topic Re: Changing from Sky Router to Third Party One in Broadband

Changing from Sky Router to Third Party One

drake55 — Fri, 08 Mar 2024 15:27:36 GMT

I have read a lot of stuff on here regarding alternative routers, which is great. However, the conversations quickly turn quite technical and I’m not particularly tech savvy.

I have Sky Ultrafast Plus (ROI) with speeds up to 500 Mbps. The router (model SR203) is connected to the ONT by the front door, but there is a significant drop in our living room and upstairs bedrooms. Our TV has a Fire TV stick 4K max, through which the kids watch Netflix etc, which supports WiFi 6, but my understanding is that the Sky router doesn’t support WiFi 6.

To get better strength WiFi in our living room and upstairs, and maximise the use of the Fire TV stick I was proposing to upgrade to a third party router, which I can plug directly into the ONT. I see Asus recommended a lot on here. So, would somebody kindly recommend a particular Asus router that would work in my situation. If I search on Amazon the array of choices from Asus is confusing for non technical people.

Many thanks.

drake55

Re: Changing from Sky Router to Third Party One

peter-marlow+1966 — Fri, 08 Mar 2024 18:48:45 GMT

Call sky and ask for a booster for your WiFi

Re: Changing from Sky Router to Third Party One

drake55 — Sat, 09 Mar 2024 12:10:28 GMT

Hello Peter, thanks for the reply. I requested a booster from Sky when I upgraded to Fibre, however, the agent told me that Sky doesn't provide them and that I would have to buy my own. Even then I would still not be able to fully utilise WiFi 6. One of the reasons that I upgraded to fibre was to improve the reach of the WiFi, and whilst Fibre is a vast improvement, the reach is no better.

If I am to make a financial outlay I would rather future-proof it by buying an Asus router that would hopefully sort out all my issues. Can somebody recommend one?

Many thanks

Re: Changing from Sky Router to Third Party One

drake55 — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 15:54:40 GMT

Hello, perhaps

@Chrisee

@cookiemonsteruk

@jamesn123

Would have an opinion? I've noticed you guys are very helpful on this issue,

Cheers Drake55

Re: Changing from Sky Router to Third Party One

cookiemonsteruk — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 16:01:51 GMT

@drake55

In ireland any wifi 6 router should work fine

Unlike the uk which uses dhcp option 61 ireland uses pppoe using the credentials

Username anything@skydsl

Password anything

Then locate vlan id and enter 10

I would suggest the asus rt ax58u, rt ax68u, rt ax82u, rt ax86u, rt ax88u or any asus zenwifi mesh

Re: Changing from Sky Router to Third Party One

cookiemonsteruk — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 16:18:59 GMT

@drake55

By the way if you use the above method you lose your sky internet calls however you can switch wifi off on the sky hub and ethernet the asus to the sky hub and set the asus operating mode to access point

Re: Changing from Sky Router to Third Party One

drake55 — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 16:55:25 GMT

Thank you very much for your swift reply @cookiemonsteruk.

I'll check them out and see how far the budget can go,

Many thanks,,drake55

Re: Changing from Sky Router to Third Party One

drake55 — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 17:00:58 GMT

@cookiemonsteruk

Thanks for the extra info. The Sky internet calls shouldn't be an issue. Would you recommend connecting the Aus router straight into the ONT or via the Sky SR203 router?

Re: Changing from Sky Router to Third Party One

cookiemonsteruk — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 17:06:35 GMT

@drake55

Either. Its up to you. With an asus directly connected to the ont you have a few extra functions

Free aiprotection with parental controls

Vpn can be used on the router instead of each device

Adaptive qos allows you to prioritise gaming, streaming, browsing etc using the asus router app

Re: Changing from Sky Router to Third Party One

drake55 — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 17:25:02 GMT

@cookiemonsteruk

Many thanks. I'll probably go with the rt ax58u and see how that goes.

Many thanks

Re: Changing from Sky Router to Third Party One

cookiemonsteruk — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 17:28:28 GMT

@drake55

They do a rt ax56u but its not as sophisticated as the rt ax58u but may be useful if you set the rt ax56u in aimesh mode and blanket the house in wifi

Re: Changing from Sky Router to Third Party One

drake55 — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 17:53:26 GMT

@cookiemonsteruk

Thanks. yes, I was thinking along those lines i.e. which Asus product would link wirelessly with the Ax 58U in a mesh system. So thanks for that.

Re: Changing from Sky Router to Third Party One

cookiemonsteruk — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 18:00:16 GMT

@drake55

Yep. No point buying say 3 rt ax58 when 2 are going to be mesh nodes. Hence rt ax56u for mesh where asus recommend 8-9 nodes before the mesh falls apart.

So the main rt ax58u router is 1 node and each rt ax56u mesh unit is 2 nodes where each can cover 2200sq ft (i believe) .

Re: Changing from Sky Router to Third Party One

drake55 — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 18:38:21 GMT

@cookiemonsteruk

Would the other option be to spend the combined cost of the ax56u & 58u on a more expensive router and just have one piece of equipment?

Re: Changing from Sky Router to Third Party One

cookiemonsteruk — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 18:48:02 GMT

@drake55

Would depend on your requirements and whether you want to mesh the house and of course the size of the house

For example if you are an avid gamer then you might want a asus tuf or asus rog router (not sure what price they go for) but also the rt ax82u , rt ax68u and rt ax86u are regarded as gaming routers. If you just want a powerful general purpose router then i'd just stick to the rt jx58u

Re: Changing from Sky Router to Third Party One

drake55 — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 18:53:09 GMT

@cookiemonsteruk

No gamers in our house! Just want stronger Wifi with better each. Many thanks for your insights.

Re: Changing from Sky Router to Third Party One

cookiemonsteruk — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 18:56:50 GMT

@drake55

@drake55 wrote:

@cookiemonsteruk

No gamers in our house! Just want stronger Wifi with better each. Many thanks for your insights.

Then you'll not beat the rt ax58u and a few rt ax56u's if needed..

Also do you have sky q as they operate differently to 3rd routers

Re: Changing from Sky Router to Third Party One

drake55 — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 19:33:34 GMT

@cookiemonsteruk

No, I don't have Sky Q, just the Fibre broadband. My children use the Firestick (which is WiFi 6 compatible) for Netflix, Amazon etc and of course, they have laptops, phones etc., so several units are looking for WiFi. I think I'll get the AX 58u first and see how it goes. I can add the AX 56u's if needed.

Again many thanks

Re: Changing from Sky Router to Third Party One

SlackDarren — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 05:51:14 GMT

@cookiemonsteruk

Im taking Sky supports other modems too, Not Just Asus, Maybe TP-Link ?

Thanks

Re: Changing from Sky Router to Third Party One

cookiemonsteruk — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 06:27:04 GMT

@SlackDarren

What connection do you have superfast fttc or fttp?

Are you in the uk or ireland?