Sky Broadband and Disney+

[Davidgbee]

We have a rather unusual problem with our Sky Briadband and TV setup: We have Sky Full Fibre broadband, a SkyQ box, and a mini Q Box (which is the main one we use over the other side of the house). This is run by ethernet from the router - as is the main Q Box - aa the house is quite large and the WiFi wont reach. Sky have also fitted some extenders. The majority of what we do is in the room with the mini box and 1x extender. On occasion, when connected WiFi, although connected, has mo Internet availability. Rebooting the router normally sorts this, but not all. What is more unusual is that when watching Disney+ (using the app on the Sky Q mini box), after about 30 mins, the middle light on the WiFi booster in the room goes blank. Sometimes the first light also goes red. Shortly after, the TV stops working. The miniQ box loses connection to the main SkyQ box (even though they are ethernet connected). If we turn it off and on, it all works again, and soon after the three green lights on the WiFi booster return. It is all very fickle, and the engineer did make it work better. But this problem with Disney+ (which always causes the same failure) has me intrigued. Any suggestions?

[Chrisee]

@Davidgbee what is the number of Sky devices you have including the Sky hub, the boosters and Q boxes? There is a potential issue where you can exceed the capacity of the mesh system around 7 or 8 units which might be a factor.

[Davidgbee]

Thanks @Chrisee 

We currently have:-

Sky Router

SkyQ Hub

SkyQ Minihub

(All above connected via ethernet)

2x Sky Boosters 

[Chrisee]

@Davidgbee you mentioned you have an extender in the same room as the Q mini this is unusual as the Q mini offers its own wifi hot spot. Why have you done this, is it because the Q mini's wifi is disabled ? Normally there is no need to do that as the Q minis can act as wifi bridges using the ethernet for backhaul to the hub giving fast wifi in thst area.. 

Did you have the Sky boosters before you got full fibre? There could be a compatability issue between the SR203 Broadband Hub used for full fibre and the older flat type of boosters. The SR203 often requires matching boosters see https://www.sky.com/help/articles/sky-wifi-booster-what-do-you-need-help-with

[Davidgbee]

Hi @Chrisee 

We originally started with one booster sent by Sky which was placed upstairs, and still is.

The second booster was provided by the engineer when he came to try and diagnose the constant issues we were having with wifi - particularly on the side of the house where the mini box is (which is where we spend most of the time). He sat it in that room.

The problems became better, although we did still occasionally get the 'Internet not available' on WiFi. Or we would wake up to red lights on the router. A reboot normally sorted it. There wasn't a rhyme or reason that seemed to cause it, but a reboot would solve it.

However, since getting Disney+ last month, we have noticed this peculiar behaviour whereby around half way through a programme it stutters, and the lights on the booster in the same room either go blank or red. The mini box then says it cannot see the other box or get connection. A bit of rebooting and it all resolves but is very annoying.

The 'Internet not available' on WiFi is reminiscent of a DNS issue, and quite often only the Google website will work but nothing else (again possibly suggesting a DNS problem), but after rebooting it solves itself.

[Chrisee]

@Davidgbee confusing symptoms which suggest multiple issues which while possible are unlikely. @TimmyBGood & @jamesn123 or any other SUs have you any ideas?

It would be useful to see the hub's stats as I wonder if there are collisions due to the multiple network paths. See Find your Sky Broadband router statistics

[Davidgbee]

@Chrisee thanks for thus. Really appreciate it. I have a screenshot of the stats page, but not sure how to put on this thread

Full disclosure: we do have a Nova mesh system attached to the network (plugged into the router). However, disconnecting and powering this down seemingly has no influence on the Sky broadband and WiFi issues - they still occur regardless.

[Davidgbee]

 

[Chrisee]

@Davidgbee the stats page we need can be copied and pasted into a podt or added using the forums photo icon which msynot display on some devices if you cant see the camera use the elipsis button .... to get it to show.

Note the screen we need is linked from the bottom right of the maintenance page and does contain any personal info which it looks like your picture contained and was therefore rejected by a moderator.

[Davidgbee]

@Chrisee  thanks for your perseverance with this 

 

The page I copied (and was seemingly rejected) was the router statua page in the maintenance section.

 the other options are:-

Attached devices
Backup settings
Set password
Diagnostics
Router upgrade

(See pic)

Is it one of those? I can't see a 'show statistics' section

[Davidgbee]

 

[Chrisee]

@Davidgbee this link https://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Broadband/How-to-find-your-Sky-Broadband-router-stats/td-p/2855717 shows the page we need and how to locate it.

[Davidgbee]

 @Chrisee 

Found it. As it was on my phone, the link on the page was really small at the bottom and I missed it.

[jamesn123]

@Davidgbee 

I must say I find your setup very confusing...

So you have Sky Q + Mini + 2 boosters to cover WiFi but then you also have a Nova mesh system? What is the purpose of the Nova mesh system over the Q system?

Your symptoms to me suggest one of two things

1. Having a mix of ethernet connected Q TV boxes & wireless boosters are confusing the system and it is dropping the connection on the boosters to try and re-establish to a stronger or weaker signal from another device. Ideally you should have everything wireless or everything wired. Or at least at a minimum have the Q boosters wired then the Q mini box wireless. 

2. There is a specific bug with the Disney + app & the way your Sky Q system is setup which causes it to crash

[Davidgbee]

Hi @jamesn123 

Many thanks for your input, and I understand your confusion with our setup (it confuses me).

With regard to the Nova: this is a legacy mesh system from before we had Sky, and our intention was to take it our once everything was working. However, given the continued issues with Sky, particularly with the random dropouts, and weird 'Internet not available' on some WiFi connections, we have no option but to reinstate. It also still covers a few dead spots. We can completely turn it off though, and it has no bearing on the Sky issues whether on or off. It also runs on a different WiFi channel, and it's own subnet, so shouldn't conflict.

The main reason we have the setup as it is, is due to the house, which is quite large, and the fact that the majority of the family activity occurs in the far-most room away from whether the main Q Box and router are situated. Ethernet is the only option to make it work, and when it does, it's great. I must add also that the Sky engineer set it up this way.

The random drop outs aren't hugely frequent. The 'Internet not available' and no access to websites other than Google that follows a dropout is frustrating. But the Disney+ is the real confusion - is fails almost every time about 30 mins in. Some/all lights on the WiFi box drop (or go red), the qbox next to it then doesn't work for any TV (says no signal) and only rebooting the mini-q box resolves the iasue