Forum Discussion

cfcdan_94's avatar
cfcdan_94
Settling in
20 days ago
Solved

Brand new customer issues with maintaining a connection between Hub5 and Sky Q box

I've had my M350 hub 5 router for just over a week and all devices connect to it ok, except for my Sky Q box brought from a previous address.

I've spent the last few days trying all sorts of things based upon forums such as changing the DNS server to 1.1.1.1, connecting it to a guest network, resetting the router and the Sky box multiple times each, but have found nothing seems to stop the issues with the Sky box connecting to the router but not connecting to the Internet. The location of the Sky Q box to the router means I can't have an ethernet connection and it has to be over WiFi.

I reached out to Virgin Media on Twitter and they advised the 1.1.1.1 change and then to come to this forum. I can't tell if it is a Virgin problem or a Sky problem if all other devices connect OK. 

At time of writing I have come home from work tonight to find the TV connection suddenly working after a week, with on demand programs downloading, but I don't have high hopes of it staying this way.

Do I need to just be patient and hope now that the 2 devices are working after a week of teething issues or is there anything else I should try? 

Many thanks.

Dan

  • newapollo's avatar
    newapollo
    20 days ago

    Hi Dan,

    The Sky Q box usually has a better connection and doesn't drop out as much if you can connect it to the 2.4Ghz band on the hub 5.  The hub 5 has Smart WiFi automatically enabled out of the box and uses the same SSID name for both the 2.4 and 5Ghz bands. 

    If you aren't using VM's WiFi pods then I suggest using separating the  2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands by going into  Advanced Settings > Wireless > Security

    Then amend the name of the 2.4Ghz band - so it changes from something like VM123456 to VM123456784   that way you can differentiate between both bands and ensure that the Sky Q connects to the 2.4Ghz band.  Then scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Apply Changes

    I also advise going into Advanced Settings >  Wireless > Wireless Signal and under the Smart WiFi section click on Disable Channel Optimization (this will prevent the hub automatically combining both SSID's into one again)

    You would also be better changing the 2.4Ghz Channel from Auto to Manual and try channels 1, 6 and 11 to see which provides the best connection.  Once you've done all that scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Apply Changes

    I also suggest that if you have been using VM's Connect app that  you uninstall it.  If you don't then the app will over ride your  SSID settings and rename them so it appears  that the two bands are no longer separated and your Sky Q may start losing connection again.

14 Replies

  • Adduxi's avatar
    Adduxi
    Very Insightful Person
    20 days ago

    Maybe just a Wifi issue?  For a test, borrow or buy a long ethernet cable and see if that is stable.  If so, consider Powerline adapters.  These will allow a wired connection via the mains sockets.  However a proper wired connection is the always best.

    • cfcdan_94's avatar
      cfcdan_94
      Settling in
      20 days ago

      Thanks! I'll see how I get on in the next few days. The main reason I wanted to avoid a wired connection is because to get from the router to the TV box it needs to pass a doorway which would mean hard-wiring everything around the doorway. Powerline adapters were not something I was initially aware of and might be a shout for this reason if I still have issues long term.  

  • newapollo's avatar
    newapollo
    Very Insightful Person
    20 days ago

    Hi Dan,

    The Sky Q box usually has a better connection and doesn't drop out as much if you can connect it to the 2.4Ghz band on the hub 5.  The hub 5 has Smart WiFi automatically enabled out of the box and uses the same SSID name for both the 2.4 and 5Ghz bands. 

    If you aren't using VM's WiFi pods then I suggest using separating the  2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands by going into  Advanced Settings > Wireless > Security

    Then amend the name of the 2.4Ghz band - so it changes from something like VM123456 to VM123456784   that way you can differentiate between both bands and ensure that the Sky Q connects to the 2.4Ghz band.  Then scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Apply Changes

    I also advise going into Advanced Settings >  Wireless > Wireless Signal and under the Smart WiFi section click on Disable Channel Optimization (this will prevent the hub automatically combining both SSID's into one again)

    You would also be better changing the 2.4Ghz Channel from Auto to Manual and try channels 1, 6 and 11 to see which provides the best connection.  Once you've done all that scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Apply Changes

    I also suggest that if you have been using VM's Connect app that  you uninstall it.  If you don't then the app will over ride your  SSID settings and rename them so it appears  that the two bands are no longer separated and your Sky Q may start losing connection again.

