Sorry for what is no doubt a repeat poor wifi thread

[MarkGoldie]

I have recently(November) moved from Virgin to Sky.....proving to be a huge mistake. I am having a few problems, hopeully the community can help out.

FYI, I am on Full TV via stream puck majiggy and 500mbps with Sky Max(recently added, more on that later)

Broadband speed, it drops almost daily with no pattern. Sometimes the house is full, with multiple phones/ipads/laptops/games consoles running no bother, other times I can be wfh and it will drop randomly and struggle to load a webpage. When I finally do load a webpage and go through the TEST MY CONNECTION process via Sky website(can take 10 minutes) it miraculously shows no fault and starts to work again.

Similarly we can be watching TV and it just stop playing, buffering circle appears and doesnt progress from there. Do the TEST MY CONNECTION process via Sky website and it will go back to normal again.

The sceptic in me wonders are they turning down the tap when they think nobody is home.

WIFI, the coverage across my average sized house is dire. There appears to be blackspots all over the place. We have the "better" router apparently but I have a streaming hifi in our front sitting room(roughly 15mtrs from router) that I cant stream via aiplay as it keeps dropping wifi signal(didnt happen with Virgin) I was told to sign up for Sky Max @£4pcm but it hasnt made a difference?

I have tried a TP Link wifi extender which helped out loads, but is a pain as I then end up with different wifi connections for devices(i.e. if connected to Sky router with iphone, the amp doesnt show as its connected to the extender. 

Last one, honest. Whenever I try to get onto chat on the Sky website it is a nightmare, it honestly just isnt there most days. I go to the same help pages, the same contact us pages but only few times has the chat option been there.....the last time I got through to chat the intenet dropped on me mid way through so I gave up and went for a coffee.

Rant over, I am looking for a solution and any help appreciated as I'm stuck with Sky for another 20months! 

Cheers, Mark

[Chrisee]

@MarkGoldie if your home is built out of brick or stone despite being "average size" you can struggle with WiFi coverage issues. If you go into the Network Settings on your Stream puck you can see the strength of the WiFi connection. With poor WiFi despite having a fast broadband connection you will haveca miserable timectrying to watch TV.

First point is to ensure your hub is in the best possible position which is out in the open on a surface so it isxabove obstructions like rsdistors. If the cable to the ONT is too short buy a longer Ethernet cable. You could pay Sky for their WiFi Max bundle which can give you up to 3 WiFi extenders should they be needed. However you may want to buy your own equipment. In my home I use a set of 3 TP-Link Deco M4 units which give me a minimum of 150Mb/s in every room on three levels. The cost has been more than paid for bybthecsaving in not paying Sky for WiFi Max. My 3 Stream pucks and a Glass TV arec100% stable.

[JimM1]

@MarkGoldieTwo things, the Tp-Link go edit the ssid name and get rid off the _EXT that it know doubt has added as a Range Extender, keep the same name for the seamless roaming....

The upgrade to sky Max with the extra cost, call sky up dial 150 on your landline and talk to sky Customer Service, pass the test's that are needed and get a sky Max pod sent to you, just paying does nothing without the Hardware, linked below so you see what you get!

 https://www.sky.com/help/articles/sky-wifi-booster-what-do-you-need-help-with

You should be able to wifi manage the TP-Link but you may need to find out the IP address to do so through the sky Max hub! If not just use the Tp-Link app and adjust the ssid network name!

[jamesn123]

@MarkGoldie 

Are the lights on your hub changing when the issue occurs? To me it sounds like the actual line is dropping. 

[MarkGoldie]

Thanks for the swift reply all!

@Chrisee 

My house is 1930s so proper brick walls ect, this could be the issue between router and hifi as theres a weird dog leg/kink in the hall wall so effectively 3 walls to get through. 

I cant really move the hub, the cable comes in at the rear of the house and router sits in corner plugs directly into ONT. Positively this means the Sky puck, TV & games consoles are all connected by wire to the router. 

I do pay for Sky Max so maybe I try get some boosters from Sky, if that doesnt work I had seen the TP-Link Deco M4 and thought it might be worth a punt, sounds like it works for you!

@JimM1 

Thanks for the tip ref renaming the TP Link extender, I'll give it a go(I use this in my shed/gym for hifi)

I'll try get some pods from Sky like you say. 

@jamesn123 

I havent noticed but I'll check next time it's playing up. 

Thanks all, I'll keep you posted

[Chrisee]

@MarkGoldie the hub does not have to be near where the ONT has been indtalled . Youcan use up to 100m of Ethernet cat5e before speeds drop and Ethernet cables are cheap and easily available it is the chespest solution. Sky's extrnder pods only connect to the hub using a 5GHz closed wireless connection so if the hub is badly positioned it will be difficult for the pods to get a good connection to the nub.