My Q setup only works with Sky Broadband

[DannyPBlack]

I'm feeling very trapped by Sky.

I've tried everything and I just cannot get the Q box to work without having the WiFi on the Sky Hub active.

The final test was powerline adapters - all connected instantly; I thought I had finally found a solution. The connection was intermittent, the picture and sound would briefly stutter every few seconds making it unwatchable on the Main and the Mini in the annex (which my parents-in-law are completely reliant on). 

The Mini is hardwired to the Main so I had to get an ethernet splitter to make 2 ports in the Main box but to no avail. Potentially it could have been the ethernet splitter not being quick enough or maybe the powerline adapters?

The upshot of it is, I'm feeling compeltely trapped and unable to change my broadband provider because of the way our Q boxes are set up. Realistically it's two houses - the main house and the annex in what used to be the garage. It would be perfect if you were still able to 2 have boxes running off the sky dish but this having to have the Minis connected to the main box is really causing us issues.

I wish I could get rid of everything but the in-laws are practically housebound and need the Q box for TV and to provide a hotspot in the annex as my WiFi won't breach the breeze block walls.

I've raised a formal complaint but I don't know if there's anything they'll do about it.

I'm disappointed because the replies here and elsewhere seem to suggest it's easy to get the Q box working on another provider but I've tried everything and it only works with the Sky Hub on WiFi.

[nigea99]

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@DannyPBlack wrote:

I'm feeling very trapped by Sky.

I've tried everything and I just cannot get the Q box to work without having the WiFi on the Sky Hub active.

The final test was powerline adapters - all connected instantly; I thought I had finally found a solution. The connection was intermittent, the picture and sound would briefly stutter every few seconds making it unwatchable on the Main and the Mini in the annex (which my parents-in-law are completely reliant on). 

The Mini is hardwired to the Main so I had to get an ethernet splitter to make 2 ports in the Main box but to no avail. Potentially it could have been the ethernet splitter not being quick enough or maybe the powerline adapters?

The upshot of it is, I'm feeling compeltely trapped and unable to change my broadband provider because of the way our Q boxes are set up. Realistically it's two houses - the main house and the annex in what used to be the garage. It would be perfect if you were still able to 2 have boxes running off the sky dish but this having to have the Minis connected to the main box is really causing us issues.

I wish I could get rid of everything but the in-laws are practically housebound and need the Q box for TV and to provide a hotspot in the annex as my WiFi won't breach the breeze block walls.

I've raised a formal complaint but I don't know if there's anything they'll do about it.

I'm disappointed because the replies here and elsewhere seem to suggest it's easy to get the Q box working on another provider but I've tried everything and it only works with the Sky Hub on WiFi.

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I have to start by stating I haven;t read & though through your posts completely so there may be things I have not considered or missed. 

Have you actually switched provider or are you just tryiong to mimic the situation -  I suspect it is the latter and that you are testing in unreal situation 

You mention an ethernet splitter is it really a splitter or is it a network switch.

You should be using an unmanaged switch - splitters are something different.

There should be no reason why your setup cannot work with 3rd party broadband  & wifi as many customers do successfully

[DannyPBlack]

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@nigea99 wrote:

I have to start by stating I haven;t read & though through your posts completely so there may be things I have not considered or missed. 

Have you actually switched provider or are you just tryiong to mimic the situation -  I suspect it is the latter and that you are testing in unreal situation 

You mention an ethernet splitter is it really a splitter or is it a network switch.

You should be using an unmanaged switch - splitters are something different.

There should be no reason why your setup cannot work with 3rd party broadband  & wifi as many customers do successfully

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Thanks for the reply.

I haven't yet switched but I have a separate router/access point that provides most of my WiFi and additional ethernet ports in my home office (but connected back to the Sky Hub which provides DHCP and IP addresses). I wanted to prove that my services still function as normal by taking the Sky Hub wireless out of the mix and connecting everything either through ethernet or WiFi to my 3rd party router but have been stumped at every turn. I don't want to take the leap in moving to another provider if it's not going to work for my setup - the in-laws complain incessently when there is any drop in TV or internet services.

It could well be that the Q boxes know they're still on sky broadband because they're still getting an IP from the Sky Hub DHCP server, even though they're connected via ethernet (when the powerlines briefly worked) or via WiFi on a different router.

With both tests, however, the connection just either didn't work (Sky Q Main box just refused to use the wireless from my Asus router) and the powerline ethernet had micro stutters which made it unwatchable.

