Hardwire Main and Mini box no Sky Router

[Jwatson3]

My Sky Q Main Box his hard wired to one of my Decco Satellite Units which runs on a wifi connection from the main Decco unit which is hardwired to my Virgin router. I have just had an extension put in and would like my Sky Q mini box to be hardwired as the distance between main box and mini box is causing issues. 

As I understand it, the if I am not a Sky Internet customer, I am required to hardwire the Mini Box to the Main box as opposed to directly to the router. With this in mind I had a cable run to facilitate this but the Main Q box only has one ethernet port. 

Question - Can I install a Switch/Splitter somehwere (At the Main Q Box?) that will enable me to hardwire both main box and mini box?

Thanks.

[oldfella]

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@Jwatson3 wrote:

My Sky Q Main Box his hard wired to one of my Decco Satellite Units which runs on a wifi connection from the main Decco unit which is hardwired to my Virgin router. I have just had an extension put in and would like my Sky Q mini box to be hardwired as the distance between main box and mini box is causing issues. 
As I understand it, the if I am not a Sky Internet customer, I am required to hardwire the Mini Box to the Main box as opposed to directly to the router. With this in mind I had a cable run to facilitate this but the Main Q box only has one ethernet port. 
Question - Can I install a Switch/Splitter somehwere (At the Main Q Box?) that will enable me to hardwire both main box and mini box?

Thanks.

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Yes you can use a simple unmanaged Ethernet switch @Jwatson3 .

However if your main Q box is connected by Ethernet to a Decco satellite unit then you could also connect the mini by Ethernet to another Decco satellite unit.

[Jwatson3]

Thanks!

I tried this but failed, and so I have had the wiring so that I can't see it behind the TV. My as is and proposed is below. Would the proposed work and do I need to change any settings on the Mini/Main boxes to suit this set up? Does the Ethernet connection from the main Sky box to the Mini cover satellite and wifi connection?

[oldfella]

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@Jwatson3 wrote:

Thanks!

I tried this but failed, and so I have had the wiring so that I can't see it behind the TV. My as is and proposed is below. Would the proposed work and do I need to change any settings on the Mini/Main boxes to suit this set up? Does the Ethernet connection from the main Sky box to the Mini cover satellite and wifi connection?

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Hi @Jwatson3 

If the main Q box is working wired to the Satellite Decco then there is no reason why a mini on the same connection wouldn't work.

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 immediately 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 the mini 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 immediately go into the mini hidden menu (same procedure as above) and turn off both bands of WiFi. Confirm before exit.

[Jwatson3]

@oldfella 

Thanks for this, so put simply, my "to be" topology should work fine and I just need to add an unmanaged Network Switch then hard wire both Main and Mini to that Switch alongwith the satellite Decco?

That's what I read from this: "If the main Q box is working wired to the Satellite Decco then there is no reason why a mini on the same connection wouldn't work."

Then just switch Wifi off on both boxes? I have never switched it off on the main box but presume it did it automatically when I hard wired it?

Thanks.

[JibbaJoy · Accepted solution]

Hi @Jwatson3 , I had a Sky engineer around recently to fix an issue - he ended up changing the main Q box but then had to reconnect all three mini boxes; when he saw I had the main and 1 mini connect just like you want he said that sky don't allow this as I didn't have Sky broadband (some thing to do with Sky's router being setup to give Q boxes priority to improve performance)

Yes I could buy an unmanaged switch or connect the main and mini directly with the main connecting to the router via WiFi. I let him bridge my lan cable with a coupler so he could setup the system and tick all his boxes and leave. Then just put everything back as it was by doing just the way @oldfella said to do.

[oldfella]

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@Jwatson3 wrote:

@oldfella 

....;;;;;';';'Then just switch Wifi off on both boxes? I have never switched it off on the main box but presume it did it automatically when I hard wired it?

Thanks.

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Hi @Jwatson3 

It's not just a case of switching off all WiFi.   You need to exactly follow the procedure in my post.

And no...... using Ethernet on the main Q box does not switch the WiFi off.

[Jwatson3]

@oldfella @JibbaJoy 

Next challenge I have is that I have another Mini Box that I do not have the ability to hardwire. Given I've switched off the Wifi on the main box, does this mean I can't connect the other mini box unless it's hardwired or can I still connect it to wifi and then WPS it to the main box or will that much up the config of the hardwired connection?

I probably should have asked this before I bought the network switch....

Thanks,

Jamie 

[JibbaJoy]

I should have said that I have left the WiFi on for both my main and hardwired mini boxes just so that a 2nd mini can connect to the main using wps and a 3rd mini can connect to the hardwired mini via wps and they all work well although only 2 minis can be active at the same time.

[Jwatson3]

Not sure this works though as if WiFi is switched back on (I assume so anyway) the main box will just connect to WiFi and not Ethernet. I thought I was hardwired for a year but I wasn't, it was WiFi.

@oldfella has suggested WiFi must be switched off on both boxes to form a true hardwired connection. I am guessing your main box is running off WiFi and not Ethernet? 

[Jwatson3]

To be honest I was just doubling down on the hardwire connections. The mini boxes are the issue. My main box had run off WiFi with no issues for 2 years so I can simply just hardwire one mini box into the main (the one that's had most issues) and then run the other one of the main box WiFi as it's much closer. 

[Jwatson3]

Hi @oldfella 

back for more help as my problem seems to have worsened. So...

I want to leave my main box connected via WiFi which it has been for 2 years with zero issues. 

I then want to hardwire my mini box to my main box which works but only for the satellite signal and now neither main box or Mini box are connecting to WiFi.  

I need to keep my main box WiFi connected so I can connect my second Mini box via WiFi (no ability to hardwire), but want to hardwire my Main to my furthers away mini which I have had wires fitted to do so. 

any suggestions? I've seen a lot of people saying their main box ended up being replaced. 

[JibbaJoy]

Yes that will work as that's just how the Sky engineer left mine:

Ethernet between main and a mini and main connected via wifi to router.

1. Check that the main box is connected to router using wifi;

2. On the hardwired mini, reset connectivity and select hardwired option and just let it connect but ignoring the WPS request as you don't need that;

3. Reset the wifi mini to a wifi connection and this time press the WPS button of the nearest Q box (either main or mini) when requested.

Job done.

[Jwatson3]

@JibbaJoy 

Thanks but I've done all this 3 times and the main box keeps dropping connection after 2 minutes. 

main box is connected to WiFi, mini box hardwired to main box with WiFi switched off and neither of them connect to WiFi. It's as if something is triggering it. 

@oldfella anythong you could offer? Thanks 

[JibbaJoy]

Try leaving wifi on for all the boxes so that Q can use it's own hidden mesh if within range of each other