Ultrafast with wi-fi max router

[splatto]

Can someone please confirm that they have Ultrafast Broadband with the white WI-FI Max router without subscribing to WI-FI Max with the pods? Ultrafast became available in my area in Sept 2024 and I signed up for it. At the time I still had Sky Q with two mini-boxes and the white router was considered incompatible. I recently switched to Sky Stream and knowing that new broadband customers were getting the white router without WI-Fi Max as standard I enquired about the possibility of upgrading my old black router to the newer white one. It didn't seem unreasonable as a customer of 35 years to request what new customers are getting. However I was informed that the WI-FI Max router isn't compatible with Ultrafast, which is surely nonsense, and the router doesn't provide full broadband speed without the pods, which is palpable nonsense. I personally know three people who joined Sky Broadband at speeds between 75 and 130mb who were given the white router without subscribing to WI-FI Max. I can't see any reason why the router wouldn't be provided to Ultrafast customers because of compatibility issues. 

[TimmyBGood]

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@splatto wrote:

I can't see any reason why the router wouldn't be provided to Ultrafast customers because of compatibility issues. 

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Marketing rather than compatibility.  If current subscribers with a Sky Q or Sky Broadband Hub don't opt to add WiFi Max then they don't get the Max Hub: Q Hubs are being swapped out for Sky Broadband Hubs though, because the Q model no longer meets minimum UK standards for routers.  New customers get the Max Hub, presumably so that they can be upsold to WiFi Max at a later point.

[splatto]

Cheers. If it's not available to existing customers of 35 years as an upgrade it's a dire policy, but at least it makes sense. To say it doesn't work with Ultrafast is an absurd lack of knowledge or a deliberate lie. 

[mormegil]

Ultrafast is an old product only sold via Gfast technology which does not work with the new max hub 

gfast has its own separate hub which looks like the black 4.2 but has different internals for this different network type

fttp has not been sold as ultra fast or ultra fast + for over a year as ofcom demanded the packages be more visible to customers so are now named by their speed 

[TimmyBGood]

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@mormegil wrote:

Ultrafast is an old product only sold via Gfast technology which does not work with the new max hub 

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If it 'became available in my area in Sept 2024' it won't be G.fast

[mormegil]

There is a difference between being available in the street and available to sell 

[TimmyBGood]

@mormegil 

Certainly, but G.fast ceased deployment in new areas five years ago.

[TimmyBGood]

@splatto 

Just to check, do you have an SR203 plugged into an ONT, or an SR204 into a wall socket?

[splatto]

I have the sr203 ONT. This was set up in Sept 2024 when the full fibre became available. Prior to that I had the Sky Q router and wall socket. 

[mormegil]

Since you have an Ont it's fully fibre so if you upgrade to 500mbps or faster you should get the option to upgrade to the max hub with or with out the max subscription but unless you want faster WiFi or still use the landline there is no real benefit to upgrading  and there are other third party options available if you don't use the telephone

[splatto]

I already have 500mb that I signed up to for two years in September 2024. As I said in my original post the SR213 wasn't compatible with my Sky Q Mini-boxes so I got the SR203. 
I enquired about upgrading it when I switched from Q to Stream and was told it's not compatible as I also stated in my original post. 

[splatto]

Reading this again this morning, I should have said Ultrafast Plus in my original query. The principle is the same in terms of the router not being available as an upgrade to existing customers and the reasons why that I was given, but wasn't accurate. 

[mormegil]

Yeah sorry I read it as you were changing to ultrafast rather than already having it

originally the max hub was only sold to customers that didn't have q tv and multi room due to the incompatibility with the tv's mesh system

while that has never been resolved the max hub availability was extended to more situations 

[splatto]

A final postscript to this. I borrowed a WIFI Max hub from a friend of a friend to try it out and not only does it work perfectly, it's also tangibly superior in my house. The actual broadband indicates a slightly faster speed but there were no problems anyway. However I have poor WIFI in my back bedroom. It's not a blind spot, but the older router gives readings between 70 and 80 dBm. The WIFI Max gives 65 to 68 dBm. 
Even though it's possible to acquire the router unofficially, of course Sky are not going to allow me to pair what could be considered stolen property for use with the My Sky app. It's tempting to get one though given the superior performance and Sky's poor attitude to supplying them to existing customers. 

[JimM1]

@splatto Probably more off a commercial reason not to give you the sky Max hub as a free swap for the older SR203 sky Broadband Hub, but it's a if you want and feel you need, there are a lot off wifi6 Routers out there at well low cost's now will do a far better job but you do have to consider if a landline is used and in the mix!