New on Demand Minibox causing skybox to hang

[Skywalk]

Since installing the new wireless wifi minibox via usb port on rear of sky+ HD box either overnight or sometimes during the day box displays "NO SIGNAL" and have to power on / off skybox to reload to get it to work again.Has anyone experienced this or can you suggest a fix .Thanks

[seawright]

Hi Skywalk & welcome to the forum.

Just to make sure it is the wireless connector that is causing the problem. Have you tried disconnecting it, rebooting the Sky box and waiting to see if the "NO SIGNAL" problem recurs?

Could you also go to Services > Settings > System Details and post the Model & Version numbers of your box?

[Scubbie]

Also could you check the signal strength where the Mini WiFi connector is being used please?

If you could use something such as inSSIDer on your laptop, tablet or smart phone and report what you are getting i would be appreciated.

[Skywalk]

Hi Seawright, I disconnected wifi mini box yesterday from rear usb port on Sky box and since then have not had the problem with skybox showing amber light and no signal message on tv screen. I am beginning to suspect that mini box supplied may be faulty ? Info you requested is Model number R007.061.49.00p and version 4f3101

[steelysteph]

Just a shot on the dark - could the minibox be pulling too much power from the USB port?

[seawright]

Hi Seawright, I disconnected wifi mini box yesterday from rear usb port on Sky box and since then have not had the problem with skybox showing amber light and no signal message on tv screen. I am beginning to suspect that mini box supplied may be faulty ? Info you requested is Model number R007.061.49.00p and version 4f3101

You are the first person I have heard of who has had problems with their mini box and as nobody else has responded I do not think it is a common problem. As you say it could be a faulty unit and what steelysteph says does make sense. I asked for model number in case the problem was associated with new software that is currently being rolled but as you still have the earlier software that has been in use for a few months that wouldn't appear to be the problem.

You might like to give Sky TV tech a call and explain the situation and ask if they could send you a replacement adaptor.

[Scubbie]

I would be surprised if the power supply were the case, but I appreciate that it could be a possibility. The version number indicates that this is an old DRX890, so perhaps even more of a possibility.

The Mini WiFi adapter was specifically designed for the Sky+ HD STB and tested on a mixture of DRX890 and DRX895 STBs prior to beta testing and later within the EPG beta test group.

As a result I have one. Apart from a handful of occasions when I have disconnected it, for example to take a photo of the rear for this forum, it has stayed connected to my DRX890. Although I have an Ethernet cable available (it was connected to my STB) I have specifically left the Mini WiFi Adapter connected.

Signal strength appears to be the main issue. I'm not sure of the threshold when this becomes the case though.

For reference this picture below is a snapshot of the signal taken directly above my Mini WiFi adaptor. As it is connected to the 5GHz channel I picked this for the display with inSSIDer.

[jimroy]

After replacing my original connector with the new mini one I have found the signal strength to be half that of the old one. Even though Airport Utility says the connection's excellent, Sky's - settings - network says otherwise. It also takes 4 times longer to download from on demand compared with the old one. I got the mini to free up a plug socket and for power saving reasons but I can't live with it's weaknesses so I'm returning to using the old connector.

[seawright]

Just wonder if the old connector, with the correct power lead, could get its 5V supply from the Sky box's USB socket thereby freeing up a plug socket and still giving you a high connection speed.

[Isitme]

It would not work with the Mark 1 version as it requires a 12v 1amp supply. I don't know about the Mark 2, but it is probably the same.