the UK.
Contents
What Is Sky Full Fibre?
In the UK, full fibre is the next generation of broadband technology. It uses a fibre optic connection that goes all the way into your home so it’s also referred to as ‘fibre-to-the-premises’ (FTTP) broadband.
There are four main benefits when upgrading your home to full fibre technology:
- You’ll have access to faster download speeds. With full fibre, you’re able to get average download speeds of up to 900Mbps. This is available on Sky’s Full Fibre Gigafast plan. It means you can download the latest games and movies much faster. For instance, a HD-quality film can be downloaded in less than 40 seconds (this is 15 times faster than on normal fibre broadband).
- You’ll be able to use more devices at the same time. According to Sky, you’ll be able to connect up to 120 devices to the internet at a time, when you have Full Fibre 500 or Full Fibre Gigafast broadband. This makes it perfect for busy homes with lots of connected devices as you’ll be able to stream, game, work and study at the same time.
- You’ll benefit from a lower latency connection. With full fibre, there’s a lower amount of latency (this is the amount of time it takes for data to travel from your device to the internet and back). A lower latency connection is good for online gaming and other fast-paced apps.
- You’ll get a more reliable broadband service. With full fibre, the fibre optic cable goes all the way into your home. In contrast, standard fibre uses an older copper connection from a street cabinet to your home. This copper connection is susceptible to noise and interference, which causes slowdowns and disruption to your broadband. With full fibre, there’s no need to worry about this.
At present, full fibre technology is being rolled out across the UK, with it being available in about 47% of all UK homes. To see whether it’s available where you live, enter your postcode on Sky’s website.
How Is Sky Full Fibre Installed?
To get full fibre (FTTP) broadband from Sky, you’ll need to be connected to the Openreach full fibre network. This is essentially a more modern version of the old telephone network, and it’s a one-time upgrade to get your home connected to this new network.
Unless you already have a full fibre connection in your home, an engineer visit is required to get you connected to this new network. There are several key steps in the installation process:
- A new fibre optic cable will be put in, connecting your home to the full fibre network in your area. This new fibre optic cable will normally follow the path of your existing copper phone line. This means, for instance, they’ll use an existing underground duct if you have one for your copper phone line. Alternatively, they’ll use a new overhead cable if your existing phone line comes through on an overhead wire.
- A small junction box will be placed on the outside of your home. This is where the fibre optic cable will end on the outside of your property. It’s also known as the Customer Service Point (CSP) and it’s fairly discrete, measuring 15cm x 13cm in size.
A full fibre modem will then be installed inside your home. This is a wall-mounted modem. It’s also known as the Optical Network Termination point (ONT). An ONT is a bit like the master socket you’d find on an analogue phone line, but it’s a little bit larger (about 13cm x 11cm in size). As it deals with digital signals on a fibre optic connection, it needs to be plugged into a power socket to work.- A small amount of drilling is required to connect the outside junction box to the inside modem. To connect the external junction box (the CSP) to the internal modem (the ONT), a small hole will need to be drilled through your wall. This hole is about 12mm wide. A fibre optic cable will be fed through this hole, connecting the two boxes together and bringing the fibre optic connection into your home.
- Your Sky Hub router can then be plugged into the modem. This will allow you to access Sky’s full fibre (FTTP) broadband service.
In total, it can take up to three hours to get full fibre installed in your home. However, the good news is that it’s a future-proof technology. Once it’s set up, you can change to another full fibre plan in the future without the need for a new connection. There’s more information about this on Sky’s website.
Sky Full Fibre Deals
At present, Sky offers the following broadband deals from £26 per month, powered by the latest full fibre (FTTP) technology:
| Service | Broadband & TV | Monthly Cost (may rise during contract) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
 Sky Full Fibre 75
| 75Mbps average download | £26.00 per month plus £5.00 upfront 24 month contract | See deal |
Sky Full Fibre 150
| 150Mbps average download | £27.00 per month plus £5.00 upfront 24 month contract | See deal |
Sky Full Fibre 500
| 500Mbps average download | £31.00 per month plus £5.00 upfront 24 month contract | See deal |
Sky Full Fibre Gigafast
| 900Mbps average download | £38.00 per month plus £5.00 upfront 24 month contract | See deal |
For an extra £3 per month, you can add the WiFi Max add-on. This gives you an upgrade to the latest Sky Max Hub router with support for WiFi 6 technology. You’ll also benefit from an enhanced WiFi guarantee with up to 3 Sky Max Pods, if needed, at no extra cost.
