Sky Q, mini boxes and hard wired!

[NickMN]

Evryone on here is very helpful but eventually I gave up on trying to get BT Halo 2 and Sky Q to work together. Tried all the fixes and despite having a stable period I had to bite the bullet and TP link (powerline) the Q into the BT router - all good with that now but of coursr the two Minis no longer work.

I tried turning back on 5ghz but the Sky Q box only retained connection for 30 seconds so that didnt seem to help. 

Do the Mini boxes only work through wifi?     many thanks 

[bob1234]

@NickMNThe mini boxes will not connect to the BT hub, or any other router except Sky's one.

If you have the Black discs have you tried Ethernet from mini box to disc.

Mini boxes should connect to the main box if you use WPS between the main and mini box, this does not use your home WiFi but a mesh that Sky creates on 5Ghz Ch36, this in itself can cause problems if your home broadband is using this frequency/channel.

Some things you can try

Turn off Smart in the BT hub (almost an essential with smart hubs)

Move the 5Ghz channel as far away from Ch36 as you can.

If none of the above work you can also narrow the bandwidth in the Q boxes. From 80 to 40

In desperation turn off 5Ghz in your hub and see if this works.

[NickMN]

Thank you Bob

I have tried the channel change and 5ghz/off/on and smart set up off.    quite a range and write them in a log as I go!      I can hard wire a black disc to a minihub but that I presume wont help if the wifi on the sky q box is turned off (it wont stay on the wifi network under any config - drops within a minute) 

[bob1234]

@NickMNIf all the Q boxes are hard wired, including power link and BT discs you can turn both 2.4 & 5Ghz off in all the boxes.

If only the main is hard wired you can turn off 2.4Ghz as only the main box uses this to link to the hub.

If you are using the Sky mesh to link boxes then 5Ghz needs to stay on in the boxes you are linking.

[nigea99]

hi @NickMN providing all boxes are connected via ethernet then I think you should be able to connect to your  router or (unmanaged switch)

Although I think you may have to disable wifi in the minis to make sure they connect via cable

That all said,  I am not an expert in this area   

[Rhonny]

@NickMN

If all boxes are hardwired to router or disk, then you don't need any wifi on your boxes.

When you connect your main box by ethenet, go to Settings / Setup / Network / Reset, and select Wired Connection. 

When you connect your mini boxes by ethernet, go to Settings / Setup / Network / Reset, and at step 2 of 4 on screen, DON'T press any WPS buttons when prompted as this will override the ethernet and will try to connect wirelessly again. Instead just let it connect on its own which takes around 30 seconds. This ensures that the box is properly connected by ethernet. Then you can turn its wifi off. 

[NickMN]

Thank you all, I'm not super technical but not sure how the mini box wired into the BT black disc will then connect to the main Sky Q box if all wifi is turned off. 

I think I saw that even if I plugged the mini into a power-line then it wouldn't transit and connect to the Sky Q box?

If I hardwire the mini into the BT black disc then how does the BT disc connect the mini to the SkyQ if the wifi is turned on on the Sky Q (answering my own question there!!) 

[bob1234 · Accepted solution]

@NickMNIf boxes are hard wired to the BT disks it then uses your home WiFi to link rather than your Sky mesh. If ALL boxes are hard wired including the main box to the router, the Q boxes no longer need their WiFi turned on.

[NickMN]

Thank you all, the hard wiring into the disk appears to have fixed it!!   well done amd thanks again 

[COLBY2467]

@bob1234 apologies for multi thread posting, you have given me some guidance in the powerline thread already. However having seen this thread I’m beginning to wonder if I need to use the Sky boosters in my setup.

I don’t have Sky broadband, living in the Isle of Man the only option is to use the local provider Manx Telecom. Their FTTH router is in a downstairs room and has a BT whole home wifi disc connected to it. Wifi is turned off in the router. There are three more BT discs in the house which is a mix of stone, brick and cavity wall construction.

The main Sky Q box is downstairs in an adjacent room to the router and the mini box is upstairs in a bedroom on the other side of a thick stone wall. Both devices have a white disc close to them. The two boosters are upstairs in locations to try to direct the mesh down a corridor and hence get round the stone wall, however the mini box is prone to drop the mesh connection from time to time.

So if I went back to basics and removed the boosters and connected both the main and mini boxes by ethernet cable and then set them up ignoring WPS prompts do you think that would work?

Thanks, Rob

[bob1234]

@COLBY2467Yes that will work however as Sky is not your broadband provider both boxes need to go back to the router by Ethernet (you could go Ethernet main to router and then mini to main but you will not have enough sockets). It should work if you just connect the Q boxes to White discs by Ethernet BUT there is a known problem and it does not work for all people.

If you turn off the WiFi in the Q boxes first it will guarantee it will use Ethernet and not try to use WiFi.

WPS will never work between Q boxes and a non sky router but can between man and mini boxes.

[COLBY2467]

@bob1234 Thanks again for the advice, although the powerline connected through two separate wiring circuits no problem I was lacking an ethernet socket as you correctly identified.

So I now have:

• Both Sky boosters removed from system
• Both 2.4 and 5Ghz wifi switched off on both main and mini
• Main box and mini connected to nearest whole home wifi  by ethernet

Seems to be working fine, but I’m keeping fingers crossed.