WiFi Max? Is it worth it ? What exactly does it do ?

[Jen0106]

WiFi Max? Is it worth it ? What exactly does it do ?

im unsure whether to get it and there isn't much information about it online and if it's actually beneficial as I'm looking at upgrading to the top package speed broadband anyway. So would it be needed? Or any better? 

[TimmyBGood]

@Jen0106 

https://www.sky.com/help/articles/sky-wifi-max 

https://www.skygroup.sky/article/Sky-Broadband-releases-its-most-powerful-WiFi-yet 

[Jen0106]

Thank you for the links and I've given them a read. I'm just also interested in some honest reviews on if it made any difference for those with the higher speed broadband packages rather than just Sky claims. 

Thanks

[CoffeeDrinker]

We're on a Superfast 67Mb/s connection here. We had the previous Sky Broadband Hub with WiFi turned off, instead using a 2 disc BT Whole Home mesh wifi setup. We have a lot of devices using the internet connection concurrently (Sky Stream, Glass, 3x iPhones, 2 personal laptops, games consoles etc etc). Quite often the WiFi network was starting to choke, meaning our son had to stop gaming so my wife could reliably use her work laptop with VPN.

Knowing that we have quite a few WiFi 6 devices (iPhones, laptops, Sky Stream & Glass), Sky Max Hub supports WiFi 6 and that one of the chief benefits of WiFi 6 is a hub/wifi access point can support more devices all wanting to transmit/receive at the same time, we got the WiFi Max hub to replace out BT mesh.,

We've had it several months now - our WiFi using has been rock solid using Max Hub, even without boosters (we're in a relatively new build house, so the WiFi signal covers the house ok). Even when we're watching 2x 4K streams on the two TVs, son gaming and us using our iPhones/ipads for web browsing whilst viewing, the Sky Max Hub has kept up fine. 

The SKy Max Hub won't increase your broadband line speed, nor does it have a greater WiFi range than the previous Broadband Hub. It does reliably support more devices all wanting to work at the same time, especially if those devices support WiFi 6.

[Chrisee]

@Jen0106 given there are a number of different things in the WiFi Max bundle including parental controls it use will depend on what you need. However if you arelooking for better WiFi spedds in your home the potentisl provision of up to 3 extender pods maybe what you are interested in.

I ordered WiFi Max soon after launch really to test it. The Sky Max hub as @CoffeeDrinker describes is a WiFi6 device and potentially will allow you to access the full 900Mb/s od a Gigabit connection which the older Sky Hub 4 wont but these days you get that hub if you order modt new services from Sky any way.

I have a splut level home with 3 levels the hub provides good coverage on our main living area with WiFi speeds well over 500Mb/s but spedds dropped on the other two levels with devices losing connection in some rooms. After calling Sky I was sent a single pod extender that I plugged into the hall on the middle level this helped to some extent but spedds were still poor in bedrooms on the top floor. Sky sent out an engineer who checked WiFi signal strength and authorised a second pod but we agreed tge systemwas not well suited to my home given the signal from the hub to the first pod was compromised.

When operating with the pods the hub becomes triband with a third 5GHz signal used to carry the backhaul between the hub and the pods. My home has a retaining wall between levels which blocked tge direct connection to the first hub so it relied on a reflected signal. Therefore I rejected tge package and went back to using my 3 unit Deco system. Potentially if you home is suitable the pods can work well but if you have solid walls or issues like mine it is not likely to.

The pods are WiFi5 capable but can deliver 600Mb/s in optimum conditions which is more than fast enough. They are neat plug-in units and thecsystem optimises itself automatically. However note the guaranteed speeds from Sky is 25Mb/s for Ultrafast customers which isnt great and 10Mb/s for Superfast which I consider unusable.

Hope that helps.