Can I replace Wifi5 router with Wifi6 router

[BrentStarburst1]

I signed up to Sky like a month ago and they were dishing out the Wifi5 routers. I now see that by standard they're dishing out the Wifi6 routers. Kinda annoying really.

I see there's a lot of Sky Wifi Max (wifi6) hubs on Ebay. Can I just buy one of those and use it in place of my own? I'm assuming usernames and passwords are built into the Sky routers? I can therefore avoid the extra £4 a month.

[Sharcuk]

@BrentStarburst1 It's up to you if you want to get a Sky router off EBay of course. 

I would point out that Sky loan routers to their customers, and they should be returned to Sky when a contract finishes. A reasonably new router like the white WiFi max on EBay is likely either a knockoff or  nicked!

I'm sure one of the gurus on the forum will correct me if I'm wrong.

[BrentStarburst1]

@Sha 

How old are these Wifi Max hubs? I'm seeing people advertising them as old as 2023.

The other issue of course is that I will likely need a pod to go with it - my wife and I work in a room on the other side of the house. Now although that gets Wifi, it's not nearly powerful enough and we need boosters there.  

Are we better off paying the £4 and then requesting a booster?

[Chrisee]

@Sharcuk & @BrentStarburst1 any of the Sky white SR213 models on ebay are Sky's property as none have ever been sold. Additionally  to work properlybthey need to be added to your account by Sky somthe features in the My Sky app work correctly. 

Unless you desperatly need WiFi speeds over 700Mb/s which the older black SR203 offer then its a marginal upgrade at best. Notecif you have Sky Q boxes it can be a downgrade as the new hubs dont support tge Q wifi mesh system.

[BrentStarburst1]

@Chrisee 

Thanks for your reply. What I'm getting is a real drop out over Wifi5 in my home office. I have Sky Fibre 500Mbps. I have a Sky Wifi Booster and I can only manage 150Mbps upstairs. It's not enough bandwidth to share between two office users and a gaming PC.

I tested out a Nokia Wifi (6) beacon x 2 and could achieve up to 350Mbps. Wifi6 does offer significant improvements over Wi-Fi 5, including faster speeds, better performance in crowded environments. This is why I'm looking for Wifi6.

[Chrisee]

@BrentStarburst1 then you are best advised to buy a third party solution as the range of the SR213 is no greater than the SR203. A simple whole home WiFi solution sounds to be the best choice with 2 o3 units. Sky's WiFi Max bundle which gets you a SR213 and up to 3 extenders might work but note the extenders are wifi5.

150Mb/s is actually ample for the users you list assuming the gaming pc is not downloading COD updates while 2 people are working unless you are both video editors or similar. Gaming over wifi is never recommended not because of bandwidth so running an ethernet link or using powerline networking kit may be a better solution.

[BrentStarburst1]

@Chrisee 

Thanks for clarifying. I had assumed that the pods that go with the Wifi Max router would be Wifi6. That seems a little backward.

Sorry - what do you mean by o3?

[Chrisee]

@BrentStarburst1 typo the o should be or.

Sky's pods are WiFi 5 even when paired with newest Hub7 announced 2 days ago - (see https://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Broadband-Talk/Introducing-Gigafast/ba-p/5032203) - something Sky are not broadcasting.

The WiFi standard is far less important than most people realise, first both the hub and the device must support the higher standard to get the additional speeds. While very high speeds can be achieved in lab conditions in the real world throw in a few walls, furniture, people etc speeds inevitably fall as youbare finding. The newer 6 6e and 7 systems do have advanatages like triband etc but at an increasing cost. In practice given very few apps can use 50Mb/s beyond downloading WiFi5 particularly if you have a 500Mb/s connection is ample. But you are free to differ .

[JimM1]

@BrentStarburst1 Wifi5 to Wifi6 uplift is not that great, and sky Max Wifi6 may not be the way for you to go!