SKY BROADBAND DOWN

[Placido]

Yesterday at 1.30 pm my homephone bleeped and out went both the 'phone and Sky broadband. The tv was still working.
I gather from checking The Forum today that I'm the only member this happened to.
Twitter says that NI was out, and a helpful person put up a map of the outage which covered a huge swathe of western/northern England.
Checked all the cabling and the reset procedure - no go. So I was without a phone and the computer all afternoon and evening. This is not good 'cos I don't have a smartphone and my 'panic button' wouldn't work either.
Aaaanyway, this morning everything was working normally (phew), and a cursory mention on the Sky website "West Midlands sorted" and that was that. The twitter comments would make your hair curl .

I must think seriously about another option for contact with the outside world 'cos that could have been dangerous. One doesn't realise how dependent one is on a simple thing like a 'phone.
Whaddya think guys, an ipad, tablet, Kindle with broadband?? Smartphones are expensively contractual, aren't they ?

[Butterfly]

The smart phone with internet would be the best choice imo, and there are some good deals around. You get both, internet and phone data, and in case of home internet outage you can turn your phone into a hotspot (sounds complicated but its very simple, one click) and connect your laptop to it.
Another option would be a dongle, but that's internet only in case your home internet is not working:
https://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/guid ... nd/dongles
There are many deals for them as well. I would speak to someone like carphone warehouse who can recommend what is the best option for you, depending on what you want.
Good luck

[Kev]

I'd go for a cheap smartphone too because then you have access to 3G/4G in an emergency and can check things like twitter and the like for updates on why it's all down. You can get some super cheap PAYG deals on phones. Less than £10/m is doable.

Things like iPads are great just as 'tools' for using the internet but they're mostly reliant on your wifi as well, unless you get the cellular versions and they can be quite a bit more expensive (although apple sell refurbished models for a reasonable discount - I've bought ipods before and they're perfect). But one caveat with an ipad is that you're better off having everything in the same 'environment'. i.e. ipad, iphone, imac or android phone, android tablet because you can sync information across them easily for convenience.

[Jacksparrow]

If you decide on a Smartphone Argos sell some good cheap ones. As with most things the more you pay the more tricks it will perform. If you currently only have a standard mobile phone you will probably need to acquire a new sim card as the s/phones use a nano sim card which is much smaller then the normal. Your current service provider should be able to provide this. If you go for a new provider you will be given a sim which can be broken up to the size required. It is handy to have someone who can point you in the right direction when you get your first smart phone not because they are difficult but because they tend to assume all users are au fait and they provide very little guidance for the newbie.

[Placido]

Thank you, guys . Very good information, much appreciated.
Sounds like a smartphone then - I know a chap who can probably help me now that I know what to ask for !!

[Jacksparrow]

Thank you, guys . Very good information, much appreciated.
Sounds like a smartphone then - I know a chap who can probably help me now that I know what to ask for !!

How did you get on?