Once Skylink was a fairly large operator. Its coverage area, although inferior to competitors, was wide. Over time, his star faded, today he works in only four regions. And to be honest, it was he who became the first 3G operator in Russia, however, in a different range. Let's see how Internet Skylink works today and under what conditions.

To begin with, let's name the main advantages of Skylink:

• Affordable rates - it acts as a kind of discounter.
• Powerful coverage map - the operator works where others do not work. Its base stations cover vast areas.
• Safety for humans is associated with the use of safe frequencies.

At frequencies of 800, 850, 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz, they always swore - they say, the frequency is too high, the influence on a person is too great. And this is true, because no one doubts the harmfulness of microwave radiation from microwave ovens. Almost all stoves operate at a frequency of 2450 MHz, adversely affecting living tissues. GSM networks are no less harmful, although the frequencies and power are smaller there.

Skylink operates at a frequency of 450 MHz. A few years ago, he used the CDMA-450 standard, which was (and is) considered safe. But he did not succeed in overcoming GSM-operators. Over time, the operator turned off his towers, remaining in the Moscow, Leningrad, Tver and Novgorod regions. In 2016, Skylink launches networks in the LTE-450 standard, providing high-speed unlimited Internet to the most remote corners in the regions of its operation.

Services under the Skylink brand are provided by the Tele2 mobile operator.

Coverage

First, let's get acquainted with the Skylink coverage map. Here we see strong coverage in St. Petersburg and Leningrad region, as well as in Moscow and the Moscow region. In the Tver and Novgorod regions, the coverage is torn, but each base station covers a fairly decent territory. Having Internet Skylink to your dacha is a great solution if you want to weed the beds, fixing your achievements in social networks.

In their reviews, users were divided into two almost equal camps. Some praise the 4G networks from Tele2 and Skylink, others scold them. Most of all goes to a slightly buggy Skylink H1 router. As for negative reviews, their appearance is quite understandable - the congestion of networks at one point or another affects, as well as the nature of the propagation of radio waves, which is why the speed begins to float.

Internet from Skylink can also be used in many other regions - these are the Krasnodar Territory, the Rostov Region, the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and other places where 4G networks operate (and on the same terms as in the home zone!).

Purchase of equipment and SIM cards

You can buy routers with LTE 450 Skylink support in Tele2 branded stores and its online store, as well as in Skylink branded stores. There are three routers for Internet access to choose from:

• Skylink H1 is a stationary device, suitable for home and summer cottages.
• Skylink V-FL500 is the second stationary router, which attracts with the presence of a backup battery, if the power supply suddenly turns off (this is quite normal outside the city).
• Skylink M1 - small pocket router on the battery, designed for travelers.

The estimated cost of routers for the Internet is from 3150 to 3500 rubles. Check prices in stores and online stores of Skylink and Tele2 brands.

Tariff plans

Let's get back closer to the Internet, or rather, to tariff plans. Skylink and its Internet tariffs excite with unlimited Internet. Real unlimited without any conditions. There are four tariffs in total:

• Skylink S - 8 GB for 490 rubles / month.
• Skylink L - 15 GB for 790 rubles / month.
• Skylink XL - unlimited for 1190 rubles / month.
• Day online - 49 rubles / day.

If the limit is exceeded, traffic costs 6 kop/Mb for the first TP and 5 kop/Mb for the second TP. But the activation of additional traffic can be prohibited through your personal account.

And here's a little life hack for you - we buy a router with a Skylink SIM card in one of the regions with LTE-450 and use real unlimited in 4G networks in other regions.

Today, many do not even think about how often they use the Internet in Everyday life. Access to the World Wide Web can be for any reason: chatting with friends, listening to music, finding out a recipe for your favorite dish, ordering movie tickets, etc. Of course, gigabytes are leaking one after another, and at some point you have to think: which tariff to choose in order to save personal funds as much as possible? For its subscribers, the Skylink provider, which is also an alternative operator of the Moscow company Tele2, offered optimal conditions that meet all modern requirements. After updating the tariff line, several favorable tariffs appeared at once, but Skylink XL is of particular interest - a completely unlimited tariff for free Internet surfing.

Briefly about the tariff line

We have already talked about Skylink, each of which is focused on a certain range of users. The company's clients will now be able to use the service of transferring unused balances of web traffic to the next period. There is also a tariff "Day in the network" - with a daily payment for services only if you have used them.

Fireproof Internet balances are valid for Skylink S and Skylink L tariffs. If you are the owner of the first tariff plan, you have 8 GB at your disposal every month, if the second - 15 GB. It is likely that these considerable amounts will not be spent by you in full size for 30 days, which means you can use them (and, in addition, get a new package already) next month.

