Launched in July 2023, Sky’s WiFi Max promises to give you better, stronger WiFi in every room. But what exactly is it, and is it worth the extra cost?
What is Sky WiFi Max?
Sky's WiFi Max is the new add-on for Sky broadband customers, replacing the old Sky Broadband Boost. At its core, it is a guarantee that you'll get a minimum speed in every room or one months broadband free. In addition to this you get Sky’s latest router, the Sky Max Hub, alongside a host of other benefits that we will explore in more detail later on.
Sky broadband customers on Ultrafast, Ultrafast Plus, and Gigafast packages will be guaranteed minimum download speeds of 25Mbps in every room, while Superfast plans are promised at least 10Mbps.
Currently Sky WiFi Max is available for £6.50 a month (normally £10) and comes with an 18 month contract.
When you sign up to Sky Wifi Max, Sky will send you the Sky Max Hub. They will run tests for you to find out where your WiFi weak spots are, and if necessary send you up to three Sky WiFi Pods (mesh router extenders). If these Pods don’t do the trick and give you the promised speeds, you will get a month's broadband for free. Sounds pretty simple right? Well, as with most things, not quite. This guide talks you though the main pros and cons of Sky Wifi Max.
Enhanced Wall to Wall WiFi Guarantee
Sky’s WiFi guarantees can get a little confusing. Sky do offer a Wall to Wall WiFi Guarantee as standard with their broadband plans. This promises speeds of 3Mbps in each room or you will receive one month of your Sky Broadband subscription credited back to your Sky account.
The Sky WiFi Max guarantee is slightly different in that the speeds promised are much higher. This is referred to as the Enhanced Wall to Wall Guarantee.
- 10Mb/s in every room or money back if you have Sky Broadband Superfast 35, Superfast or Full Fibre 100
- 25Mb/s in every room or money back if you have Sky Broadband Ultrafast, Ultrafast Plus or Gigafast
To ensure you can reach these higher guaranteed speeds Sky will send you the upgraded Max Hub router and up to 3 Max Pods. These little pods are placed around your home to extend the wireless network seamlessly and boost coverage. If you still can’t get the promised speeds in every room of your home then Sky will credit you with a month’s broadband subscription.
Sky Max Hub
As we’ve mentioned, customers signing up to Sky WiFi Max will receive the Sky Max Hub, which offers several improvements over the standard Sky Broadband Hub.
The main improvement is that the Sky Max Hub supports the latest WiFi 6 technology. This is particularly good for those customers with Sky Stream or Sky Glass which also support WiFi 6, meaning they should notice an immediate improvement from the standard Sky Broadband router which is WiFi 5.
With WiFi 6 you can expect a faster, less laggy and more stable connection that is capable of handling more connected devices. Bear in mind though, that WiFi 6 will only work on the latest devices, such as iPhone 11. If your device does not support WiFi 6 then you won’t see any difference, so it’s important to check what your device uses.
Sky Max Hub specs:
| Feature | Spec |
|---|---|
| Wi-Fi | Dual-band Wi-Fi radios, 2.4GHz and 5GHz, 4x4, MU-MIMO, Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/n/ac, ax), ADSL2+, VDSL2, and FTTP |
| Bands | Tri-band |
| Ethernet | 4x Gbps LAN ports (1 can work as WAN) | Security | WPA3 |
| Extras | USB-C, 2 RJ11 ports, parental controls, downtime scheduling, OpenSync, DFS |
Sky Max Pods
In addition to the Sky Max Hub, Sky will send you up to 3 Max Pods. These are great if you have a larger home, or a home with thick walls. They are not sent out automatically though, you will have to contact Sky and ask for them. They are designed to work seamlessly with the Max Hub making them much quicker and easier to set up than a third party extender.
Other benefits of Sky WiFi Max
Engineer visits at a time that suits you
If something goes wrong and you need an engineer visit, then Sky will waive the £15 charge for evening & weekend engineer appointments, leaving you free to book the most convenient time for you.
Parental controls
Easily manage all your connected devices with the My Sky app.
- Schedule bedtime, lunchtime, or homework breaks for your family
- Quickly pause internet on devices in your profiles
- Easily manage all devices in a profile – from anywhere at any time
Advanced Security
Add an extra layer of protections via the My Sky app.
