Sky Q + 2 mini boxes - powerline adapter question

[crunchiefrog]

My main Sky Q box is in the living room, whereas my router is upstairs in the bedroom.

I have a Deco mesh system but the Sky engineer told me that they don't play nice with the Sky Q boxes, so I'm using my original wi-fi network for Sky and the main box works just fine.

I have two mini boxes
- one in the same room as the router - this works fine
- one in another bedroom which is a notorious wi-fi dead spot and is the reason I got the Decos

I have bought a wi-fi extender for the dead spot but the mini box is still unhappy - it does connect, but frequently drops out or is laggy and unwatchable and can take several attempts before it'll reconnect to the main box and wi-fi.

I've decided to try and use ethernet instead of wi-fi and have read several posts in these forums on that topic but I'm still not quite 100% comfortable as to what would be the best config for me.

I am proposing this - can anyone tell me whether this should work (I know it's not an exact science and powerlines may work for some and not others)

1. Buy powerline adapters (maybe TL-PA4022PKIT?)
2. Plug one into the wall near my router and connect to the router with ethernet cable
3. Plug other adapter into the wall near my main Sky Q box (downstairs) and connect to Sky box with ethernet cable
4. Plug 3rd powerline adapter into wall in the dead spot room and connect to Sky Q mini box

So far so good hopefully - my question is around the mini box in the same room as the router.

The are no wall sockets anywhere near the TV for a powerline adapter - everyone says never plug a powerline adapter into an extension lead, so can I just run a long ethernet cable from the router directly into the mini box?

Also, I know how to disable wi-fi on the main box via the secret menu (thanks to this forum!) - should I do this before I start plugging everything in?

Sorry for the long post but wanted to provide as much detail as possible.

Hope someone can help me out.

[oldfella]

Hi @crunchiefrog 

First point about your WiFi extender and the mini.

Mini boxes will not connect to 3rd party WiFi extenders.  They will only use the Sky Q mesh for WiFi.

The Powerline kit you mentioned appears to be the 600 Mbps .

Always best to use as higher speed as possible and using Devolo 1200 units here.

Powerline as you are aware is not guaranteed and is dependent on the condition and complexity of your mains circuit.

When all boxes are connected by Ethernet you can then switch off all Q box WiFi as mention.
Full Ethernet connection for one mini to the router should be fine if the Powerline adapters are successfully connecting the main Q box and the other mini.
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 Powerline 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 them 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.

[bob1234]

@crunchiefrogYes

Buy powerline adapters (maybe TL-PA4022PKIT?)
2. Plug one into the wall near my router and connect to the router with ethernet cable Not needed
3. Plug other adapter into the wall near my main Sky Q box (downstairs) and connect to Sky box with ethernet cable
4. Plug 3rd powerline adapter into wall in the dead spot room and connect to Sky Q mini box by ethernet

[crunchiefrog]

Why would step 2 not be needed?

Surely without that step there is nothing connecting the router to the circuit, thus the other adapters won't be connected to anything?

[oldfella]

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@crunchiefrog wrote:

Why would step 2 not be 

Surely without that step there is nothing connecting the router to the circuit, thus the other adapters won't be connected to anything?

---

Correct @crunchiefrog 

You need the Ethernet to router 

[bob1234]

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@oldfella wrote:

---

@crunchiefrog wrote:

Why would step 2 not be 

Surely without that step there is nothing connecting the router to the circuit, thus the other adapters won't be connected to anything?

---

Correct @crunchiefrog 

You need the Ethernet to router 

---

I may have misread the post but so long as the main Q box is connected to the router in some manner WiFi or Ethernet, I assumed it was as the other boxes were working, then all it needs is the non working box to be connected to a working box, Ethernet or WiFi (or powerline) so it would not need an additional connection to the router.

[crunchiefrog]

Ah, I see.

I was under the impression that all boxes had to be connected via the same method.

You seem to be saying that if I was to connect the problem box via a powerline adapter + ethernet cable, I can leave the other two alone.

Have I understood correctly?

[bob1234]

@crunchiefrogHow the boxes connect depends on if Sky is your broadband provider or not.

If Sky is your broadband provider you can mix Ethernet and WiFi no problem and connect a box that is out of range to any other Sky device including the hub by Ethernet/powerline.

It is slightly different if Sky is not your broadband provider as by default  the main box connects to your router by WiFi using your home WiFi on 2.4Ghz BUT the boxes then link using a mesh they generate on 5Ghz which is not your home WiFi.

So you need to replicate this link which you can do by using Ethernet/powerline between any working Q box and the one that is out of range BUT if you are going to connect a non working box to your router then the Q main box must also be connected to the router by the same method Ethernet/powerline. Only turn off WiFi in the boxes that are not using it so you could turn off WiFi in the box that is currently out of range unless you also want to use it as a hot spot, turn this on in network advanced settings, just to confuse this will only work with 2.4Ghz, if Sky is your broadband provider hot spots are automatically on with no option to turn them off but they work on both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz.

I hope this makes sense,

[crunchiefrog]

My broadband isn't Sky, it's Plusnet.

So I guess this means I will need to connect them all up via ethernet/powerline.

Many thanks to everyone who has replied!

[Luke312]

Hi @crunchiefrog 

Just wondering if this set up worked with the power line adaptors as have a similar situation.

Thanks

[crunchiefrog]

Sorry, missed this reply.

It worked... kind of.

See my question from today...

https://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Sky-Q/Intermittent-connectivity-issue-with-Sky-Q-mini-box-with-ethernet...

[Davidbrown007]

This did the trick, but on resetting my mini Sky Q box it didn't automatically detect my ethernet connection and wanted to connect via WPS.

After some head scratching, I fixed this by unplugging the ethernet cable (with the Sky Q box still on) and plugged it back into the ethernet port - that did the trick.