Can the 1Gig Broadband Sky router go in Modem mode?

[Bluefusion]

Currently with Virgin media and have their supplied router setup in modem mode and use a Google hub to distribute WiFi throughout my house and by doing this I get excellent signal strength throughout.

Looking to change to Sky broadband and take purchase their  1Gig broadband, am I also able to setup the Sky router into modem mode so I can continue to use my Google WiFi around my property as I'm woried otherise the signal will not reach areas of my property which is the issue I originally had just using the Virgin Media Hub.

[GD1]

@Bluefusion  There is no modem mode option on the Sky hubs.

[Bluefusion]

What are my options, is it only to use the supplied wifi max router and a few of their pods; or

if I cannot put the Wifi Max router into modem mode can I swap it out completely for a 3rd party router like Google Wifi Pro that would allow me to build my own mesh network?

[Chrisee]

@Bluefusion why pay for Wifi Max and not get the pods you are paying for?

You can replace the Sky hub with a third party router but it needs to support Sky's authentication system which is DHCPv4 Option61 or DHCPv6 PD ( the latter only works on some lines the former works on all) The Google Wifi pro does not support the Option 61 option. Most customers go with an Asus or Netgear units which do.

The simplest alternative is to use a system like the Google one set up in access point mode if your chosen solution supports thst or in a Double NAT configuration behind the Sky hub. I use the former setup succesfully with the Sky SR203 hub's wifi disabled and 3 Deco M4 units giving good wifi coverage. Keeping the Sky hub means the Sky Talk serviice still works. 

[Bluefusion]

Sorry I didn't quite understand your end explanation 'the simplest alternative' on how to solve use my own mesh?

[Chrisee]

@Bluefusion using a mesh wifi dystem in access point mode connected to a Sky hub which handles the line authentication and r outer tasks is an easy way to avoid complications. Alternatively letting the Sky Wifi Max router and the pods which Sky will supply as part of the deal is even easier.

[AlbroJa]

Sorry to resurrect an older thread but unless you already have I wouldn't bother with sky broadband. The WiFi signal in any other room than where the router is is awful. We have 1gb bfroadband and get about 800mbps over WiFi in the same room. Downstairs in other rooms this drips to 200mbps and upstairs this drops as low a 70-100mbps. I called sky to complain about this as the kids reckon it's not good enough for gaming and the WiFi is genuinely awful and they won't send you any of their max pods to boost signal unless your below 25mb which is insane. So You're paying for 1000mb broadband and you can be receiving 975mb below thag and it's fine and they won't send you the max pods. Had I of known i wouldn't of wasted my money on the max hub. I was also with virgin before moving a month ago and used their hub in modem mode with an ASUS gaming router and it was absolutely superb. Now in tbe process of trying to get this to function with the sky hub to try and overcome this. But if this doesn't help  suffice to say I wont be staying with sky in the future for internet at least. 

[jamesn123]

Hi @AlbroJa 

There seems to be a lot of miss-information in your post so I'll break it down for you a bit.

- 70-100mbps is WAY more than you need for gaming so your kids are incorrect. For a standard online game you only need a couple mbps for a steady connection. If your kids are having trouble playing online its more likely to be that their gaming devices are connected via WiFi and they are experiencing ping spikes/packet loss due to WiFi interference. This can be solved by using ethernet or a more advanced gaming router.

- You are correct that Sky only guarantee 25mbps in each room. This is normal for most ISPs guarantee because WiFi can be entirely unpredictable. You pay for the 1000mbps via a cable into your home, not for it to beam 1000mbps WiFi across your house. If you want the high speeds you need to use an ethernet cable or more powerful router.

- Comparing a high end Asus gaming router that you used with Virgin to Sky's router is like comparing a clapped out Rover with a brand new Ferrari, they are just not in the same league  and your obviously going to get better performance with the more expensive unit. Can I ask why you decided to not continue using the Asus gaming router as using that would likely solve most of your issues?

