Upgrade standard Sky modem (gaming)

DT788 · 2 Jul 2021 at 14:21

Afternoon all,

So this is something I have never really considered before and have always been happy with just your standard modem you receive when signing up to a new isp. But now working from home more and gaming a hell of a lot more I am endlessly searching for the perfect setup.
So my question is what would you recommend to buy for a secure, fast gaming router/modem combo?

Thanks in advance for any help.

ChrisD. · 2 Jul 2021 at 14:24

What's wrong with the Sky hub?

Faze1 · 2 Jul 2021 at 15:33

Which Sky hub do you have?

OldKitMan · 6 Jul 2021 at 00:05

physical cables, had a nightmare during lockdown with wifi, ended up buying some longish cables and running one through the loft and putting a 5 port switch in each of the kids rooms so now all their PlayStation/Xbox/PC's are cabled in. Been peaceful ever since and not heard the word lag getting shouted throughout the whole house.

MagicBoy · 6 Jul 2021 at 00:34

The newer Sky hubs with 802.11ac are decent. Just add a switch if you need more ethernet ports.

MissChief · 6 Jul 2021 at 00:41

As many have said, which Sky Hub do you have? I have very few issues wired to my desktop and using Wireless for everything else.

Avalon · 6 Jul 2021 at 04:56

Perfect set-up? Well Sky use DHCP60/61 MAC encapsulation, so in order to replace the Sky hardware, you need a modem for whatever type of connection you haven’t told us you have (ADSL/FTTC/G.Fast/Fibre?). Ignore anyone telling you that it’s MER or that you need to extract usernames etc. they’re mistaken.

Then you need a router capable of supporting DHCP60/61 options, that generally means a limited range of hardware, sometimes a custom beta firmware or more usually something like DDWRT or running OPNSense/Untangle and making some minor edits. The process is well documented, easy to follow and is the same for ADSL/FTTC/G.fast, can’t comment about FTTP. That then leaves you with how you choose to connect to the router, anything less than wired is a waste of time/money.

In theory this may not actually improve things, you’re adding extra steps between you and the WAN, which invariably adds latency, so consider what you want to get out of this before proceeding. Costs can be from bugger all to a few hundred, depends what you have/want - Sky hardware generally isn’t that bad.

edscdk · 6 Jul 2021 at 06:06

Cannot imagine a different router will help with your issue now you are wired.. For the £90 give it a go but be prepared for no difference... If you have 30 smart home devices maybe it will help (my issues was not lag but devices unable to connect)