Sky Broadband vs EE Broadband: Which is best?

EE broadband is cheaper than many comparable options from Sky, and EE mobile customers also get an additional 10% off too.

Sky broadband customers will get a home phone line included as standard, but EE customers will have to pay for this as an extra, and EE full fibre customers can't have a phone line at all.

Overall, the choice between these two is difficult, with Sky only edging ahead thanks to their comprehensive TV and home phone line.

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At a glance

Verdict: Who is best for...

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Price

Winner: EE broadband is cheaper than Sky broadband across most packages, and EE mobile customers can save even more.

Sky and EE broadband prices are very similar, with one or two differences likely to swing the decision for most customers.

EE prices are cheaper overall, especially on their cheapest 36Mb plans which is available to 97% of the UK and offers adequate download speeds for most households.

Sky's main difference over EE is that they include a phone line in the monthly price, which allows customers to receive as well as make calls on a pay as you go basis. Customers can also add inclusive call plans from evening & weekends to anytime calls.

EE broadband comes without a home phone line as standard on all their packages except their basic 10Mb deal. Customers can pay an extra £2.28 to add a phone line with pay as you go calls to EE superfast plans, but there is no option to add a phone line to full fibre plans.

EE broadband's main selling point over Sky is the discounts available to EE pay monthly mobile customers, who'll get 10% off their broadband plan each month as well as a data boost on their mobile of either 5GB or 20GB depending on the broadband plan.

Overall, while EE are the cheaper provider, it'll come down to individual priorities for a clear decision.

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Broadband deals

Winner: It's close, but while EE broadband is often cheaper than Sky broadband, Sky's shorter 18-month contracts offer customers a little more flexibility, and they include a phone line as standard.

Both Sky and EE offer a range of similarly matched broadband deals, although Sky's minimum term is 18-months, while EE sign customers up for 24-months.

Pricing between the providers is close, with many of the packages costing around the same, although EE customers have to pay more for a phone line and it's not available on full fibre deals.

EE mobile customers do save 10% on EE home broadband plans, as well as get a 5GB or 20GB data boost, which may swing the decision for some.

Superfast broadband

Here are Sky and EE superfast fibre plans side-by-side:

EE's 36Mb fibre plan is cheaper than the equivalent package from Sky, who seem to want customers to take their faster 59Mb plan.

Sky customers do get a bit more flexibility with their shorter 18-month terms than with EE who tie down customers for longer. Although it's worth noting customers looking for a long-term deal will need to switch or recontract sooner with Sky to avoid higher out of contract prices.

Both Sky and EE are offering setup for free at the time of writing, although this does vary so it's always worth checking the latest broadband prices in your area.

If EE customers want a home phone line on these plans it costs an extra £2.28 a month for pay as you go calls, which is included as standard with Sky's plans making them even cheaper overall.

Ultrafast broadband

Sky and EE both offer full fibre broadband over the Openreach FTTP network, which is so far available to 8 million premises, although there are rapid plans for expansion.

Both providers have chosen to offer the same full fibre speed options, although Sky's cheapest full fibre plan is slightly faster than EE's.

Sky and EE's ultrafast broadband prices are very similar, although EE is cheaper than Sky for 500Mb broadband.

People who aren't yet connected to the full fibre network may still be able to get faster speeds with Sky and EE because they also offer the Ultrafast and Fibre Max 100 plans as G.Fast packages. G.Fast is basically a boosted version of a fibre to the cabinet plan and available to over 2.8 million premises. Check availability in your area with our broadband postcode checker.

EE customers can't add a phone line to these plans at all, whereas Sky include a phone line in the monthly prices listed above.

Gigafast broadband

Both Sky and EE offer customers the ability to sign up for gigabit broadband speeds, which is the fastest speed available on the full fibre network, and in line with the UK's fastest broadband speed.

EE is again slightly cheaper than Sky for the faster broadband plan, although some customers may prefer Sky's more flexible 18-month contract, as well as the ability to make and receive calls with their landline.

Overall, it's a really close call between Sky and EE for broadband deals, they offer the same speed choices which all cost a very similar amount. Sky is cheaper than EE on the fastest superfast plan, but EE is marginally cheaper on the full fibre deals.

Read our full reviews of Sky broadband and EE broadband.

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Speed

Winner: Tie. Sky broadband received higher ratings for speed in our independent survey than EE, but EE has a faster average download speed on their superfast plan compared to Sky.

