Just consolidated all my phone/bb/TV stuff with sky. Had 12 months with BT for BB no problems at all.

Went live with sky on Thursday. Router works fine and could get internet on the mac but WhatsApp and IMessage couldn’t get an internet connection.

Rang sky who after 90 mins said they’d send me a new router and it arrived this morning and it’s no different.

I can get into internet on my phone but not by the mac.

Getting through to sky is abysmal and they’ve steered me down to communicating by Facebook messenger FGS.

Just wondering if anyone can think of an issue but surely changing provider shouldn’t be an issue…

Sky Fibre and a Mac household here, no issues…

try reinstalling whatsapp or something, fine here

could get internet on the mac but WhatsApp and IMessage couldn’t get an internet connection.

it’s no different.

I can get into internet on my phone but not by the mac.

Unless I’m misunderstanding you, one of these three statements has to be incorrect.

What exactly does and doesn’t work?

Cougar:

Can access any site and log onto the router maintenance hub wirelessly using the iPhone.

From the imac: will log into the maintenance hub by suing the Ethernet cable but no web pages at all.

Put it onto wi-fi and it won’t do anything. It may find the odd webpage but it then drops out.

Sky say because the phone works fine then it’s an isolated fault with the iMac.

Only had the problems since I changed over to sky a few days ago.

Wondering if it’s something in the network settings?

Interestingly, just linked my phone to a wi-if point on my power line network which is plugged into the Ethernet port in the router and that works.

Tried this with the mac and no success…

Sky say because the phone works fine then it’s an isolated fault with the iMac.

Can’t argue with that logic in isolation. It’s a weird set of symptoms though.

The router / Internet connection clearly works, as it’s fine on your phone. That is, assuming that the phone is definitely connected to the Wi-Fi and using it. Go here from your phone – https://www.whatismyip.com/ – and confirm whether you’re seeing a Sky address.

If you can connect to the router’s management page from the Mac, that would imply that the network card is working.

Lightbulb – is this a DNS issue? Have you got a static DNS server configured on your Mac’s network settings? Can you post up your IP / subnet / default gateway / DNS settings? (I don’t know how to do this on a Mac I’m afraid.)

Quick test – from a terminal prompt type:

ping 212.58.246.93
ping www. bbc.co.uk

Do you get a reply from both of these?

EDIT – ignore the space between www. and bbc, I had to put that in to stop the forum turning it into a link and breaking it.

On your Mac do the following:

For when its plugged into your ethernet cable:
>System Preferences
>Network

>Then select Ethernet
What is then show in the panel on the right? (might be along the lines of Status, Configure ipV4, IP address, DNS) give all the details please.

Then when its on WiFi and on your WiFi network do the following..
>Then click Wi-Fi on the list on the left in Network settings
>Advanced
>Then click DNS in the row along the top
You might see some DNS numbers listed here? What are they?

Could it be poor WIFI reception on the iMac? Alt-click on the WIFI icon in your menu bar and see what the Tx Rate says. If it’s low then you might get some improvement by changing the position of the router (higher up/away from sources of interference etc.)

Another vote for DNS.

Quick test – from a terminal prompt type:

ping 212.58.246.93
ping www. bbc.co.uk

Do you get a reply from both of these?

EDIT – ignore the space between www. and bbc, I had to put that in to stop the forum turning it into a link and breaking it.

64 bytes in approx 27 milliseconds from the IP address and nothing from the BBC domain.

What IP shows Sky as IP

On your Mac do the following:

For when its plugged into your ethernet cable:
>System Preferences
>Network

>Then select Ethernet
What is then show in the panel on the right? (might be along the lines of Status, Configure ipV4, IP address, DNS) give all the details please.

Then when its on WiFi and on your WiFi network do the following..
>Then click Wi-Fi on the list on the left in Network settings
>Advanced
>Then click DNS in the row along the top
You might see some DNS numbers listed here? What are they?

