Is the wifi max hub terrible or is it me?

[Grub2000]

I've just had to get the new wifi max hub as it was the only way that Sky would send me any extenders/pods  I previously had the extenders on the older/black router, but had wifi dead spots throughout.  Given that there was supposed to be a guarantee to provide a level of coverage throughout the house (albeit minimal, according to the small print) I asked for some more extenders.  Apparently these aren't provided any more but they offered me the new wifi max hub, with the option to get the new "pods" in place of the extenders, which will not be compatible any more.  

Given the lack of real option and assuming all would be well - it's the same principle after all - I agreed and although I informed the advisor that I'd need some pods sending, they toldme that I couldn't get any until I had the new router in place, at which point I'd have to call back if I continued to have dead spots.  Predictably, this was as soon as I installed the new router.  At this point, then, I actually had LESS coverage than before, when I had the old router and extenders.  I've since been told I qualify for one pod, but that if I continue to have dead spots, I'll need to get an engineer out.  I suspect I know what the results will be.

On top of all this, I have several devices on my network that I need to keep to a static IP (security cameras) due to the way they're configured.  Unfortunately, when I did manage to get on to the router admin page (which took several attempts and phone calls as I got an error message and a blank page at the point the 192.168.0.1 redirected to https://myrouter.io/.) I found that rather than the devices being listed according to any naming convention, they're all just listed by mac address in the "host name" column, where before they had names.  I can't even edit them as I get an error when trying to save the comment field.

I was advised that I should be using the My Sky app to do router admin, but there isn't full capability in there, and the device naming convention is equally terrible, mostly comprising of "generic brand android" for most of them.

Oh, and I can't get on to my router if I'm on my VPN.

So yeah, although I appreciate I have a slightly more niche use case than the average user, it still seems pretty terrible all round to me?

[Addie15]

Hi there, I’ve escalated your post to our Community Messaging team who will invite you to a private chat shortly and help you with this. 

Just look out for the colourful bubble to start the conversation.

Here's more information on how Community Messaging works - https://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Did-you-know/Escalating-a-post-to-a-Sky-expert/ba-p/3711147 

[Grub2000 · Accepted solution]

I'm going to mark this as "resolved", although the resolution is that I'm going to BT for my broadband.

I spoke to a very patient Sky representative on the team, who confirmed that the new iteration of the Sky router had reduced admin functionality.  In addition to this, I'd spoken to another person who confirmed that I only qualified for up to three pods to combat the black spots, and that I could only expect a minimum speed of 10mbps rather than the 25 that the original Sky rep had stated to me on the phone when they suggested I go for Sky Wifi Max.

As such, I've cancelled my new 24 month Sky broadband contract, arranged to send the pod back (which, by the way, wouldn't work when it arrived as until they show as "delivered" by DPD, they don't actually activate - this, I'm told, can take up to 24 hours) and have instead invested in an expensive but better solution in the form of a mesh.

[TimmyBGood]

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@Grub2000 wrote:

In addition to this, I'd spoken to another person who confirmed that I only qualified for up to three pods to combat the black spots,

That's correct, and written into all the descriptions of the WiFi Max product.

and that I could only expect a minimum speed of 10mbps rather than the 25 that the original Sky rep had stated to me on the phone when they suggested I go for Sky Wifi Max.

Minimum wireless speed under the 'Enhanced Wall to Wall WiFi Guarantee' differs depending on the broadband product in use: 

10Mb/s in every room if you have Sky Broadband Superfast 35, Superfast, Full Fibre 75 or Full Fibre 100.

25Mb/s in every room if you have Sky Broadband Ultrafast, Full Fibre 150, Full Fibre 300, Ultrafast Plus, Full Fibre 500, Gigafast or Full Fibre Gigafast.

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[Grub2000]

Thanks for that.  

I'm aware on both fronts and I'm not suggesting that I've been promised something I can't have, although I will say that the original adviser did indeed say I could expect the higher minimum speed repeatedly, even when I said I couldn't see how that would be the case - this is one of the things that ultimately led me to agreeing to "upgrade".  I'm saying that in this particular use case of mine, the three pods aren't going to cut it and the speed in each room is unlikely to be sufficient for our circumstances.  

[Nigelpl]

Interested how you got out of the contract?  I switched from BT to sky 500mb, they sent me the WiFi max router, even though I didn't order it,  I have to say that whilst I can get speeds of upto 500Mbps on the WiFi, the reliability of the WiFi is terrible, 

We are getting WiFi drop outs constantly, at times the lag can be really annoying. Even when you are in the same room as the router the connection just drops. There are only three of us and the router is in the middle of the house.

 They tried to sell me the WiFi guarantee for £4pm even though i have full WiFi signal and good speeds throughout the house. I ask for the old router and they said they would need to cancel my line and place a new order, just to replace the router.

Because of the router I definitely regret switching, so would be interested in knowing how you got out of the contract.

[Chrisee]

@Nigelpl every customer has a 31 day cooling off period which runs from when the service was activated when they can cancel at no charge. After that there will be cancellation charges unless Sky agree they will wave those which can happen if the company agrees thst it cannot sort the customers issue after being given a reasonable opportunity to do so. It can also happen if the customer complains formally and does not accept Sky's response and the goes to independent arbitration stage and the arbitrator orders it.

See How to make a Sky complaint | Sky Help | Sky.com

[FLC]

@Nigelpl 

If you're otherwise happy you could look at putting the £4pm Sky want for the Pods towards a mesh system of your own & just switch off the WiFi on the router.  Even accepting the low benchmark for ISP hardware in general, the SR213 is the worst I've ever encountered. These forums are littered with complaints of poor performance. But there's no response from Sky to either the WiFi or third party VOIP issues they've created

.

[Deucalion]

This was the same for me with Sky Max, moved to sky from BT back in October/November 2024 and had issues with constant reconnects, loss of WiFi to devices yet still shows white light on router. The pods are trash, sorry the pod is trash as never got anymore as (to me) they're more like extenders instead of Mesh. 

I have left sky contract after a few months (free of charge thankfully) as they could see on their end the problems I've been having with Sky fibre, now gone back to BT 900Mbps and don't think I'll ever change providers again as BT black discs are great. Just shows cheaper does not always mean better 

[Nigelpl]

Ever since I got the deco x55 and turned off the sky wifi it's been great. Will certainly move off sky at my first opportunity. The routers WiFi is totally useless

[Nigelpl]

I purchased the deco x55 and turned off the sky WiFi max as it's useless, not had a single problem since and can also created guest and iot WiFi networks with the deco. 

[Chrisee]

@Nigelpl I also use a Deco system to give WiFi coverage in my home. They are not difficult to set up and give far greater control but best of all should work out cheaper than buying Sky's WiFi Max add-on over the longterm.

plenty of systems out there like Netgear's Orbi etc.