    • cfcdan_94's avatar
      cfcdan_94
      Settling in
      18 days ago

      Hi, 

      Thanks a lot for this. I had 2 good days of it working and my Sky Q box connecting to the 2.4 GHz WiFi automatically and all other devices the 5 GHz automatically, but then tonight the Sky box has said its still connected to the 2.4 GHz WiFi but it's speed had completely dropped to 5 mbps which was what I was having all last week.

      I've taken your advice and split the 2 WiFi bands into 2 separate connections with their own IDs and connected the sky box to specifically the 2.4 band. Also disabled the channel optimisation and its speed has just massively increased to a stable 130 mbps. I've not changed it from auto to manual yet on the 2.4 band but will now see how stable this remains for the next couple of days. Anything to avoid wired connections will be a big help. 

      Thanks 👍

      • newapollo's avatar
        newapollo
        Very Insightful Person
        18 days ago

        Thanks for the update Dan :)

        Fingers crossed the connection stays like this.

    • Brakusmc's avatar
      Brakusmc
      Settling in
      16 days ago

      Hi Newapollo. I'm having the same issue as Dan but haven't done any "solutions" other than rebooting my Hub3 (I'm on m250) and resetting the skyQ box. 

      Where can I find the menu you mention for splitting the WiFi bands separately? Is it in the VM app or when logged into my account?

      Thanks.

      • cfcdan_94's avatar
        cfcdan_94
        Settling in
        12 days ago

        Hi, 

        Login to your hub settings on your movime phone / PC using the details on your hub by finding the hub settings IP address and password that are on the card (note these are not the WiFi network name and WiFi password). Once logged in you'll be presented with a set of menus on the left hand side which Newapollo pointed me to in the previous post. Ever since I've made these slight tweaks my internet and Sky Q connection has been perfect. Hope this helps.

        Dan

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    20 days ago

    Connecting to the Wi-Fi but not connecting to the Internet usually hints at DHCP issues not delivering a valid set of IP details or use of Wi-Fi Pausing i.e. the hand of the Connect app.

    Our Sky Q box is working reliability on VM Internet it is connected via a network cable and TP-LINK Power Line Adaptor.   Our Sky Q uses DHCP so we use the default VM DNS.

    The TP-LINK Power Line Adaptor was in place for the previous Sky HD+ unit, the Sky engineer reconnected the network cable to the Sky Q & it worked so I've not tried on Wi-Fi.

    We have Parental Controls Disabled in the VM online account, this is important if the Sky Q is using the default VM DNS.

    • cfcdan_94's avatar
      cfcdan_94
      Settling in
      18 days ago

      Thanks for this. I'll bear the power line adaptor in mind if I'm still having issues

      • Client62's avatar
        Client62
        Alessandro Volta
        18 days ago

        I noted you had tried DNS 1.1.1.1. Be very careful with the Sky Q manual network settings, it looked to me like selecting the manual settings started with the current DHCP values and left it up to us to make suitable modifications. 

        If those manual setting included a DHCP IP that could in a day or two present a problem when the Hub not knowing what we have done reallocated the IP to another device.

        Having 2 devices on the same IP can result in confusing failures, not all devices are like Windows and can detect this and display a duplicate IP warning.

  • Adduxi's avatar
    Adduxi
    Very Insightful Person
    19 days ago

    Ahh, the wonders of "Intelligent Wifi"   ;-)  It is any wonder I prefer cabled solutions.

  • Adduxi's avatar
    Adduxi
    Very Insightful Person
    17 days ago

    Best to give the Sky Q either a static IP address outside the Hub's DHCP scope or use a Reserved DHCP address to avoid any duplicate IP's