The “free” Netgear modem router that comes with Sky Fibre Broadband (FTTC) is fine for most users, and has never given me any problems over the past couple of years. However, it’s lacking in functionality and settings that appeal to techies.

The good news is that you can now use your own router with Sky broadband - a few years ago it was against their Terms & Conditions, but thankfully that clause has now been removed. The bad news is that Sky won’t support you in getting your router setup - including providing you with the authentication credentials you (possibly) need.

I had simple criteria when looking to buy my new router - I wanted more control over networking settings, to have a guest WiFi network and to upgrade to 5GHz WiFi. It also needed to support Sky’s connection method (see below). After a fair bit of research, I opted for the TP-Link AC1900 (Archer VR900).

My new TP-Link router for use with Sky Fibre Broadband

Sky use a VDSL connection type known as “DHCP Option 61” / “MER”. This requires you to provide a username and password in order to connect to the internet (not your WiFi password). Your current Sky router will already have these VDSL credentials stored - it’s highly unlikely you will have ever seen / been given them before. When I got in contact with Sky, they wouldn’t provide me with them. However, there are various discussions and information online, with some people saying you can just use generic credentials (Username: abcdefgh@skydsl Password: 1234567890abcdef)

#networking #neural networks