- Blocks risky malware and phishing sites to prevent anyone visiting these accidentally
- Monitors devices connected to your Sky Broadband in real time to detect any risky behaviour
- Set up alerts for incoming security threats
Mobile data for outages
If you are also a Sky Mobile customer, then Sky will give you 2GB of data should you have a broadband outage. There are caveats of course, you will only get the data if the outage:
- Wasn’t planned
- Lasts more than 30 minutes
- Is between 7am and 11pm
You can get up to three data credits in a month or 18 credits in 18 months.
Sky WiFi Max Small Print
So it’s all sounding pretty good so far, right? Faster guaranteed speeds, upgraded router and 3 max pods, plus evening & weekend engineer appointments, advanced security and mobile data. What’s not to love? Well, as with everything there is always the small print.
Let’s start with the Wall to Wall guarantee. Whilst Sky advertise this as ‘every room’, they don’t quite mean it. The guarantee covers the main ares of your home, such as living rooms, kitchens and bedrooms. This includes up to 5 bedrooms or 12 rooms total which includes:
- A garage that’s accessed without having to go outside
- A converted loft room – it needs to have a fixed staircase, fully boarded and furnished
- Conservatory
It doesn’t however include:
- Any exterior buildings like garages, sheds, annexes, etc
- An unconverted loft – one that is not furnished
The WiFi Max also comes with an 18 month contract, with the price increasing to £10 when the contract ends. If you are an existing Sky customer upgrading to WiFi Max, then this could mean Sky restarting your current contract, so you should definitely check this with them when signing up.
The guaranteed speeds are actually quite low compared to the package you sign up to. For example, customers signing up to a Gigafast package should expect average speeds of around 900Mbps, so a 25Mbps guarantee is pretty far off the mark and begs the question if you’ll ever be able to make a claim at all.
Customers can only claim once during the whole 18 month contract. Whilst it is pretty unlikely your speeds with continue to drop that low, it is still something to bear in mind. Once you have claimed your free month, you will still have to keep paying for WiFi Max no matter how low your speed drops.
Sky WiFi Max is not yet available to customers with Sky Q. Sky Q customers can still sign up to Sky Broadband Boost though, which gives the 3Mbps guarantee along with WiFi boosters, if your home needs them, daily line checks for faults and engineer visits on evenings and weekends.
Pros & Cons of Sky WiFi Max
Let’s do a quick overview of all the main pros and cons of Sky Wifi Max.
Pros
- Upgraded WiFi 6 router
- Up to 3 mesh extenders
- Faster guaranteed speeds than standard
- Free evening/weekend engineer visits
- Free Sky Mobile data for outages
Cons
- 18 month contract
- WiFi guarantee has limits
- Devices need to support WiFi 6
- Not available to Sky Q customers
- No data for non Sky Mobile customers after outages
Our Verdict
Sky WiFi Max is a good upgrade from the old Sky Broadband Boost, providing the latest WiFi 6 router. If you have a larger home and devices that support WiFi 6 then this should make a big difference.
But there are still drawbacks. Being tied into an 18 month contract is a big factor for us, and the inability to cancel if it doesn't keep its promises.
We would also argue that customers on the faster, more expensive packages should really be given the best router as standard.
Overall though, we would say that Sky WiFi Max is good value for money.
Frequently asked questions
How fast is the Sky WiFi Max ‘WiFi Guarantee’?
Customers on Sky Broadband Superfast 35, Superfast or Full Fibre 100 packages get a guarantee of 10Mb/s, whilst those on Ultrafast, Ultrafast Plus or Gigafast get 25Mb/s.
What happened to Sky Broadband Boost?
Sky WiFi Max has replaced Sky Broadband Boost for the majority of new customers.
WiFi Max has a few improvements to Broadband Boost, mainly the upgraded Max Hub router and faster speed guarantee.
However, Sky Q customers wont be able to subscribe to WiFi Max so will still be offered Boost. This is because the Sky Max Hub router doesn't work with Sky Q.
How much does Sky WiFi Max cost?
Sky WiFi Max is a paid add-on to your broadband package. It costs £10 however this is usually discounted. At time of writing it was £6.50. It does come with an 18 month contact and once the contact is up the price increases to the full £10.