Along with the update tariff scale in Skylink, the coverage area has also recently increased. Almost 98% of residents of Moscow and Moscow, as well as Leningrad, Novgorod and Tver regions can connect to the services of this provider. Now we can confidently say that soon the Internet will work stably even in areas where there are no roads and infrastructure problems. Difficulties in connecting to Skylink and purchasing necessary equipment, according to the provider, should not arise.

Skylink XL tariff conditions

Let's proceed directly to the analysis of the "Skylink XL" tariff. It is worth noting that earlier the tariff with the same name had unlimited Internet only at night. Now you can use unlimited Anytime by paying only a fixed monthly cost.

• The main "feature" of the tariff plan is a completely unlimited amount of Internet traffic.
• The cost of the monthly subscription fee is 1190 rubles. Attention: for subscribers of the Moscow region. In St. Petersburg, Tver and Novgorod regions, a subscription fee of 990 rubles is charged.
• Money will be debited from your account on the first day of each month. We advise you to check in advance whether this amount is available on your account.
• With the Skylink XL tariff, you can use file hosting services and torrent trackers without any special restrictions.
• From the starting month of connection, the cost of the tariff will be charged in proportion to the number of days remaining until the end of this month.
• Tariff plan works exclusively with branded routers from Skylink. In this case, LTE450 technology is implemented, which means that high-quality and fast 4G Internet is guaranteed. True, the provider warns customers in advance that in case of high network load, the speed may be slightly reduced.

Features of the Skylink XL tariff

In order for the subscriber to save as much as possible own funds, Skylink offered the following conditions regarding the subscription fee:

• If you top up your account before the tenth of each month, the monthly fee is automatically debited.
• After the eleventh day, the cost of the subscription fee is not withdrawn from the account, so you yourself can decide whether to pay with these funds for the current period or leave them to replenish your account in the next period.

With this tariff, you can freely use the original Skylink SIM card - the main thing is to be the owner of the company's router. Internet with a 4G router can be used while traveling different regions Russia.

How to connect "Skylink XL"

To become a client of the company, you will need to conclude an appropriate agreement. This can be done without leaving home, directly on the company's website or in the brand's office. When placing an order on the site, make sure that the data entered is correct. If you have additional questions or problems, you can always seek expert advice online.

Having chosen the Skylink XL tariff plan on the site, fill in subscription form. You will then receive a notification via SMS or email. After that, the manager will contact you to agree on the conditions and clarify the time of the visit of Skylink specialists to install and connect the equipment.

Conclusion

Skylink XL is an interesting option for those who prefer to use the Internet on an unlimited scale: download movies, series and music, play online games, surf the net day or night. The tariff cannot be called budgetary, however, for a fixed price, you will be given a free choice of actions on the network, as well as high-quality Internet according to a modern communication standard.

Skylink is a Russian telecom operator providing services in the IMT-MC-450 standard. Unique technologies of the company allow to support high speed wireless data transmission in remote settlements with unstable GSM coverage. Skylink base stations operate at frequencies of 450 MHz, coverage radius is 20 km. The provider guarantees high-quality signal transmission to complex architectural and underground structures. The Skylink modem will be a salvation or is it another publicity stunt. We will understand in more detail.

What regions does Skylink work in?

In 2016, Tele2 under the Skylink brand is gradually introducing a 450 MHz LTE network in Tver, Novgorod, St. Petersburg and Moscow. The Skylink coverage area is expanding in Ulyanovsk at the beginning of 2018.

Unlimited Internet from Skylink - tariffs and packages

Tariff scale for retail and business clients:

Payment is deducted in proportion to the number of days in a month. When the package is exhausted, traffic in excess of the package is paid based on the used MB. An unused balance is transferred to the next month free of charge if the subscription fee is credited in time (before the 1st day).

Initially, the transferred limit is spent, then the new package provided for by the fee. By changing the tariff plan, the unused balance is liquidated.

The subscription fee is charged according to the following scheme:

1. When replenishing the balance before the 10th day of the month, the subscription fee is automatically charged.
2. From the 11th, the client independently decides: to pay for the services of the current or next period. In the first case, you will need to click the "Write off the subscription fee" button. Service connection takes place in Personal account Skylink website (my.skylink.ru).

Using the Skylink router on other networks

The Skylink SIM card provides access to the network through the router of the same name. For data transfer, voice calls and sending SMS through third-party devices, the following restrictions apply:

• accepting calls in the region of connection - 0 rubles;
• accepting calls in another city Tele2 - 5 rubles / min .;
• calls within the Russian Federation - 5 rubles / min .;
• communication in the CIS - 30 rubles / min .;
• conversations with subscribers living in the EU - 49 rubles / min .;
• calls to other countries — 69 rubles/min;
• SMS within the Russian Federation - 3.5 rubles;
• SMS abroad - 5.5 rubles.

