Sky Q box regulary loses internet connection.

[Gaz1]

@Beachmouse 

Make sure its not one of the TP-Link Deco ones. I saw online somwhere that they do not work. For reference mine is the TP-LInk RE200.

Make sure you set them up properly too. I had to plug mine in a plug socket then connect it to my PC with an Ethernet. Then you follow a link from their website and it logs you into the Extender so it can go through a set up and get all the WiFi details etc. BUT...make sure when you do this you 'Customise' the name of the extender to seperate it from your main router. Otherwise it will have the same name and be very confusing when trying to connect to that rather than the hub.

Any problems let me know. 

Keep me posted when you get it sorted.

[Beachmouse]

Thanks. I actually purchased the exact same model of extender as you have, just to make the experiment more comparable 😉

I waited unti today to actually connect it to the Sky Q box, though I had it configured and in place / ready to go. I wanted to see how long the current connection would last and today I finally got the blue screen disconnect on the mini boxes so we're now up and running. 

I've positioned the extender close enough to the box and have an Ethernet cable connecting it to Sky Q's main box. The WiFi signal to the extender is nice and strong. 

So, let's see how long this goes for. Yours is still stable / connected? 

[Chodley]

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@Beachmouse wrote:

Thanks. I actually purchased the exact same model of extender as you have, just to make the experiment more comparable 😉

I waited unti today to actually connect it to the Sky Q box, though I had it configured and in place / ready to go. I wanted to see how long the current connection would last and today I finally got the blue screen disconnect on the mini boxes so we're now up and running. 

I've positioned the extender close enough to the box and have an Ethernet cable connecting it to Sky Q's main box. The WiFi signal to the extender is nice and strong. 

So, let's see how long this goes for. Yours is still stable / connected? 

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Out of interest, assume you reset the network and got the Q using ethernet? have you disabled wifi too?

[Beachmouse]

Yes on all fronts...

[Gaz1]

@Beachmouse 

Yes mine is still connected and via WiFi not ethernet. I have had a non interupted connection since 6th now.

I have a Sky Engineer coming tommorow as they were booked prior to using the extender. So hopefully I will be able to pick their brains and see how common a problem this is.

[Spitty30]

My engineer said its an ongoing issue especially with customers using other broadband providers for at least 4 years and still they haven’t sorted it 🤦‍♀️

[Chodley]

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@Gaz1 wrote:

@Beachmouse 

Yes mine is still connected and via WiFi not ethernet. I have had a non interupted connection since 6th now.

I have a Sky Engineer coming tommorow as they were booked prior to using the extender. So hopefully I will be able to pick their brains and see how common a problem this is.

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Oh so you are just using it like a booster/wifi repeater? I didn't realise that.

Well that never worked for me - my Q would never stay connected to my mesh even with a node in the same room. So my solution is more like beachmouse's.

[Gaz1]

@Chodley

I did read some where that some Mesh systems did not work with SkyQ. Deco does not work either.

That was why there was a delay with me getting mine up and running as my lack of technical knowledge with this sort of thing made me assume mine would not work.

It was only after more trawling of the tinternet i realised my RE200 (V1) was just a Range Extender as I was not using A TP-Link OneMesh router but a Virgin media Hub. So I am not using a Mesh network but a very very basic Range extender. The RE200 is connected wirelesly to my Virgin Hub and the SkyQ to the RE200 also wirelesly.

[Chodley]

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@Gaz1 wrote:

@Chodley

I did read some where that some Mesh systems did not work with SkyQ. Deco does not work either.

That was why there was a delay with me getting mine up and running as my lack of technical knowledge with this sort of thing made me assume mine would not work.

It was only after more trawling of the tinternet i realised my RE200 (V1) was just a Range Extender as I was not using A TP-Link OneMesh router but a Virgin media Hub. So I am not using a Mesh network but a very very basic Range extender. The RE200 is connected wirelesly to my Virgin Hub and the SkyQ to the RE200 also wirelesly.

