Which provider?

Lightscribe · 04-03-2025 12:12PM #1

I upgraded to fibre broadband with Sky last October. The speeds near the router are excellent but I have major issues in the house with patchy/no coverage. It seems to be the Sky router just isn't that good. I previously had old fashioned bb from Vodafone and while the speeds were substantially slower the actual useable WiFi was better throughout the house. I have an extender but the signal to that isn't all that reliable.

So who do I try next? What supplier has the best router? Bearing in mind I'm not living in a mansion, it's a pretty standard 4 bed semi.

Eir customer service is awful apparently

Vodafone were fine to deal with.

Virgin media I know nothing about.

Any other suggestions.

Thanks!

ArrBee · 04-03-2025 12:44PM

Best experience is had when you treat the internett coming into your house as seperate to the wifi inside the house.
So, pick the ISP that has the best plan for you (cost, data, spead, support) and then fix the wifi as a seperate excercise…

eg.
Why not use your old "good" vodafone router as a wifi access point hanging off your current sky one? maybe even turn off the wifi on the sky one.

If you don't like sky as an ISP, then by all means move on to someone else. But there is a good chance the wifi from the supplied router will not be any better.

babelfish1990 · 04-03-2025 01:09PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058399113/which-provider

Don't try to cover a 4 bedroom house with one WiFi access point. You probably need a mesh system with 2-3 access points (including the main router). I also wouldn't recommend using an additional access point with a different brand, as you won't get proper WiFi "roaming handovers" between the zones. Alternatively, you could get a separate mesh system from a different vendor such as TP-Link, but you will need to switch off WiFi in your ISP router, and add an extra access point beside your router. Eir have recently launched a WiFi 7 router, and they include a free additional booster, which will be slaved off the main router. I have never had a problem with their customer service - but to be honest, I find their stuff just works - and the only time I need customer service is to renegotiate my contract at the end of the contract.

pizzahead77 · 04-03-2025 01:34PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123230365#Comment_123230365

Or if you don't require a phoneline, ditch the provider's router altogether and use the mesh system as the router and mesh wifi

Lightscribe · 06-03-2025 12:04PM

Thanks for the responses folks, obviously Lucy more technically minded people here than me.

Is a mesh system easy to use/set up? Is it connected to the sky router or does the mesh become my router? I read somewhere that the WiFi will only work with the sky system.

I couldn't keep the Vodafone router unfortunately it had to be returned.

I'm even finding scanning and printing painfully slow which was never an issue with Vodafone.

Very frustrating experience all being told!

eronayne · 06-03-2025 07:58PM

if you give sky a shout the should be able to send you out a booster. It is a small white box about the size of your current router but white in color. Place this about half way between your router and your headshot and follow the instructions on how to pair it with your existing router. This will set up a mesh for you and should increase your coverage.

Lightscribe · 07-03-2025 05:51PM

Took the advice offered above and contacted Sky. They're sending me a booster free of charge so hopefully that will solve the problem!

Thanks a million.

Lightscribe · 08-03-2025 01:49PM

Final update here with a nod to Sky who delivered the booster this morning at 11, less than 24 hours after I made the call.

Very straightforward installation so hopefully it'll be the solution to my problems.

Thanks again

jusvi2001 · 18-03-2025 10:40PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123243879#Comment_123243879

How do you find Sky broadband? i am planning to switch to them from Eir

Lightscribe · 24-03-2025 09:18PM

Fine to deal with. Unbelievably efficient at sending equipment and appointment for engineer visit was very fast.

Do not use the text/WhatsApp option to communicate, phone them. Call centre is based somewhere outside Ireland so can be difficult to catch some of the things they said.

Service has improved massively since I added the sky booster last week.

Apologies for the delay in replying.

Prospectors · 24-03-2025 09:26PM

What is involved in adding the booster? Does it just need power/socket?

Final update here with a nod to Sky who delivered the booster this morning at 11, less than 24 hours after I made the call.

Very straightforward installation so hopefully it'll be the solution to my problems.

Thanks again

Lightscribe · 25-03-2025 06:21AM

Yeah pretty much. Pick a spot between the router and the black spots in the house. Couple of minutes to connect the booster (my 12 year old did it) to the router and you're good to go

I had tried a WiFi extender in the past but this is a much better solution

whiterebel · 25-03-2025 05:03PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123294059#Comment_123294059

I just tried to cancel as they have made a balls of the installation. Going around in circles for 20 minutes to find a number to call, and then told another 20 minutes to get through.

Which provider?

Comments