Sky Down? Sky Network Status in Real Time
Status computed from public network signals (BGP and active probes) on Sky's infrastructure, updated every ~10 minutes. This is not an official Sky channel.
Is Sky down right now? If the badge below is red, there is probably a fault on the network Sky rides on; if it is green but your own line is dead, the issue is far more likely to sit in your home or on your specific Openreach line. To settle it in under a minute: read the live badge just below, compare notes with other customers on Downdetector, and run a speed test from your phone on mobile data (4G/5G, Wi-Fi off).
Last updated: —
Data source: IODA (Georgia Tech) · updated ~every 10 minutes
Network trend over the last 24 hours
The chart shows the network signal level (BGP reachability and active probes) relative to the median of the last 24 hours: full bars = normal, low bars = possible outage.
What to do if Sky is down
Sky Broadband is delivered mostly over Openreach — FTTC (fibre-to-the-cabinet) on older lines and full-fibre FTTP where it has been built — with Sky's own core routing and DNS layered on top. Sky Mobile is a separate service, hosted as an MVNO on the Virgin Media O2 network. That split decides what you should do when the connection drops.
If the badge above shows a network-wide fault, the repair is out of your hands: an Openreach exchange problem or a wobble in Sky's core has to be fixed centrally, and phoning in won't move you up the queue. Tether to your phone for anything urgent and keep an eye on the badge. If the badge is green, treat it as a home fault and work through the checks below:
- Power the Sky Hub off for a full 30 seconds, then on, and give it two to three minutes to resync the line.
- On an FTTC line, watch the Sky Hub's broadband light: steady means the line is synced to the cabinet, flashing or off means it has lost sync.
- On an FTTP line the signal reaches a separate Openreach ONT (the small white box). If its optical or LOS light is off or red, no light is arriving and that is a street or exchange fault, not your router.
- Check the master socket, reseat any DSL filters, and try a second device to rule out one faulty laptop or phone.
Why Sky goes down: typical causes
Because Sky leans on Openreach for the physical line, many "Sky outages" actually begin in that shared infrastructure: a damaged street cabinet, planned exchange maintenance, or roadworks that sever a duct will knock out Sky alongside every other Openreach-based provider in the same area. Layered on top are faults unique to Sky — its core routing, authentication and DNS. A tell-tale sign of the latter is a line that is fully synced (broadband light steady) yet still can't load pages: that pattern usually points at Sky's DNS or session servers rather than the copper or fibre.
Sky Mobile problems are a different matter. Because it runs on the O2 network, a mast fault or a capacity crunch on O2 shows up as no signal or crawling data on Sky Mobile even while your home broadband behaves perfectly — and, occasionally, the reverse.
Is it me or Sky?
Let a quick test decide. Put your phone on 4G/5G with Wi-Fi off and run a speed test, then cable a computer to the Sky Hub and repeat it. A working phone with a dead wired result places the fault on your line or Sky's network; a healthy wired result beside flaky Wi-Fi points at your home wireless — congestion on the channel, distance, or thick walls. A neighbour on Sky or any other Openreach provider is a handy check: if they're down too, it's an area fault.
Don't mistake slow for down, either. A wired figure that keeps coming in at a fraction of your plan is a speed complaint rather than an outage — and make sure you've read the units right, since a 900 Mbps Sky Full Fibre plan works out to only about 112 MB/s in a download manager. Our UK ISP speed test guide lays out how to record a lasting shortfall.
How to contact Sky and check the official status
Sky's support line is 0333 7591 310, and the My Sky app checks for known faults on your line and lets you raise a report without holding on the phone. To tell whether a problem is nationwide, weigh two independent sources against each other: the reports on Downdetector and the live badge above. In a large outage, a "Sky down" search on social media usually confirms within minutes whether only your street or the whole country is affected.
FAQ
How do I know if Sky is down right now?
Read the live badge near the top of this page: it is worked out from public network signals over Sky's network ranges and refreshes roughly every 10 minutes. Red points to a probable network-wide fault; green while your own line is dead usually means a fault in your home or on your specific Openreach line. Cross-check the reports map on Downdetector and a phone speed test on mobile data before you decide.
My Sky broadband light is flashing — what does that mean?
On an FTTC (part-fibre) line the Sky Hub's broadband light should be steady once the line has synced with the street cabinet; flashing or off means it has lost sync. On a full-fibre FTTP line the signal arrives at a separate Openreach ONT box: if its optical or LOS light is off or red, no light is reaching your home, which is a street or exchange fault rather than a problem with your router.
Does Sky use the Openreach network?
Yes. Sky Broadband is delivered mostly over Openreach — FTTC on older lines and full-fibre FTTP where it exists — with Sky's own core routing and DNS on top. That is why a shared Openreach fault can take Sky down alongside other providers, while a Sky-specific core or DNS problem hits only Sky customers. Sky Mobile is separate again: it is hosted on the Virgin Media O2 network.
My line is synced but pages won't load — is that Sky?
Often, yes. If the broadband light is steady (the line is up) but nothing loads, the copper or fibre is fine and the fault is more likely in Sky's own DNS, authentication or session servers. Try loading a site by its IP address or switch a device to a public DNS to confirm; if that works, it points at Sky's platform rather than your line.
Sky is slow but not fully down — what should I do?
Run one test wired into the Sky Hub and one over Wi-Fi. If the wired figure is healthy, your Wi-Fi is the bottleneck (channel congestion, distance, thick walls). If the wired figure is consistently a fraction of your plan, that is a speed complaint rather than an outage — and check the units, because a 900 Mbps Sky Full Fibre plan is only about 112 MB/s in a download manager.
How long do Sky outages last and can I claim compensation?
Most network-wide faults clear within a few hours; a physical fault such as a damaged cabinet or cut duct needs an Openreach engineer and can run longer. Sky takes part in Ofcom's automatic compensation scheme, so if a total loss of service is not fixed within two working days you may be owed compensation — keep a note of the date, time and any fault reference.