Can I replace a Sky generic router with an Archer A7 AC1750?

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Can I replace a Sky generic router with an Archer A7 AC1750?

This thread has been locked for further replies. You can start a new thread to share your ideas or ask questions.
Can I replace a Sky generic router with an Archer A7 AC1750?
Can I replace a Sky generic router with an Archer A7 AC1750?
2023-06-22 17:01:25
Model: Archer A7  
Hardware Version: V5
Firmware Version: Unknown

Hi guys.  This will have been a much discussed topic I would guess but I can't find the advice I need in searching here or elsewhere.  I'd appreciate some basic info.

 

I am on Sky Broadband on FTTP and using their supplied router.  It is appalling.  I run a home network which is used for a lot of work projects and includes things like 3 PCs, 2 NAS drives, a network print server, home entertainment devices like Freesat box, Chromecast and Sky Puck (that's a one letter misspelling in my estimation), and other itinerant wireless mobile devices.  So I have a requirement for fixed IP addresses for many of those items.  The router handles this appallingly in my estimation.  It spontaneously reboots.  I am constantly losing blocks of my fixed IP address settings for no apparent reason.  Every time I reset just one the router requires a restart, that is for each one individually and if i have to redefine the whole block it mean over an hour of work.  For each reboot it takes an absolute age, much longer than any other router I have ever had.

 

I would really like to replace this router with my humble Archer A7 AC1750 which was easy to set up and reliable as a Swiss clock made in Japan.  I know this is possible as others report it having been done successfully but there seem to be 2 potential ways of doing it to me.

 

Firstly, I think I could replace the router completely and try logging in to Sky via the Archer.  I have and use Wireshark so have gleaned my login credentials for Sky.  I do not know if the AC1750 is a model which will allow that degree of takeover.  For example, I'm not sure if it offers connection via MER VDSL and can't check that with it now being offline.

 

Secondly, I'm unsure if I could simply install the AC1750 as just another device on the network inboard of the Sky router and tell the Sky router to stop managing DHCP and turn its WiFi off.  Telling the AC1750 to then handle Wifi and DHCP might be enough to do the job.

 

Can anyone clarify this situation or point me to where I can find the answer?  Thanks ahead of your responses.

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Re:Can I replace a Sky generic router with an Archer A7 AC1750?
2023-06-22 18:37:01

  @Bordonbert 
 

You should be able to connect the A7 directly to the ONT with an ethernet cable.

 

I did a quick google search and found a few recent topics on the Sky forums where people have set up the A7 with Sky FTTP.

 

One is for an Archer C6 but Im sure they are pretty similar.

 

I cant post the links here as its not allowed but if you google "archer a7 with sky fttp" you should get some links.

 

good luck.

 

 

BT Full fibre 500, 1x X60 V3.2 in router mode and 1 x XE75Pro V2.
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Re:Can I replace a Sky generic router with an Archer A7 AC1750?
2023-06-22 20:18:46

  @klipse

 

Thank you Klipse, the links I find from your suggestion are very helpful.  It seems that Sky staff are at odds over this one.  When I looked into taking on Sky, (a black day in our household), using my own router was a big deal for me and I asked whether this was supported specifically.  I was told "yes, you can do that!".  Then when I had a tech query over something else, as an aside I wanted to confirm with the tech support operator that it was ok and the answer was "definitely not!".  I pointed out to him that I had been told it would be ok when I enrolled and he just said "she shouldn't have told you that".

 

As I said, I have managed to get my Sky login details via Wireshark if they turn out to be needed, it's the other necessary pieces of info I'm not too sure of.  Some links say the login details are necessary and some say you don't need them, just use generic info.  I've got nothing to lose but a bit of time by trying to just replace the Sky router with the A7 and see how far I get.  I'll report back with what I find.

 

Thanks again.

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Re:Can I replace a Sky generic router with an Archer A7 AC1750?
2023-06-23 01:02:45

  @Bordonbert I've spent a little time now trying various options here without success.  Simnply replacing the Sky router with the Archer A7 into the WAN port did not work.  I followed a YT vid where a guy set up a TP-Link AC2100 router through the "Quick Setup" process.  I assumed they would be similar but it appears his is more advanced as I didn't get the same options as him!  His second step is to "Select Internet Service Provider (ISP)" where he chooses "SKY(MER)_VDSL".  In my case that step is named "Internet Connection Type" and only offers me Dynamic IP, Static IP, PPoE, L2TP and PPTP.  Auto Detect selects PPoE.  Next I enter the authentication for Sky which is correct for my setup rather than the generic 1234abcd version often recommended.  Then Wireless setup and Summary then Save and it cannot connect.

