Configuring Sky Broadband on a 3rd Party Mesh - My story

[Skull+Treaty]

@Dannyboy202 

It's the router that needs to authenticate using MER, not the modem.

[whitey26]

Thanks to the OP for this post, I've had the setup running perfectly for months... until I upgraded to Sky Ultrafast!

Your old phone line box becomes obsolete and they instal a new box whitch is ethernet (RJ45) to the router rather that phone line (RJ11) and the Draytek only has an RJ11 'in' so can't connect to the new Sky Broadband wall box.

I've seen RJ45 to RJ11 adaptors but will that effect the speed and would it even work at all? 

I've not had chance to mess with it yet to see if I can get it working but wondered if anyone else has managed to get it working with Ultrafast?

[Brucey+Bruce]

Thanks to the OP for this post, I've had the setup running perfectly for months... until I upgraded to Sky Ultrafast!

Your old phone line box becomes obsolete and they instal a new box whitch is ethernet (RJ45) to the router rather that phone line (RJ11) and the Draytek only has an RJ11 'in' so can't connect to the new Sky Broadband wall box.

I've seen RJ45 to RJ11 adaptors but will that effect the speed and would it even work at all? 

I've not had chance to mess with it yet to see if I can get it working but wondered if anyone else has managed to get it working with Ultrafast?

[DigitalElysium]

Hi @Brucey+Bruce, thanks for sharing.

I don't have Superfast in my area, so I can't check this for certain, but I suspect you have had an ONT (Optical Network Terminal) installed. Does the white box on your wall look like one of these?

https://www.bt.com/help/broadband/whats-an-openreach-modem-ont

If so, the Draytek in your setup is no longer required, as there's already a modem built into the connection. You should, in theory, be able to plug the Orbi directly into the RJ45 socket on the ONT, and it should work the same as the Draytek in bridged mode. You'd still need to configure DHCP 61, etc. But I can't see why it wouldn't work. You can just sell your modem.

Again... I haven't tested this. But do let us know how you get on.

[CyberFriday]

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@DigitalElysium wrote:

Hi @Brucey+Bruce, thanks for sharing.

I don't have Superfast in my area, so I can't check this for certain, but I suspect you have had an ONT (Optical Network Terminal) installed. Does the white box on your wall look like one of these?

https://www.bt.com/help/broadband/whats-an-openreach-modem-ont

If so, the Draytek in your setup is no longer required, as there's already a modem built into the connection. You should, in theory, be able to plug the Orbi directly into the RJ45 socket on the ONT, and it should work the same as the Draytek in bridged mode. You'd still need to configure DHCP 61, etc. But I can't see why it wouldn't work. You can just sell your modem.

Again... I haven't tested this. But do let us know how you get on.

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@DigitalElysium  For those on FTTP you might find you can natively authenticate on ipv6 without the need for option 61. Need to make sure your router is setup on WAN for ipv6.   I don't have FTTP but FTTC and i am fortunate to be on a part of the network that supports this and i don't need option 61 on my Draytek 2860.  I'm, not sure whether all FTTP support this. Interesting to hear the experience of those with FTTP and 3rd party routers. 

[PabsMan]

@Bwap You're right abut Virgin Media's customer service*. I've just switched to Sky - I guess I'm going to have to look at ways of getting the WiFi to reach the kitchen from the Sky hub. 

*Over 450 WhatsApp message exchange - printed out to 45 pages of A4 paper, nearly 7 weeks. Got no where trying to cancel my contract. Printed off and hard copy with cancellation letter in the post. And even then, there's no clarity as to which address you post it to.

[united.1957]

Thank you for this ! Actually read like I had wrote the post at first.

I've suffered with the same, I've had Sky on the phone on numerous occasions troubleshooting with me - to be told 'I've got too many devices, which I need to turn off when not needed! 
We mived into my house December 2021 and had trouble since day 1.

I've now (today) bit the bullet and changed the router to a Draytek Vigor. Followed all instructions and I'm live and connected, but now I'm finding that everytime I switch on a mini sky q box , I have to activate again. 
can someone please advise to stop doing this, this has been the setup from 2021 and it's getting tedious 

any help would be gratefully received 

thanks 

[DigitalElysium]

@united.1957 

The mini box creates its own mesh network which inteferes with the Orbi. You can't connect the mini box via WiFi.

My solution was to connect the mini box via a wired connection. I plugged the main Sky box into one of the Orbi satellites, and then connected the mini box into a powerline adapter, with the other powerline adapter connected to the mini box. 

If you have your mini box close to one of the Orbi satellites, this would be even better, as you wouldn't need the powerline adapters. But my solution works like a charm for me.

[united.1957]

DigitalElysium

Thanks for replying .

I've had issues using the mini boxes (since 2021) that all the mini and the main box are wired, I've even got the Eero boxes prior to installing the Draytek today, but 8/10 times I have to activate either the internet connection or the connection to the main box. 

Just think I'll just have to suck it up and get on with it.

Thanks again 

[DigitalElysium]

Strange that it is doing it even when wired.

Have you disabled the WiFi completely on both boxes?

You can do this in the engineers menu. Go down to Settings, press 001 and the select. Then go to Network, and turn off the two WiFi bands.

[united.1957]

Yeah 

DigitalElysium

I did it when told to from Sky dude over the phone, on 1 of the many troubleshooting calls!

Thought I'd reach out to you, it sounded like we were having the same problem, but seems I'm in no man's land again!! 

Thanks again for replying