Why does Sky care what equipment I use? (Quick Qs about using my own equipment)

[NATO]

I'm a new customer with Sky, having recently taken Sky+HD TV, Sky Talk + Line Rental and I've just got my broadband ordered now the phone line is active.

However, from reading this forum I have been very worried about the fact Sky seems to insist on you using their equipment. I have a particular network setup at home which I've configured so that it works just the way I want it to. Part of that is a Linksys ADSL Modem (with PPPoA to PPPoE half-bridge mode) connected to an Apple Airport Extreme dual-band router. I have used this setup in my parents house with BT Broadband and it's been great.

However, now that I've heard that I'm likely to have issues with Sky, I'm wondering two things really:

1. How easy is it to get the username/password off the router Sky send me (apparently it's being posted to arrive this week)? Once I get the username/password can I just set up my modem like any other ADSL service?

2. Can they really detect that I'm not using their supplied router? I'd rather not have to start messing about with MAC Spoofing etc if I can avoid it.

I'm quite willing to just cancel the order and go elsewhere for broadband but it was just quite nice to have unlimited broadband for £10 and my TV/Phone/Internet all on one bill.

All help greatly appreciated.

[NewsreadeR]

1. How easy is it to get the username/password off the router Sky send me (apparently it's being posted to arrive this week)? Once I get the username/password can I just set up my modem like any other ADSL service?

Very easy - Getting your V1 and V2 router passwords - the safe way

2. Can they really detect that I'm not using their supplied router? I'd rather not have to start messing about with MAC Spoofing etc if I can avoid it.

Yes afaik - But they have not to the best of my knowledge ever enforced this condition. Use your own router at your own risk.

[NATO]

Lovely, thanks for that info! I did come across that thread but it's a big one and I thought it was maybe a little out of date, thinking Sky were shipping routers with more advanced firmware on them to try to stop people grabbing the username/passwords from them. Great news!

[Bufferz]

at the end of the day, if they found you not using their kit, you would get a warning first, so then you can deal with it if and when it happens.....

[NATO]

Well my Broadband was connected today and it's working perfectly. Sky estimated I would get 4.0Mbps, I seem to be getting higher than that. It's a bit of an odd set-up but I've got a Linksys AM200 ADSL2+ Modem connected to the master socket outputting to an Apple dual-band Airport Extreme in the next room (via a Netgear Powerline HD setup). My stats as reported by the Linksys router are:

Downstream Rate: 6137 Kbps
Upstream Rate: 765 Kbps
Downstream Margin: 7db
Upstream Margin: 15db
Downstream Line Attenuation: 46
Upstream Line Attenuation: 52
Downstream Transmit Power: 22
Upstream Transmit Power: 10

I've also got an ADSLNation XTE-2005 filtered faceplate on the way which should help things when it arrives.

Do these states look any good for a new connection?

[NewsreadeR]

Similar to mine. And about the same speeds.

[IWasNotTheEnemy]

you'd get the same stats using the Sky router so don't see why you're not using it...bar changing a few settings but don't go mad if you're caught and refused support...

[NATO]

Thanks for the replies, I'm reassured to hear that my line speed looks about right. Oddly, I've had to unplug the modem once or twice to rewire things and each time it reconnects it syncs at a faster speed than before, from memory it's up to over 7194kbps now. I'm sure thats possibly due to the line being analysed over the next 10 days.

The reason I don't want to use the Sky Router is because I prefer to be able to choose my own equipment and configure it as I wish. I'm always very suspicious of custom/locked firmware and always prefer to use unmodified hardware where possible.

In addition, from what I've gathered the Sagem F@ST is a 802.11g device, which limits me to 54Mbps for wireless transfers around the house, whereas my Apple Airport Extreme offers dual-band functionality with both a 54MBps 'b/g' network alongside a 270MBps 'a/n' network in addition to a Guest network for visitors which provides a walled garden of internet only, isolated from the internal LAN. The reason I can't just daisy-chain the Apple router with the Sky router is because for full functionality, the Apple router must be the DHCP/NAT server and it requires a PPPoA-PPPoE half-bridge modem due to the weird way that it works. Oh, and I'm not sure what wireless encryption standards the Sky Sagem router supports, but the Apple router supports WPA2.

I really don't see Sky worrying too much about people running their own kit, in a way they're ensuring that those who are able to run their own kit are technically knowledgeable enough to know what they're doing. For an average user, Sky's setup is fantastic because installation is totally plug and play (having the username/password hardwired means a possible source of problems is eliminated). Sky's current setup seems to keep both sets of users happy.

[IWasNotTheEnemy]

Until they come down on those using non-Sky gear (which might well happen) and then people like yourself are left high and dry...

We do check which routers are in use, and at present nothing is being done about it but just bare in mind that it could happen...We've already had one person suspended for a small period as he sold his Sky router to use his own and then needed support - we cut his connection off until he'd got another router delivered...

[NATO]

I don't get why Sky care though, what difference does it make? They provide internet access, the user should be free to connect any equipment they desire so long as it conforms to UK standards.

I can understand that Sky would refuse support on non-Sky supplied equipment - all ISPs do the same thing, but disallowing people from using their own equipment outright is a step too far in my opinion (and possibly illegal). Besides, they'd only be hurting themselves if they started threatening people about it, ADSL broadband is a big market and there are plenty of other companies out there who are happy to take on a new customer!