Error MR104 "There has been a problem finding your Sky Q box on the network"

[BlackwaterUK]

I am looking for some help / advice. A family member has switched from normal Sky to Sky Q, they have the main Sky Q box and two mini boxes. There is a Google mesh WiFi system installed throughout the house so WiFi signal is strong, the Sky boxes are all connected to this WiFi (I had tried to connect them by ethernet but they failed to get an IP, I saw in a Sky thread that this is common).

Regularly, the mini boxes say they cannot connect to the main box. It is getting frustrating as this family member is not very good with tech / mobility and they live a little way from me.

Originally Sky had installed a Sky booster box but that regularly had the same issues and the 'connected' light would turn off and seemed to complicate the network as it broadcast another WiFi SSID and had less coverage than the mesh already in place.

Does anyone know any tips/tricks about how to fix this? The boxes are all on the same WiFi network with no firewall between them. I am going to upgrade the WiFi to a Ubiquiti set up so I can remotely monitor and manage the network to help with issues.

Thanks in advance

[oldfella]

Hi @BlackwaterUK 

First thing to remember is that mini boxes will not connect to 3rd Party WiFi .

They will only connect to the Sky Q main Q box WiFi (or Sky Q router or Q booster WiFi)

Some success should be obtainable if you connect all the Q boxes to the same WiFi network by Ethernet.  (Assuming the mesh units have Ethernet port)

When all boxes are connected by Ethernet you can then switch off all Q box WiFi.

Start with main Q box and first carry out a Network reset with the Ethernet connected.
Network Reset found in Q box Home - Settings - Setup - Network.
Highlight Status and then select Reset on the right hand side. Select connect wired to non Sky Router.  Do not carry out any WPS and just wait for the box to connect. It may take a couple of minutes. If it does not connect there is an issue with the Ethernet connection.
As soon as it connects go into the Q box hidden menu and turn off WiFi.

To enter hidden menu press Home and navigate down to Settings but do not select Settings.
With Settings highlighted press 0 0 1 Select.
Go to Network to turn off both bands of WiFi. Confirm before exit.

Repeat the network reset on any minis in the Mini Home menu with the Ethernet connected. Again do not do any WPS and just wait for it to connect.
Once it is connected go into the mini hidden menu (same procedure as above) and turn off both bands of WiFi. Confirm before exit.

[BlackwaterUK]

Thanks for the info. I had already tried to connect them all by ethernet and I followed the steps you laid out but they would not obtain an IP address when I selected to connect by ethernet. I searched this online and found pages of others experiencing the same issue with no fix, the problem is not on my LAN as I can connect other devices to the mesh point and they get a DHCP allocated IP no problem. 

The network status of the Sky Q mini boxes shows they are connected to my non-Sky WiFi, is this not the case? Are they using a hidden mesh network to connect to SkyQ like Sonos uses? When the Sky booster was in place, it was so unreliable. I had the booster wired to the main (non-Sky) router, regularly the middle connected light would go off, even though the booster was pretty close to the main Sky Q box. 

I'm at a bit of a loss, the new WiFi will help a bit as Google WiFi doesn't have many insights on the app, Ubiquiti will show me a lot more info to help diagnose issues on our network. My concern was an issue with how the sky boxes communicate with one another as I haven't been able to find clear info about how they all 'talk' to one another. 

[oldfella]

Hi @BlackwaterUK 

The main Q box (assuming WiFi is not turned off) transmits it's own WiFi Mesh to connect with Mini boxes.

When on Sky Broadband with Sky Q router there is the same mesh network transmitted by all Q boxes (and boosters if used).   Minis can connect to the mesh from any device.

When on 3rd party Broadband the minis will only connect to the main Q box WiFi (or a Q booster or an already connected mini).

When you had the booster connected by Ethernet connected to your 3rd party router did you carry out a network reset on the main Q box and connect to the Q booster using WPS?

Connecting Main Q box by WiFi to 3rd party router directly you can only use the router SSID andjpassword for the 2.4 Ghz band.   However if you are connecting to a Q booster (wired to router) then you can use WPS and the 5 Ghz).

Main issue with 3rd party broadband and WiFi mesh systems is that there is always interference to the Q boxes WiFi mesh due to multiple networks.

Only real positive solution is full Ethernet for all Q boxes so that all the Q WiFi mesh can be switched off.

Hopefully you will have better success with this if you upgrade your mesh 

[BlackwaterUK]

Thanks, that's the best explanation I have seen about how the system works. Looking at the link below, the engineer installed a Sky Broadband Booster rather than a Sky Q Booster, do you know if this matters?

https://www.sky.com/help/articles/sky-wifi-booster-what-do-you-need-help-with

I will try to set them up as wired again, by the time I had found out how to switch to wired last time I visited, I only had a little time left before I have to leave. 

[oldfella]

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@BlackwaterUK wrote:

Thanks, that's the best explanation I have seen about how the system works. Looking at the link below, the engineer installed a Sky Broadband Booster rather than a Sky Q Booster, do you know if this matters?

https://www.sky.com/help/articles/sky-wifi-booster-what-do-you-need-help-with

I will try to set them up as wired again, by the time I had found out how to switch to wired last time I visited, I only had a little time left before I have to leave. 

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Needs to be a Q booster as far as I am aware @BlackwaterUK 

[BlackwaterUK]

That's what I wondered but I thought the Sky engineer would have known that, if I still struggle we will get in touch with Sky to switch the booster box. Thanks again