Virgin Media Broadband, ASUS Router and Sky Q, How To Setup?

Bepster00

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Today we have had Virgin Media 200mb broadband installed, replacing Sky 10mb non-fibre.

This was previously connected to Sky Q main box and 3 mini boxes used as access points.

Now I’ve moved from Sky can I still use the Sky Q Mesh?

I’ve also bought an ASUS AX5400 as I want to use NordVPN at a router level.

Currently I’ve connected the Super Hub 3 to the ASUS and turned off the WiFi on the Super Hub.

I haven’t put the Super Hub into Modem Mode as I want to use the Ethernet ports and I believe these are disabled in Modem Mode.

Do I need to do anything else with the Super Hub?

Should I turn off anything on the Sky Q boxes?

Is this the most efficient use of all of the components?

I’m showing 2 separate networks using my SSID name, not sure why this is.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Regards sky q simply update the Wi-Fi details and all should be good. The ssid as 2.4mhz and 5mhz is the best configuration if you want to used smart bulbs etc as they often only work 2.4mhz.

No idea with the super box
 
Generally, and of course there may be exceptions, SOHO routers that function as VPN (tunnel) endpoints expect to "find" the path to Internet through their "WAN" interface and won't look for it anywhere else. So in order for everything else to reach the tunnel endpoint, it will need to be downstream of the ASUS.

That will be problem if you want to keep the SH as a "router" and connect the ASUS (WAN port) to it as you will partition your network (wired and Wi-Fi) into two - one consisting of devices "between" the SH and the ASUS and one downstream of the ASUS. It's basically an "outer" and an "inner" LAN.

Depending on your use case, that may be acceptable, but there's a very good chance that devices on the "outer" LAN won't be able to "talk" to anything on the "inner" LAN - and possibly vice-versa. The ASUS firewall will block access and a lot of SOHO kit won't let you turn off the firewall (or set up any "static routes" you may need for the IP routing to work corectly.)

You may also suffer from issues with "dual NAT" on the ASUS connected devices which can affect some applications.

For the SOHO use case, it's generally best to have a single router and a single network. To achieve that the ASUS needs to be the first router at the "edge" (topologically) of your network connecting to your ISP. So either put the VM into modem mode, which as you say will kill all but one of it's ethernet ports, or junk the SH entirely and forklift replace it with the ASUS. Whether you can do the latter depends on whether the ASUS can be configured to connect to your ISP. IMS, VM don't like you to use anything but their supplied router and make it difficult to use anyone else's.
 
That makes sense, I can just buy a switch for the extra ports I need.

I’ll change it to modem mode.
 
Can you explain what you mean by "two networks...?"
When I check WiFi it shows 2 networks that have the same SSID name.

One works for the internet, the other does not.

Could this be something to do with my Sky Q and the mini boxes as these are connected wirelessly?
 
That makes sense, I can just buy a switch for the extra ports I need.

I’ll change it to modem mode.

If you intend to create SH---switch---ASUS---everything-else, it won't work. In this case, the "switch" and any devices connected to it are "upstream" of your router, will be "outside" your LAN and directly connected to the Internet, without the benefit of the (ASUS) firewall avails to protect them from Internet nastiness. Plus those devices would also need "public" IP addresses, and your ISP will only give you 1 unless you pay them a lot of money (and you need your (ASUS) router's WAN interface to acquire the one address you do get.)

The reason why SH "modem mode" disables everything except the modem and one ethernet port is not out of any mendaciousness or incompetence, it's a "technical" thing in that modem mode is intended for the use case where you connect SH(modem mode)---ASUS--everything else. Quite literally, you only want to use the modem of the SH (because after market SOHO routers often don't have any modem built in) and connect that to another router.

If you want ethernet ports in the same (physical) location of your SH, either you have to keep using it as a router and forget the ASUS or run a second cable back to the SH locale from one of the ASUS LAN ports and hang your switch on it. So topologically, if not physically, it looks like this: SH(modem mode)---[WAN]ASUS[LAN]---switch---clients.

If you have to use only a single cable, then we can achieve somthing similar using a switch that supports something called VLAN's and Port Trunk, but that would also require a second VLAN/Trunk switch near the ASUS to break the link back out, which if course is more cost and setting up the VLAN,s whilst not complicated, it not plug and play either. Again - do-able if you don't mind the cost and complexity and cannot get a second cable between SH and ASUS locations.

Routers sit at the "edge" of a network joining a network to other networks., not in the "middle" bossing it. So in terms of topology, how we deploy routers and connect them together "matters" in that if effects the structure of the network infrastructure much more so that switches and AP's. As such, routers are the "boundary" points between one network and another, so the logical topology of how they are connected is significant.
 
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When I check WiFi it shows 2 networks that have the same SSID name.

One works for the internet, the other does not.

Could this be something to do with my Sky Q and the mini boxes as these are connected wirelessly?

Try getting hold of a free Wi-Fi Scanner like InSSIDer or Acrylic Wi-Fi (those are Windows products, maybe cross platform, but there will be similar tools for Mac/Linux/Android/iSomething et al) let it run for a bit then do a screen grab of the results and post it up - we should be able to pick the bones out of it.
 
If you intend to create SH---switch---ASUS---everything-else, it won't work. In this case, the "switch" and any devices connected to it are "upstream" of your router, will be "outside" your LAN and directly connected to the Internet, without the benefit of the (ASUS) firewall avails to protect them from Internet nastiness. Plus those devices would also need "public" IP addresses, and your ISP will only give you 1 unless you pay them a lot of money (and you need your (ASUS) router's WAN interface to acquire the one address you do get.)

The reason why SH "modem mode" disables everything except the modem and one ethernet port is not out of any mendaciousness or incompetence, it's a "technical" thing in that modem mode is intended for the use case where you connect SH(modem mode)---ASUS--everything else. Quite literally, you only want to use the modem of the SH (because after market SOHO routers often don't have any modem built in) and connect that to another router.

If you want ethernet ports in the same (physical) location of your SH, either you have to keep using it as a router and forget the ASUS or run a second cable back to the SH locale from one of the ASUS LAN ports and hang your switch on it. So topologically, if not physically, it looks like this: SH(modem mode)---[WAN]ASUS[LAN]---switch---clients.

If you have to use only a single cable, then we can achieve somthing similar using a switch that supports something called VLAN's and Port Trunk, but that would also require a second VLAN/Trunk switch near the ASUS to break the link back out, which if course is more cost and setting up the VLAN,s whilst not complicated, it not plug and play either. Again - do-able if you don't mind the cost and complexity and cannot get a second cable between SH and ASUS locations.

Routers sit at the "edge" of a network joining a network to other networks., not in the "middle" bossing it. So in terms of topology, how we deploy routers and connect them together "matters" in that if effects the structure of the network infrastructure much more so that switches and AP's. As such, routers are the "boundary" points between one network and another, so the logical topology of how they are connected is significant.
I can connect SH in modem mode - ASUS - switch if that is the correct way to connect it up.

I need the Ethernet connections for Hive, Harmony, Hue etc.
 
I can connect SH in modem mode - ASUS - switch if that is the correct way to connect it up.

I need the Ethernet connections for Hive, Harmony, Hue etc.

Cool - that should be OK. The telltale all is well is that the devices get private IP addresses (typically 192.168.X.Y)
 
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