Sky Wireless Router - cannot upgrade - Sky are Pants!

Sulli

I have just bought a new desktop PC - great deal via hotukdeals from tesco: http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/568462/compaq-cq5223-quad-core-desktop-pc-, great spec but no wireless, which I need as it will not be near the phoneline. So I went to get a decent router with a dongle, I got a wireless N Linksys router with USB dongle from PCWorld for £69.99 - which I thought was a good deal, and they advised me it would work to replace my ADSL sky router.
After much hastle, trying to configure it, logging into router settings, talking to Sky (twice - the first foreign call-centre bloke didn't even know what wireless G and N were!!!) and eventually linksys, I found that you cannot use any 3rd party router with sky, as they won't release their settings. The tech support at sky had sympathy, and said they will be providing wireless N routers at some point (like BT already do), but there was not much he could do.
I have now cancelled all my Sky packages (broadband, phone and TV) out of principle, as if they won't provide new technology or even let me pay for it but not let me utilise it, then they can stick it - Virgin is the same price and I prefer Branson to murdoch :rotfl:
Anyone who has any knowledge of this, or can enlighten me as to how I get round this issue, please say - I have searched the forum, and I think I could use the new router in conjunction with the sky one but that seems too much hastle and is beyond me.
On another note, when I cancelled Sky the cancellations dept, once they knew I was serious and wasn't interested in the offers available to keep me, said that I would lose my landline number, which I had only recently transferred from BT and BT let me keep it with Sky, and proceeded in slagging off Virgin - sign of a bad company if you ask me!

troublegum

Try this guide here:

http://philbridges.com/?p=42 (this may be out of date as I couldn't get it to work)

EDIT: This below link does seem give the correct username and password. You can get the LAN MAC address from the sticker on the bottom, or by going into 192.168.0.1 and copying and pasting.

https://www.cm9.net/skypass/generate.cgi

jamesb1239

troublegum wrote: »

Try this guide here:

http://philbridges.com/?p=42 (this may be out of date as I couldn't get it to work)

EDIT: This below link does seem give the correct username and password. You can get the LAN MAC address from the sticker on the bottom, or by going into 192.168.0.1 and copying and pasting.

https://www.cm9.net/skypass/generate.cgi

From memory the info in that guide that gets you to download the netgear.cfg only works with the DG834GT

spike7451

Sulli wrote: »

I have just bought a new desktop PC - great deal via hotukdeals from tesco: http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/568462/compaq-cq5223-quad-core-desktop-pc-, great spec but no wireless, which I need as it will not be near the phoneline. So I went to get a decent router with a dongle, I got a wireless N Linksys router with USB dongle from PCWorld for £69.99 - which I thought was a good deal, and they advised me it would work to replace my ADSL sky router.
After much hastle, trying to configure it, logging into router settings, talking to Sky (twice - the first foreign call-centre bloke didn't even know what wireless G and N were!!!) and eventually linksys, I found that you cannot use any 3rd party router with sky, as they won't release their settings. The tech support at sky had sympathy, and said they will be providing wireless N routers at some point (like BT already do), but there was not much he could do.
I have now cancelled all my Sky packages (broadband, phone and TV) out of principle, as if they won't provide new technology or even let me pay for it but not let me utilise it, then they can stick it - Virgin is the same price and I prefer Branson to murdoch :rotfl:
Anyone who has any knowledge of this, or can enlighten me as to how I get round this issue, please say - I have searched the forum, and I think I could use the new router in conjunction with the sky one but that seems too much hastle and is beyond me.
On another note, when I cancelled Sky the cancellations dept, once they knew I was serious and wasn't interested in the offers available to keep me, said that I would lose my landline number, which I had only recently transferred from BT and BT let me keep it with Sky, and proceeded in slagging off Virgin - sign of a bad company if you ask me!

That must've been the one in Lipa,who are idiots,all the rest of the call centers for Sky BBand are in England,Scotland,Londonderry & Belfast.The are quite a few foreigners working in the Belfast one.
The reason Sky only support their own product is quite simple.
The fault finding is pc based.To support every make & model of product out there on the market would be impossible as the database would need to be constantly updated & quite large.
Add to that,a large percentage of users dont know a router from a modem,you could dspend ages troubleshooting one type when it's really another.
(And yes,I worked for Sky in their Tier 2 & 3 dept)
The majority of people employed in the Tier 1 have little or no PC/IT knowledge & therfore are trained in Sky's product only,they do the initial 2 week training ect.Sky insist that they stick to the PC based route as well.
It's only when you get to the Tier 2 & 3 (now TSG or something) that you get people with more PC/IT knowledge.

jamesb1239

spike7451 wrote: »

That must've been the one in Lipa,who are idiots,all the rest of the call centers for Sky BBand are in England,Scotland,Londonderry & Belfast.The are quite a few foreigners working in the Belfast one.
The reason Sky only support their own product is quite simple.
The fault finding is pc based.To support every make & model of product out there on the market would be impossible as the database would need to be constantly updated & quite large.
Add to that,a large percentage of users dont know a router from a modem,you could dspend ages troubleshooting one type when it's really another.
(And yes,I worked for Sky in their Tier 2 & 3 dept)
The majority of people employed in the Tier 1 have little or no PC/IT knowledge & therfore are trained in Sky's product only,they do the initial 2 week training ect.Sky insist that they stick to the PC based route as well.
It's only when you get to the Tier 2 & 3 (now TSG or something) that you get people with more PC/IT knowledge.

Sky should just do what most other providers do, they give you a router and say you are welcome to use any others but if you do then tec support cannot help you

troublegum

jamesb1239 wrote: »

From memory the info in that guide that gets you to download the netgear.cfg only works with the DG834GT

The second one I linked to seems to work for 3 different routers.

The OP should also be aware that you will be breaching the T+Cs by using your own router, however Sky do not seem to enforce this at the moment.

jamesb1239

troublegum wrote: »

The second one I linked to seems to work for 3 different routers.

The OP should also be aware that you will be breaching the T+Cs by using your own router, however Sky do not seem to enforce this at the moment.

It sure does, some clever person figured out the algorhythm used by sky for the username/password, they used to only be able to do it on one of them.

Inactive

PC World should have known that Sky BB users are tied to the Sky supplied route within their T&C's.

Sky clearly likes to have total control over their customers.

mrtom21

Funny that I hear a lot of stories where Sky have no issue denegrating another company over the phone. Musn't be high on their priorities in terms of good customer service.

Jemma-T

Why are you messing about with wifi (WLAN)? That's for spotty teenagers or people who absolutely must use a laptop and are miles from the router. A desktop PC is errr... on a desktop.

Get a 15 or 30m LAN cable and plug it into your router.

15m £6.51 www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-Cat5e-Snagless-Patch-Cable/dp/B0000DG4VX

30m £8.99 www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-Cat5e-Snagless-Patch-Cable/dp/B00009VGT8

If you have really cancelled Sky you're in for a shock because Sky provide very good service in the main.

MyRubyRed

I may be in the minority (and may live to regret this) but up to now I have found Sky Broadband service and support (set up days) to be excellent.