Replacement Hub

[SwSean]

Morning all.

I've had Sky Broadband Superfast for over 5yrs now with the old black box hub. No issues at all up until the other day when devices connected via WiFi started to drop their connection and won't reconnect unless I re-boot the hub. Wired connections are fine, however something is clearly up with the WiFi aspect.

Rang up this morning to request a replacement hub. Went through the test process which showed no connection issues to then be told that the black hub is not in stock and a replacement will cost me £39.99. Now I don't recall paying for the hub when I took out my initial contract nor do I recall ever being offered a newer replacement hub each year when I've renewed. My understanding is the hub is part of the service provided. I don't believe I should be now having to pay for a replacement to be able to continue receiving the service I pay for each month.

It was even suggested that if I don't want to pay for a replacement, to cancel my current contract and take out a new one. That just seems ridiculous. You'd think a company would be willing to retain existing loyal customers rather than risk loosing them.

Am I correct in my way of thinking or am I being unreasonable? I don't feel I should have to pay to replace equipment that should be provided as part of a service I pay for or am I wrong? If so, then I have no choice but to pay because I can't manage without a working hub.

Any advice, whether from the knowledgeable customer base or Sky direct would be appreciated. Cheers.

[cookiemonsteruk]

@SwSean 

Are you in contract ?

Is the old hub the sr102 or er110/115

Can you post your router stats to see if there are any other issues other than the hub

https://community.sky.com/t5/Broadband/How-to-find-your-Sky-Broadband-router-stats/m-p/2855717#M1014...

[TechmanagerMal]

• I would check your Hub is working properly here - Lights on your Sky hub explained | Sky Help | Sky.com

[Highlinder]

@SwSeanIf you are out of contract then you can contact Sky and re-contract and ask for a new router and depending on the service you have with Sky you should be offered a new router that if it is not dual-band then should be able to get this.

If you have only 2.4 GHz for Wi-Fi then you can ask Sky for a new router.

[SwSean]

@cookiemonsteruk - yes, I'm still in contract until Jan 2023. I have the original SR102 hub. There are no other issues with the hub or my connection, the line is fine, the issue is only confined to the WiFi.

@Highlinder - as above, the hub appears to be working fine, lights normal, connection speed normal, line fine. Wired devices are no issue, its only those trying to re-connect via WiFi. 

@TechmanagerMal - I am still in contract. The hub is the original SR102, single band. I wasn't aware I could simply ask for for a new dual band - this certainly wasn't an option when I spoke to Sky this morning, it was simply a "you need to pay for a new one or do without" attitude.

[SwSean]

Further to the above, the WiFi signal strength  around the house is no different to what it has always been. The wireless devices can still see the network, they try to connect but are unable to do so. This is a wide variety of devices from mobile phones, to laptops and raspberry pi's. The only way to get anything to work is to reset the hub each time I want to connect which is just not acceptable and will ultimately affect the connection speed at the exchange, as I'm sure you know.

[cookiemonsteruk]

@SwSean 

Thats no longer available as its close to be a museum piece.

They should give you a er115 free of charge and its the sr203 that you have to pay for

[SwSean]

@cookiemonsteruk 

Thanks everyone with your advice. After my 20+ min phone call this morning getting nowhere, I've just come off the phone again after 8mins and now have a replacement hub (ER115) on the way at no cost. 

No dramas, simply explained the issue I was having and all sorted, as it should have been the first time around.

Thanks again.