Sky Q minis as Wifi hotspots with plusnet.

[xxcatz]

I have sky q, with 2 mini boxes. Up until now ive had sky broadband, but I have now changed to plusnet and a much faster speed (500mb/s). As before with sky all boxes (main and minis are connected via ethernet (main directly to router and minis via switch as not enought ports).

i understood using them as hotspots needed to be re-enabled so I did that via the main box as per instructions and in doing so reset that network settings. When done it showed the new plusnet network. However after only a short time it changed to a differnt sky network and the two mins also after some trouble finding the network also to two other unique sky networks?? Am i to assume they've created there own wifi access that would require to re-connect to them as i move through the house? And although I've confirmed they're are connected via Ethernet (unplug and loses connection) it is quite slow? I know those ports connected via compute tested at 200/250mb/s (switch maybe throttling this as when tested direct from router I consistently get between 500/520mb/s) but a test of Netflix on one of those minis is only 50mb/s at best?

Sorry for the long post but if anyone is still with me? In summary I have two questions:

1. can it be set up with all via Ethernet but still work as hotspots and still use the plusnet's access and switch automatically (as it did when it was sky broadband)?

2. what is the speed I can get via these sky q minus as hotspots?

[bemak187]

@xxcatzThe hotspot feature only works with sky boardband and a sky router.  You wont be able to use them as hotspots with PlusNet.

[oldfella]

Hi @bemak187 

@xxcatz 

Q WiFi Hotspots are available with non Sky Broadband.

See following link

https://www.sky.com/help/articles/wifi-hotspots.

Q WiFi needs to on.

You would have to see what speed you can get and see how effective it is.

Best to do the following if all boxes are connect by Ethernet.

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.

Repeat the network reset on any minis in the Mini Home menu with the Ethernet connected. Again do not do any WPS and just wait for it to connect.

[bemak187]

@oldfella @xxcatz I am certain at one point this was exclusive to Sky BB only, was very surprisesd to see that it works with non Sky BB connections as surely it would be limited to only 2.4ghz as the 5GHZ is reserved for the boxes talking to each other.  I run my Q system fully wired and find it best to just turn all wifi off.  To be honest the Q hardware is ancient now, it might be better to invest in a WiFi mesh system.

[oldfella]

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@bemak187 wrote:

@oldfella @xxcatz I am certain at one point this was exclusive to Sky BB only, was very surprisesd to see that it works with non Sky BB connections as surely it would be limited to only 2.4ghz as the 5GHZ is reserved for the boxes talking to each other.  I run my Q system fully wired and find it best to just turn all wifi off.  To be honest the Q hardware is ancient now, it might be better to invest in a WiFi mesh system.

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@bemak187 
The Hotspots when using Sky Broadband are also limited to 2.4 Ghz.

All @xxcatz do do is to try it to see how successful it is.

[xxcatz]

Thanks @oldfella. I'll try this and let you know how I got on.

[xxcatz]

Interesting, thanks for the reply. I did consider a mesh system. But as my house was being rip apart when we had an extension done the year before last, and I had access to some cat 6 cable, I figured I'd run a network in with various points. Also and old 1930s house with solid internal walls, so WiFi can be hit and miss.

ill try @oldfella's suggestion and if no success I'll look into mesh or even APs from some of those points I've wired. Not sure which is best. But I'll leave that for another thread.

[bemak187]

@xxcatzWith a lot of modern mesh system you can actually run a  wired backhaul where the mesh repeaters are wired into your network and joined that way rather than over wifi so the internet connection is actually distributed over the wired network.  Works very well on houses where WiFi can be a struggle, especially if you have the cat 6 ran already.

[TimmyBGood]

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@bemak187 wrote:

@xxcatzWith a lot of modern mesh system you can actually run a  wired backhaul where the mesh repeaters are wired into your network and joined that way rather than over wifi so the internet connection is actually distributed over the wired network. 

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Which is what the original Q 'hybrid mesh' (with integrated Powerline networking) was intended to do back in 2016 ; )

https://advanced-television.com/2016/01/26/airties-supercharges-sky-q-wi-fi-devices/