 

Following the Advanced route leads me to a setup page where I can enter similar info but it requires a setting "VPN Server IP/Domain Name" which has foxed me.  It will not progress beyond that without the entry and it requires something in a particular format as it errors on that point.  Can anyone shed any light on that?

 

I have even tried using both routers and trying to disable DHCP and wireless on the Sky router.  It won't allow it.  DHCP is irrevocably enabled by default.  So no go there either.  I'm beginning to think that somehow my AC1750 is a non-starter even though people report having done this..

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Re:Can I replace a Sky generic router with an Archer A7 AC1750?
2023-06-23 01:37:13
Incidentally the guy whose vid I followed also had IPv6 settings he worked with. I seem to be restricted to only IPv4 in the A7.
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Re:Can I replace a Sky generic router with an Archer A7 AC1750?
2023-06-23 06:23:31

  @Bordonbert it probs won't work without IPV6, at the top of your router web UI is there an advanced tab which should give you advanced options including IPV6. 

BT Full fibre 500, 1x X60 V3.2 in router mode and 1 x XE75Pro V2.
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Re:Can I replace a Sky generic router with an Archer A7 AC1750?
2023-06-23 10:53:30

  @Bordonbert Yes, in that good old embarrassing way, as soon as I had posted that and knew what I was looking for I found the IPv6 area.  I was totally unaware up to that point that I could turn off IPv6.  It's on now and functioning, but it still doesn't get me logged into Sky internet.  I'm really beginning to think that there is something odd about my own router.  It doesn't seem to have the options that some others do even though I have now performed a manual update of the firmware to the latest version downloaded directly from the TP-Link site.

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Re:Can I replace a Sky generic router with an Archer A7 AC1750?
2023-06-23 12:27:26

  @Bordonbert 

 

Not sure what else it could be? Is the internet light orange? Maybe try cloning the MAC from the SKy router onto yours as that can make a difference...

 

Maybe make a post in the Sky Broadband forum and someone there might be able to help.

 

The posts I read on the Sky forum said they didn't use the quick setup, so just cancel from the quick setup screen and then manually set up IPV6 screen and IPV4 screens as per the screen shots on that forum.

 

 

BT Full fibre 500, 1x X60 V3.2 in router mode and 1 x XE75Pro V2.
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Re:Can I replace a Sky generic router with an Archer A7 AC1750?
2023-06-23 13:02:32
All lights show green, after a con--si--der--able wait! Hadn't considered MAC addresses, that's a good thought and I'll try it. At the moment I'm just fighting to get that damned Sky router to report the devices which are connected on my LAN. There *ARE* 9 devices but it only lists 4 of them. Eset Smart Security has a Network Monitor and it reports them all correctly. Refresh and Reboot make no difference and every one of the devices is pingable and has internet access where it needs. Sky really have a crock of excrement on their hands with this stuff! I am on the Sky forum so I think you are right, a post there may get some help. I've just looked at Sky early cancellation fees and it's actually cheaper to take on a different ISP and not cancel Sky than it is to cancel them!!! Well, I gave them a chance against my better judgement but everything I have experienced since has been a bitter disappointment. Thanks for your support. I'll try "elsewhere" for advice. Hopefully someone there will have been through this.
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Re:Can I replace a Sky generic router with an Archer A7 AC1750?
2023-06-23 18:19:26 - last edited 2023-06-23 18:20:59

  @Bordonbert 

 

If I am understanding this right, there should be two ways to connect a 3rd-party router to Sky FTTP.

 

1) Using the "Sky MER" option (also called DHCP option 61), which is not supported by regular TP-Link wireless routers like the Archer A7. (at TP-Link only their ADSL/VDSL routers have it)

 

2) Connecting via IPv6. (provided IPv6 is already supported in your area)
>> Try to replicate all the settings circled in red in the two screenshots below.

 

By the way, in case this Archer A7 is not a new device and you have already adjusted a plethora of settings on it over time, then it may be a good idea to restore the router to factory default settings first, in order to have a "clean" starting point.

 

 

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