Sky Router vs Non Sky Router

[legoman]

Hi!

Not sure if this is the appropriate place for this, or if anyone else has said what I'm gonna, so please forgive my inability with all things technology and forum-based.

I've been having problems with Sky for a while, and one is with their router and it causing interference with my phone whilst connected (surely thats the beauty of BB - phone and internet at the same time! Genius!), and making any telephone conversation nigh on impossible.

So, I went and bought myself a new router (D-Link DKT 810) and proceeded installation - Thankyou MossyWell for your genius!! Enabling me to get the BB Password and User so easily!! - but having read a lot of posts on here it seems that using another router may cause Sky to bother you with suspensions of service etc.

So today I asked them forthright. And 2 of their techies at the other end of the phone both told me that Sky will not have a problem with a different router, and therefore will not suspend or cancel my broadband service, only that they will not provide tech support for this router (D-Link provide me with an 11 year warranty, so I'm sure I can live with that).

I suppose that rule goes for everyone. So, if anyone's worried about using their own router... Just ask Sky!!

And, I'm still in my first year of contract with Sky Max.



Dave

[James67]

Originally Posted by legoman

I suppose that rule goes for everyone. So, if anyone's worried about using their own router... Just ask Sky!!

Hmmm, they don't seem to be taking action against people using their own router. At least, for now. But that could change and just telling Sky that "Dave from technical support said it was OK" isn't necessarily going to cut the mustard. In the unlikely event that Dave (or whatever his name was) is identified, it's more likely that you'd end up with two people in trouble, him and you.

[legoman]

I was quite pointed and didn't beat around the bush! I was very honest and told them what I was doing, so if they were/are going to have a problem, I'm sure I'll find out soon enough.

But yes, I see your point.

I made the post as and FYI, should anyone be worried about swapping to a better router.

[Netgeezer]

Originally Posted by legoman

So today I asked them forthright. And 2 of their techies at the other end of the phone both told me that Sky will not have a problem with a different router, and therefore will not suspend or cancel my broadband service, only that they will not provide tech support for this router (D-Link provide me with an 11 year warranty, so I'm sure I can live with that).

I think the point is that Sky can suspend or cancel your broadband service under the terms and conditions of the contract that you have agreed to by taking on the service. That they choose not to is entirely another matter.

That said, the Sky technical staff should not have suggested to you that it was okay with Sky to attach your own equipment. Although a beleaguered CST staffer might well feel that is the right thing to say, they really should stick to the script. If for no other reason but to protect their continued employ with Sky.

You are only likely to get into bother with Sky if your "private" router started to cause Sky any problems that would show up on their monitoring. It wouldn't take much at all to detect that you were not using a Sky router.

But in relation to your Sky router causing problems with your phone - that is most likely to be a faulty router itself rather than the mere fact that it is a Sky router. I would be inclined to ask Sky to replace it, especially as you have proven everything else out by putting a non-Sky router and eliminated the problem (i.e. the fault travels with the Sky router).

[legoman]

I don't understand the technicalities of the bad phone line, but the problem has migrated into the new router. The Sky guys said something about something and it being another, higher department's thing to deal with, whilst talking nicely to a BT department that only deals with Sky... Or something.

Anyway... All I know is that the bad phone line is still there with the new router, barring unfortunate coincidence, in my case it's the phone line/exchange doing me no favours!

And again, I do see your point that in my contract/the contract it does stipulate usage of the provided router, but I don't believe that Sky would risk its customer base just for the sake of it. It alleviates phone queues and speeds up tech services and therefore makes them look good in the eyes of the customer, if they're not dealing with [people like] me! And I can be an almighty pain in the... when I want to be!

[Netgeezer]

Oh, I took the inference that your new D-Link solved your noisy line problems. If it didn't then there are a few things you'll need to work through to try and identify the most likely place to focus your "almighty" energies on

There is a fairly well written thread somewhere on this forum that outlines the steps to follow. If you want one-on-one help just ask and no doubt some of us will jump in and offer advice of what to do. But as you've gone the roll-it-yourself route there is an amount of self-help you're going to have to do.

It is really well worth proving that your internal house extension wiring is not at fault. The way to isolate the problem is to plug your ADSL Filter, Sky router and phone into the test socket of the master socket and try making calls from there. If they are still noisy then the fault is "out to line". If, however, the line is clear - no noise - the fault is most likely within your internal wiring or sockets.

You don't say but .... is the noise there if the ADSL router is not switched on or plugged into the filter? What kind of noise, a humming, buzzing or more of a scratchy crackly sound?

[legoman]

Sorry for the late reply... Work...!

Erm... Where to begin. As soon as the router connects to the DNS, the phone line degrades to the point where normal telephone conversation is impossible. If I unplug the ADSL cable from the router and just use it as a wireless hub, it doesn't do it, proving its not the wireless interfering with the digital cordlessness of the phone (and the phone is only about a year old or so - one of those fangled iDECT X1 jobbies!), but it is the ADSL causing all my headaches...

The noise is all of the above, including the mechanical whirrings of the modem when the internet is trying to connect.

I've tried everything, including swapping the filter for another (all three provided by sky, + the one that came with the new router), and plugging into the test socket (at Sky's behest), and it's all still there!

I live in a terrace house, built over a 100 years ago, and I think the cabling from the exchange to my house is of a similar age, but getting BT to admit it... well, I don't wanna depress anyone!!!

Bring on the WIMAX service [wires are SO passé]!! 70Mbps at 10km... According the Wikipedia anyway!

[hellfire18]

Sky's T&C's mean they "could" do quite a lot, but the reality is people like to scaremonger and the chances of them actually doing anything are very slim.

It's a bit like the old "You must keep your phone line connected for the 1st year", unsuprisingly I didn't have my phone line connected once in the entire 2 year period and nothing has happened. Infact when the Sky engineer came round to fit my line and I knew it wasn't working (didn't tell him that) he left the box with me and said he'd come back and do it later if I called Sky - he never came back and I simply rang Sky 5 minutes after he left and got them to pair the new card to the box - no questions were asked and have never been since.

Just my 2p worth - I'm not saying you should do any of this - Only that in my experience I have never had any issues.

[legoman]

I was worried a little... I thought that they may be a little more insidious than just cutting me off... My DL speed went thru the floor, and never got above 1.7Mbps for the first few days, but subsequently I've tweaked the router a little (randomly! there was no great plan to my fiddling!) and now I seem to be getting a near constant 4.8Mbps, which is actually better than I ever got with the Sky router!

Will watch out for any "action" - still in contact with the CST at Sky, and their Escalation Dept, in order to diagnose my phone line problems! No doubt some jobsworth will start having a problem with me and my router along the line!!


Dave

PS...
Just read an article about piracy and the internet, and apparently the European Union have wisely voted upon it, and decided that it is everyone's "human right" to have access to the internet, regardless of what you use it for, and an ISP have no grounds for suspending your service for illegal downloading of material.

Therefore, it's not unreasonable to apply that same "human right" to any ISP cutting you off for say, using your own router, fiddling with the router they supply in order to improve service, etc.