Sky Q and Deco Mesh

[Dansherbs]

Hi All,

I have sky Q with 2 mini hubs that are wirelessly connected to the main router.

in addition, becuase i have a home office in the garden, i have set up a Deco Mesh to extend the wifi out there (previously used TP link powerline adapters but didnt work so well).

anyway the deco mesh has its own SSID of course and this is what I connect into with my home office. I wanted to add another hub to my home office but having difficulties. 

if I change the main sky Q box to the deco mesh SSID (to enable the garden mini hub to connect) I just get intermittent connectivity issues so I've reverted back to the main router SSID on the main sky Q box.

any other ideas on how I can get a sky a mini box connecting in my garden office ?

thanks 

Dan 

[jonallport]

Hi @Dansherbs,

I've got a Deco mesh system setup with my Sky Q and it works flawlessly, so hopefully I might be able to help.

Few questions:

1) What ISP are you with?

2) Do you have the Deco system in bridge or router mode?

3) Do you have a Deco puck in your garden office?

Thanks

Jon

[ftballman]

Hi @jonallport if you have your deco working flawlessly with q and mini boxes, you should post as much info as you can.

I know I'm not the only user here who has seen mixed results at best.

Any and all info would be appreciated.

[jonallport]

Hi @ftballman,

I think a lot of it will depend on what someone's setup is, e.g. what ISP they use, connection speeds, FTTP or FTTC, if they're able to connect to Deco pucks by ethernet, what they want their Deco system to do etc.

My setup is:

• 1 x Deco X55 in bridge mode connected to a non-Sky ISP supplied router on a 500mbps connection
• 1 x main Sky Q box connected via ethernet to a Netgear switch that is connected to the non-Sky ISP router
• The Sky Q box has the wifi turned off completely by accessing the engineer's menu (001 whilst 'Settings' is highlighted and then turning it off in the Network Settings)
• 1 x Sky Q mini box connected via ethernet to  a Deco X55 puck
• 1 x Sky Q mini box connected via ethernet to a Deco Xfifty puck
• Both Sky Q mini boxes have wifi turned completely off
• 1 x Deco X55 puck in downstairs hallway to help boost signal between living room and dining room Sky Q boxes
• 1 x Deco Xfifty in another bedroom upstairs to help boost signal from downstairs to all of upstairs and to Deco Xfifty that is connected to the Sky Q mini box

This replaced my previous system of Sky broadband utilising a Sky router, Sky booster, and Sky Q mesh system.

Since installing it 12 months ago I've not had a single signal issue with the Sky Q mini boxes outside of poor weather affecting the satellite signal, or brief instances of the internet going down. The Deco mesh system seems a lot more stable than the Sky Q mesh and I think it helps being able to connect the Sky Q mini boxes via ethernet to the Deco pucks. 

I also have a number of wireless devices in the garage, including a TV, that have a much more stable and fast connection using the Deco mesh than previously.

Hope that helps a little.

[ftballman]

Nice one. All info helps. There's so many variations, it's good to see it can work.

[ftballman]

And yes reading through all that I do think the biggest issue of how it works or doesn't work is using the main deco in bridge mode.

Thanks again for the in depth description and yes besides my sky stuff I find my decos a huge addition to my WiFi.

[Dansherbs]

Hi Jon,

thanks, to answer your questions.

1. BT

2. router mode 

3. Yes deco satellite in my garden office (right next to my bar which has the sky q mini)

thanks

dan

[ftballman]

Yes I  think it's a case that you need each sky box to be setup as a wired connection to a node.

From what @jonallport posted here too you may need to change the Deco to access point rather than router (we called it bridge mode in our back and forth but I believe that's access point).

[stereohaven]

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@ftballman wrote:

Yes I  think it's a case that you need each sky box to be setup as a wired connection to a node.

---

In my understanding, this is indeed the core element of this.

People forget that Sky Q Mini boxes will only connect wirelessly to a Sky Q main box or become part of a (very old now) mesh, if you have Sky broadband and use a Sky router/hub.

If you use your own kit, you need to turn the Wifi off on the Sky Q mini, connect via ethernet and let it find it's way back to the main Q box across your network, which can sometimes take a while and a few network resets (on the box, not your whole network).

But the key point here is, it doesn't matter really in this scenario what the other end of the ethernet cable is connected to. So if you have a nice Deco mesh (or BT or whatever), you connect the mini box via ethernet to the nearest wireless node in the mesh (assuming it has a port).

[jonallport]

No worries @ftballman, glad I could help a little.

@Dansherbs, the main thing that you can do to help with the connection from my experience is connecting the Sky Q minis via an ethernet cable to the node/puck and turn off the wifi altogether in the minis. Unless you turn it off I think the minis always try to connect via wifi even if you have an ethernet cable connected.

Bridge mode/access point on the Deco system is definitely the way to go for a more stable connection as it lets your ISP router do all of the management and avoids having two separate networks competing with each other and possibly causing NAT issues. Leaving it in router mode could also lead to the Sky Q main box accidentally being on one network, and the Sky Q minis being on another, especially if you may have previously connected to both the BT router and Deco mesh via wifi on the Sky Q main box and it saved the passwords.

[lee+mann]

Yes the takeaway for better wifi by whatever system is to get the Q boxes wired ethernet with the wifi turned off in the Q boxes.

[Irene481]

We live in an old farmhouse with barn extension. Lots of stone walls,RSJ's etc. 

However for the mini box to work it has to "talk" to the main box. Sky gave us a WiFi extender thing which is a bridge between the two. Don't know the technical terms but I would ask Sky if it would work for you. 

[Chodley]

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@Irene481 wrote:

We live in an old farmhouse with barn extension. Lots of stone walls,RSJ's etc. 

However for the mini box to work it has to "talk" to the main box. Sky gave us a WiFi extender thing which is a bridge between the two. Don't know the technical terms but I would ask Sky if it would work for you. 

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A Sky Q Booster

Works for some. Didn't work for me.