Sky and EE both offer broadband over the Openreach network, they've also chosen to offer the same choice of speed options. However, while the underlying network is the same, Sky is an LLU provider meaning they have some of their own equipment installed in exchanges, and the way a provider manages their service can affect speeds too.

The differences between Sky and EE for broadband speed are minor, but there are some points:

• Sky received higher ratings than EE for satisfaction with the speed of service in our independent survey
• EE has faster average download speeds at peak times on their top-tier superfast plan, and this is repeated in Ofcom research into real-world speeds.

Both Sky and EE offer the same range of full fibre speeds, and both offer G.Fast options for faster speeds at some locations where full fibre is not yet available.

Broadband providers can only advertise download speeds that at least 50% of their customers experience between the peak times of 8pm to 10pm. So, advertised speeds are now a much clearer indication of what a customer can expect.

As such, we know most customers are getting these speeds from Sky and EE:

Satisfaction with speed

In our independent survey of broadband customers in 2022, we found 49% of Sky customers rated them 4 or above (out of 5) for satisfaction with speed, in addition 31% rated them 3 out of 5.

In comparison, less EE broadband customers were found to be satisfied with their speed, with 47% of customers rating them 4 or above, and 35% rating them 3 out of 5.

In Ofcom's latest Comparing Service Quality report published in May 2022, they also found more of Sky customers were satisfied with the speed of their service than EE customers were.

Real world speeds

Independent research carried out by Ofcom into real-world broadband speeds contradicts the two survey findings above, because EE's top-tier superfast plan has faster average download speeds both at peak time and over 24 hours than Sky's equivalent broadband deal.

EE's 67Mb plan was found to deliver 62.42Mb on average at peak times, and 63.27Mb over 24 hours. This is noticeably faster than the equivalent service from Sky, which only delivered 54.57Mb at peak times, and 57Mb over 24 hours.

It's difficult to really say then whether Sky or EE broadband is faster, but technically EE is faster and this is backed up by real world tests reported by Ofcom. However, Sky customers are more satisfied with the speed of their service than EE customers are.

The contradiction here may well be explained by the reliability of the service, as Sky reports better performance in disconnections and faults than EE, as we look at more below.

Upload speeds

Upload speeds can also make a different to a home broadband experience, especially for people who regularly play online games, or for work from homers who may be sharing large project files.

According to Ofcom research EE's 67Mb fibre plan delivers 18.42Mb upload speeds on average over a 24 hour period, which is both faster than Sky at 16.85Mb, as well as equivalent packages from Plusnet, BT and TalkTalk as well.

The faster speed reported by BT in this test for their full fibre (FTTP) package highlights how full fibre packages generally offer better real-world speeds and reliability than FTTC packages, and this will be true for EE and Sky full fibre too.

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Reliability

Winner: Sky broadband offers a more reliable service than EE broadband, with lower disconnections and faults than EE.

Sky are a clear winner over EE for broadband reliability, outperforming them in both our independent survey of broadband customers and Ofcom research into broadband speeds.

In 2022 Choose surveyed Sky and EE broadband customers and found 62% of Sky customers rated them 4 or above (out of 5) for the stability of their service, with an additional 21% rating them 3 out of 5. In comparison, only 54% of EE broadband customers rated their provider 4 or above for stability of service, and an additional 29% rated them 3 out of 5.

For more detail on reliability we can also look to Ofcom's research into broadband speeds last published in September 2021.

Ofcom found Sky broadband was more reliable than EE broadband in two main metrics: disconnections and faults. Both providers reported similar figures for latency and jitter, with EE reporting a slightly better average latency rate than Sky.

In terms of daily disconnections, Sky broadband customers experienced fewer disconnections than EE customers, recording an average disconnection rate of just 0.10, compared to EE's 0.29.

Sky performed better than average across the other major broadband providers, but EE's disconnection rates were the highest of the six providers in the report.

Latency

Latency rates can give us an indication of how long it's taking data to be sent and received, with a higher latency rate signalling delays in data delivery. Poor latency is most often noticed in very high data transfer activities, such as online gaming.

EE broadband had slightly lower average latency rates than Sky broadband, indicating the transfer of data on EE broadband is faster and more seamless. However, both providers had some of the lowest latency rates of all six providers in the report, being only marginally beaten by Plusnet and BT full fibre.

Jitter

Jitter tells us whether data is being sent and received in the right order. A high jitter rate indicates that packets of data are arriving in the wrong order, which can be the result of a slow or faulty connection.

Sky and EE both reported average jitter rates of 0.30 across the customers tested. Across the market they were around average, but both Virgin Media and BT full fibre had noticeably lower jitter rates.

