Sky Q Miniboxes Ethernet connection

[BookMark1]

Hi, this has probably been asked before but not in a format that I recognise as my technical ability is limited.

I have just has Sky Q installed and the 2 miniboxes cannot connect wirelessly so need to be Ethernet hard wired.

My configuration is, the Q box plugged directly into the non Sky router with the other boxes also needing to be plugged into the same router. My question is as follows:

One minibox is further on from the other, do I have to run 2 Ethernet cables from the router? Or can I run 1 to near the first box to say a wall point. Plug in the minibox to that point and then continue from the wall point with Ethernet cable to the second box.

Hope this makes sense, essentially can you connect 2 miniboxes to 1 port on the router and if so how please?  

Thank you.

[oldfella]

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@BookMark1 wrote:

Hi, this has probably been asked before but not in a format that I recognise as my technical ability is limited.

I have just has Sky Q installed and the 2 miniboxes cannot connect wirelessly so need to be Ethernet hard wired.

My configuration is, the Q box plugged directly into the non Sky router with the other boxes also needing to be plugged into the same router. My question is as follows:

One minibox is further on from the other, do I have to run 2 Ethernet cables from the router? Or can I run 1 to near the first box to say a wall point. Plug in the minibox to that point and then continue from the wall point with Ethernet cable to the second box.

Hope this makes sense, essentially can you connect 2 miniboxes to 1 port on the router and if so how please?  

Thank you.

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Hi @BookMark1 

Yes, on 3rd party Broadband if using Ethernet on minis all Q boxes need to be connected to the same router by Ethernet.

This can be done directly or through simple unmanaged Ethernet switches.

 I don't know what you mean by Wallpoints but you can do this through these switches.

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

[TimmyBGood]

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@BookMark1 wrote:

Hope this makes sense, essentially can you connect 2 miniboxes to 1 port on the router and if so how please?  

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Network connections don't 'daisychain' or run in 'rings': each client device is on a discrete logical connection back to the router.  However, as @oldfella indicates, ethernet switches can provide this logical separation. and permit some local single cable runs.

[BookMark1]

Hi, thank you for your reply - very helpful.

By wall point i mean this:

My question is, can I run an Ethernet cable from the router (same one the main box is connected to) to a wall point and plug in Minibox 1

with an Ethernet cable. Can I then continue with the Ethernet wiring at the back of the wall point to another location further on and connect to Minibox 2. Or does each box have to be directly connected to the router. As it is quite a long run I am trying to avoid unneccesarily covering the same distance with 2 cables. I would be using a roll of Ethernet cable, passing through walls then adding the ends so can connect directly to something like the wall point if that would be better.

Thank you.

[TimmyBGood · Accepted solution]

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@BookMark1 wrote:

Can I then continue with the Ethernet wiring at the back of the wall point to another location further on and connect to Minibox 2.

That wouldn't be normal for ethernet topology.  You cannot 'continue with the Ethernet wiring at the back of the wall point to another location further on ' because data does not run in rings and each of those ports is physically isolated: it's potentially possible to break out one of the ports onto an ethernet switch and then back into the neighboring port for the next run, but that's generally frowned upon because it can cause considerable confusion for future users when the switches are no longer in place.

Or does each box have to be directly connected to the router.

Essentially, yes, but ethernet switches can achieve this through logical separation.

As it is quite a long run I am trying to avoid unneccesarily covering the same distance with 2 cables.

Ethernet cabling typically has significant duplication at the router: that's intrinsic to its topology.

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I'd suggest you review some of the huge amount of information online about data network layout: as I mentioned above, it's fundamentally different to both electrical ring mains and telephony extension circuits.

While it's not impossible to use single cable runs together with ethernet switches, that's not what the next user will be expecting.

[SM36]

If the path the cable will run to the furthest mini box follows the same path as the first minibox but just needs to go further run 2 cables from the router to each mini box (this is the cheapest, simplest and best solution as long as max length of each cable back to the router is less than 100m and you have ports available on the router).  If you don't want to run two cables buy a small 4 port gigabit switch, the switch will connect to the router at the location of the nearest mini box, that minibox will plug into the switch at that location. Now run a cable from the first minibox and switch location to the second mini box and again plug the second mini box and the switch at the first location.  Note: Some people may say you can run 2 devices over one cable which is technically possible by using 4 cores of the UTP cable to one device and 4 cores to the second device however the signal will only run at 1/10th of the speed which will be slower than a poor wifi connection (Ideally you want a Gigabit connection to each Minibox for best experience where one connection uses all 8 cores of the UTP ethernet cable). Hope this helps.