What is the best router to plug straight into my openreach onto box

[Jakochels]

@TimmyBGood @cookiemonsteruk @mae-3

Hello,

Can someone please provide me with the best router that I can plug straight into my open reach ont box. I tried a TP-Link router but I don't think it was compatible with the ont box. I have not got a budget. Give me options please.

Thank you.

[TomThumb5ive]

@Jakochels  Unfortunately there is no 3rd party router that is completely plug & play, 

Configuration of any replacement router will be required, 

But there is plenty of guidance & help available on the forum if needed.

As you have found out, not all routers (TP.L.) are compatible with sky's authentication process.

So depending on what issues you are trying to resolve, makes advice or recommendations easier.

Do note:

*If you remove sky's router, you will loose sky talk if it's provisioned as a digital line (voip),

*in some circumstances, it can also affect the stability & connections of sky Q (if you have any)

Tom...

[Jakochels]

Can you please link me instructions on how I can replace my sky router with a 3rd party router because I am willing to purchase one but I need to make sure I have set it up correctly. 

Also can you please advise which is the best router to purchase to replace my sky router. Any help would be appreciated.

[TomThumb5ive]

@Jakochels As per Sky

Please provide as much information as possible, as you’re far more likely to receive a helpful response. Alternatively, upload an image or video using the buttons below to help describe your query more easily.

---

@TomThumb5ive wrote:

@Jakochels  Unfortunately there is no 3rd party router that is completely plug & play, 

Configuration of any replacement router will be required, 

But there is plenty of guidance & help available on the forum if needed.

As you have found out, not all routers (TP.L.) are compatible with sky's authentication process.

So depending on what issues you are trying to resolve, makes advice or recommendations easier.

Do note:

*If you remove sky's router, you will loose sky talk if it's provisioned as a digital line (voip),

*in some circumstances, it can also affect the stability & connections of sky Q (if you have any)

Tom...

---

[mae-3]

@Jakochels 

There isn't a best router only what fits your purposes. And one will need to work on it to get it working, we can only offer advise in the end its your choice which wireless router you need.

For smaller/medium size premises just 1 router would be good in most cases, unless the construction of the house is solid brick walls throughout the house. A wireless mesh for larger houses is best route forward for those environments.

Look at Asus routers because they work well with Sky but do need some configuration, eg: `asus XT8/9 and ET8 is best but the equipment in the house, eg: phones etc... must also be latest models to take advantage of the wireless 802.11ax, eg: wifi 6 (5Ghz) and 6E (5Ghz & 6Ghz) 802.11ax standard. Asus ET8 is probably the best but wireless standard 7 is just around the corner but it's expensive at that end of the market.

[Chrisee]

@Jakochels the two previous posts give good advice.

Sky decline to support third party routers so they wont help and forum members are mainly customers like yourself and will give suggestions etc but if you need a detailed walk through and ongoing support for a third party router you wont get it.

The thought process I would suggest is first to decide why you need to replace the default Sky hub SR203 which works for the vast majority of customers.. Is it because you play games and even over ethernet you get latency issues. Or is it because you need better wifi if the latter decide on the wifi speeds you need as few if any apps can use let alone need gigabit wifi speeds or whatever. Lastly decide if you will take the time to get a basic understanding of how networking and routers work so you can support your system to some extent.. 

Next decide what you want to pay costs vary greatly from well under a £100 but you can spend £500 or more if you want.  The previous comments about wifi speeds directly impacts on cost Wifi 6e is a useful add on but it is pricey. Personally I find my 3 unit Wifi5 system is quite satisfactory to stream high quality video through out a good sized 4 bedroom home which the wifi on the SR203 could not do.

[Jakochels]

I will mostly be using the router for gaming and streaming. I have been recommended to purchase to a ASUS wifi 6 router and enable ppoe on the router and then I can plug it straight into the openreach Ont box. I am not sure if that information is correct but hopefully someone can inform what the best process is to install a Asus router online. I want to avoid pluggging in another router to my current sky router because I feel it defeats the object.

Or shall I just a buy mesh kit?

Thanks

[jamesn123]

@Jakochels 

Its only PPPoE if you are in Ireland, Its DHCP option 61 if your in the UK. For Asus routers, basically you connect the router to the ONT via ethernet, go into manual configuration on the routers web interface, set the WAN type to 'Automatic IP', type abc123@skydsl|abc123 into the Option 61 field and you should be good to go. 

[Haleweb]

@Chrisee May I just ask a question about your post.  I have been looking at the TP-Link Deco M4 and I see it is very reasonably priced.  I have been looking at one of the views and his triggered some questions which I was hoping you could help with considering you have a Sky router.

1. Do you use full router mode or basic wifi access points?
2. Did you have a problem with double NAT'ing
3. Depeneding on your answer to 2. above, did you (can you) have to switch the Sky router to "bridge mode" or put the main mesh unit in the routers DMZ in the router settings?
4. Can you still plug directly in to the router's ethernet ports (Sky Glass TV and Hive Hub is plugged in currently)
5. Were you able to access the web portal as an alternative to the app?  The view is the options available are different on both

Many thanks in advance for your help.

[Chrisee]

Hi @Haleweb the answers to  your questions are as follows

1) I use Access Point mode for simplicity but I dont need the extra services like parental control which are lost inthis mode

2) Double NAT only applies if the Deco is in Router mode but need not be an issue for most users. I dont know if the parental control will work in this set up but I expect it would.

3) the only change  tothe Sky hub is to turn off the Wifi as there is no bridge mode with Sky hubs. If setting up the Deco in router mode you coukd use the Sky hub's DMZ to simplify firewall issues if you wanted 

4) Yes the Sky hub's Ethernet ports work normally and my own Hive set up is using one currently.

5) i have never needed to access the web portal as the app has worked well for me but there is no reason to expect you cannot use it if you prefer. One useful option in the app is the Network Optimisation which works well and manages interference issues.. 

[Haleweb]

Thanjs do much @Chrisee that's really helpful.  I am not worried about the parent controls either but the reason i am doing this is so I can use the QOS feature to ensure my laptop gets priority when working from home as when there are other people in the house the quality of my network is affected.  I believe I therefore need to run in router mode.

[Chrisee]

@Haleweb not nedded the QOS myself so can't advise but you could well be right. Double NAT seems to work for most business apps but some private VPNs can apparently be sniffy.