Yet another Sky Q Mini MR209 Error

[TheNeen]

So after a bunch of reading of various forum threads here, I havent been able to get to the bottom of my issues.

Disclaimer; network engineer day job.

Been getting MR209 errors consistently since install of Sky Q. Finally getting around to sorting it. 

Wifi is disabled on both the 2Tb main box, and the mini.

Network topology is as follows:

Virgin Hub 3 (Modem Mode) > Netgear Nighthawk R8000 (Router and Wireless AP). From here are 2 Ethernet connections - 1 to a Meraki Switch then a ethernet connection to the Mini. The other a 300mbps Powerline adapter to the 2Tb main box downstairs.

Its worth nothing that this was originally set up on WiFi, and on the first experience of MR209 I hardwired the lot and disabled WiFi. Eco mode is off on both devices.

At this point I am at a loss. Watching anything is problematic, often stuttering before giving an MR209 which screams bandwidth, which i could agree with if it wasn't hardwired to a solid 1Gb network. 

Can anyone point me in a direction I may have missed? I miss my old Sky+ boxes in each room with dedicated aerial feeds at this point....

[TheNeen]

Anyone, please? 😭

[Chadm-10]

I'm have the same issue, I'm with Sky for internet but also using R8000 in AP mode, and wifi disabled on the Sky router and all Q boxes. Couple of simple unmanaged Netgear GS308's, 1 connected to AP and 1 to router. It's a brand new house with all new wiring, but I'm beginning to suspect the powerline adapters myself... Think I'm going to order some long cat6 cables and see if bypassing them works any better. Not going to be easy to route the cables though if it does turn out to be that.

[Tommy2tries]

I had the same issue just with one mini box. All solid Ethernet connected with 300gb fibre. Tried all the forum suggestions and none worked. After much testing I found the only fix is to shut down all boxes and restart the main box first, once this is up and running fully then start the mini's separately. This seems to work, I do still get the error every 3 or 4 months and strangely it's only ever when on ITV??? But the above method always fixes it for a few months. 

[Nodisplaynamr]

I get the same error frequently. Also wired with wireless disabled. Same thing happens with wireless so clearly not actually a proximity error. Sky need to sort this. It's buggy software and we never get Sky response with anything other than uselsss suggestions like get a booster or restart the boxes. Come on Sky sort this out, so many are reporting this issue. 

[Tommy2tries]

Agree. The fact our systems work perfectly for a while suggests it must be a bug. sky don't seem to like people using Ethernet connections but their system offers this capability so it should handle it. It's far superior to WiFi so they should have more info on it.

[Rhonny]

@Nodisplaynamr

What is the other end of the Sky mini box's ethernet connected to?

The ethernet wiring needs to be reliable too. Have you tried a different ethernet cable?

When you plugged in the ethernet, did you go to Settings / Setup / Network / Reset, and at step 2 of 4 on screen, DON'T press any WPS buttons when prompted as this will override the ethernet and will connect wirelessly again. Instead just let it connect on its own which takes around 30 seconds. This ensures that the box is properly connected by ethernet. Then, once properly connected, that's when you can turn the wifi off on the mini. 

[Tommy2tries]

they are all connected to switches. The network uses backhaul. One mini travels through 2 switches and never has a problem but my other mini which travels through just one switch starts showing this error every month or so. Before the error appears the picture starts freezing and unfreezing for 10 mins. Yet it can be fine for a month and the other mini and main are always ok. The cables are new and tested so I can't see this is the problem but I could try a test cable. I'll also try the reset as I haven't tried that. I just switched off WiFi and everything worked. Cheers will let you know if these work👍

[Rhonny]

@Tommy2tries

Switches need to be unmanaged for Sky to work as it should. Just in case that's helpful here. 

[Nodisplaynamr]

@Rhonny  Thanks for trying to help with this. Yes I followed all the right procedures. I work in IT so have some knowledge. The problem here , like with all the posts on this is that it is intermittent. It can work for weeks then go wrong three times in two hours. That is why I think it is flaky Sky software. Their hardware and software has always been unreliable. As far as I am concerned it needs to be far more resilient and much clearer on the errors that do occur. Once set up and working correctly it is reasonable to expect it to continue that way. This is why I would like someone from Sky to look into this properly and not go through the standard and pointless set up or reset instructions. 

[Tommy2tries]

Thanks for the info. I use 4 - TP LINK unmanaged switches. All the same model TL-SG1005D

Fibre arrives in bridged mode into main linksy node and out to 1st switch. The switch splits to 3 other linksy nodes with switches on each the other side. 

The main sky box and the problematic mini connect directly to the first switch, the 2nd working mini connects to one of the other switches (so goes through 2 linksey nodes and 2 switches. 

I'm going to perform your advice on skipping the WPS process today. As you mention, it's difficult to diagnose if it's intermittent 🙂 

[Tommy2tries]

Quick question, I'm resetting the main box first, so I then reset the minis and skip the section you mention?

[Tommy2tries]

Tried the reset. At step 2 on the minis it doesn't seem to do anything and after about 2 mins it's just starts working, however it connects via WiFi. So I had to turn off WiFi via settings/001 menu.

I also had to do settings/001 on the main box initially.

also when you turn off both WiFi's and press confirm it's just hangs.

all seems to work though???

[Tommy2tries]

Final update. All is working but the resets didn't work as expected. If one of the mini's is off I get a message saying there is no internet so it can't connect but will keep trying, then 5 seconds later it connects but I have to turn off wifi again. Yet if the other mini is on it works fine. Almost like it's trying to daisy chain rather than connect direct to the main box.

Not sure if there is another way to check I am connected via ethernet on the main box and the 2 minis are connected to the main box via ethernet.

Thanks for all your help from both of you above.