Switching Broadband from BT to Sky - Is Sky Broadband Hub necessary for "activation"?

[ReachForTheSky]

I'm switching from BT to Sky for my broadband, essentially the same package (80/20 mbps) FTTC, but four times cheaper than what I'm currently paying with BT!

Currently I'm using a third-party (TP-Link) modem/router in bridge mode and a Netgear R7800 router flashed with OpenWrt so that I can use SQM. Will I need to install the Sky Broadband Hub that I've just taken delivery of at all on the changeover day, or can I continue using my third-party modem and separate router setup if I change the WAN settings from PPPoE to DHCP Option 61?

Also whilst they do their line testing / DLM in the first couple of weeks, is there any way to help obtain the highest sync speed possible? Would having SQM enabled on my router affect this (with SQM I get slightly slower DL/UL speeds), or does DLM only involve the connection between the cabinet and modem and not traffic on the local network?

Thanks!

[cookiemonsteruk]

@ReachForTheSky 

OpenWrt should allow dhcp 61 authentication for netgear modem routers with sky and most tp link vr modem routers should work as well. We are more aware of tp link working with sky than having to flash openwrt to netgear

[ReachForTheSky]

Thanks for the response.

It is a TP-Link VR900, so it would work natively as a combined modem/router, but it doesn't support SQM natively so that's why I'm using it in bridge mode with the Netgear R7800 acting as the router.

Do you know if there are any required "login details" for the DHCP 61 authentication? I think I've seen a "client id" being required that you would have to get from the Sky broadband hub, but I think I saw a post somewhere that said Sky no longer validate the client id so it can be random. Do you know if this is the case?

Thanks again!

[Mr+Slant]

Use abc123@skydsl|abc123

the content isn't important, you just need xyz@skydsl|xyz

Note that the | symbol is essential to get it working - not ¦

[ReachForTheSky]

Thanks, will give it a go when my Broadband gets activated next week 👍

[ReachForTheSky]

Changeover from BT to Sky just happened, noticed because my Internet suddenly died. Changed protocol from PPPoE to DHCP and used the client id suggested above and everything is working fine. OpenWrt takes the client id as a hex string for some reason so I had to convert it before it was accepted.

Thanks for your help!