Sky Broadband customers complain of ‘frustrating’ issue affecting YouTube & Google apps – but there’s a trick to fix it
SKY broadband customers have complained that they are struggling to get a smooth video streams from apps like YouTube.
Downloading apps from the Google Play Store, the Android app store, has also been sluggish, customers have warned.
In a Sky help forum, several customers said they had been experiencing “very prolonged buffering” and that “YouTube is really slow to load and freezes”.
Following a formal complaint, one customer claimed they received an email from a Sky customer support agent, saying: “I understand how frustrating it must be to experience difficulties accessing Google services like the Play Store and YouTube.
“We are aware of this issue affecting multiple users in your area, and our technical team is actively working to resolve it as quickly as possible.”
The issue appears to be isolated to the West Yorkshire area, ISPreview reported.
Customers began complaining about the issue around 11 January, and the issue appears to have persisted.
Users in the Yorkshire area said they have had to use 4G data to access Android apps in the Play Store.
When using data instead of Sky broadband, the issue appears to vanish.
“I have the exact same thing. YouTube app not loading videos or shorts. Everything else works fine,” a second customer wrote.
“I can go on mobile data, start the video and then it plays.”
The connectivity problem does not appear to be isolated to Android devices, like Google or Samsung phones and tablets.
Customers trying to stream YouTube videos on iPhones and iPads said they have also experienced issues.
Most other services appear to be working as normal.
Sky’s routers don’t seem to be causing the issue, ISPreview noted.
Customers using both Sky and third-party hardware have reported issues, suggesting it is not due to the routers.
The broadband provider has also reportedly sent engineers out to affected customers to replace routers, but the problem has continued.
What’s the fix?
Sky hasn’t issued a formal fix to affected customers yet.
Fortunately, there is a fairly simple workaround.
Using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) app avoids pushing your internet traffic over to Sky – which means apps like YouTube and the Google Play Store will work.
The Sun has contacted Sky for comment.
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