Nest Wifi Pro

[dazza-m79]

I have Sky Q with main box, plus one mini, and Ultrafast 500 broadband. I live in a 3 storey house and the WiFi has become pretty awful upstairs just recently. For example, I had connection yesterday on the top floor and started a speed test - it was running ok actually, up to 70mbps, but then halfway through the test the connection dropped and switched to 4G. This happens a lot. I assume the Sky Q mini box isn't doing it's job as a booster very well. So, I was looking at mesh systems, specifically the Nest WiFi Pro in their BF sale and because I have Google store credit.

I thought I'd check on here first and have seen several posts about issues with the Nest and Sky Fibre (due to auth issues, Sky Q mini box needs Sky hardware to connect, etc). What I'd like to know is, has anyone successfully used Nest WiFi Pro with their Sky FTTP, and connected all their Sky Q devices, and, if so, how? Is it as simple as connecting the Nest router directly to the Sky router, rather than plugging it in to the Openreach box on the wall?

[PaulN1980]

@dazza-m79 Did you manage to find out if the Nest Wi-Fi Pro works with Sky FTTP?  I am interested in it myself but would like to know others experience.

[Chrisee]

@PaulN1980 Nest products are not designed to connect directly to the ONT with Sky's lines. It might be possible to get round this *. However they can be connected behind a Sky hub either to operate in Access Point mode to provide better WiFi coverage or in a Double NAT set up where they act as a router but some features like Parental Protection may not work. Either set up will enable you to use the improved wifi networking that people want mesh systems to provide. 

* Sky use an authentication system that uses an option called DHCP v4 Option 61 which Nest does not support. There is a possible alternative of DHCP v6 PD which works on most but not all lines but I have not seen reports that will work on Nest systems either.

[PaulN1980]

@Chrisee Thanks for the reply.  I have seen that the Nest products may not work but had hoped that someone who had bought them could confirm.  I don't yet know if my line supports DHCPv6 Delegation Prefix. I have seen a few comments that ssy about 80% of Open reach Exchanges do.  Is this likely to increase over time?  Are the 20% that don't because they were some of the first to do FTTP and have older equipment?

I see that you have Deco M4 products.  How do you find them? I don't use the VOIP for phone so ideally would like to remove the Sky Hub due to it rebooting itself randomly.  It has been replaced by Sky already but the reboots are still happening.  That suggests some sort of firmware issue, so I'm not sure that turning the WiFi off and having something else connected in its place will stop the reboots.

[Chrisee]

@PaulN1980 I simply dont know the position re DHCPv6 PD the 80% figure was given a couple of years back by a Sky manager who posts occasionally. You could well be right on age of exchange kit. The only way to know for certain is to try on your line however I have read a couple of reports of the connection not being stable.

My Deco units work pretty well in Access Point mode. Firmware changes all the time and but to to date TP-Link dont support Option 61 on any of their routers AFAIK. I dont have any issues with Sky hubs they work well for my use but there are only 2 of us and main power use is streaming video which is why I bought the M4 units which give me more than adequate wifi (between 500 to 180Mb/s) in every room of a 3 level house. Good wifi is far more than bandwidth though and the M4 units give a me very stable connection with low jitter..

You can buy a system that connects directly to the ONT the current forum favourite range is from Asus - easy to configure plenty of support from fellow users.

[PaulN1980]

@Chrisee It looks like it may be possible to get the Google WiFi products connected to the ONT if the line can be authenticated using DHCPv6 DP

https://www.reddit.com/r/GoogleWiFi/comments/yet3pb/google_wifi_newbie_with_some_quesrions/

[Chrisee]

@PaulN1980 glad it works for some but as I posted it isn't guaranteed that a particular line is suitable unlike with competiting systems from Asus for example which suppoort the standard DHCPv4 Option61. 

[PaulN1980]

I can confirm that enabling IPv6 abd setting the WAN to DHCP that the Nest WiFi Pro can connect to a Sky FTTP line.  Yes I am one of the 'lucky' ones but if 80% of Openreach equipment is capble of supporting DHCPv6 DP then it should work for most people.