Free use of roaming:

In the cities of Skylink coverage - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tver, Novgorod. In the Tele2 network (4G network): Voronezh, Kemerovo, Krasnodar, Orel, Karelia, Komi, Mordovia, Tyva, Khakassia. And also Rostov. Tambov, Tula, Ulyanovsk, Yugra, Tyumen.

The company's prospects are aimed at covering the B2B segment, developing a secure MVNO network for security agencies and government agencies, as well as creating a secure M2M channel for transport and financial sphere.

Internet connection equipment from SkyLink

Potential clients The company offers two types of 4G router: home and mobile module (for travelers). Devices are universal. Supports a frequency of 450 MHz and the usual LTE bands (800 - 2600 MHz). With an increase in the download speed, the devices are automatically reconfigured to a new range.

What equipment is offered to individuals?

fast internet anywhere in the Russian Federation will provide a 4G router for travelers. When planning a stationary placement of the device, a 4G router for the home will be an ideal option. Successful purchases!

Terms for business clients

SkyLink demonstrates interesting business solutions:

• home conditions throughout the Russian Federation;
• automatic prolongation of services when the package is exhausted;
• the ability to block the account upon reaching the established limit;
• use of advance or credit system of payment;
• provision of the "Promised payment" service, which allows you to credit the account with a conditional amount at a convenient time in order to continue using the service with a zero balance.

Skylink - work away from the city with unstable coverage of ¾G networks or the absence of towers of other operators. For work outside the city, a 4G router H1 is proposed, for trips - a 4G router M1. A set of two directional antennas with mounts ( price 3300 rub.).

How to connect?

The Skylink provider provides the ability to connect to the Internet and cellular communications using the SIM card of the same name. The full price of the kit is determined by the selected tariff plan. The paid amount will go to the client's balance and serve as a reserve for paying for user services.

Using the LTE450 band will provide a branded Skylink router: for a country house "H1" or travel "M1". If the signal from the base station is weak, you will need to install two directional antennas. The price of routers is 0 rubles, additional sets of antennas are 3300 rubles. Detailed characteristics of the goods are presented on the Skylink.ru website. It is enough to open the section "Choose a router", "Additional set of equipment" and "Tariff plan".

Where to connect Skylink?

Use the services of an Internet provider by placing an order for a router and a SIM card on the official website of the company, Skylink counters or Tele2 salons at the nearest address indicated on the map.

Instructions for placing an order on the site skylink.ru:

1. Explore the capabilities of routers.
2. Pick up an additional set of equipment.
3. Conduct an overview of the tariff scale by activating the "Tariff connection" option.
4. Click the "Apply" button.
5. Fill in electronic form questionnaires with personal information and indicate the delivery address. Check the order details and click on the "Next" link.
6. After receiving SMS and Email notifications, wait for a call from a technical support employee to verify the information provided.
7. By phone or email confirmation of the application will come.

To receive the goods, you will need a passport or other document used in the formation of the application.

Video "New skylink LTE-450 router"

I read reviews about SkyLink, I thought, most likely, everything has changed, since most of the reviews are outdated. Since my previous provider eventually pissed me off at a speed of 1 Mbps with the declared 20 Mbps, I decided to change to SkyLink. I called a specialist to check the speed of the Internet directly at home, the young man insisted to come in the morning. I arrived, showed, everything works - somewhere the speed is 13 Mbps, and somewhere 33 Mbps. I paid for a router for more than 3000 rubles and an unlimited tariff of 1200 rubles, and in the evening I understood why the young man insisted on coming in the morning - in the evening the speed dropped below 1 Mbps ... And so every day, in the morning the speed is normal, and in the evening it drops. Bad, but better than with the previous provider, in principle, you can adjust.

In less than 1.5 weeks, the speed around the clock became 500 kbps! I suffered for three days, today I called the contact center. Employee Roman replied that the speed had dropped due to a large number users in the area where I am, and the network is working fine. To my question, how did it happen that for 1.5 weeks the network coped with the load, and three days ago all users simultaneously decided to get on the Internet and for three days they intensively use it without lunch breaks, he politely but brazenly expressed surprise, which I resent - everything works, just a lot of users. And, of course, he couldn’t answer when it would stop... When I asked if I could return the router if I wanted to stop using the services, he clarified whether the router was working, and answered that no, I couldn’t, because it’s bad The quality of the Internet is not a reason to return the router. It turns out that the reason is not the lack of a developed network that can cope with the load, and we ourselves, SkyLink users who pay them money, are to blame for the fact that we do not have the Internet. And what did you want, to pay money and get reliable Internet? - not in SkyLink!

