Sky Q and 3rd party broadband

[123mg]

Hello,

Currently with Sky for full-fibre broadband and Q for TV. Considering switching from Sky for broadband as the WiFi isn't great and the lack of parental controls is starting to be annoying.

Does anyone have any anecdotal evidence of 3rd party broadband screwing up Sky Q? Before switching to Sky broadband, our Sky Q silver box and mini-boxes would continually disconnect. From a quick search of the forum Sky Q still doesn't seem to play well with BT/EE broadband? Any issues seen with Virgin, Vodafone or TalkTalk BB?

Thanks in advance.

[123mg]

Before switching to Sky broadband, our Sky Q silver box and mini-boxes would continually disconnect - for context we were previously on BT broadband.

[stereohaven]

@123mg I am someone who has used BT/EE broadband with Sky Q for years without issues, I'm sure there are some that have, but for me, there are no problems in a fairly bog standard 3 bed house.

Which Sky router do you have? 

The Q router and even the newer SR203 hub (black and stands upright if you know what I mean), have been superceded now by newer kit and the "wifi hotspots" that the Q boxes have are approaching 10 year old tech.

Depending on how many mini boxes you have, if you are on Full Fibre you could maximise coverage and speed with the newer Sky Max Hub and Sky Wifi Max service to get a more modern mesh network going in your home.

[123mg]

From the research I've done Sky WiFi Max does not support more than 1 minibox? We've got the 2 TB Silver main Q box with 3 miniboxes. I think we've got the SR203 router with full fibre BB.

[stereohaven]

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@123mg wrote:

From the research I've done Sky WiFi Max does not support more than 1 minibox? We've got the 2 TB Silver main Q box with 3 miniboxes. I think we've got the SR203 router with full fibre BB.

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That is correct.

However, I can confirm that there is an unspecified project with an unspecified timeline that may help with that.

I apologise, but I cannot be any more precise than that currently. 🤐

[123mg]

Thanks. That sounds quite intriguing. I understand you said unspecified timeline but do you think that might be available in 2024 please @stereohaven ?

[stereohaven]

Sorry, I don't know and couldn't comment even if I did I'm afraid @123mg.

[Invisiblename]

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@123mg wrote:

Before switching to Sky broadband, our Sky Q silver box and mini-boxes would continually disconnect - for context we were previously on BT broadband.

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Always been with BT - never had a problem.

[123mg]

Wish that had been the case for us @Invisiblename we had to reset the Silver box or the router pretty much every other day.

We're in a bit of a dilema at the moment - love the Sky Q product but don't feel like we're getting the full benefit of fibre broadband with the old SR203 router that we've currently got (including a booster). WiFi isn't great and we really miss the parental controls - but don't want to switch to an alternative broadband provider and screw up the Sky Q multiroom performance (which is generally pretty solid).

[123mg]

**bump**

Any knowledgeable contributors got any suggestions on how to make the best of our fibre broadband connection that is compatible with a Sky Q multiroom house please?

[TimmyBGood]

@123mg 

One possibility is to use a modern wireless mesh product with each Q Mini on ethernet cable to a mesh node (and typically the main Q box on either a node or an ethernet switch connected to the router) with all the Sky WiFi switched off.  That's much more likely to be capable of slinging FTTP-speeds around a house than the now rather ancient 'Q mesh'.

[123mg]

Thanks @TimmyBGood.

Would be useful to understand if anyone has tried this setup and if so what kit they used for it pls?

[stereohaven]

@123mg 

Have a nose around the broadband forum, TP-Link Deco gets mentioned a lot as a working solution.

[123mg]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but if you switch to a non Sky broadband supplier with Sky Q then how would you connect the mini boxes over Ethernet? I'm thinking you can't connect them directly to the 3rd party hub via ethernet? Not sure how using powerline adapters would work? Just need help getting my head around it tbh

[No+sir+it+was+him]

@123mg 

There's no reason you can't use Powerline or ethernet and/or WiFi at the same time with a different ISP. A router is just a router, it makes do difference if your ISP is Sky or not.

I've never used for broadband with no problems.