on 01-09-2021 17:43
What are the best routers people are running instead of the hub 4 router.
I have gigabit so needs to be compatible with them sort of speeds
on 01-09-2021 18:31
on 01-09-2021 19:43
Hi John
I am mainly WiFi I only have a WD mycloud plugged in by ethernet
on 01-09-2021 20:29
on 01-09-2021 23:12
As you really only want to improve WiFi I would recommend one or two good quality Wireless Access Points directly wired to the hub. I use Ubiquiti/Unifi APs and they are excellent.
on 02-09-2021 07:02
There is no simple answer, and possibly you're looking at costly equipment costing many hundreds of pounds. Depends on
As example issues: A Wifi 6 router or mesh will have higher speed potential than an 802.11ac router, but only delivers that if you have Wifi 6 capable devices; By running the hub in modem mode you'll already be losing 15% of the hub's speed potential because it is constrained by 1 Gbps ethernet ports; If you're techy enough you can "shotgun" the ethernet ports to bypass this, but you need to be a bit obsessive to get that far; A single standalone router might be fine in a favourable wifi environment, but could struggle in larger properties or unfavourable wifi environments; Setting up access points will usually deliver faster speeds than a mesh system, but requires ethernet cabling between the router and the access points which may be anything but simple; All very well taking advice from people here, some of whom who have a very advanced grasp of technology, but whose needs differ from your own - who will actually be configuring and maintaining the wifi setup? Are you comfortable with the rather more complicated situation if there's a broadband fault, and it is down to you to establish where a fault lies and get VM's ineffectual customer services to resolve the problem without blaming your equipment? Specs aren't everything, if you want the most capable kit you need to stick to premium makes (Netgear and Asus would be in mind).
By supplying hubs (which integrate a modem and a wifi router) all ISPs create the illusion that wifi is a simple appliance. It can be, and my mid-low end mesh certainly is, but for those pushing the envelope of performance needs, either in speed, range, network complexity, device numbers you have to understand your own needs, what your priorities are, what the differences and capabilities and tradeoffs are of the various possible "solution architectures", the capabilities of different equipment.
Answer the questions above and those who wish to help will better understand what you want and the recommendations might become more suitable. Apologies if this seems to be complicating things, but that's the reality if you want to "do justice" to a Gig 1 connection using primarily wifi.
on 02-09-2021 16:03
Hi andrew
my main problem is the constant drop outs on my sky q boxes.
I am on my second hub 4 for the constant issue
i am in a 3 bed terrace house so average size.
my budget doesn’t matter as long as I get something of a decent quality and I can “future proof” myself for potentially higher speeds when that comes along in the future as no doubt it will happen.
Devices connected I have smart home devices plugs, stats, alarms, sky boxes, laptops, mobile devices, tablets, doorbell, cameras etc so I have a fair amount.
I want to go this route for a third party device as virgin cannot solve the problem with the connection drop out at all and tbh don’t really want to know about it and instead just keep sending out WiFi pods saying that’s gunna solve the issue
on 02-09-2021 16:37
02-09-2021 17:02 - edited 02-09-2021 17:09
Sky Q boxes are murder to keep reliable if you have a challenging house, I couldn't get them to work with Sky gear and Sky boosters never mind third party 😄 , in the end I wired them directly to hub or for very remote ones through a powerline device, it was the only way to be 100%.they don't need lots of bandwidth just reliable connection to the same hub the Sky box is connected to, VMs 360 minis are much better in this regard but they are wired of course and happier to use any Wifi.
It was a funny thing, I would be able to watch Sky TV on third party gear but it would always say I had no internet :D, it clearly must of had a network connection to get TV on the Mini in the first place but the Sky mini would still claim no internet so apps and home page did not work
I even bought my own mesh setup to try and solve, this gave really good wireless through the house and the q minis still failed, seems they really need a connection to the same hub/switch as the Sky box for reliability, so ether wired or powerline did this for me, once down it was never an issue again.
Sky forums are full of people who can't get mesh systems working with them, or do and then a few weeks later post again with issues, so I would get on there and see what mesh system is allowing Sky Q to work proper.
on 02-09-2021 17:13
The sky q box is my main one and it’s like 8 feet away from the hub but constantly drops connection.
When I had the WiFi pods from virgin upstairs it solved the issue for the mini boxes disconnecting.