TP-Link Deco / Sky Q

[M+T]

ISP - Sky Full Fibre ultrafast plus w/ broadband boost

Router - Sky Hub 4.2 (SR203)

TV - Sky Q 2Tb & 3 minis

We have the router in my home office on the ground floor where I WFH.

Wired connection is great, often hitting the 500mbps on speed test.

In the same room on WiFi the speed is also good typically over 300.

However elsewhere on the ground floor and all of the first floor the WiFi is patchy at best. Struggled to get over 50mb in any room and in my daughter’s room, furthest from the router it’s mostly a dead spot but can get 20-30Mbps in spots.

The main sky Q box is on the same floor as the router albeit a different room and connects via WiFi to the router.

2 of the Q mini boxes are on the first floor, the 3rd is on the ground floor in the room next to the main box. All 3 mini boxes will have big pauses during watching and semi-frequent drop outs. The minis are all connected via WiFi too.

I use a Tp-Link powerline from Router to my son’s room on the first floor for his console which keeps him at about 100Mbps. And another powerline to another console on the ground floor, same room as the mini.

I’ve been reading all the threads I can find on mesh systems and based on various factors have settled on a Tp-Link Deco mesh. I believe I have an understanding of the issues with the Sky Q mesh however I’m trying to understand if the following would work.

Connect deco node to router via Ethernet and set it up in AP mode. Install 2 other nodes elsewhere in the house to maximise the meshes coverage. Connect every device EXCEPT the sky Q and mini boxes to the Deco mesh and just leave the Q boxes on the Sky WiFi.

I’m aware that having the 2 meshes run at the same time could cause interference but TP-Link claim the Decos auto-optimise to avoid this by using channels with no noise as does the Sky router. Our house is far enough from neighbours that we don’t see any other WiFi but ours when scanning.

If this won’t work am I right in thinking I’d need to be buying 5 Deco nodes, one for the router and then 4 to Ethernet into each of the Q box/minis and turn off wifi on the sky hub and boxes ? 5 mesh nodes feels like massive overkill for a 4 bedroom house not to mention that it jumps the cost considerably.

Thank you for any insight / advice.

[max+bank · Accepted solution]

It should work with the 3 Deco setup.

You would be running the system in the same way that someone with BT/Plusnet internet would use a Sky Q setup. Sky Q and the minis communicate via a separate wifi network to the Sky router so they won't be affected if you turn off the Sky router wifi. The only thing you can do is to turn off the 2.4ghz network on SkyQ to clear a channel and also move the Deco system away from channel 36 to improve your network.

If you can, I'd connect the Sky Q to one of the Deco nodes via ethernet just for faster network transfer (makes the Sky router use wifi6 speeds that way). 

The perfect solution is as you say, 5 Deco nodes but try the three first.

The Sky router won't passthrough iPv6 in Deco router mode but should in AP mode (assuming it's the same as I have with eero).

The only other option is an Asus router and mesh system. You'd lose the BT phone socket but would be able to remove the Sky router as Asus can be set up to authenticate with Sky. 

[M+T]

Thanks for replying.

One part of your answer really thew me

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@max+bank wrote:

Sky Q and the minis communicate via a separate wifi network to the Sky router so they won't be affected if you turn off the Sky router wifi.

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I understand that the Q box and the minis form their own mesh for communicating and there's no connectivity between the minis and router but surely the Sky Q box talks back to the main router? I have to use the WPS key or enter the WiFi details when resetting the network settings on the main box.

I'm not sure I totally understand this bit either...

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@max+bank wrote:

If you can, I'd connect the Sky Q to one of the Deco nodes via ethernet just for faster network transfer (makes the Sky router use wifi6 speeds that way). 

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One of the deco nodes will be downstairs but I'm not sure if it will be in the room with the mini or the Q. My understanding from reading various other threads on this was that if not using the sky router at all, then all of the minis need to be wired to nodes which is what I'm trying to avoid if possible due to the extra cost.

I'm going to go ahead with the 3 node set-up. I will follow up with how it works.

[max+bank]

Yes - two options I think:

Connect the Deco's, turn off the Sky router wifi and rename the Deco network to the old SSID/password. Sky Q may then just login as it won't see a change, otherwise just connect the Q box to the new Deco network. It should all work.

Sky Q is only 2.4 & 5Ghz so if you want faster downloads, connect the Q box via ethernet as it will then be connected with wifi 6 (or 7) via the Deco backhaul channel.

I don't think you'll need the mini's actually connected to a Deco as they aren't connected to your home network now, just to the Q network. 

You'll find out when you connect up but I had Q and BT broadband and the mini's were fine. 

[Chrisee]

@M+T your SR203 is fully compatable with your Sky Q boxes which should act as wifi hot spots extending the WiFi network. Sky Q wifi is not particularly fast but given most apps can only use under 100Mb/s it should still suffice. You can ask Sky for boosters if the Q minis are struggling to connect or as I did myself use a set of powerline adapters to link the most distant Q mini back to the hub which made the whole system. more efective as it improved backhaul speeds.