On Ethernet using DHCP IP address 192.168.0.3
Subnet 255.255.255.0
Router 192.168.0.1
DNS server 212.159.13.49, 212.159.13.50

On wireless IPV4 using DHCP manual address 192.168.1.64subnet and router same as Ethernet
Configure IPv6 automatically

The mac is only 4 foot away from router, tried changing channels etc but back on auto. I have no wireless phones etc so interference shouldn’t be an issue.

Thanks for your support guys!

Your DNS servers are PlusNet ones not Sky.
Sky DNS are 90.207.238.97 & 90.207.238.99

On your iMac network prefs with Ethernet selected open the Advance panel, then the DNS tab and remove the PlusNet DNS values. Close the Advanced pane and click Apply. You may need to turn it all off and back on again to have its work.

Your DNS servers are PlusNet ones not Sky.

Exactly right. This is absolutely the problem.

Again, I don’t know the Mac, but you should be able to set DNS to “auto” rather than whatever you’ve got in there. That will fix it.

(Failing that, stick in 192.168.0.1 as primary and 8.8.8.8 as secondary)

Hello OP,

Your wifi numbers don’t quite work either.

Can you change your wifi to all dhcp, so no manual entries. The ip address that’s in there at the moment won’t work as it’s on a 1.x network not 0.x which you say the router etc are on.

Re WIFI
If your phone is working fine then compare the settings in that. The only one which should be different on your mac is the IP address all the others should be the exactly the same for wifi.

Note: do you know if your router has different network ranges for Ethernet and wifi? Or are they all on 192.168.0.x?

STW fault finding at its best – good work fellas (and fella esses if appropriate)

Now, if you lot can tell my why my BT Infinity 2 package is only giving me 16 mb download………… 👿

You’re too far from your cabinet or it’s overloaded.

You’re too far from your cabinet or it’s overloaded.

I suspect you are correct – BT claim not though.

How is that 16mb measured?

On a website, Speedtest.net?

On wifi or Ethernet?

You can check your cabinet here.

https://www.btwholesale.com/includes/adsl/adsl.htm

Note: do you know if your router has different network ranges for Ethernet and wifi? Or are they all on 192.168.0.x?

I’m guessing that’s down to the Powerlines.

Now, if you lot can tell my why my BT Infinity 2 package is only giving me 16 mb download…………

Probably best on its own thread TBH.

guys, seriously can’t thank you enough. Followed the suggestions in various posts above and re-started it and it works like a treat! I just knew the STW massif would resolve this.

I’m so looking forward to writing to sky and telling them their support is a shower of sh17e and they should be embarrassed by the fact I had to resort to asking an MTB forum to resolve the issue!!

Thanks again!

guys, seriously can’t thank you enough. Followed the suggestions in various posts above and re-started it and it works like a treat! I just knew the STW massif would resolve this.

I’m so looking forward to writing to sky and telling them their support is a shower of sh17e and they should be embarrassed by the fact I had to resort to asking an MTB forum to resolve the issue!!

Thanks again!
I’d so like to be a fly on the wall when that communication is read!
This is the reason I keep coming back here, the level of help that is so freely given by so many members across so many subjects is, I think, almost without parallel.
In this regard I honestly think this forum is truly outstanding, and everyone who gives that help can be really proud of themselves.
Thanks, guys.

Kinda depends who you were talking to at Sky, if first line then from their side everything is working fine – the issue was the end user had an invalid configuration. If it had been escalated to 2nd/3rd line you’d have hoped they would have hoped they’d realise it was likely a DNS issue.

At the end of the day though if you put petrol in a diesel is that Ford’s fault? How is someone manually configuring DNS settings (but not understanding the implication when they switch ISP) much different? It wouldn’t surprise me if Sky’s setup guide references setting everything to auto (or providing specific DNS server IPs) anyway.

Good to know it’s all working.

