I have FTTP - Is it worth changing the Sky Router?

Associate
Joined
14 Dec 2002
Posts
2,352
Hi guys,

I have Fibre to the property (in a new build). I was with BT for the past few years but recently moved to Sky - getting about 135mbit download. I have the standard open reach ONT and modem setup - with a Cat 5 connection from the open reach modem to the "WAN" port on the Sky router.

I've been looking quite a bit at changing the router - it looks like as long as it has the ability for "option 61" (sometimes called MERS) then it should be a straight forward change. The recommendation seems to be the Asus AC86U with a simple firmware change to bring in the Option 61 functionality.

As is probably the case with most people on this forum, I love messing around with tech ... the question is, is there much of a benefit in changing from the Sky router to something like the Asus?

Me and the wife are both WFH at home moment, both connected to our work networks via cisco anyconnect. At peak times there will be both laptops connected, 4K TV being streamed plus a few phones... there is no heavy gaming going on. So the question is, is the ~£140 investment in changing the router worthwhile or do you think it won't really be a noticeable change? Some of the extra functionality may be useful (especially ability to VPN at the router, rather than by device) but some is probably "nice to have" (QoS etc.)


Thanks for any help.
 
Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
26,053
You've not mentioned any problems you're having currently with your setup, so is everything working fine and you're wondering if it could be better? If so then I would save your money.

The best 'upgrade' depending on the current placement of your router would be to spend the budget on a separate AP mounted in a more optimal location, and cabling it back to your router.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
14 Dec 2002
Posts
2,352
so is everything working fine and you're wondering if it could be better?

Thanks for the response.

I'd say that's fair, yes... just wondering if making the change would provide much benefit in terms of network speed? When WFH on a VPN with everything cloud based, it's hard to know if the bottleneck is my own network or theirs, I imagine most of the time it will be the latter...

If the consenus is that the Sky router is adeuqate enough for my needs and there wouldn't be any noticible improvement by switching to the ASUS then I'll probably give it a miss like you suggest.
 
Soldato
Joined
28 Sep 2008
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14,123
Location
Britain
I have my ONT connection going straight into my PFSense Firewall WAN port (no WiFi) which then feeds to a UniFi Switch and 4 APs throughout the property (all hard wired). Didn't fancy having my old DrayTek router in modem mode stuck under the stairs.
 
Associate
Joined
19 Dec 2005
Posts
1,429
I'd wait for Sky to bump the speeds from 150 and use the money to upgrade that, having said that 150 is more than enough to wfh without any issues with other stuff going on in the background.
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Mar 2004
Posts
3,578
Location
England
My Sky hub has never been out of it's box.

I use an RT-AC68u on Sky FTTP and it's solid as a rock, constantly get 140Mbps+ over 5Ghz and 150Mbps over GigE. I think i'd need to upgrade should Sky release 300, 500 and 900Mbps but for 150, it's doing the job.

To get Option 61 you need Merlin firmware, which I am a big fan of.

I'm not sure on the limitations of the Sky hub, if you can customise DNS etc. Believe the 5ghz wifi channel is locked?

I only bought the Asus because the EE hub on my previous ISP was limited, so I got the Asus and a seperate modem and didn't look back. A decent router will give you far more to play with settings wise etc. Plus you can change ISP with ease really, especially when you've got a ton of IOT stuff like I have.
 
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