[AlbroJa]

Yes I agree WiFi speed ie. 100mbps isn't the whole picture and in fact more that the quality of that connection could be poor and inconsistent.
Indeed skys own MySky apps tells me there's a problem with my WiFi in all of my upstairs rooms due to poor signal when performing tests. I don't believe this takes into account WiFi speed only signal strength from router to the device being used to perform the test.
Therefore in my experience so far despite having 100mbps in the rooms upstairs when running a speed test on one of the online testers; our actual service is very poor. Lots of buffering on smart tvs, not full preview images loading on YouTube, pages taking all long time to load on mobile phones when browsing and tablets and I'm sure equally as bad when playing on a gaming PC or Xbox so I do imagine the kids are probably experiencing something. They would probably notice more than me these days.

Of course this isn't a problem that's unique to sky as the aforementioned virgin router was also useless. Hence the purchase of an ASUS router previously. The problem with the sky router is that you cannot run the sky router in modem mode and use your own router like you could on the virgin one.
mine tried to use the ASUS router alongside the sky one and this seems to create other problems and also uses two seperate connections, password etc and they seem to clash. 

My plan now is to run an Ethernet cable upstairs into a socket and then out to the Asus router which will be set to access point mode so it will just boost signal upstairs.

I have just bought an Ethernet cable to connect the openreach incoming box direct to the sky router (I don't want the router near the open reach box). This will then connect into a 6 port switch which via Ethernet will feed into my tv, Xbox,  sky stream puck and then another cable going  up the outside walls to a bedroom. From which I will run my ASU's router in access point mode. 

My main annoyance with this really is that if sky would just give me a sky max pod I could plug it in upstairs and that might be enough to cure our issues. Maybe not, but I'll never know now. I migh my even save myself a tonne of money on Ethernet cables, sockets and my time, plus a router if I didn't already own one. I'm paying £10-15 a month extra for the sky max hub and to be honest I don't really see why I'm bothering at the moment. 

I fully understand that 1gb broadband will be my incoming at source and beyond that there will be a lot of variables, however to see a 90% drop on that in 2023 seems unacceptable. And again; as you say not exclusive to sky, but the 25mbps lower limit seems like absolute pittance when you are paying for 975mb more than that. To use your car analogy, if I paid extra for a top of the line Mercedes and then found out it's really only 10% better than the base model I wouldn't be pleased either. 

Just seems like extra aggravation on top of moving into a new home and dealing with everything that entails. 

[jamesn123]

@AlbroJa 

Why dont you just connect the Asus router directly to your Openreach ONT and cut out the Sky hub completely?

[AlbroJa]

I did consider that but I'll have to check if it's completely compatible and I'm not 100% sure whats involved without more research or is it plug and play? 

[jamesn123]

@AlbroJa 

It is compatible. Set the WAN to Automatic IP, then in the DHCP Option 61 box type abc123@skydsl|abc123 

Then it should connect itself. 

You can also enable IPv6 and put it into Automatic DHCP PD mode which will also automatically connect it to the line. 

[Chrisee]

@AlbroJa the only down side of removing the Sky hub is the loss of thhe Sky landline which may or may not matter to you. If it helps I found the Sky Max pods distinctly meh when I tried them. In the end  I rejected the Wifi Max set up and reverted to a standard Sky hub running with third party wifi mesh kit running in Accress Point mode.

Your suggested idea of running Sky wifi on one floor and Asus wifi upstairs would almost certainly cause interference unless very carefully managed.

[AlbroJa]

Yeah I would run the ASUS as an access point instead 

[MarleyTheDog]

I'm a new sky customer moving from virgin, I had my to asus routers connected to my virgin hub which I set into modem mode. 

The suggestion you've posted to the op, 

Would it require a modem router or would me asus non modem routers suffice?

I do have FTTP and one of those boxes on the wall I forget the name of it.