It's likely that both Sky and EE full fibre will perform more in line with BT's full fibre package that was included in Ofcom's reports, as full fibre is generally more reliable than the fibre to the cabinet deals that were reported on.

Faults

Another way to determine how reliable Sky or EE broadband is, is by looking at their annual fault figures in Ofcom's Comparing Service Quality report, last published in May 2022.

Sky broadband had 39 faults per 1000 customers per month on average, which was considerably lower than EE's 63 faults. Sky broadband was much more reliable than EE broadband in this metric, they were also only beaten by Plusnet with just 12 faults.

Taking our data from three independent sources, the high performance especially in disconnections, faults and customer satisfaction is a good indication that Sky broadband is more reliable than EE broadband.

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Routers

Winner: Sky broadband offer a marginally more advance router than EE, although they are fairly similar.

All Sky broadband customers get the Sky Broadband Hub.

All EE fibre customers get the EE Smart Hub, while EE full fibre customers get the newer EE Smart Router. Customers taking EE's basic 10Mb plan will get the older EE Bright Box.

The Sky Broadband Hub is marginally better than the EE Smart Router, although they are fairly similar devices. The Sky Broadband Hub has one more internal antennae, and the 2.4GHz signal is slightly more powerful at 4x4, compared to the EE Smart Router which runs at 3x3.

Here are the router specifications side-by-side:

Both later devices are now becoming slighted dated however, as neither support the latest WiFi 6 protocol. Although both the Sky Broadband Hub and the EE Smart Router offer mesh, which can help extend a wireless signal around larger homes using mesh extenders.

EE fibre customers who get the EE Smart Hub will be even more behind however, as this device doesn't support mesh, which means it's harder to extend the wireless signal in larger homes.

Overall the Sky Broadband Hub is likely to offer a slightly better wireless signal than the EE Smart Router, but there isn't much in it. It's also offered to all customers and is noticeably better than the EE Smart Hub.

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WiFi guarantee

Winner: EE. The WiFi guarantees of Sky and EE are hard to compare, but EE Smart WiFi offers a more tangible benefit to keep customers connected if their broadband develops a fault, than Sky's Broadband Boost.

EE don't exactly offer a WiFi guarantee because there are no set minimum speeds promised, and no refunds if those speeds aren't achieved. Conversely, they do offer customers a mesh extender, with up to two more devices for just the cost of postage.

While EE Smart WiFi, launched in 2020, is twice the price of Sky Broadband Boost, it also comes with 2GB mobile data every month on a free 4G hotspot, and in the event a customer's broadband connection develops a fault, EE will provide 250GB of data per month to help them stay online.

In comparison, while Sky Broadband Boost is cheaper, it only offers a meagre 2GB mobile data if a customer's broadband suffers an outage, up to three times a month. Sky do guarantee 3Mb wireless signal in every room, but that's pretty slow, although if it does fall below that customers can claim their entire Sky Broadband Boost subscription back.

Here are the provider's WiFi guarantees:

Sky Broadband Boost, originally launched in 2019, also comes with daily line checks with quick fixes if any problems are spotted, and the option to book out of hours engineer appointments that would usually cost £15.

It's worth noting that Sky also offer all customers a 'Wall to Wall WiFi guarantee' that comes at no extra cost to fibre and full fibre customers who already have a Sky Broadband Hub. Under this guarantee they'll refund one month's broadband subscription if you can't get 3Mb in every room.

Overall, Sky and EE offer quite different WiFi guarantees that are hard to compare side-by-side. However, on reflection while the EE Smart WiFi is more expensive it feels like it offers a more substantial benefit to keep customers online.

Read more about how WiFi speed guarantees work.

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Call plans

Winner: Sky offer a phone line as standard with all broadband packages, whereas EE customers have to pay more for a phone line, and EE full fibre customers can't add one at all.

A notable difference between Sky and EE is how they package their broadband plans in terms of a phone line and calls.

Sky include a home line as standard across all of their broadband plans, including full fibre where a digital voice line is provided.

In contrast, EE customers have to pay more just for a phone line with pay as you go calls, and EE full fibre customers get a data only line with no choice for a home phone.

For additional inclusive calls, the providers charge:

Overall, for anyone who the home phone is important, Sky is the better pick over EE due to the ability to take a phone line with full fibre.

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TV

Winner: Sky TV is a considerably more comprehensive TV service than the Apple TV 4K option from EE.

Sky offer a substantially more comprehensive TV service than EE, which can be bundled with Sky broadband for additional discounts.

