Is it possible to upgrade my useless sky q router

[craigy1970]

I'm so sick of the poor WiFi issues we have with sky q router is there any way we can upgrade to a better router. I'm sure tin foil and some metal coat hangers would be better than the rubbish provided by sky we have a mini sky box xbox and tv upstairs that requires WiFi plus 4 alexas and a number of phones and tablets that all require WiFi about 16 devices only 16 your suppose to be able to run more devices in this day and age. Alas the sky router can't handle it. And I know I'm not the only house hold with this problem you would think sky would make something better. So it's there something out there that's better?

Cheers in advance 

[Chrisee]

@craigy1970 Sky Q hubs can and do support far more than 16 devices so that is not the issue. You can replace your Sky hub with a third party router which one you need depends on the service you buy from Sky and whether you are in the UK or Ireland. However as you have Sky Q boxes this complicates things quite a bit as your Q minis can only work overcwifi with a Sky wifi signal in the absence of a Sky hub thst comes from your main Q box. This can cause issues with interference.

The Sky Q boxes act as wifi hotspots but the speed these deliver depends on the speed of the box's connection back to the hub. Devices will always connect to the nearest Q box hence why devices can apprar to crawl. The best solution is to improve the backhaul connection to the hub which where boxes are on different floors is easiest to do using powerline adapters. These come as kits and use the house's mains wiring to  carry tge signal. 

[TechmanagerMal]

@Chrisee 

IME not all devices auto-connect to the nearest Q box in fact most android devices appear to stay connected to the last signal until you force a change.

What is it with android, Apple IOS is apparently known to be better at WiFi?

Source Sky Broadband Tech Guru.

[Chrisee]

Sorry @TechmanagerMal have to disagree the Sky mesh allows devices to auto-roam ie connect to the strongest signal which unfortunately may not be the fastest. I have never heard its different due to the os as its a function of the wifi card or heard you can over ride that behaviour

[TechmanagerMal]

@Chrisee 

My Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 has the option to turn off the Auto-reconnect function.

It was not that specific function that was affected by IOS type just the Broadband Support "top man" indicated that IOS was better at WiFi.

This belief was mooted to support where my 500 Mbps was going, 450 on IOS and 150 on two android devices in the same position and over several tests on Speedtest.net.

I am interested in your proposal that the strongest signal may not be the fasted.

ETA Sorry omitted Tab

[jamesn123]

@TechmanagerMal 

Are you seriously questioning why an 11 year old Andriod mobile phone is having trouble roaming on a mesh network and cant get the same WiFi speed as an iPhone?

[TechmanagerMal]

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@jamesn123 wrote:

@TechmanagerMal 

Are you seriously questioning why an 11 year old Andriod mobile phone is having trouble roaming on a mesh network and cant get the same WiFi speed as an iPhone?

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No!

Sorry, I omitted the Tab in the description, it's Version 7 (August 2016) currently showing a network speed of 866Mbps not sure of the spec as it was never an issue until Ultrafast Plus.

Found it - SM-T815 Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac)

Incidentally, my wife's Galaxy supports VHT80 and is only marginally better with WiFi than mine.

[jamesn123]

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@TechmanagerMal wrote:

@Chrisee 

I am interested in your proposal that the strongest signal may not be the fasted.

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Because a signal from a booster/Q box may be stronger but its backhaul link to the hub may not be as fast as directly connecting to the hubs signal.

[TechmanagerMal]

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@jamesn123 wrote:

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@TechmanagerMal wrote:

@Chrisee 

I am interested in your proposal that the strongest signal may not be the fasted.

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Because a signal from a booster/Q box may be stronger but its backhaul link to the hub may not be as fast as directly connecting to the hubs signal.

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My logic suggests that the signal will always be stronger at the hub than a "hop" or more from it.

[jamesn123]

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@TechmanagerMal wrote:

My logic suggests that the signal will always be stronger at the hub than a "hop" or more from it.

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Well no thats just incorrect

[TimmyBGood]

@TechmanagerMal 

'Strength' is not the same as 'speed' though.  If your client device is talking to the last of a string of repeaters, signal strength may well be great while throughput speed is dreadful.

[craigy1970]

We live in the uk and have the cable into the home and highest speed they do 

[Chrisee]

@craigy1970 getting back to your issue yesyou can replace the Sky hub with a third party router assuming you mean a fibre service (Sky Ultrafast through an Openreach ONT unit) it is fairly straight forward Asus produce a range of suitable units that can be connected to Sky's slightly unuusual authentication system - DHCpv4 Option 61 rather than PPOE other isps tend to use.

Which you need depends on your budget and needs. Loads of threads discussing how to set these up. However be aware taking out the Sky hub loses the landline faciiity and can cause issues to Q boxes. These msy or not mstter to you.

[TechmanagerMal]

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@Chrisee wrote:

Sorry @TechmanagerMal have to disagree the Sky mesh allows devices to auto-roam ie connect to the strongest signal which unfortunately may not be the fastest. I have never heard its different due to the os as its a function of the wifi card or heard you can over ride that behaviour

You say above they connect to the nearest Q box, is that always the strongest and not necessarily the fastest?

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[TechmanagerMal]

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@TechmanagerMal wrote:

@Chrisee 

My Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 has the option to turn off the Auto-reconnect function.

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Just to say I got this so wrong, Auto Reconnect is to the network of which all Q boxes are a part.

Still Googling WiFi speed versus strength and I cannot see the correlation.