Sky Q and EE problems

[cuna84]

Hello All,

We have the Busy Home package with EE using the Smart hub pro and 3 smart WiFi (pro?) extenders. We also have, as you may have guessed, Sky Q. The main sky q hub is connected by Ethernet to the first of the extenders, and 2 mini boxes are connected to the other extenders (also all by Ethernet cable from the mini to the extenders). The main EE Smart Hub Pro is in a different room to any of the Sky boxes and as such can't be directly connected by Ethernet to any of the boxes. All WiFi settings on the boxes are turned off so technically everything, to my amateur IT eye, is hardwired or at least attempting to trick the sky q boxes into thinking they are hardwired. However, we are suffering from a lot of lag whenever we try and watch recordings (mainly from the mini boxes) and then hitting play/pause or fast forwarding. It feels like a 3-5 second delay before the box actually responds and sometimes it doesn't respond at all, you click on a recording and eventually a message comes up saying "this program is no longer available". In our old house we didn’t suffer these issues when using the BT whole home (white) discs and everything is flawless, which leads me to potentially suspect with something with the EE Equipment. Please note we have already tried changing the Sky Q boxes in case they were faulty and the same problem remains. In addition the same problem occurs with using the WiFi on the boxes…..and Ethernet “unplugged”. I have seen mention of using compatible WiFi but surely that’s not needed if everything is hardwired to the extenders? Any help is gratefully received.

[oldfella]

Hi @cuna84 

When all boxes are connected by Ethernet you can then switch off all Q box WiFi. Best to follow the procedure below.

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 (or Sky router if on Sky Broadband). 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 each mini 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.

[cuna84]

Hi "OldFella", yes I have done this multiple times and am familiar with the hidden menu etc, I can't get my head around around why the WiFi works flawlessly from the extenders and as such they are working fine and therefore the sky q boxes when connected via Ethernet to them, should be good as well!

[stereohaven]

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@cuna84 wrote:

Hi "OldFella", yes I have done this multiple times and am familiar with the hidden menu etc, I can't get my head around around why the WiFi works flawlessly from the extenders and as such they are working fine and therefore the sky q boxes when connected via Ethernet to them, should be good as well!

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You are using WiFi 7 hardware, with gigabit capable Ethernet and the latest security protocols and adding in hardware that is 10 years old and uses networking tech built for WiFi 5 and FTTC speeds.

Whilst it is possible to get a fairly stable system through trial and error, there is a reason Sky are pushing people to newer streaming hardware and it isn't just about satellite services reaching end of life.

[cuna84]

That is fair but we already have tried Sky Stream and it's got its own fair share of bugs so we moved back to Sky Q

[stereohaven]

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@cuna84 wrote:

That is fair but we already have tried Sky Stream and it's got its own fair share of bugs so we moved back to Sky Q

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That is also fair, although I would argue that Stream is going to get far more love than Q going forward, so those bugs will get ironed out.

I also have EE broadband, using the Smart Hub Plus (WiFi 6), on FTTC and Sky Q. It hasn't been without challenges!

[cuna84]

I guess one thing to ask, would getting an independent set of extenders/mesh system potentially solve the problem? Is it purely the EE equipment possibly?

[stereohaven]

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@cuna84 wrote:

Is it purely the EE equipment possibly?

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It is is impossible to say.

The Sky Q mesh was really designed to work with a Sky broadband hub, but even that can have its challenges.

Its trial and error, if you can, hardwire the main Q box and then reset the minis one at a time starting with the nearest first.

Turn off the WiFi on each mini as you go to force usage of the Ethernet connection and just leave it for at least 10 minutes to find its own way.

Is there no way you can use the Sky Q system as intended where it sets up its own mesh and only the main box connects to the EE hub?

[cuna84]

Good Morning Sir,

Its impossible to have the main box hard wired to the main EE hub as they are in opposite rooms of the house, so the only option is to "hardwire" the main box to one of the EE extenders if that makes sense. The same for the two mini boxes, we have already tried just using WiFi, both on the same network and or the compatible WiFi network and this includes using the sky booster that was left when the system was first installed, this all leads me to being more suspicious of it being the EE equipment that's at "fault" or at least incompatible with the Sky Q equipment

[stereohaven]

@cuna84 Can the Super Duper Smart Hub Pro generate the "Compatibility Network" that the Smart Hub Plus can?

Is your first mini in 5ghz range of the main Q box?

If so, I would connect the main Q box to the EE hub via the 2.4ghz compatibility network, then I would move any 5ghz band generated by the EE hub away from the one used by Q, then I would try connecting the nearest Q mini to the main box wirelessly via the Q mesh.

If successful, I would daisy chain from there and let the Q mesh do it's thing away from the main home network. You will likely need to reset every network connection as you go. If a mini connects successfully, turn off the 2.4ghz.

[Chodley]

Hmm

might be worth trying another mesh. Can always send it back to amazon if it doesn't solve it

I have my Q on a wholehome disk (via a switch) and the minis through powerlines to that same switch. That works well.

[cuna84]

Unfortunately the minis aren't in range after trying, sorry for the delay, I was waiting until home from work. It is appearing that an alternative mesh is potentially needed, does anyone have any recommendations, upon very initial searching this might be ok....https://amzn.eu/d/fuLXdnw

[Chodley]

Yeah or the old version is a lot cheaper

https://amzn.eu/d/7y0mRYM

[cuna84]

Hello again All,

So an update.....I tried an alternative mesh which didn't work, we then had a Sky Engineer visit who after a few hours was only able to fix the problem by having all the EE WiFi extenders turned off, and the Sky Main box connect to the Router via 2.4ghz WiFi and then have the internal Sky mesh on the 5ghz channel.

This is a far from ideal solution as the back of the house, including where I work, is now not receiving a decent WiFi signal whilst we have in theory a 1.6gbps connection although obviously slower over wifi

He also suggested powerlines for the Sky Q boxes which I have tried and again have not fixed the problem (perhaps separate electrical circuits).

I am really at my wits end with this, it seems there are only a few options left, perhaps ask Sky for another engineer visit (the first one didn't fill me with confidence that they knew exactly what they were doing, though I may be being unfair here!), pay for a cabling solution in the house which may not come cheap, or even possible, due to the complexity of where things are located, or go to Sky and ask to move to Sky Stream again, assuming they are willing to move other the discounts we have on our account.

Again, I not an expert, as I am probably showing with my posts, but I still struggle to see why my original set up shouldn't work well, whilst I was using the EE extenders (which are broadcasting approx 800mb WiFi) connected to each Sky box (Main and 2 minis) via Ethernet cable, everything Sky related was hardwired and WiFi turned off, baffling why it shouldn't work! If anyone has any final thoughts on things to try then I am very grateful!

[Chodley]

The Q does some WEIRD stuff with non-standard packets which causes problems with other network devices that simply should not exist.

Powerlines can be tempremental. I've got the Q into one mesh node and the minis using powerlines, wifi off, all running separate from the router which only has ethernet to a main PC and wifi mesh base node. Only way I could get mine working.

could you run your router on a different SSID from your mesh so have the Q using that like it is now and have the mesh dealing with all other devices?