SKY+ HD Box Uses All Bandwidth

[Apache14]

Hi,

I have just had sky fiber installed and all is working fantastic on that side (37MBit/s Down 1.8MBit/s Up). However i have my Sky+ HD box connected to the sky router via ethernet cable and as soon as this is switched on, all other devices on my network get next to no bandwith allocated (Wont even load google). As soon as the box is in standby the bandwith goes up to 37 on all other device. This is not due to the box's phone line connectios as :-

A) This happens if the phone line is dissconected and the ethernet cable is connected (Box ON)
B) This will not happen when the ethernet cable is not pluged in and the phone cable is (Box ON)

This is a huge flaw in sky's HW as the routers supplied with fiber do not have any form of bandwith management (QoS). In an ideal situation the SKY HD+ box would be given last priority so only uses "whats left over" from laptops/games consoles ect. And sky have implemented a system where it is not easy or in many cases practical to use a better router :/

Im posting this to find if anyone has found a solution to this issue and to inform others getting crazy low speeds to see what happens when you switch off your sky box

[Scubbie]

This is kind of unusual. Which Sky+ HD STB do you have and what version of the EPG is installed on it?

Do you notice any activity on the Ethernet port that the Sky+ HD STB is connected to? I don't know if the LED flashes to indicate traffic on the Sagem 2504N.

[Apache14]

This box is an Amstrad DRX890 (im 99% sure of that) and its the newest software (HD skin or whatever) i can provide the version number but not sure on where to find ot on the box

[tomthered]

You can tell from the services menu or from the TV guide itself just pan along until you get to the Spanner which is settings and then choose system details. The EPG details are on there.

[Scubbie]

Using your remote control, press <Service> <right> <down> 3

Where it says "Model Number", what is the full number/code to the right please?

[Apache14]

Model Number : R004.049.21.00P
Version Number : 4f31d4

[dragon2611]

Weird only time I've seen my SKY HD box hit the internet connection with any noticeable amounts of traffic is when downloading something off anytime +

It does use some bandwidth when you browse anytime+ to download the thumbnails but it shouldn't be much more than browsing a website containing a load of small images on your computer.

Have you tried connecting it to a different port on the sagem?

[Scubbie]

Have you tried connecting it to a different port on the sagem?

@Apache14: This is a good idea to try. There are some coloured markings on the back of the router could you let us know which port the Sky STB is currently connected to and try the others. Ideally the BTO Modem should be connected to the top yellow port and the STB to the green port.

However I would like to know the specifics and I will feed this back to Sky.

Edit: Could you also please confirm the specific details of the Ethernet cable to please? i.e. Cat 5, Cat 5e. Also could you confirm the wiring by post a photo of the plugs, showing the side which allows us to see the colour of the thing wire inside.

[Scubbie]

I've just had another thought...

I know that you said that the STB is fine when the telephone lead is connected, but could you also confirm that when the guy from BTO installed your Fibre that he also installed a filtered faceplate? Something like the one in the link below.

BT/Openreach VDSL/ADSL Premium Faceplate

Also before you had Sky Fibre installed, was the STB connected to your previous router, if so which model was it please and did you have a problem before?

Your profile indicates that you have Sky Broadband Unlimited. Is this what you had before?

sorry for so many questions but this appears to be a new issue and I would like to gather as many potentially relevant facts as possible.

[simon194]

This is a huge flaw in sky's HW as the routers supplied with fiber do not have any form of bandwith management (QoS). In an ideal situation the SKY HD+ box would be given last priority so only uses "whats left over" from laptops/games consoles ect. And sky have implemented a system where it is not easy or in many cases practical to use a better router :/

The router does actually have QoS on port 1 because you can find it enabled if you dig through the XML dumped out in the config file. The problem is that I'm not sure if it's implemented correctly in the router's firmware.

I'm currently beta testing firmware on a Billion 8200N VDSL2 router and it works great in EWAN mode but there is a problem with the router syncing with the ECI hardware in the street cabinet in VDSL mode which is being looked in to, apparently it works fine with Huawei equipment.They also have working "SkyMER" firmware for their 7800N router and there's a couple of other routers that will work with as replacements for the Sky router.