As soon as you introduce third party wifi like a Deco system you can start hitting issues. The Q minis have to connect to Sky wifi either from the hub or from the main Q box. Interference issues are highly likely as 3 Q boxes and the Sky hub effectively hog the whole 2.4GHz band and will interfere with ch36 to 52 in the faster 5GHz band.

Deco systems make excellent home wifi solutions it is just they dont mix that well with Sky Q and unfortunately are a pain to link directly to Sky lines. I use one myself in access point mode but I no longer have Sky Q.

[max+bank]

I've got 4 Eero in router mode, one connected to the Q and the TV via ethernet. The Sky wifi is turned off and Sky Q works fine. I did have a mini as well but that was also connected via ethernet to an eero via a network switch.  I think if you reduce the Q channel width to 40Mhz and turn off 2.4 Ghz it will help clear the channels for the minis to talk to the main Q box.

[M+T]

Just as a final update on this after having new system running for 24 hours.

I've got 3 Deco X10 nodes setup and running, one wired to router in AP mode.

After setting up all 3 nodes I ran the auto-optimise tool in the Deco app and it said it could see interference and had automatically adjusted channels and was now fine.

Good wifi from the mesh now reaches every room in the house. The WiFi is still enabled on the Sky router too and the Sky Q boxes still use their wireless mode and have had no issues so far.

Thank you both for your replies and advice.

[deroo]

So glad I found this thread as I'm considering the exact same Deco X10 mesh and saw a review mentioning issues with Sky Q. My setup is nearly identical to yours, only I have 2 minis. 

What has led me to sort the WiFi is the recent upgrade to Fibre Gigafast. I noticed that with the Sky Q main box hard wired to a small unmanaged switch uplinked to the Hub (SR203), speed tests wouldn't exceed 280Mb(ish). In troubleshooting this, I discovered that the Q main box will flood the network with traffic and causes massive congestion. I've had to remove the hard wired connection from Q main to the switch and just left it connected via WiFi.  

To get the most out of the now giga speeds, I'd like a WiFi 6 capable mesh as the SR203 is not 6 capable. Seeing this thread tells me that the possibility of getting the Deco X10 to work with Q is good, however I had hoped to reuse the existing SSID so I wouldn't have to re-attach all smart things to a new network. The comments I've read seem to suggest leaving the old Sky network running to let the Sky boxes do their thing uninterrupted is the best option. 

Another thing I'm considering is Sky Stream with the Deco mesh. Maybe ditching the dish and the god awful Sky Q mesh with just 3 simple streaming pucks that will (hopefully) not bog down the network with needless traffic might be a good option. 

I'd be interested to know if anyone else has this setup. I expect the pucks with any mesh would work absolutely fine. 

thanks. 

[Chrisee]

@deroo I switched to Sky Glass/Stream when that launched from a Sky Q system.  I bought a 3 unit Deco M4 system to replace the Sky Q wifi hotspots which were reinforced by powerline adapters to 2 Q Minis. The new system provides strong wifi in every room of my 3 level home since then my connection has been upgraded to full fibre.

Unlike you I am not bothered by outright speed being more interested in a stable signal that allows my devices to operate without issue. The Sky Stream Pucks can only ever use a maximum bandwidth of under 40Mb/s but are sensitive to even moderate jitter so a stable wifi signal is vital and my current 3 pucks and Glass TV operate without issue. I use no apps that can use more than 100Mb/s and will live with slightly longer download times which is the only likely gain of a faster wifi system. If you work with large video files then your requirements msybe different.

My WiFi5  system delivers 500Mb/s in my main living area (limited by my 500Mb/s connection  it will deliver 650Mb/s if I upgraded to Gigabit) dropping to a minimum of 150Mb/s in the furthest rooms still ample  for my usage. If I was buying again I would probably buy a WiFi6 system but honestly it would make very little difference in practice. 

The issue with Sky Q limiting throughput is real and is something Sky cannot fix without re-engineering the boxes which isnt going to happen given the roughly 5 year life of satellite broadcasting in the UK. Sky's white Max hub is not compatable with Sky Q so like other routers cannot connect directly to Q mini boxes by WiFi requiring a fudge of connecting via the main Q box. Sky's extender pods are WiFi5 but are triband  so are quite fast but in my home were not suited to the layout the older Deco units are more reliable.

[deroo]

Thanks @Chrisee for the detailed info. I am tempted by stream and the likelihood is I will do so in the coming weeks, probably before adding a mesh. Outright speed isn't the biggest driver but there are a couple of consoles in the house at opposite ends and with digital games now being massive, that extra bit of speed does indeed help. One console is hard wired to the same switch as the Q main box was, which is why I noticed the performance issue and therefore removed the Q main from the switch. 

