Can I use Sky router before activation date? EDIT - and other questions

Wammer

I am moving from Plusnet to Sky LLU on Friday.

I currently have a Netgear DG834G(?) router and the desktop is connected via a wifi adaptor. I will be getting a Sky Sagem N router and I have an N wifi adaptor ready.

According to Sky I shouldn't install the Sky router before the activation date as they say it won't work.

Do they mean that it won't work as they are assuming I don't have any kind of BB at the moment or is it correct that it won't work at all until then?

Thanks

Parva

If Plusnet is still on and you are connecting to it ok then Sky will not work. Both will have their own logon set within the router settings and the only one that will work is the one that is connected at the exchange. Basically, when your Plusnet dies, that will be the time to change your router over.

Wammer

Thanks. Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear. Will Plusnet work with the Sky router if I install it before the activation date? The number to log into the Sky router is the same as for Netgear, 192.68.0.1. The only difference is that the password for Sky is sky instead of password.

When I switched to Plusnet it switched over without my having to do anything, although I realise that was with the same router.

Parva

No, Plusnet will not work with the Sky router. Within the router settings there is a username and password (not talking about logging into the router here). The router sends this username and password to the network and if accepted you have broadband. The Sky router incorporates an encrypted username and password (there are methods to extract this to use other routers).

Think of it as the olden days when people logged onto the internet with modems, you had to set a username and password and these were requested from you when you clicked 'connect' after the modem had made a connection with the internet. If you didn't have the correct username and/or password the network kicked your modem off.

Well, the same is true of broadband. Within your router is a username and password which is sent to the exchange when the router is turned on. If it doesn't match the username and password then the exchange will reject the connection. As stated earlier, your Sky router has its own encrypted username and password already set within it. Some people who like to hax things search the internet and find ways of extracting this username and password to use routers not supplied by Sky (/me whistles).

So in short no, you can't switch routers and continue to receive broadband until the exchange has been switched over from Plusnet to Sky.

EDIT: Just to add to this I actually use a Sky supplied Netgear DG834GT. Now I know that Sky send out Sagem routers these days (my mum has one) but I prefer my Netgear (I've totally wiped the Sky firmware in it and changed to decent Netgear stuff). See how you get on with the Sagem when your broadband is switched. If you find that you preferred the Netgear then I can show you where you can get instructions on extracting that username and password from the Sagem and then inputting these into the Netgear.

macman

With almost anyone else but Sky you could. But as stated above, Sky lock the u/n and p/w to the accont within the router firmware, so you can't make the Sky router connect to Plusnet unless you hack it.
Even if you could, you'd only have to go in and change the u/n and p/w on Friday, so what would be the point?

withabix

It is difficult (impossible??) to get the username and password out of the current Sky routers.

At least they are shipping 802.11n modem routers now.

When I signed up to Sky they were still shipping 802.11g, but fortunately I have a friend who works in Sky CS, so they sent me my username and password to use in modem routers of my choice!

Parva

withabix wrote: »

It is difficult (impossible??) to get the username and password out of the current Sky routers.

At least they are shipping 802.11n modem routers now.

When I signed up to Sky they were still shipping 802.11g, but fortunately I have a friend who works in Sky CS, so they sent me my username and password to use in modem routers of my choice!

It's actually very easy to extract the username and password from the Sky provided router, www.skyuser.co.uk will provide all of the answers to that issue.

spannerzone

ANd this site makes it very easy for many (earlier) Sky adsl modems http://www.cm9.net/skypass/ remember that you are breaking Sky's T&C's if you do not use their supplied modem router however!

Notmyrealname

spannerzone wrote: »

ANd this site makes it very easy for many (earlier) Sky adsl modems http://www.cm9.net/skypass/ remember that you are breaking Sky's T&C's if you do not use their supplied modem router however!

I refuse to use their modem. If I do it routes me through Kingston Communications network - aka Karoo. Karoo are so bad I paid £250 to leave.

If I use my own, it puts me through Sky's NOC directly.

Wammer

Thanks for the replies. I understand now. I didn't realise the username and password were locked to Sky.

Will wait for it to arrive then will probably try to extract the details. I want to be able to use the Netgear if I have a problem with the Sagem one, ie if it goes faulty, without having to wait for a replacement.

GunJack

a further complication is that sky have now moved to MER authentication, where it uses the MAC address of the router (rather than just a username/password) to authenticate you onto their network. You may find you have to edit the non-sky router's config file to give it the sky router's MAC address in order for this to work... the whole router issue is why I refuse to go with sky for bb