Sky TV offers over 400 channels in the base pack, with the option to add extra packs including Netflix, Sky Cinema, Sky Sports, Kids, Disney+, and BT Sport.

In contrast, since 2019, EE offer their broadband and mobile customers the option of an Apple 4K TV box, with 3 months Apple TV+ subscription, and BT Sport Ultimate included for free.

Apple TV includes access to Freeview as well as paid on-demand apps, these cost extra but include Netflix, NOW TV, Disney+, and Prime Video among others.

EE TV is expensive for what it is at £15 per month, although customers get the Apple TV 4K box worth around £170. After 3 months though the Apple TV+ subscription is an extra £4.99 per month. It's also only available to EE customers who take both their home broadband and pay monthly mobile service.

Sky TV costs from £26 per month, with discounts for customers who also bundle Sky broadband. Sky TV comes with the Sky Q TV box and customers can add more premium channels usually for less than elsewhere.

Here is the latest pricing on comparable packages:

Overall, Sky TV and broadband works out around a similar price to EE TV and broadband especially when the Apple TV+ subscription is taken into account. Yet, Sky TV offers substantially more, so Sky is a clear winner for TV.

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Customer Service

Winner: Tie. Both Sky and EE perform well for customer service, with both providers leading the market in this area.

Sky and EE are fairly head-to-head when it comes to customer service levels, with both providers leading the market. They both offer high levels of satisfaction among customers as well as low complaints records and satisfaction with complaint handling.

Satisfaction

In our 2022 survey of broadband customers we found more EE customers were happy with their received customer service, than Sky customers.

85% of EE customers rated them 3 or above (out of 5) for customer service, with 27% rating them 5 out of 5. For Sky, 86% of customers rated them 3 or above for customer service, but only 22% rated them 5 out of 5.

Our independent survey shows Sky and EE come close for customer service, but EE were slightly ahead with more customers willing to give them full marks. We can also look at Ofcom's research in their latest Comparing Customer Service report published May 2022.

While EE have marginally more customers satisfied with the service overall, Sky broadband have less customers with a reason to complain than EE broadband, and also Sky's customers are more satisfied with how their complaint was handled.

Complaints

Both Sky and EE have historically low complaints figures, often coming in at the top of the report charts amongst all major providers.

The latest report from Q1 2022 shows Sky and EE with the fewest complaints of all providers, and noticeably less than the industry average of 10.

Complaints figures for landline provision were similar, with Sky broadband receiving 2 complaints per 100,000 customers in Q2 2022, and EE receiving 1 complaint, both beating the industry average of 6.

For complaints, Sky broadband and EE broadband are pretty evenly matched, although EE has slightly less complaints than Sky does.

Service trends

EE and Sky have dominated the customer service reports for some time now, with both providers consistently scoring well for customer satisfaction and having low complaint records.

In fact, Sky have ranked 1st or 2nd for lowest complaints since at least 2016. While EE's past has been a little more chequered, they overtook Sky in 2020 and have held 1st place since.

EE were highlighted as the broadband provider most likely to be recommended by customers in Ofcom's Comparing Service Quality 2020 report and their overall customer satisfaction is above Sky's by a couple of percentage points.

Sky had the highest level of satisfaction among customers for how they handled their complaint in 2021, yet for EE customers this metric has recently declined from 66% in 2019 to just 47% in 2021.

Both providers are recommended highly for good customer service and so we've chosen to draw a tie.

Read more about customer service in the broadband market.

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Special offers

Both Sky and EE offer special offers for new customers from time to time. At the moment their best offers are:

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Verdict: Sky or EE for best home broadband?

Overall winner: Sky broadband has better reliability and enhanced options for home phone and TV plans than EE broadband, although the providers are generally well matched.

Sky broadband and EE broadband are surprisingly similar when you look into the details and it's hard to find much that differentiates their pricing and service levels.

Overall it will likely come down to customer preferences in terms of whether someone is an existing EE mobile customer for extra discounts, or if they want the extra services from Sky such as TV bundles for more all-round entertainment.

We'd pick Sky for:

• Cheaper top-tier superfast plan
• If you want home phone with full fibre
• Bundling a great TV service for extra discounts
• More reliable broadband with less disconnections and faults

We'd pick EE for:

• Cheapest overall prices on most packages
• Discounts for EE mobile customers
• Faster average speeds for FTTC customers

Read more about the providers in our full reviews of Sky broadband and EE broadband, or click through to compare broadband deals in your area.