Sky Broadband and Asus RT-N66U

Ptitdav

Ptitdav

Ptitdav

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30 Oct 2016
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6
Hi Everyone,

Quick question where I need your help please.

I am a Sky Broadband customer (not fibre). I have the router Sky SR-102 and it's not really good... so I purchased a router Asus RT-N66U. Given that this router does not have a modem, I also found an Openreach ECI modem on Ebay.

I managed to extract my username and password from the Sky Hub so all good here. I have also flashed the router with the latest Merlin firmware.

Am I right in thinking that this set up (OR modem + Asus) will work fine? I can often see it recommended but that's usually for SKy Fibre customers and I am just a broadband client.

Appreciate your comments/helps.

Many thanks,
David
 
I don't think the OR modem works with standard broadband only fibre?

I think you will have to use the SKY hub for the connection then use the Asus plugged into that.

I might be wrong but the OR modem didn't exists for normal broadband only fibre (VDSL) so not sure why it would work.

Or just get a router with built in ADSL modem.
 
There's a slim chance this could work, but I doubt it.

It isn't a configuration most people would even try to use so hands on experience is going to be extremely limited.

Even with a HG612 (which as above certainly does support ADSL) it'd be a struggle. For a start there's the PPPoE vs PPPoA issue.

If it's just better wireless you're interested in then the Asus has an AP mode that'll allow it to work with the SR102.
 
Thanks for your suggestions.
Actually, there are a couple of reasons why I wanted to try this:

- first, the Sky SR 102 is sometimes disappointing in terms of Wifi strength and also, the Internet connection drops every now and then so I wanted something more stable.
- second, I have an Apple TV and wanted to access foreign contents so I need a VPN access. By using the Asus router, I was able to set up a VPN client and decide which device would be using this VPN

Currently, the Asus router is connected on the SKy Hub with an ethernet cable from the Lan port of the Sky Hub to the Wan port of the Asus router.

Am I in a Double Nat situation?
Also I noticed that the speed of the Internet on the Asus wireless network is not as quick (1/3) as the Sky Hub. Why is that? It is configured as a Router (default mode). If I use it as an access point, I can't set up the VPN which is what I really want...

Edit: I have run another test and the speed is actually the same as with the Sky Hub. I guess Yesterday wasn't the best day to conduct testings with my dropping connection...

Help please :)
 
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You will be in a double NAT situation. Not necessarily a problem if you're aware of the impact this can have.

Is the Asus only slow on wireless or also on Ethernet? 2.4GHz, 5Ghz or both?
 
Thanks. What are the potential "impacts" and can I try to reduce them somehow?

Tried again, the Asus speed is actually perfectly fine. Tried both wirelessly and wired.
Then using a VPN is a different story, there is a loss of 1/3 of the original speed I'd say. But reading at threads online, seems like it was to be expected (mostly due to the processor of the router).
 
Thanks a lot for your help. I guess I am all set then... I may give the OR modem a try to see if it would (unexpectedly) work... but then otherwise, I'm just fine.

One thing to notice is that when choosing my VPN, UDP is much faster than TCP. It makes sense but I didn't know it until I googled it.
 
You wouldn't gain anything as it's still a NAT device.

If you want a true modem then you'd be looking at something like DrayTek 120 or 130 which are significantly more expensive.

If you want to use the Asus for everything then disable the Sky router's wireless and use its DMZ option (assuming it has one) to connect the Asus.
 
Ptitdav said:
I see. Then I may stick to what I currently have. And try the DMZ option on the current Sky Hub.

Many thanks for your kind help.
Click to expand...

I have a similar setup, SKY router and an ASUS RT-AC87U router connect via a DMZ. Works fine for me, although, I’ve only had this configure for a few days so I can’t comment on internet performance yet. The ASUS RT-AC87U rocks for local network performance, media streaming and Wi-Fi coverage.

Unfortunately my broadband and phone have failed on Sunday and I’m awaiting a visit from an engineer to fix the line, I must admit Sky have been very helpful so far? We’ll see how BT respond to Sky’s request to check the line out, hope the cable is good, I’m already using the last pair of wires in the cable?
 
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