Seriously, read the reviews carefully, I checked it for myself - if people write, then there is a reason. Do not buy SkyLink, just waste your money, better buy sweets for children or donate them to charity if you have extra ones. Choose wisely. Whom? - Unfortunately, I don't know yet; If I find it, I'll post...

Mobile operators

By 2003, the analog mobile communication standards NMT-450 and NMT-450i were completely outdated, and the question arose of switching to more advanced technologies. The most promising at that time was considered digital communications CDMA format.

And so the three companies that worked in the NMT-450, Delta Telecom CJSC, Moscow Cellular Communications OJSC and Personal Communications OJSC, operating under the Sonnet brand, decided to create a joint project - a CDMA network, which was called Skylink .

To make this possible, a redistribution of assets took place: "" sold a 25% stake in Moscow Cellular Communications to the newly formed CJSC, AFK Sistema transferred its stakes in all three companies in exchange for 50% of the shares of the new operator, and another part of the shares of Delta Telecom was purchased from OJSC North-West Telecom.

A year later, the state regulator denied Personal Communications an extension of its license for the 800 MHz frequency band, ostensibly to release it under the new digital television standards.

As a result, the CDMA-800 network, which operated under the Sonnet brand, was closed. A year later, Sky Link CJSC controlled 92.5% of the operator's shares. The rest was owned by the American company Qualcomm Inc, on the basis of whose equipment Sonnet worked.

In the same 2004, the company acquired two more stakes in Delta Telecom and Moscow Cellular Communications, which previously belonged to the RTDC holding. And CJSC North-West Telecom "shared" its shares in three regions at once: Murmansk, Vologda and Kaliningrad.

Since 2005, an active transition from NMT networks to CDMA has finally begun: EV-DO technology is being introduced, which significantly increases the speed of Internet access, so far - in Rev A modification. At the same time, experimental zones are being opened in Moscow and St. Petersburg in band 2, 1 GHz.

In 2008, CJSC Sonet ceases to exist following the results of the board of directors, merging into CJSC Sky Link. Until 2009, active buying of shares of regional cellular operators, including those operating in the GSM standard, continues.

At that time, sorting took place, so to speak: the assets of controlled companies that had licenses to provide communications in the CDMA standard were allocated to Astarta CJSC, controlled by Sky Link by 100%, and similar GSM assets were allocated to separate legal entities, and a year later they were similarly assembled at CJSC Sky-1800.

Around the same period, the Svyazinvest holding, the largest shareholder of the Rostelecom operator, decided to get full control over Skylink. This was achieved as a result of a multi-stage redistribution of blocks of shares between Svyazinvest itself, AFK Sistema and OAO Comstar-UTS.

As a result, on October 4, 2010, control over CJSC Sky Link was completely transferred to Svyazinvest. Since that time, the redistribution began already within the parent company: At first, 50%, and then the remaining shares of Sky Link came under the control of Rostelecom, and then the holding itself was merged into OJSC Rostelecom in 2013.

In 2014, a joint venture between Rostelecom and CJSC Tele2 Russia was created, while the full stake in Sky Link was transferred to LLC T2 RTK Holding. By this time, the relevance of the CDMA standard had already practically fallen to zero, a more progressive fourth-generation LTE format was entering the scene.

It so happened that the frequency of 450 MHz, on which the operator worked, was also suitable for him. As a result, the operation of CDMA networks in the Moscow and Leningrad regions was terminated in 2015-16, and instead of them, LTE-450 networks were launched, all under the same Skylink brand.

This is where the story of the operator ended - in 2015, the CJSC was abolished due to a takeover by the parent company, and only the trademark remained from it.

One of the reasons why the CDMA standard could not compete with GSM at one time was the high cost of equipment. The Sky Link company even had to order special phone models for its subscribers that worked in this format. By 2011, their release was finally discontinued.

The reason was simple - subscribers gradually left for a cheaper and more convenient connection to GSM operators. In 2010, there was even an ugly story: the Moscow Cellular Communications company tried to recover funds from such “refuseniks” under the pretext that they had not terminated the contract, but simply stopped replenishing the balance of their RUIM cards.

The case caused a wide resonance, including due to the methods of debt collection.

At the moment, the Tele2 operator under the Skylink brand provides services high speed internet in the 800, 1800 and 2600 plus 450 MHz bands. In the same regions in which CDMA communication worked earlier: Moscow and the Moscow region, St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, Tver and Novgorod regions.

There are three offers in the tariff line for private subscribers, including an unlimited tariff. Customers can use roaming on the basis of a home tariff when traveling in Russia both in the networks of Skylink itself and in Tele2 4G networks.