But I do agree with you. I'd rather sacrifice some speed for a stable connection which, after removing the Q mesh, I hope will improve even more. A few years ago I split the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands as the signal would drop constantly, since splitting the bands it's been much better. 

Also interesting in what you said about the life of satellite tv in the U.K., I actually read elsewhere in this community today someone mentioned that Q will be stopped in 2029, so I guess the clock is ticking for sure. 

[Chrisee]

@deroo do research Sky Stream before changing as while it works well it is quite different in detail  from Sky Q including what looks to be a major difference that the Stream units dont record which in practice isnt a major issue for most users after a few days.

Splitting wifi bands was an issue but you will find you can no longer do that on systems like the Deco units as WiFi6 requires both bands to be sync'd to achieve the speeds. With a wider rznge of channels, better signal optimisation etc in practice this is something you no longer have to worry about assuming you dont have legacy kit that wont play ball with newer systems. Having faster wifi may help,game updates but in practice many server owners throttle connections to save their bandwidth and these downloads highlight one of the lesser known limitations of Openreach's fibre system which is up to 30 lines on a distribution point share a 2.8Gb/s download connection so hopefully you dont share your's with a lot of game players all wanting to update COD at once!

The 2029 date is not certain for thecdnd of satellite broadcasting but the usable life of the satellites Sky rents capacity on runs out around 2030 and all the signs are they wont be replaced.

[deroo]

I did opt for the Deco X50 with just two nodes. Wifi reach is now throughout the house and halfway down the garden too! I've stayed with Sky Q for now and actually left the the Sky Hub in place running the 2 WiFi bands for the Sky boxes and my IoT devices. The Deco WiFi is currently for all our user devices amd smart TVs. The Deco has an option to create an IoT network which I will utilise when I can be bothethed to migrate everything across. For now, running two WiFi routers is working fine and speed, reach and stability being (touch wood) solid.

I have looked into Stream quite a bit and am aware of the core changes, in particular the recordings, so I'll hang on until Sky can offer a comnpetitive price to move.

[Pandy]

I was using Sky for internet but after notification of a price hike I moved to Airband. 
The router they supply is from Nokia and had to be moved to a different place in the house from the Sky router. Unfortunately I had a printer and another item directly connected to router via Ethernet. I therefore bought 3 Deco mesh units. One connected to the new router. One to expand network to garden. The other in the room with printer do I could connect the printer via Ethernet again. 
However I am having problems with the Sky Q box. I can set it up to use the new network and it seems to be fine for a few hours. Then next day it tells me I have no internet and I have to go through settings again to reset the network and re-enter password. 
I have tried all tips I've seen such as running the optimise option on the Deco app but the Sky Q box keeps dropping the connection forcing me to re enter setup and password again. 
As I now have 2 WiFi networks (1 from Nokia router the other on the Deci units) I found I could connect the Sky Q box to the Nokia network and so far this seems a lot more stable - at least I have not had to run setup on the Sky Q box again for a few days. 
So my conclusion is the there does seem some incompatibility between Sky Q and the Deco units. 
Before I got Sky broadband I was with Plusnet and every few months would also have to run setup on the Sky Q box to re-enter the network password. I never had to do this once I moved to Sky broadband which is a bit suspicious - has Sky deliberately done this as they want us all to use Sky broadband?

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@M+T wrote:

Just as a final update on this after having new system running for 24 hours.

I've got 3 Deco X10 nodes setup and running, one wired to router in AP mode.

After setting up all 3 nodes I ran the auto-optimise tool in the Deco app and it said it could see interference and had automatically adjusted channels and was now fine.

Good wifi from the mesh now reaches every room in the house. The WiFi is still enabled on the Sky router too and the Sky Q boxes still use their wireless mode and have had no issues so far.

Thank you both for your replies and advice.

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at least 

[JimM1]

@Pandy Not every piece of Wireless wi-fi equipment works with every other Hub/Router/Extender etc, never mind if there is a poor wireless network to start with!

[Pandy]

Hmmm i just find it strange that all my phones, tablets, tv, printers, ring hub, games consoles, cameras etc etc all re-connected to the new WiFi with no problems at all simply by giving the new network same name and password as previous network. I am not suffering from weak WiFi.

The only equipment that refuses to connect is the Sky Q box. It connects initially, then once it goes on standby overnight it loses it and I have to go through setup and enter password again the next day. I 'thought' I had cured it by connecting to the WiFi network created by the Nokia router and not the Deco units but it failed yesterday and I had to run setup again.

When I was using Sky broadband and a Sky router it never lost connection - so it seems there is some incompatibility between Sky Q box and non-Sky equipment that just does not exist with other equipment.

I have now moved the third Deco unit close to the Sky Q box and connected via Ethernet instead and this works.