tp link vr2800 as wireless router or access point mode - my situation

[Kenny+Grant]

I've just spent 3 hours reading forums here and on tp-link pages and hope in the end I can describe my situation and ask for advice:

I originally had sky ultrafast broadband with sky hub and wifi booster and sky Q with 3 additional sky Q miniboxes.

TV was working ok with all the miniboxes connecting up and after the booster was added, Sky Q worked reasonably well - very few minibox resetting, decent movie download speed etc

The problem I had was broadband over wifi was awful - speeds would fluctuate wildly and in any room apart from the room the sky hub router was in it was pretty useless - not practical for work zooms etc.

So I did some reading and got a tp-link VR2800 and also a tp-link AC1900 range extender. I replaced the Sky router with this and have it working in wireless router mode - i.e. not access point mode. 

It has certainly solved the speed and accessibility problems for wifi access - it's fast in the office upstairs etc. I do have some problems with streaming where randomly (though daily) it will just stop streaming say a video on facebook and take 15 seconds to start again though I'll leave that for another time.

The real problem I have is that the TV system has become quite unreliable. It connects ok to the wifi but the miniboxes are losing either the Sky Q mainbox connection or the wifi connection regularly - like every 2 or 3 days on average. I'm constantly have to reconnect them to the main Q box or reset their network settings to reconnect to wifi - it's really flaky.

Has anyone had this specific problem and can recommend a solution? After the reading I was doing would it be worth connecting up the sky hub again in to the vr2800 and change it's mode to access point? if so why would that in theory be more reliable? And if I did use it this way maybe I could keep the Sky hub wifi on and use that for the Q boxes only and then get all other devices to use the vr2800?

I'm not sure, I just know at the moment it's clear the Sky Q boxes or maybe the miniboxes just do not like this non-Sky router

[TimmyBGood]

@Kenny+Grant 

Q Mini boxes won't stay connected to non-Sky wireless signal.  In the absence of a Sky Hub they are getting their signal only from the main Q box.

[Kenny+Grant]

Ah ok thanks for info - are you sure? I've read several threads where it says they can. 

for example mine are still connected now - 24 hours after, well it says they are. 

when you say won't stay connected do you mean eventually they will disconnect? Do you think I should use vr2800 in access point mode then perhaps and keep sky q boxes connected to sky hub?

[jamesn123]

@Kenny+Grant 

I think what @TimmyBGood meant is that Sky Q mini boxes will not connect to 3rd party routers directly. They must connect back to either a Sky router, a Sky booster or a Sky Q box. The problem you are having is likely because the signal strength between the boxes is deteriorating so you either need to wire them directly or a get a Sky booster. 

[Kenny+Grant]

Thanks James - that's what I got too.......which is strange as my miniboxes are connected wirelessly to a tp-link vr2800 and have been for a couple of months. They have worked perfectly for the last 24 hours though I'm expecting problems again soon..... hence my original post