Sky broadband router

jayship

A friend has a Sky TV package which includes free broadband. Unfortunately he has lost the router and sky want around £43 for a replacement. I am wondering if it would be possible to buy a used or new from a supplier on the internet. Not sure which make and model to look for. Just need a simple product that is not too expensive and compatible with sky.

Is it possible to include a wireless connection that would allow him to locate the desktop anywhere in the home. The sky connection @ the moment is in the lounge. Forum readers thoughts and experience will be appreciated.

Thanks

somersethillbilly

Have a look for a Netgear DG834G or GT, you should be able to find one cheap enough on Ebay, Freecycle, boot sale or second hand electrical store for a few quid.

missile

Any router will work, but beware cheap routers with weak short range signal.
I find my Sky Sagem router far better than the Netgear I had before.

Inner_Zone

missile wrote: »

Any router will work, but beware cheap routers with weak short range signal.

No they won't needs to be a ADSL router.

OP does he have the Sky user name and password as these are usually stored in the router and there are specific ways to extract them. Sky don't support third party routers and so without these details, another router will just be a brick.

macman

How do you 'lose' a router? They are connected by a wire at at least one end, and don't just get up and walk away!
As above, without the u/n and p/w no other route will be any use.

somersethillbilly

Sky used to supply the Netgear dg834gt, hence it was one of my suggestions, they "should" support it still and if the OP's friend can get u/n and p/w (from Sky as they have lost their router) it would be fine. Have they looked down the back of the sofa? It may not be lost, just hiding

jayship

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far. I will have to check with my friend if he remembers the user name and password.

The router got lost or misplaced when he changed the provider and went to Virgin. Now he has returned to Sky and they will not provide a new router as they have on record that he was supplied one originally although it was 2 years ago.

Notmyrealname

He is going to be paying £43 to Sky because you need the LAN MAC address/Serial number and default WPA key from the router in order to get the username/password to put in your own router to use that.

steve1980

Your friend will have to pay Sky for a new router with the username and password if they have lost the original one.

ukjoel

Sky are cheeky sods.

He was with them 2 years ago and left - He should have taken out a new contract and got a new router.

I had similar problems when the router stopped working - was without the internet for several days while they tried all the usual things which I had tried in the first half hour.

All I wanted was a new router and in the end only got one when i borrowed a friends which worked showing original was brokent.

Anyway to answer the question - ebay or boot sale - I picked up a couple of sky broadband ones last week for a fiver for the pair. They will have the serial and password on the bottom of them so he just needs to reset his wireless to those and he is off and running.

jayship

Once again thanks to everyone for their posts which is appreciated and keep posting please. Along the way i am learning something new from forum readers as i am not very techie.