topic Re: Ultrafast with wi-fi max router in Broadband

Ultrafast with wi-fi max router

splatto — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 15:25:50 GMT

Can someone please confirm that they have Ultrafast Broadband with the white WI-FI Max router without subscribing to WI-FI Max with the pods? Ultrafast became available in my area in Sept 2024 and I signed up for it. At the time I still had Sky Q with two mini-boxes and the white router was considered incompatible. I recently switched to Sky Stream and knowing that new broadband customers were getting the white router without WI-Fi Max as standard I enquired about the possibility of upgrading my old black router to the newer white one. It didn't seem unreasonable as a customer of 35 years to request what new customers are getting. However I was informed that the WI-FI Max router isn't compatible with Ultrafast, which is surely nonsense, and the router doesn't provide full broadband speed without the pods, which is palpable nonsense. I personally know three people who joined Sky Broadband at speeds between 75 and 130mb who were given the white router without subscribing to WI-FI Max. I can't see any reason why the router wouldn't be provided to Ultrafast customers because of compatibility issues.

Re: Ultrafast with wi-fi max router

TimmyBGood — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 18:31:49 GMT

@splatto wrote:

I can't see any reason why the router wouldn't be provided to Ultrafast customers because of compatibility issues.

Marketing rather than compatibility. If current subscribers with a Sky Q or Sky Broadband Hub don't opt to add WiFi Max then they don't get the Max Hub: Q Hubs are being swapped out for Sky Broadband Hubs though, because the Q model no longer meets minimum UK standards for routers. New customers get the Max Hub, presumably so that they can be upsold to WiFi Max at a later point.

Re: Ultrafast with wi-fi max router

splatto — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 18:23:42 GMT

Cheers. If it's not available to existing customers of 35 years as an upgrade it's a dire policy, but at least it makes sense. To say it doesn't work with Ultrafast is an absurd lack of knowledge or a deliberate lie.

Re: Ultrafast with wi-fi max router

mormegil — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 21:41:20 GMT

Ultrafast is an old product only sold via Gfast technology which does not work with the new max hub

gfast has its own separate hub which looks like the black 4.2 but has different internals for this different network type

fttp has not been sold as ultra fast or ultra fast + for over a year as ofcom demanded the packages be more visible to customers so are now named by their speed

Re: Ultrafast with wi-fi max router

TimmyBGood — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 22:02:37 GMT

@mormegil wrote:

Ultrafast is an old product only sold via Gfast technology which does not work with the new max hub

If it 'became available in my area in Sept 2024' it won't be G.fast

Re: Ultrafast with wi-fi max router

mormegil — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 22:02:08 GMT

There is a difference between being available in the street and available to sell

Re: Ultrafast with wi-fi max router

TimmyBGood — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 22:04:14 GMT

@mormegil

Certainly, but G.fast ceased deployment in new areas five years ago.

Re: Ultrafast with wi-fi max router

TimmyBGood — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 22:05:51 GMT

@splatto

Just to check, do you have an SR203 plugged into an ONT, or an SR204 into a wall socket?

Re: Ultrafast with wi-fi max router

splatto — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 22:47:59 GMT

I have the sr203 ONT. This was set up in Sept 2024 when the full fibre became available. Prior to that I had the Sky Q router and wall socket.

Re: Ultrafast with wi-fi max router

mormegil — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 22:51:51 GMT

Since you have an Ont it's fully fibre so if you upgrade to 500mbps or faster you should get the option to upgrade to the max hub with or with out the max subscription but unless you want faster WiFi or still use the landline there is no real benefit to upgrading and there are other third party options available if you don't use the telephone

Re: Ultrafast with wi-fi max router

splatto — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 23:07:57 GMT

I already have 500mb that I signed up to for two years in September 2024. As I said in my original post the SR213 wasn't compatible with my Sky Q Mini-boxes so I got the SR203.
I enquired about upgrading it when I switched from Q to Stream and was told it's not compatible as I also stated in my original post.

Re: Ultrafast with wi-fi max router

splatto — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 08:42:23 GMT

Reading this again this morning, I should have said Ultrafast Plus in my original query. The principle is the same in terms of the router not being available as an upgrade to existing customers and the reasons why that I was given, but wasn't accurate.

Re: Ultrafast with wi-fi max router

mormegil — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 09:30:22 GMT

Yeah sorry I read it as you were changing to ultrafast rather than already having it

originally the max hub was only sold to customers that didn't have q tv and multi room due to the incompatibility with the tv's mesh system

while that has never been resolved the max hub availability was extended to more situations

Re: Ultrafast with wi-fi max router

splatto — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 21:15:44 GMT

A final postscript to this. I borrowed a WIFI Max hub from a friend of a friend to try it out and not only does it work perfectly, it's also tangibly superior in my house. The actual broadband indicates a slightly faster speed but there were no problems anyway. However I have poor WIFI in my back bedroom. It's not a blind spot, but the older router gives readings between 70 and 80 dBm. The WIFI Max gives 65 to 68 dBm.
Even though it's possible to acquire the router unofficially, of course Sky are not going to allow me to pair what could be considered stolen property for use with the My Sky app. It's tempting to get one though given the superior performance and Sky's poor attitude to supplying them to existing customers.

Re: Ultrafast with wi-fi max router

JimM1 — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 21:53:50 GMT

@splatto Probably more off a commercial reason not to give you the sky Max hub as a free swap for the older SR203 sky Broadband Hub, but it's a if you want and feel you need, there are a lot off wifi6 Routers out there at well low cost's now will do a far better job but you do have to consider if a landline is used and in the mix!

Re: Ultrafast with wi-fi max router

Chrisee — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 08:35:16 GMT

@splatto Sky's policy regarding which hub each customer gets is very infexible and does change. When you upgraded new customers buying a 500Mb/s service would have likely got a Sky Max hub but customers upgrading from say Superfast did not.

In practice having had both I found the older SR203 confortably delivered 500Mb/s in my main living area. I did try the WiFi Max package soon after its launch but rejected it in the first month as it in practice even with two pods did not improve speeds on the two other levels in my home and as such was not worth the extra cost so I took advantage of Sky's 30 day cooling off period. To my suprise Sky told me to keep the SR213 white hub but to return the SR203 I had previously. Apparently thst was the policy and I am not aware it has changed.if you get my drift.😉

Re: Ultrafast with wi-fi max router

splatto — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 10:04:51 GMT

That's not a bad idea. Even if per chance they did ask for the SR213 to be returned it would still be nothing ventured etc......