Sky WiFi Max and Sky Q issues

[Riggers464]

Ordered Sky Wifi Max hub to try and improve on our poor wifi performance. Installed today and have spent all afternoon trying to get our 2 Sky Q mini boxes working in other rooms in the house with no success.

The main Sky Q box in the lounge is also only working intermittently and keeps dropping network connection.

So, far from improving the situation, we are currently much worse than previously. 

As usual, the boast of wifi Max deuce ring the best, fastest and most reliable wifi is anything but in reality.

Any help/suggestions gratefully received otherwise will be packaging up and returning and asking to revert.

Thanks.

[TimmyBGood · Accepted solution]

@Riggers464 

Unfortunately the Mini boxes won't connect with WiFi from a Max Hub: they will now only be getting signal from the main Q box.  If you were advised that Max would resolve Q issues then I'm afraid that's incorrect: unlike the Q Hub and Sky Broadband Hub, Max doesn't have 'Q mesh' technology on board.

[Riggers464]

Thanks for the reply.

Will box up and return it and pray I can get hold of someone in customer support to revoke my 24 month contract extension.

Need to switch supplier asap - completely disillusioned with Sky.

[frankfinn]

So I  almost also sent back the Sky Max package but after and a Sky engineer visit, I understand how this works and I'm fine with it.

In my setup I had SkyQ and 2 booster devices, and had a mainly stable connection to the Sky mini boxes.

I upgraded to Sky Max mainly for other devices as I still had Wifi black spots in my house.

I noticed immediately that the Sky Q systems stopped working, effectively sometimes requiring multiple reconnects to the network.

Initially Sky support told me to remove the Sky boosters as they were incompatible with the new Sky Max solution - which I had done. 

They also sent me a Sky Max booster (puck shape) and the WiFi performance on every other device worked much better.

But the problems with Sky Q continued.

So much so that I had an engineer visit.

He explained that the Sky Q system is "mesh" based but the new Sky Max is working just like an ordinary router. (So think it of two different networks - one for Sky Q and one for Sky Max Wifi)

Once I reinstalled the boosters for Sky Q (using WPS), that now works well, and the Sky Max solution means I have full internet access across my entire house as well. 

[Chrisee]

@frankfinn excellent post you have described the issue which is simply the new Sky Max hub is like any other third party router as far as Sky Q is concerned.

You lose the use of the Sky Q wifi hotspots for your devices, only the main Q box connects to the new router and that link is only using the 2.4GHz band. The main Q box will transmit a separate Sky SSID on the 5GHz band which is used to connect Sky Q minis and the older Sky boosters if you have them but  other devices will not connect to that SSID.

[GBSPEED]

Thanks for this explanation - 2 networks! there's progress for you ?

I have an engineer coming - will just need to tell him I need one more SkyQ booster...  - very long house!

[frankfinn]

Hi,

Same issue here, long house and old thick walls. 

Having two Sky boosters make the SkyQ work perfectly.

Sill have issues with Sky Max, think I need another booster for that, but Sky have insisted that I need and engineer visit to prove I need a second booster..  seems an expensive way of trying to resolve a simple issue.

F

[Adam+Hampshire]

Hello @TimmyBGood 

My Sky Q router has just stopped working and I contacted Sky. Rather than do a straight swap, they sold me the new Sky WiFi Max router as a better option. Never had any issues before it stopped working. I have Sky Q main box plus 2 minis. Having just read all the posts online, I am now thinking I would be better off sticking with a replacement Sky Q hub. Would you agree? Suppose I will await delivery of the new Sky WiFi Max router and if there are issues, will return it and ask for a replacement Sky Q hub.

[frankfinn]

Hi,

So from my experience with this, the important thing is how to setup the connectivity of the SkYQ boxes.

So in a few steps:

1. Setup your Wifi Max hub, and any boosters that you have with it

2. Connect your main SkyQ box to the WiFi Max hub using WPS

3. ***Important*** Connect your Sky Mini boxes back to your main SkyQ box using WPS (trying to connect to the Sky Max may work for a few mins but then they lose connection)

4. The systems shoudl now be working and stable

Effectively think of the Sky MaX router as a third party router for your connection to the internet only, and you SkyQ system as a separate network just between those boxes. 

I was initially misdirected by Sky Support when I  contacted them about this, and needed an engineer to come to the house,  he explained the setup to me, and now SkyQ is working fine.  (apart from Wifi Max still having blackspots in my old property.)  

Francis

[Adam+Hampshire]

Thanks for the response. I am now hopeful I can get all the Sky Q equipment connected (Sky Q + 2 minis). My concern is now about losing the mesh network, as the mini boxes acted as wifi boosters in the house. So may now need additional boosters, or go back to a Sky broadband hub (if Sky will let me).

[frankfinn]

Hi,

Hope the response helps.

And yes that is a problem they forgot to mention to me as well. 

Once installed I found the WiFi Max to be a bit better than a third party router, but only slightly  so I contacted Sky support and they sent a booster pack within 24 hours.

Unfortunately whilst better, I need another booster pack, but they insisted that send yet another engineer to check out the property first.

Having used multiple routers, booster, repeaters over the years, these old properties just don't like WiFi. 

[Riggers464]

Thanks for all the replies , seems like a lot of us are in the same boat. I am now running with the Sky Max router and one pod to cover a

dead spot in our house. The Sky Q and 2 multi room devices are working okay after an engineer visit. I do feel I was missold the Sky Max - all the promotional blurb promised the best WiFi experience ever but after several weeks it seems at best the same as I was getting previously and if anything slightly worse overall. My suspicion is the Sky Max is suffering teething problems. Locked in for 24 months and not particularly happy and therefore cannot recommend it to anyone (is this really what Sky want from their customers?) ... just wish Sky were more honest and treated us as loyal customers rather than tying to flog me something that's not quite what they promise in the advertising. I realise this is very naïve of me of course. I am literally the only one of my friends now running Sky broadband and tv. I will definitely be switching after this period. Thanks again for all the responses.

[Adam+Hampshire]

@Riggers464 - completely agree. I only went with Sky Wifi Max after my Sky Broadhub wifi stopped working. After troubleshooting with the Sky consultant it was clear a new hub was the only solution. It was at that point I was told I could go with the latest and best hub from Sky. Seeing this as an opportunity to get newer equipment I took it. It was never pointed out the disadvantages of using this new hib with Sky Q.

[Adam+Hampshire]

Having now lived with Sky WiFi Max with Sky Q plus 2 mini boxes for almost 2 weeks, I can now share my experience. It has actually worked out well. Connected the Sky Q to the router without issues, then connected the 2 mini boxes to the Sky Q box. It took some time and repeat attempts but since connected no issues. This did create a WiFi dead spot upstairs but this has been resolved with the addition of a Sky Max Pod booster. In many ways I am happy that the Sky Q and mini boxes are dedicated for TV, and no longer provide any WiFi boost or relay services.