If I switch to another provider and the Mini stops working the in-laws have no access to internet or TV because there's no aerial in there and the main house WiFi won't reach. I'll have to fork out for loads of other network cables, additional access points just to get internet connection in there and the Sky TV will have no chance. I just feel I'm completely trapped.

[PandJ2020]

For most normal domestic setups the Q setup will work fine with or without Sky as an ISP.

To achieve what you want then the best solution is likely to be a separate mesh network fronting whatever ISP you have.   However, Q is particularly fussy about connecting the 3rd party mesh networks via WiFi - usually because of the proprietary QoS protocol it uses rooted back to 2016 when home wireless networking was not so advanced.

As long as you connect all Q boxes via Ethernet to a mesh node and use the mesh's backhaul it should work.  (And give AP across the house for other devices). Such a setup works flawlessly for me and I've never had Sky as an ISP.

[Chodley]

Another option if powerlines aren't reliable enough (and some are better than others) is to use wifi mesh nodes and wire the mini and maybe the Q (possibly via a switch as you have done) into those.

Or a proper ethernet run, bit of house surgery needed for that though.

[DannyPBlack]

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@Chodley wrote:

Another option if powerlines aren't reliable enough (and some are better than others) is to use wifi mesh nodes and wire the mini and maybe the Q (possibly via a switch as you have done) into those.

Or a proper ethernet run, bit of house surgery needed for that though.

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Personally, I think that's the stage I'm at - the only option is to get ethernet running from the ISP router (this is currently Sky but another provider's would be in the same place, which would be providing the IP addresses) to all the Sky Q boxes.

The problem I have is there is ethernet going to the Mini in the annex but the Main is providing that ethernet connection so need a switch to bulk out the number of ports. I did have an unmanaged (powered) ethernet switch but I suspect it might have been a cheapy and might have led to my issues.

Would it still work if I ditch the ethernet switch idea and try and get both boxes to be independently hardwired to the ISP router? They're then still connected to each other but not directly. My asus router then runs off another port out of the ISP router (which, at the moment is Sky's).

[Chodley]

I use a £10 100Mb switch personally (and a £25 ethernet only router for my 1Gb fttp connection because I'm a cheapskate) behind the Sky box to make sure the minis and Q have no router between them in case it tries to control broadcast traffic, of which the Q likes to generate an obscene amount, but powerlines do work for me with this topology. I would expect ethernet to work there too, with a 3rd cable connected to the router from the switch.

Sounds like you have mini-ethernet-Q-powerline-router at the moment? Kind of the reverse of mine. Both should work though. Which powerlines are you using?

[DannyPBlack]

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@Chodley wrote:

I use a £10 100Mb switch personally (and a £25 ethernet only router for my 1Gb fttp connection because I'm a cheapskate) behind the Sky box to make sure the minis and Q have no router between them in case it tries to control broadcast traffic, of which the Q likes to generate an obscene amount, but powerlines do work for me with this topology. I would expect ethernet to work there too, with a 3rd cable connected to the router from the switch.

Sounds like you have mini-ethernet-Q-powerline-router at the moment? Kind of the reverse of mine. Both should work though. Which powerlines are you using?

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Good grief I think I've cracked it!

I just got a cheapy 'ugreen' ethernet splitter from Amazon for a tenner. I know others have said a splitter is different to a switch but this one is powered so thought it might do the job. I think I had it connected wrong. I was trying to get the Main box to have 2 ports, one to get the router connection in and the other to take the Mini connection out. I had a brain wave this morning and put the ethernet splitter at the powerline end which then split - 1 to the Mini and one to the Q box, the boxes therefore only need 1 port.

They now seem to have found themselves via the Sky Hub that they're ultimately connected back to and have been given IP addresses by the hub which is acting as the server.

My second Asus router is now doing all the WiFi legwork for the main house with the Q boxes providing backup wifi hotspots (because they know they're connected via a Sky router, presumably, even though I've turned my Sky Hub wifi off). If I were to swap the Sky Hub out for another provider the boxes will still be hardwired and the hotspots will go off but I can re-enable them in the future.

Turns out I think I had connected the splitter at the wrong end - when I did it yesterday, connection was there but the picture/sound would stutter on both boxes intermittently; I think this is because the splitter was having to determine what was coming in and out from the main box rather than just splitting the ethernet coming from the powerline, where the other end is connected directly into the Sky Hub.

Fingers crossed this now just means a direct swap out of the Sky Hub (no longer providing anything but DCHP server and ethernet connections).

Cause for celebration! Until the in-laws complain something's not working again but...so far so good.