Internet drop out, specifically with Sky Q and video calls

[Boroblue]

We have been with VM for broadband for about 3 months after having terrible problems with drop outs with our previous provider. For about 2 months, everything was brilliant. However, with no changes to our set up, our main sky q box would not stay connected to the WiFi and took hours to download a film. When looking at the connection settings on the sky q box, you could see it switching between connected and unconnected every few seconds. 

I connected using an ethernet cable and it seems OK. I do not want a cable trailing across my room though and it worked fine on WiFi for weeks so i know it can do. However, the sky q mini boxes have started the same behaviour and will not work at all if they cannot connect through the WiFi to the main box. Trying to watch anything whilst it breaks up every few seconds is impossible. Then, after an hour or two, it is fine again. Very random and very frustrating. 

On top of that, we work from home quite a lot and just recently, when on a video call, it drops out regularly (WiFi connected). Can't say for sure if it is just the video calls or whether it drops out fully because you may not notice a 5 second drop out when only browsing or emailing. 

We have reset the sky q boxes and also restarted the router. The only thing I haven't done as per your suggestions is reset the router and I don't want to do that because it took hours to reconnect the smart devices connected to it (lights, alexas and smart sockets) because they will only connect to the 2.4 ghz frequency - that is the only change I have made to the router settings to split the frequencies so that these devices will connect. 

Please can you help, this is so frustrating! 

[Boroblue]

Hi Matt,

Thank you for your reply. 

No, unfortunately I do not get the option to order a pod - I either get a result saying the signal is great if I'm near it or when I move away, it doesn't complete so either way, I do not get the option.

Thanks

Jamie

[Matthew_ML]

No worries thank you for letting me know.

Just to confirm something does it state signal is fine everywhere and you aren't getting any signal at all in these rooms? Cheers 

[Boroblue]

Yes, that's right Matt - the WiFi just stops working on most devices as soon as I walk out of the living room

[Martin_N]

Thank you for that information.

Just to check, with the devices that do lose signal. 

Are they all 1 type of device? I.e Mobile, Tablet, etc

If it is Mobile, what OP are they?

^Martin

[Boroblue]

Hi Martin, 

They vary. 

My mobile loses WiFi if I go into any other room downstairs (this is an android on android 13).

My wife and daughters lose signal if they go upstairs (they are all on apple ios 16.5.1).

Both of my windows laptops lose connection in the conservatory (both around 2 years old and running windows 11).

My wide has a windows 11 laptop for work (very high spec) and that loses connection during online meetings too, even in the same room as the router. 

I hope this helps

Thanks

Jamie

[Reece_MH]

Hi Jamie 👋

Thanks for confirming this. As mentioned, it certainly seems like a signal issue that's causing this, as the only devices affected seem to be on WiFi. In regard to the WiFi Pods, these are included under our WiFi Max Guarantee, and depending on your package, there may be an additional monthly cost of £8.

It is a case of having to find a "sweet spot" for your Hub, that provides the best signal. If you found that the bands being split worked better, then whilst it's not directly recommended, this may prove beneficial for your service.

Alternatively, if possible, it might be best to move your Hub around - even in small amounts, and this can improve the service.

Thanks, 

[Boroblue]

Thanks for your reply Reece.

I will try moving the router around a bit, as far as the short cable will allow, and see if that helps but i am really not hopeful. 

I am pretty IT savvy and I just know something is not right here. We live in a very small, new, semi detached and if signal drops off by moving 5 metres from the router or just upstairs, there is something wrong with the service or router. 

It has never shown a green light, despite the instructions saying it should, and wuthering that is relevant, I'm not sure, but I really don't want to pay another £8 for something that should work much better than it does (and I'm not convinced that would work anyway). We did have the bands split properly, as I said, but that shouldn't be necessary to make a simple connection to our phones and that did also cause problems with sky q.

I will try and move the router as I said, which couldn't be more central in our house, but if that doesn't work, what can I do next, can I cancel the service with no penalty seeing as it doesn't work? 

Thanks again

Jamie

[Nathan_B]

Thanks for your reply, please let us know if moving the router helps with this at all. If not, you may indeed benefit from WIFI Pods. More information on this can be found here.

Regards

Nathan

[Boroblue]

Hello. 

There is a problem here that must be happening to other people.

I have moved the router around as much as possible over the last few days, despite being restricted by the length of cable from the box on the wall to the router. The highest I could have it was perched on the back of the settee which obviously isn't a long term option but despite that, the issue we are having does seem to be more than wifi signal strength. 

As I have mentioned previously, this house has paper thin walls. If my WiFi stops working when I move into the next room literally 5 metres from the router, there is an issue - we have had WiFi from 4 providers during the past 15 years or so, and never had this issue so I just know there is something not right. 

With my limited knowledge, my guess is that it is to do with the devices automatically switching from 2.4 to 5.

If any of us (all on different models of iPhone or android) move into another room or upstairs, if we are streaming a video, it simply buffers - virtually every single time. The WiFi signal on the phone still shows the full 4 bars or 3 at the very least not nothing happens. If we wait 2-3 minutes, or we turn the WiFi off and on again, it will start up but something is causing it to pause every time we move. 

This started happening when you suggested that we combine the two frequencies back into one. However, when we had them split, our sky q wouldn't work which has been perfectly fine since we recombined them.

Surely there has to be a common ground where everything works, as it did for 10 years or so, when we had BT?

[Megan_L]

Hi Boroblue, 

Thanks for coming back to us about this issue with your WIFI connection within your home, I am sorry it's causing you some frustration 😥

There are still plenty of things we can do to help, lets go through some below - 

Run a WIFI Test on your connection, this will detect any issues and give you basic information on how to fix it. 

As you're struggling to connect to WIFI in other rooms, you might be interested in our WIFI Max Scheme It includes WIFI Pods which help to spread the signal around your home using a "Mesh" system. 

To find out whether you're in need of WIFI Pods, please download our Connect App. It will allow you to run a test in each room to detect weak WIFI issues and will offer a prompt to order your first WIFI pod if it detects any problems. 

Using the Connect App will also communicate with our systems, giving us vital information to process your first WIFI Pod. You can have up to three if needed, but they need to be sent separately. 

Please let us know how you get on with all of this information 😁

Thanks,

Megan_L