Can't disable WiFi

[TF12]

In advance of leaving Sky Broadband I'm trying to completely disable Sky WiFi and instead connect to my mesh network (that has a ethernet connection to the Sky router).  Disabled 2.4 & 5GHz on the router WiFi settings page - disabled access point, WPS and SSID broadcast) - and tried to connect the main Q 2TB to the mesh network. This worked briefly, but then failed with x's by the connection to the broadband router and internet on the status page. Then it retried but connected to the Sky wifi network... confirmed on the router that WiFi was still disabled, so I assume it was connecting to a mini box that was still working as a hotspot, or the Sky WiFi booster box.

So - unplugged all the mini boxes and the booster and tried again - same result, except there's no Sky WiFi network to connect to, so it's stuck with the x's again on the status page.  Everything else connects to the mesh network (Deco, in access point mode) without issue, there's a strong WiFi signal from a couple of the mesh nodes near the 2TB box.

I've turned the 2TB off for a couple of minutes, reset the network connection again, still the same - it's almost like it know's I'm leaving Sky Broadband...

Any advice on what else to try?

[Chrisee]

@TF12 Sky Q boxes use a mesh wifi system where all nodes including the main Q box act as wifi hotspots. Any Q minis have to connect to the Sky 5GHz mesh signal. The only work round is to disable wifi on the minis and use ethernet. 

Don't worry about the id of the network showing on the main Q box that will remain showing the hub but you should be able to connect the Q box to a 2.4GHz wifi signal from your new system but you will have to separate the wifi bands..

As explained theQ minis have to connect to the main Q boxes 5GHz hotspot as your hub is no longer outputting the Sky mesh. The hotspot uses ch 36 to 52 so ensure you new mesh system is on a different channel range. If it can go nomhigher than ch52 go into the menu navigate to settings and enter 0,0,1, before select to open the engineer's menu where there is an option to use half bandwith you can choose the channel range to be ch 36 to 44 or ch 44 to 52

You will need to use this set up with a new isp but the network name will be correct.

[TF12]

Hi @Chrisee , thanks for your response, that makes sense and explains what I saw - with WiFi off on the router, and the booster and all the minis turned off, I could see the 2TB broadcasting on ch36 with a network name of SKYxxxxx. However at that point the 2TB wouldn't connect to the mesh/internet, and I couldn't connect a newly turned-on mini either.

Also around that time the Deco mesh decided to have an issue, all nodes decided they couldn't connect to the internet - restarting the primary node (cabled to the router) didn't change that, nor did restarting all the nodes. At this point (late last night, tired, with no working WiFi) I gave in and re-enabled the Sky WiFi, thinking at least that will get the TVs working again, at some point shortly after that the Deco mesh just started working again without action from me. Which made me think is the cable connection between the 1st Deco and the router dodgy, was it using WiFi - but that's not a supported option, according to Q2 here.

This morning, with everything apparently running OK (but only the 2TB and one mini on), Sky is on ch36 and the Deco on ch44, I'm tempted to set Sky to use the 40Mhz range on ch36 and hope the Deco uses a higher channel (you can't set the channel on the Deco, I think it just tries for the best available channel but doesn't always pick a good one) - then try disabling Sky WiFi again.

Something else I've just spotted - using the Wifi Analyser app on my phone, it shows Sky on ch36 and Deco on ch44.  There's a setting in the app 'Use channel width' - 'Experimental. Use channel width values reported by the device to draw and compute'. If I select that option it looks like both networks are on ch42 (but it is 'experimental')! Also, the Deco app has a WiFi Interference test, that's showing the networks on different channels, but with 'medium' interference - yesterday that showed everthing on the same channel and 'high' interference. Will try and attach the screenshots...

[Chrisee]

Hi @TF12 I am using a Deco system myself so follow what you are saying. My advantage is I no longer have Q boxes and their complex mesh system to worry about as the Deco was bought to replace the Q mesh when I switched to Sky Glass. I have had issues where my main Deco unit has lost connectivity with my hub occasionally after I have been playing with settings for no apparent reason but sorts itself which seems a "feature" of the system

The trade off with halving the 5GHz bandwidth is worth it to avoid interference in my opinion. You only need to make the change on one Q box but give the others time to pick up the change. 