Whichever plan you choose, you’ll benefit from the improved reliability of full fibre technology. You’ll also get a speed guarantee and a Wall to Wall WiFi Guarantee included.
If you choose one of their faster plans such as Full Fibre 500 (500Mbps) or Gigafast (900Mbps), you’ll also benefit from much faster speeds and the ability to use more devices at the same time. For instance, you’ll be able to connect up to 120 devices on the faster plans from Sky, making it perfect for busy homes with lots of connected devices.
Full Fibre with Sky TV
If you like, you can get full fibre broadband, together with Sky TV.
When you do this, you’ll get the latest Sky Stream box, with the ability to watch more than 150 channels through your broadband connection. You’ll also get Netflix (worth £4.99 per month) and discovery+ (worth £6.99 per month) included in the price, saving you money on streaming.
Prices start from £35 per month for full fibre broadband and Sky TV:
| Service | Broadband & TV | Monthly Cost (may rise during contract) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
Sky Stream, Ultimate TV & Netflix with Full Fibre 75 Broadband
| 75Mbps average download    
| £39.00 per month No upfront fee 24 month contract | See deal |
Sky Stream, Ultimate TV & Netflix with Full Fibre 150 Broadband
| 150Mbps average download
| £39.00 per month No upfront fee 24 month contract | See deal |
Sky Stream, Ultimate TV & Netflix with Full Fibre 300 Broadband
| 300Mbps average download
| £41.00 per month No upfront fee 24 month contract | See deal |
Sky Stream, Ultimate TV & Netflix with Full Fibre 500 Broadband
| 500Mbps average download
| £44.00 per month No upfront fee 24 month contract | See deal |
Switching to Sky Broadband
If you’re currently using another broadband provider, it’s easy to switch your home broadband service to Sky.
Start by ordering your new full fibre broadband plan online. During the order process, you’ll be given an activation date for your new service. An engineer visit will also be scheduled if one is required to get a full fibre connection in your home.
Normally, Sky automatically contacts your old broadband provider to cancel your old service. However, if you’re a customer of Virgin Media or another altnet provider, you’ll need to contact them separately to cancel.
For step-by-step instructions on how to switch your broadband provider to Sky, please select your current provider from the dropdown menu below:
Switch to Sky Broadband
Your step-by-step guide to switching
You can also read our full guide on switching broadband provider in the UK.
More Information
For more information about Sky’s full fibre broadband, please see Sky’s official website.
Craig Dunn said:
I have Sky Fibre 150 FTTP I have just received the new Wifi Max hub, I really dont like it as its managed through the app which seems a little flaky. I was thinking of replacing it with PFSense, I have read a few posts where they say its a PPPOE connection where authentication is needed, I have also read its a DHCPv4 service (which I think it is).
I am thinking it should just be a case of me plugging in the ONT via ethernet cable to the WAN on my PFSense and LAN Ethernet cable to my AP. Does this sound correct
Kevin Bloomfield said:
My router is currently in the middle of my house to ensure maximum coverage. If my new router is on the front wall, does that mean the back of the house will struggle for wi-fi or does full fibre give wider coverage?
Alternatively, can I run a cable from the full-fibre modem to the place where my broadband router is currently? If so, what cable do I use?
Many thanks
Ken replied:
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for your comment. Yes, if the router will now be at the front of your home, it’s likely you’ll find that the Wi-Fi will become weaker at the back of your home. This may or may not be an issue – depending on the size of your home, the construction materials, etc. If you find that you need to improve the Wi-Fi coverage at the back, consider using a mesh Wi-Fi system such as Amazon Eero or Google Nest Wi-Fi. If you like, there’s also Sky’s WiFi Max add-on which will come with Wi-Fi Boosters, if needed.
The underlying technology used to provide your broadband (e.g. fibre, full fibre, cable, etc) only affects the speed of the connection coming in to your home. It does not have an impact on the strength of your WiFi.
Hope this helps,
Ken
Gavin said:
Do you guys know what cable Sky use to run from the openreach box into the house to the terminating unit? I’ve got a complicated install and I want to run the cable before the sky engineer arrives, so the cable end points are in the correct location however, I’m not sure what cable they use and I assume they will fit the connectors to the cable themselves, so I can simply leave a bare cable for them? Thanks
Ken replied:
Hi Gavin,
Thanks for your email. It’s a fibre optic cable so I don’t think you’ll be able to fit that before they arrive. However, if you wanted, you could provide a duct for them to use.
Ken