Kinda depends who you were talking to at Sky, if first line then from their side everything is working fine – the issue was the end user had an invalid configuration. If it had been escalated to 2nd/3rd line you’d have hoped they would have hoped they’d realise it was likely a DNS issue.

At the end of the day though if you put petrol in a diesel is that Ford’s fault? How is someone manually configuring DNS settings (but not understanding the implication when they switch ISP) much different? It wouldn’t surprise me if Sky’s setup guide references setting everything to auto (or providing specific DNS server IPs) anyway.

I’d expect an internet provider to have such a basic knowledge enough to have identify the problem as quickly as a few random people have in this thread. Sky didn’t even ask me to check settings and just had the blanket opinion of “we don’t touch computers” It’s cost them a new router and postage too so a little more thorough questioning may save them a ton of cash.

The bigger the ISP though the more likely you are to get first line (barely trained) support following a script and chances are those scripts don’t get into computer config detail as that could get messy fast.

I recently spent about 4 hours in total to Virgin trying to get them to sort an issue out with my GF’s service (I could see from the router log it was having problems getting a DHCP address and dropping out regularly). I kept getting bounced between Indian 1st line helpdesk and Scottish (I think) customer service, no one cared about the log info I kept trying to tell them about (and depending on who I spoke to they could either see a fault their side or they couldn’t). All they wanted me to do was keep resetting/rebooting various things, it was frustrating as hell and eventually I just told them to send me a replacement router or I’d cancel, which they did and it’s worked fine since (if I hadn’t worked in IT for 20+ years I would probably still be on the phone to them though).

My own, much smaller ISP, I’ve talked through various diagnostic stuff with their helpdesk/engineers in the past (inc. computer config checks), they don’t get thousands of people calling them every day though and they’re not as cheap so can afford to invest a bit more in CS.

geordiemick00 – Member
Sky didn’t even ask me to check settings and just had the blanket opinion of “we don’t touch computers” It’s cost them a new router and postage too so a little more thorough questioning may save them a ton of cash.

I bet those routers cost them bugger all and I can kinda understand not touching computer settings TBH, as soon as you do so ANYTHING which goes wrong on it from that point on is your fault.

One of the reasons I no longer help friends or family with anything computer, phone or TV related. I mean it’s also because I’m lazy but that’s besides the point.

The bigger the ISP though the more likely you are to get first line (barely trained) support following a script and chances are those scripts don’t get into computer config detail as that could get messy fast.

I’m told by a friend who works there that they’ve made changes since I last had to call them, but my experience of Sky support is exactly this. The front line are barely technical and reading from a script. Which makes sense if you think about it – the vast majority of calls will be something stupid like the router not being plugged in. You don’t want skilled techies fielding these calls all day, they’ll be bored after a month and leave.

If you do have an actual technical problem then they escalate it to what they call “CST.” But in the OP’s case it’s not hard to see why this didn’t happen. You have two devices, one works and one doesn’t, ergo there’s nothing wrong with Sky’s equipment. Do not pass front line, do not collect £200. If your computer doesn’t work, that’s not Sky’s problem.

You could argue that it’d be better customer support / PR to at least try and help new customers on a best endeavours basis – it’s what I used to do when I worked in end user support a lifetime ago. But as Retro says, there’s a danger of making a rod for your own back. You fix something out of goodwill and then a week later they’re on the phone spitting feathers because their monitor has blown up and “it was fine till you looked at it.”

That and you can end up committing yourself to a quick fix that suddenly takes hours – less than ideal in a high-volume call centre where your performance is measured by how many calls you get through in a day. I don’t know if that’s the case at Sky, but it was where I worked – a front line tech was expected to field upwards of 50 calls a day. At that sort of volume, by the time you’ve allowed for admin overheads (getting customer details, logging the call, extracting a sensible fault description from non-technical people, writing up notes on what you did) all you realistically have time to do is go “it’s broke, send it back” which then has a knock-on effect on Returns. Something clearly out of scope, there just isn’t the time to invest in it.