Hope you can optimise the system if you need any more just shout but you clearly understand the principles yourself. Must go in search of those new featues in the Deco app. 😀

[TF12]

Thanks again @Chrisee - in the Deco app it's under the main menu - Deco Lab - WiFi Assistant, it's one of the tests on there...  Will let you know how it goes

[TF12]

Quick question, when changing the channel option for 5GHz, should I change it on the router, or the 2TB (or both)?

[Chrisee]

@TF12 shouldn't mstter but I would do it on the hub if still using that wifi.

[TF12]

So... changed supplier this week, to Plusnet.  Disabled WiFi on both bands on the Plusnet router (Hub Two) and tried connecting the main Q box to the Deco WiFi. This connected initially but then failed a few minutes later.  After a couple more attempts with the same result I went round and turned off all the minis and the Sky WiFi booster.  After that the main Q box would stay connected to the Deco WiFi. Then went to a couple of minis, powered back on and reset their network connections, and they seem to connect OK.

However now (a couple of days later) the minis are regularly losing the connection to the main Q box, for a couple of seconds, just get a black screen, sometimes the message saying it can't connect to the main Q box.  On the WiFi Analyzer app I can see the sky network on ch36 (have had to reset it to the 40MHz band a couple of times) and Deco on ch44.  The 2 minis currently on are near Decos so I could cable connect them, but am I right in thinking that won't help with the connection back to the main Q box, only the internet connection?  Is there anything else I can try?

[Chrisee]

@TF12 the Q minis can only connect using the Sky mesh back to the main Q box. If set to ch36 40MHz the Q mesh will interfere from ch36 to ch44. If you have theDeco using a higher ch range then they should not interfere but the distance maybe an issue if you are getting black screens.The main Q box only connects to your router using the 2.4GHz band. 

One work round is to connect the Q minis by ethernet to your Deco units and turn off their wifi.

[TF12]

Update on this... was getting nowhere, connected via cable to a Deco and disabled WiFi, still no better. However whilst mucking around in the menus trying to get it working I noticed it was just freezing for a couple of seconds occasionally.  Swapped the mini for another one (that's been unplugged since switching provider), went through the setup on that and seems to be OK - so maybe have a duff mini? Will check the rest of the minis now...

[TF12]

Turns out this was a false dawn... all mini boxes suffering again, sometimes can see the main Q box but not the internet, sometimes the internet but not the main Q box, but occasionally both.  My suspicion now is that the Decos aren't coping, now the Sky TV traffic is on there as well as everything else. In the past one or more Deco nodes would briefly go offline for an unknown reason (all firmware up to date), this still seems to happen, but is a bit more visible now the TV are running off them.

So I'm thinking of the following options:

1 - enable WiFi on the new Plusnet hub, use that for Sky TV only (as the old Sky router was set), leave everything else on the Decos;

2 - bin the Decos and get a better mesh network system - any suggestions, that will work well with Sky TV?

[Chrisee]

@TF12 Having multiple Wifi mesh systems in the same home is almodt certainly going to cause interference which sounds like your issue.. The issue with no internet connectivity on the Q boxes points to an issue with the connection of the main Q box which uses the 2.4GHz band which is highly congested.

Experience has shown thst if you do not have a Sky hub then at all possible disable the wifi on your Q boxes and connect them by ethernet either directly to the router or to your Deco units. Stick with a single wifi system to minimise inreference..as adding  more wifi sources are likely to make things worse not better.

My own 3 Deco M4  units give me very good coverage BUT they are not trying to fight with Q boxes or a third party router they are my sole wifo,source.. Get a wifi analyzer app on a phone or laptop which will show you signal strength and channels being used around your home. Two signals on the same or adjacent channel will interfere. In practice if there are more than 3 separate networks using the 2.4GHz band interference is almost inevitable and assuming you have neighbours with networks that is quite likely..

[TF12]

So... everything was OK for a few days, today it's terrible again.  Have turned off all the Sky boxes, left WiFi off the Plusnet router and seeing how it goes - will then look to cable the Sky boxes to their nearest Deco and turn off their WiFi.

The Deco app still complains about WiFi interference though.... as far as I can tell it's only the Deco's broadcasting on ch44.  Not sure what the hidden SSID on ch36 is, the MAC address beginning 6a:99:b2 doesn't show up in any MAC address lookups...

[Kirsty+S27]

Moderator comment: removed photo as containing personal information (MAC address)

[cookiemonsteruk]

@TF12 

The hidden channel co incides with the skytvonly ssid from a previous image if so it may be part of the sky mesh backhaul