WiFi keeps dropping and reconnecting

[peterlisa29]

Hi you wonderful people out there, I'm really hoping one of you can let me know if there is anything else I can try before having to contact Sky, especially as they'll be extremely busy in these unprecedented times. I am going to start with an image of my Statistics then I'll explain what I'm still experiencing and what I've tried so far along with my set up. Here goes:

Router Statistics

System Up Time: 15:05:17

Port	Status	TxPkts	RxPkts	Collision Pkts	Tx b/s	Rx b/s	Up Time
WAN	MER	3895007	10399881	0	0	0	15:03:50
LAN	Up	7527026	2012220	0	2	1	15:05:17
WLAN (2.4 GHz)	Up	530077	144294	0	0	0	15:03:06
WLAN (5 GHz)	Up	10736489	8768176	10058	0	1	15:02:54

---

Broadband Link	Downstream	Upstream
Connection Speed (Kbps)	31806	7173
Line Attenuation (dB)	DS1:22.7    DS2:57.6    DS3:82.2	US0:11.1    US1:49.7    US2:0.0
Noise Margin (dB)	DS1:4.5    DS2:4.6    DS3:0.0	US0:6.0    US1:6.2    US2:0.0

---

I've got the following router:

Systems Detailshelp

Manufacturer Sky

Model ER110

Firmware Version 2.12.2652.R

DSL Firmware VersionA2pv6F039m1.d24m

The problem is that, even though the Broadband is stable, inclduing the devices that are connected over the ethernet, anything that is connected wirelessly randomly disconnects then reconnects automatically. There appears to be no rhyme nor reason as to why this may be happeining. It doesn't appear to be at a particular time of day or when a particular device is being used....it is totally random. This has been happening for a while but was a slight annoyance during the evening while we were surfing the web or looking at facebook etc..... However, now that both myself and my wife are working from home this is becoming a real problem as we have many, many Skype, Zoom, Teams conference calls and cannot afford to keep dropping in and out of these calls.

I've checked on the Sky Hub at the devices connected and it shows 24 connected devices including Sky Q, 2 mini boxes, 2 booster boxes, a PC laptop, a Macbook Pro, 2 iPhones, Soundbar, Roku+ and various smart devices including a couple of amazon echos, hue bulbs, nest thermostats etc.... all connected wirelessly and In addition I've got a Panasonic TV, Apple TV and Xbox connected via ethernet. None of the connected items suffer from the dropouts, as far as I can tell.

Here is what I've tried already to rectify these drop outs: -

Moving the router to the main socket

Rebooted the router (many times)

Rebooted the booster boxes & the Sky Q and Mini Boxes

Turned off and unplugged all dect phones

Changed Channels for both 2.4 & 5 GHz

Disabled IPv6 (although I've re-enabled this as the drop outs were still occurring)

Turned off & disconnected and restarted various devices to try and eliminate the problem but no-one device appears to be causing the issue as the drop outs still occur.

I can easily see when the drop outs occur (although they do still occur when the soundbar is switched off so this isn't the problem) because my soundbar displays "network connected" each time the drop outs occur.

This is driving me (and my wife) up the wall and I don't know what to try next other than calling Sky.

Does anyone else have any suggestions....Please and Thank You

[Mortage]

They have an issue with their routers.  They are a pile of junk.  I had two replacements all the same issues.  WiFi drops off, devices stay connected with no connection to the internet.  iPhones seem to be very prone to the issues.

dont waste your time trying to resolve it with sky.  Either get a generic router, or get something like Google WiFi.  You can still use the sky router but disable WiFi and use the other device for WiFi connection.  Your problems will all be solved! 

[Chrisee · Accepted solution]

@peterlisa29 Wifi issues can be a pain to sort as you are finding. These days we all have so much electronic kit the wifi spectrum is extremly crowded. Thanks for posting so fully as that makes the answer easier.

You connection looks fine and sensibly you are using ethernet where you can. Ethernet is not only faster it is far less prone to jitter which causes issues with systems like VPNs and video apps. So should always be used where possible.

You have done some sensible  trouble shooting but I would suggest downloading two apps onto a phone or tablet the first is a wifi analyzer which will show the signal strength and channel of all wifi networks in range which makes  it easier to spot co-channel interference. The second app is Wifi Sweetspots which simply measures the true wifi speed back to your hub showing where in your home the problem areas are. Try moving the hub higher onto  a shelf as that can make a lot of difference to coverage. Many homes do have wifi dead spots caused bybthe construction this is where boosters and other technology can help. 

Last point the er110 is a pretty basic piece of kit - it was free after all - and it may need help to cover a larger home. Sky have  a better hub, the SR203, but dont give it away it only normally comes as part of the £5 per month Boost pack. See Sky Broadband Boost | Sky Help | Sky.com

There are any number of third party solutions but before spending money try the two apps I suggested but do post again if you ned more help.

