Advice required on how the Sky wifi Max extender works...

[Jeff_G]

Hi, I upgraded to Sky full Fibre 150 (on 21/12/2024) and took delivery of the white sky wi-fi max hub and 1 wi-fi extender (the white hexagonal plug in one) on 24/12.

I got the new equipment setup ok on the 24th and connectivity within most of the house was good, speed tests were as expected.

My previous setup was the black sky hub with the white Sky Q wireless booster (both pictured below).  

The previous setup had some connectivity issues which promted me to upgrade to the Sky Wifi max setup, however the range on the previous setup via the white extender seems so much better than what I am seeing currently.

I have a SkyQ mini box at the far end of the hosue from the main hub, which the previous extender sent a strong signal too without any issue.  Now that i have replaced the old SkyQ wireless booster with the Sky Max extender, the SkyQ mini box is not getting a strong enoygh signal to work.  This is puzzling because it looks like other devices (mobile phone for example) are picking up full signal in that area of the house, presumably via the Sky Max extender.

Lots of background above .... here i suppose is the main question:

When seting up the SkyQ mini box on the previous wifi setup, i would have used the WPS button on the SkyQ wireless booster which worked as expected.  When i am trying to connect the same SkyQ mini box to the new wifi setup, there is no WPS button on the Sky Max extender, only on the main hub.  I have used the WPS button on the main hub when tryign to connect the SkyQ minibox but it is too far away (only the faintest of signal available which means the mini box drops connection constantly).

So ... how do i tell my SkyQ mini box at the far end of the house to use the Sky Max extender?  Or should this happen automatically (as i would have expected).

i appreciate that was long winded, and thanks for any help provided in advance.

[TimmyBGood · Accepted solution]

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@Jeff_G wrote:

This is puzzling because it looks like other devices (mobile phone for example) are picking up full signal in that area of the house, presumably via the Sky Max extender.

So ... how do i tell my SkyQ mini box at the far end of the house to use the Sky Max extender?  Or should this happen automatically (as i would have expected).

Unfortunately unlike the 2019 Sky Broadband Hub and its matching booster, the 2023 Max hardware doesn't support the 'Q mesh' (from 2016) and so a Mini box cannot attach (or stay attached) to the signal from a Max pod, just as it wouldn't from a non-Sky wireless extender.

That's a design choice made by Sky because Max is expected to last well past the end of life of Q, and having backwards compatibility with what's now a rather antique proprietary mesh system for satellite television boxes could cripple wireless performance going forward.

It's also worth noting that Q was the last product from Sky as an independent UK company, while Max is from the Comcast stable after their acquisition of Sky Group in 2018.

[Jeff_G]

Thanks for your reply, this may make me reconsider the upgrade to Sky wifi Max as one of the main drivers for doing so was a more stable connection for the SkyQ mini boxes.

[TimmyBGood]

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@Jeff_G wrote:

one of the main drivers for doing so was a more stable connection for the SkyQ mini boxes.

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The Sky promotion of their 'most powerful WiFi yet' really should be caveated with regards to Sky Q, and customer support advisors definitely shouldn't be offering WiFi Max as a solution for Mini box issues (although unfortunately they may simply be unaware)

The situation described in my post above probably reflects the relative importance which the new owners place on their own product lines (Glass/Stream/Max) compared to those they inherited (Sky+ / Sky Q)

[TimmyBGood]

@Jeff_G 

Note that a Q Mini with its own WiFi switched off should work over ethernet from a Max pod.

[Jeff_G]

Thanks timmy, i have considered the ethernet option, a bit more hassle due to where the mini box is located but yes it's starting to look like that may be the solution.