3rd Party Router and Sky Q Mesh

[JackD1992]

Hi, I am hoping someone will be able to advise me on best approach to upgrade my router to 3rd party. I am not a tech expert or IT specialist so looking for simple solutions that don't mess up my Sky TV or create a complex system for me to manage! 

I'm a gamer and want to improve my WiFi set up for wireless streaming from PS5 to PS portal. My broadband speeds are decent and don't really impact remote play/streaming so much so that is not my concern, it's the poor performance of my current Sky router in combination with Sky mesh (x2 mini boxes) that worries me. I do not want to buy a good router and then it skew with my Sky set up. 

My current set up works fine for our normal day to day stuff, but the router is not good enough for remote play/streaming gaming.

My current set up: 

• Black Sky hub router
• Sky Q main box (wireless) in front room
• x2 Sky Mini Box (wireless) in kitchen and upstairs in bedroom 
• Sky booster / extender upstairs (white) in upstairs office 
• Router split two channels: 2.4GHz and 5GHz, 5GHz used for remote play gaming for speed
• PS5 wired via Ethernet to router using CAT8 cable.

I don't have access points in my walls so not in the market for pulling my house apart to Ethernet Sky mini boxes etc.

Is there a simple way I can get a gaming router to use on 5GHz channel for my gaming and then leave the current Sky router for our boxes on wireless? I don't want to introduce interference as that will make remote play even worse.

I have read that the new Sky Max router is decent and I don't mind upgrading / paying more for that but then I read you can't split the channels so that could be a pain. I need to keep 5GHz as free as possible for my gaming. 

I appreciate any thoughts/advice in advance.

Thanks

Jack

Standard black Sky hub router on superfast. 

[jamesn123 · Accepted solution]

@JackD1992 

Your best option would be looking at a mesh solution like TP-Link Deco, Eero, Asus Ai Mesh or UniFi. Then deploy this with its own SSID & Password, leave the Sky network alone and just allow your Q boxes to use that. 

[JackD1992]

Thanks for the reply, James, your assistance is appreciated. I was looking at a Mesh system as they seem to be recommended as good options for remote play. 

Would you suggest I just hardware a node to the sky router and then have a couple of nodes in other areas of the house as necessary? Would this not cause any interference with the Q mesh network for the mini boxes having two routers? Or is it unlikely? 

[jamesn123]

@JackD1992 

Yes that would be the best solution. It wouldnt cause interference as long as you set the mesh network to use different WiFi channels. 

[LeoBlack30]

I'm in the same position expect my Mini's are all hard wired.  Would I buy a mesh system,  plug it into the Sky Router,  and turn Wifi off on all the Sky devices?

[JackD1992]

Hi Leo, 

So I can confirm that I went ahead and purchased a new TP Deco Mesh system and have hardwired that to my current Sky Hub. A few little issues at first getting set up but nothing too bad and now it is running sweet!

No major issues and connectivity is loads better than previously with just Sky router. I ended up upgrading my broadband for better uploads so that also helped. Basically I can play more portal anywhere in the house now, impressive.

I'd recommend taking a look at other posts on the forum as I am pretty sure you can connect your main Q box to a 3rd party router so if your mini boxes are wired then you can literally just get a mesh system and put your Sky router in AP mode. I couldn't do this because my mini boxes are wireless so had to keep Sky router on still.

Cheers

Jack

[LeoBlack30]

Thank Jack,  this is helpful.  I'll look up the AP mode thing now...

[JackD1992]

No worries. Not sure what your usage need is for but I keep my TP mesh just for the PS5 and portal so it's locked at 5Ghz with no loss of bandwidth to other devices in the house. Sky and TP mesh are completely separate networks. That could always be another option depending on your requirement. 

The TP Deco units I have allow you to give priority of bandwidth to specific devices if needed e.g, a games console. For remote play you really don't want loads of devices on the same network downloading , streaming etc. at the same time as it'll cause problems so the two networks / routers actually works perfectly for my need. 

Good luck with it! 

Jack 

[LeoBlack30]

So basically in our place,  only the phones and and tablets are on Wifi.  Everything else is hardwired.  But the Sky system has a handshake of over a minute sometimes and it's driving the wife crazy!  lol

[LeoBlack30]

Wanted to update this.  Bought a Google Nest Pro 3 and the difference is remarkable. Proper WiFi speeds through the house. No lag in handover between access point. 
WiFi speeds are through the roof as well!!

Somehow despite all Sky WiFi being turned off, the Q boxes sometimes lose connection to the main Q box, which is frustrating as the main box is 'brand new'.

Not sure If that's a network issue or just poor hardware/software.