[peterlisa29]

@Chrisee thanks for your detailed response and I will indeed download the 2 apps you suggest as they sound really useful. I was just about to post a follow up to my original post, but didn't want to jinx anything as I think I finally got to the bottom of the problem. I haven't had any WiFi drop outs for 5 days now. The solution, it would appear, was that I had a faulty Sky Q 2TB Box. I've just had this replaced and since the new Q box has been installed, no drop outs. It was always on my list but everyone kept telling me that wasn't possible & wouldn't be causing the problem. Thanks also for the info about the router which I've had in all sorts of positions in the house and think I've found the optimum spot. I did speak to Sky about upgrading the router the the Hub 4 but they were convinved that doing this wouldn't solve the issue and they were probably correct. However, I have one question that you may be able to help with. Is it normal for the WiFi speeds to drop from around 24-30 to 2-3 when a program is downloading to the Q box? Thanks again!!

[Chrisee]

Hi @peterlisa29 wondered if you had Q boxes. The Q hub does prioritise traffic for the Q boxes so they can knock wifi speeds back quite a lot especially if devices are using the main boxes hotspot.

One thing to consider is improving the connection between the hub and the Q box improving both the box's performance and wifi speeds for devices using thst connection. In my home I use powerline adapters which use the mains wiring to carry signals giving me 300Mb/s pretty much everywhere (internal network speed of course). YMMV. 

[peterlisa29]

Hi @Chrisee would it make any difference if I went for a Hub 4 or should I get something generic like @Mortage says?

[Aidan++A]

have  same problem  in Ireland  in the last few days after my Sky Modem stopped working  and had to be re booted a number of time to get it working again. Now the Wi Fi connection is dropping and you have to re connect all the time

I think its  a  faulty Sky Modem as we  transferred from Vodafone some months ago and found the Vodafone modem  much  faster than the Sky one. They  are all made in China so what do we expect.Best modems are made in Taiwan not China

[Nikley]

I am also having this issue. Sky sent a new router a few weeks ago but the problem hasn't gone away, in fact if anything it's worse. Every few hours it just starts kicking devices of the wifi (usually all at once, for 30-60 seconds, sometimes more) and seems to go through phases where it's worse. 

On the phone with technical support now and I've had to explain that no, I don't want to pay an extra £5 a month to improve my chances of getting wifi connectivity! It's reasonable to expect passable wifi these days. I've not had a problem like this with any router I've used for decades. 

[Kcin]

I spoke to a friend of a friend recently who is a network engineer. Who gets a lot of people compaining and sky is the most common. 

It's normally all to do with the sky Q box. If you disconect everything from your WiFi including your skyQ box then 1 price at a time reconnect everything but the sky Q box. You'll find the WiFi is fine. I did it works connect the box a week later and it all went to hell within an hour.

After doing this you have 2 of options make a massive complaint to sky or just don't connect your sky Q to the internet.

[Skivs9]

Thank you. This happen to me all of the time, it's very disappointing.

[DrSP]

Hi all,

I've been having a similar issue. Wifi worked perfectly fine until October 2020 when it started dropping randomly. The Sky Q main box, which is hard wired to the hub, couldn't connect to the network, whilst other hard wired products were ok.

There has been no change in our setup and no additional equipment increasing demands. Having spent hours talking to sky tech support and trying all their suggestions and having had an open reach engineer out who demonstrated there were no issues and even changed the master socket in case. The problem is still present.

I am now trying the suggestion of disconnecting the main Sky Q box and am hoping this will solve the problem, but then comes the issue of having sky replace it - does anyone have any suggestions on how to convince them there is a problem, if proven by my test today.

[Rhunt]

Hi

I have exactly the same problem,.

has any one managed to solve it

Thanks

[DrSP]

So I tried the "disconnect sky q main box" method as suggested earlier in the thread.. and it seemed to result in a better and more stable wifi as before.

I need to now take this back to sky but haven't had the opportunity yet..

I am sure they'll dispute it and want to send more people into my home (putting us at risk during the pandemic) rather than just sending out a new sky q box in return for the old defective one.

[Mash1230]

Hi all, we have the same persisting problem of continuous WiFi dropping in the house.

We have changed broadband providers, changed them again and now we back around with sky again and the problem is still there

Our signal into the house is perfect and the router always says it's showing strong strength hence why sky can never find any problems.

We have the sky WiFi boosters and we have a direct tp link device and the problem is there.

Devices show connection but there is no WiFi.

Based on what I have read it seems the main sky q box seems to keep popping up.

Has anyone had their main sky q box replaced and if so did it help?

This is now becoming a big problem for me and my family as more now than ever WiFi is a crucial part of our daily lives.

Any advice or tips would be grateful.

Many thanks 

[peterlisa29]

Hi All, as the original poster of this thread, all I can say is I don't think there is one solution to the problem, however I can let you know what I currently have set up and you can decide if all, or any, of these might solve the issue for you.

1. Replaced the original router for a Hub4 and moving it more centrally in the house.
2. Had the Main Sky Q Box replaced and connected this to the Router using an Ethernet Cable and disabled WiFi on the Main Sky Q Box
3. Removed both the Sky Q Wireless Booster Boxes as they really did seem to cause most of the issues when plugged in
4. Bought and installed a TP-Link TL-WPA4220KIT 2-Port Powerline Adapter  and connected this to my Router with an Ethernet Cable. The other plug (haven't enabled the wifi extender feature on this) is now in the bedroom where my wifes laptop is connected with an ethernet cable into this.
5. Connected as many devices using ethernet (through a switch) to the router as possible

Fingers crossed, after all of the above, I appear to have, and have had, for a couple of months now, a more stable WiFi connection with no apparent drop outs.

Hope this helps.