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Yeah I knew yours was "just" an extender. I can't remember if I've ever just used one, I did try a couple of types a long time back for general wifi purposes. Q's wifi has given me grief since the first day I had it. Maybe had a week of stability at most. Would usually fail to reconnect after the nightly deep sleep. Turning off eco mode didn't help. Q booster never helped, just seemed to confuse things. Then I finally stumbled on the solution I have now, it's been rock solid about 2 years now I think.

I do recall a member on here who had a stable connection with his BT mesh but mine never worked properly. And for a short while I would have my iphone complain about wifi password being wrong as I moved around the house so there was a 2nd device with issues but a slight reorg of the nodes fixed that, didn't fix the Q.

I'd quite like to upgrade my mesh to something more modern with wifi 6 but terrified Q will never work again. It's been the single most challenging technical issue I've ever had with any consumer gear.

[Gaz1]

Strangely enough I never had a problem with my SkyQ until I recently upgraded my Virgin Media Hub.

MIne had been floorless for 20+ years until September when I decided to upgrade to the Gig1 Fibre broadband. I had to change my Hub to the new Virgin Media Hub5. I had daily dropouts so naturally blamed the Hub. A virgin tech quite rightly explained that if my other WiFi gadgets such as phone, Laptop, Nest etc all maintain a WiFi connection then it is down to the SkyQ box and not the Hub.

The range extender is not as strong a signal as it only gets 80 - 95 mhz signal in my front room opposed to 560- 600 mhz if i connect via my main router. Luckily SkyQ does not require a large bandwith to work.

Subsequently my lack of knowledge with Mesh networks, Nodes, swithes etc led me to such a basic fix!

[Beachmouse]

Thanks for the update. It'll be interesting to hear if the engineer has anything to add. 

It's such a shame Sky can't figure this out, I've been a customer of theirs for 20 years and SkyQ promises so much, yet fails to deliver basic stability. It's not fit for purpose. 

[Gaz1]

How did you get on with your extender?

The engineer was pretty impressed with my extremely basic fix.  It was a problem he had heard of but not with my Hub. They were not aware that it had manifested as a direct connection problem as opposed to Router specific.

We have to remember Sky has 12.7 Million UK customers so although we think it is a common problem it perhaps has not appeared so to Sky.

On the good side they have taken note. He informed me that the Sky Tech had flagged it up following me informing them of the simple fix. Further more the engineer actually contacted their elite tech Gurus. They cannot even call these tech gurus. They have to send a text and await a call. Luckily we got a call back and the guy was great. He listened intently to the problem we have, the fact it appears a direct connection problem and to my fix. It appears that the probem might be the new WiFi6 that is the latest WiFi.

He then gave 2 more options to try thast was changing the digits for DNS Server. Ive tried the first ones I was given and that dropped after 2 hours. The 2nd set i inputted have stayed connected for 5 hours so far but will need a few days to be sure if that has worked.

Failing that i will just reconnect to the TP-Link and await for the WiFi 6 issue to be fixed. At least we know the top Tier Tech team are onto now anyway.

[Beachmouse]

Interesting...

No disconnects since the extender went in. It needs longer yet as I was managing to get a couple of weeks at a time before the issues recurred. 

Hopefully your experience with the tech guys will do some good. 

I'll be interested to hear how long the current fix you have will hold. Let's see if it outlasts my extender! 

[Gaz1]

@Beachmouse 

Well good to hear you still connected.

I am 100% confident it will stay connected as I have the following to report:

Both of the changes the Tech Guru gave me for the DNS Server failed to maintain a connection. No more than a few hours each. So I popped the trusty old Range Extender back on,  and full uninterupted connection since..

Tried them both on the Thursday and both failed by tea time.

Unbelieveable that a £15 bog standard basic range extender....and a Version 1 (Up to V5 now) at that is required to maintain a connection for Sky's Flag ship SkyQ!!!

[Beachmouse]

Good to hear, Gaz. Fingers crossed for us both! I can see sales of this TP Link extender taking off. Shame you aren't on commission 😉