Sky q hub device limit

[Elliot578]

Hey guys, 

We are having connection issues around our house. Like WiFi dropping and mainly the mini q boxes either stuttering or losing connection completely.

We have just under 20 devices connected to the WiFi (most not in use, ie. Ps4 in rest mode, ipad with screen off etc)

I rang up sky and was told its because we have nearly 20 devices connected to WiFi and it only allows around 10-12 without issues (even if the devices aren't being used). 3 of those devices being the sky q boxes. 

Is this correct, it doesn't seem right to me that sky q doesn't support households like this.

I was told that sky q wouldn't work for us and the only option I had was to cancel if I didn't want to reduce the amount of devices. 

Thanks, 

Elliot. 

[Chrisee]

@Elliot578 it somewhat depends on which hub you have but I never have fewer than 20 devices on my network. Both the Sky Q hubs ER110 and ER115 and the latest Sky Broadband Hub SR203 can support well over a 100 devices in theory but the older sr101 and SR102 have lower device limits but should be able to cope with up,to 16 wifi devices. However more devices sharing bandwidth means lower speeds and some older wifi devices can seriously slow down wifi.

Sky cs reps love to trot out the device limit as a way of getting customers off the phone. 😀

What issue do you have? If you would like some help pist your hubs stats Find your Sky Broadband router statistics

[Elliot578]

I have the er110 and reducing the devices to 12 (3 being the sky q boxes) didn't help, still have problems.

Its also an issue when we're not even downloading /streaming. It happens all times of the day so I don't believe it's a download limit. 

However if I am downloading lots of things, so using our max download rate, this still shouldn't cause an issue with the sky q boxes should it? (while watching a regular channel, not on demand) 

[Chrisee]

@Elliot578 not if the internal network bandwidth is sufficent so the Q minis can get the signal from the Main Q box. I think your issue is poor wifi and not the hub which should cope easily. Download a wifi analyxer app onto a mobile device and see what the signal strength you have across your home. Sky Q boxes normally use the 5GHz for their backhaul, do you have a second network using those frequencies like anothervwifi source of a system like Sonos/ 

[dee+in+uk]

If your sky mini boxes are sky q ones they should be hotspots for your WiFi so that  shouldn't be the problem . I was fine in my household had sky q fitted in 2018 everything was fine until last November when I got my first sky Q broadband hub  I've had a sky engineer out and BT broadband out countless times I was having someone out from November last year until end of march at least once a week ! .I've had a new line fitted and the circuit in the local exchange changed twice I've also had SIX new skyQ hubs since last November . Luckily one time I had a engineer and his boss visit they were here a hour couldn't find anything wrong then they went outside and the mini box crashed I couldn't be happier that it happened while they were still on site ! I even had a BT broadband engineer scratching his head as one sky Q hub wouldn't even sync to the internet ! heIhe even rang sky but she never logged the call !  I've got 21 Devices and as people are going over to smart devices with Google and Alexa these hubs should be future proof but they are not !  Sky said I can cancel anytime but I can only go to BT and they can only guarantee 5 devices and are ten pounds more expensive ! So I'm sticking with sky and their completely useless hub (it goes down all the time ) hopefully they'll be a patch for it in the future to sort out the WiFi issue I mean even if we turn the devices off there's still problems . We have a ethernet switch now and the mini box is connected via ethernet cable and we've turned of the WiFi on it otherwise we can't get a picture .(I'm not even going explain WiFi mesh it's too complicated !) And before anyone asks what my line speed  it's a healthy 65 so that split between 21 +, devices should be fine . 

[Wraggyd]

@Elliot578 Don't accept the answer given on device limit! I have 7 Sky devices on my network (mini boxes, wifi extenders etc) so a limit of 10 would only allow 3 additional devices to connect to their bug ridden routers.  I think Sky tell you the same answer but adjust the device limit to "n-10" where n is number of devices you have on your network. Have a look at the other thread on SR203 DHCP issues which points to the real problem and some possible work arounds  (https://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Broadband/Sky-Router-SR203-DHCP-issues-on-reboot/td-p/3276267)

Up shot is tha the router is not fit for purpose - Sky are supposedly working on a new firmware update but has been a long time coming. So customers will either put in their own work arounds or leave. 

[Chrisee]

@Wraggyd having 7 Sky Q devices on a network is not advised as you are exceeding the number of mesh nodes the system is designed to have. Sky recommend no more than 5 but in practice 6 works but having 7 and things are quite likely to go wrong.

Therefore whilst there is an issue with the SR203 DHCP server which is being addressed but I suspect having a SR203, a main Q box with a mix of 5 Q Minis and boosters is at least part of your problem. Try running the network without the boosters. I would look at other ways of improving connection of your Q boxes back to the hub - Powerline works for me. 

[Wraggyd]

@Chrisee thanks for the post. My set up of 7 devices includes the SR203 all connected through RJ45 ethernet - does the router count in the rule of 6?

3 x mini boxes

2 x wifi extenders (ground floor + 2nd floor)

Sky Q main box

Router

Thanks 

Dave

[Chrisee]

@Wraggyd yes the hub is a mesh node. I would lose at least one of the two boosters if they are in range of any of the WiFi of Q boxes as the issue is the number of possible network paths. As frequently is the case more WiFi is not better WiFi. 

[Wraggyd]

To confirm that I am now on Sky Fibre 150 Mbps FTTP - I have taken out both boosters and turned off WiFi on the 3 minis and main Q box (both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz) - the SR203 router is covering three floors of my house adequately which surprised me.  All Sky Q boxes including the minis are wired back to the router through an unmanaged switch. The main Q box refuses to connect to the router or if it does it holds connection for only a few seconds. The main Q box does exactle the same when connected to the SR203 router using WiFi or a direct etherent connection. Hoping to get this element resolved tomorrow with a service engineer visit......at least the house is has working stable WiFi and ethernet to 50+ devices working fine at the moment. Other threads suggest that the main Q has other issues though e.g. "SSDP multicast storms" will be interesting to see what happens....and if that has been the source of the various problems I have had with devices dropping.

[Expert+User]

I have the fancy new Router & have a disconnect at least once a day, the lights stay green and I have to reboot or unplug/plug back into the Master socket to restore service, Sky support told me I have too many Smart home devices connected and that the system is overloading, I have 7 google devices attached, not many nowadays. Apparently the equipment overloading is not a Sky issue, They will not help and the advice is turn it off & on when you have a problem, disgracefull service as always.

[Obladioblada]

Hi all just got off the phone from sky who told me I have too many devices, I have 17. Are they fobbing me off? I have three Alexa dots, two tv, two Xbox's three phones and a couple of iPads  sky box's and booster. Some of these are not even switched on does this make a difference?

msny thanks

[BrianGJSteer]

This sems to be an ongoing whinge at Sky, regarding the number of devices connected to a Sky hub. Both my previous er110 and now my SR203 have upwards of 40+ fixed IP addresses and typically I have 26 devices connected at any one time.

I'e been having DNS errors according to Fing, and changing to Google, 8.8.8.8 din't seem to resolve it.  Another weird one I've had is that I couldn't connect on one of my laptops to the IP address of my NAS, but I could using the Synology Quickconnect name, but another also Windows 10 laptop could use either method, IP and Quick connect. Other laptops and a PC could use either. it seems to have resolved itself now, but it is so weird.

[Expert+User]

Update, after messing with dns settings and eeking 2 days out of the hub before it goes nuts, I had the net go off last night at about 4am, my 203 has had a firmware update, happy days. Let's see if stability improves. I am now on 5.14.2260.R

[Expert+User]

Its locked up again, so update fixed nothing.