Asus or Gl.iNet Router

[hennaboy]

I would like to replace the sky max hub which is providing a 500mb FTTP service.

I feel the router is not up to the job with increasing issues with wifi drops and buffering which should never be happening on such a service. Checks state that everything is working fine.

Been reading  on this forum and other forums such as overclockers but still not really sure where I stand and what I need to get

Some posts state that I need to add a hex user/password for DHCP option 61 with something like aabbcc123456@skydsl|aabbccdd others say that I need to contact Sky and hope they give the the login details.

As far as I can tell the Asus models xt8,xt9,et12, Tuf-ax6000 (among others?) support DHCP 61 some TP LINKS do although posts also say they do not and the Flint 2 supports DHCP 61

I guess I am looking to avoid wasting my time buying something that is not going to work.

Thanks!

[JimM1]

@hennaboy And the decission is completly yours, the Forum is not here to guide you as to the purchase you make, buyers remorse we do not need to get into.

Also see if this helps you.

Has Sky removed the Option 61 requirement from non... | Sky Community

[hennaboy]

Bit of an odd response of course the forum is not here to make my decision I was purely seeking others experience and advice on what they have used.

As for the link you provided. Interesting, my Sky service became active a few months before that post and I had a TP LINK Archer at the time which would not work.

So, either I am in an area where the DHCP 61 requirement still applies or it was removed as a requirement after that.

Ill see if I can get hold of a router to test.

[JimM1]

@hennaboy As you have replied, then do not buy anything but Asus, have them, worked for years, have no problems with them.

[mormegil]

I have just replaced my sky max (white) router with this ASUS TUF AX3000 Dual Band Wi-Fi 6 Gaming Router on a sky full fibre gigafast connection

with this one I was able to plug it direct to the Ont and as mentioned in earlier threads you only need to change internal setting for part fibre connections the full fibre worked straight away

i I downloaded the app from the qr code in the instructions and then scanned the qr on the base of the hub and I was connected and printed to set my ssid and password so chose to use the same as before so all devises reconnected automatically 

I had to manually enter the password to reconnect to my main q box and turn off the 5ghz frequency temporally to get the ring floodlight camera to connect but the app seemed quite intuitive to me

wifi speeds are a little better upstairs but the range is similar the the max hub so must  be a wifi6 limitation 

[mormegil]

Picked it up from Argos as they had it in stock near me and was plugged in and working within 5 minutes 

Argos/p world etc all similar prices just went with where it was in stock that day

[Sayek]

I am scheduled for Sky 500 on 29th April. I own a TP-Link AX73 (paid £75 2 years ago) and currently using on Virgin Media. The router covers my 3 bed double storey house with rear extened kitchen.  I work from home most part of the day from the extended kitchen and never had Wi-Fi drama. 

I know there is some drama with TP-Link router direct to ONT..but if that don't work I would rather connect TP-Link  to the Sky router as Access point and disable Sky Wi-Fi.

Paying for a connection like 500Mbs and using a ISP supplied router is like purchase a racing car and fill up with cheap low octance fuel.

I seen it on Virgin Media customer forum...people that complain about Wi-Fi are using ISP supplied hardware. 

Are you paying extra for the white max router 😐

[JimM1]

@Sayek Do you happen to be a network engineer?

[mormegil]

You don't pay extra for the max WiFi 6 hub but you do pay for the max subscription to give access to boosters 

[Sayek]

Yeah thats what i meant.

Its the same with Virgin Media. They charge extra for these silly pods that you plug to the socket. But they offer it free if you take their flagship 1Gig package...oh wait Virgin Media also give you a better Wi-Fi 6 router if you take their 1Gig package.. I have their older Hub 4 and its set to modem mode.

But people still come to forum and scream about poor Wi-Fi as these pods are not really a true mesh system. The suggestion from fleoow customers is always same...don't waste money paying extra monthly but invest that into your own better quality router or Mesh.

I been with Virgin Media 5+ year and 1 week after join them  was regretting due to the Wi-Fi issues. I never really understood difference between speed to the router is not the same as Wi-Fi. The whole family with screaming about poor Wi-Fi.

After suggestions from few longtime customer I bought a BT twin disc Wi-Fi 5 mesh.  Used that for 3 years and switched to a single Wi-Fi 6 router as these price of Wi-Fi 6 has come down gradaully.  I would think even a £50 TP link router would serve better that Sky router.

The only ISP i have seen supply decent hardware is Community Fibre. My brother has it and they initially supplied with tripple band mesh router. Community Fibre were giving the option to "RENT" a 2nd unit to make decent mesh system.  I am guessing a lorry load of these router got lost as ebay became flooded and selling these router for £50 each and you have a tripple band mesh system.

[Sayek]

Thats what I mean pay extra.

It's the same with Virgin Media. They are very quick to sell you extra toys for a monthly charge. These toys that plug into wall are not a true mesh. But they will throw in the boosters for free if you purchase their flagship 1Gig package. Hot topic on Virgin Media customer forum is Wi-Fi issues. 

The suggestions on forum is don't waste any money on extra booster but invest the money on better router or mesh. I was one of those unhappy customers at some point until invested in own hardware.

The only decent ISP router I have seen is Community Fibre, it was a triple band mesh system They supply 1 unit and ebay is flooded with spare unit for £50. But the later units are now dual band.

[Chrisee]

@hennaboy a minority of Sky customers use third party routers which Sky accept but dont support so if you need support you will need to have the Sky hub connected as the diagnostic systems require that and you lose the digital voice line which only works via a Sky hub.

If you are in the UK there are two methods of authentication theoretically you can use either.. The first is, as you quote, DHCPv4 Option 61 with a string in the form anything @sky.dsl|anything You can replace "anything" with any string as Sky use the line id to know who you are. Asus routers seem to support this out of the  box (you will find setup walk throughs for most Asus models by usung the forum search ) but some manufacturers like TP-Link dont. The second which works on 80% of Sky lines is DHCPv6 PD which almost every router offers including TP-Link there is no list of which exchange supports this method as it is down to the vendor of the kit managing the exchange connection.

Ireland is different.