Sky Fibre and alternative DNS/Unblock-US

My BT Infinity contract ends soon and I'm going to look at Sky Fibre.

I currently use Unblock-US and change the DNS on each device.
With BT this stopped the parental controls working as they rely on the standard DNS.

I read that Sky's parental controls are on by default. So, if they require the standard DNS, I'll presumably have the same issue.

Just want to check:

1) can I use unblock-us' dns with Sky Fibre (changing each device's dns); and
2) will I get the same parental controls clash (and if so, can I turn it off)?

Thanks

In reference to help.sky.com/articles/sky-broadband-shield-explained:

Sky Broadband Shield is optional, so if you'd like to continue to use your broadband with no filtering, please let us know by choosing not to use Sky Broadband Shield.

yes, go into your SKY control panel and turn it off, or you can also leave on and whitelist the VPN service you use. There are lots of options to tweak and keep you happy

Great, thanks both.

I'm confused, rather than circumvent BT's parental controls, couldn't you have simply disabled them in the BT control panel?

To clarify, when I put in alternative DNS for a device, BT's parental controls don't work because they need the normal DNS.

This has the effect of blocking all internet activity on that device. Obviously, that isn't great so I have to turn off Parental Controls completely to use the internet.

Initially, I wanted to clarify if I can still use unblock-us' dns and it looks like I can with Sky.

Then, the following question is to find out if Sky work the same as BT with regards to DNS. Ideally, I'd like Parental Controls and Unblock-US working at the same time - but that can't happen with BT.

Thanks

Ah ok.

The one issue with Sky Fibre is that the T&C state you have to use the Sky Hub with it, and their Hub does not allow the configuration of third-party DNS.

In reply to a post by Oliver341:

The one issue with Sky Fibre is that the T&C state you have to use the Sky Hub with it, and their Hub does not allow the configuration of third-party DNS.

I thought Pro removed that restriction?

In reply to a post by jchamier:

I thought Pro removed that restriction?

AFAIK, the restriction was only lifted for ADSL customers, due to O2/BE migrants, but the restriction was left in place for all fibre users. Sky's policy has been fairly fluid on this, so it's possible it has changed again.

The challenges of finding a router to connect to Sky's DHCP authentication system remain either way, of course.

Yes it does.

In reply to a post by Oliver341:

In reply to a post by jchamier:

I thought Pro removed that restriction?

AFAIK, the restriction was only lifted for ADSL customers, due to O2/BE migrants, but the restriction was left in place for all fibre users. Sky's policy has been fairly fluid on this, so it's possible it has changed again.
The challenges of finding a router to connect to Sky's DHCP authentication system remain either way, of course.

gotcha thanks.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

gotcha thanks.

During a quick browse of the October 2015 T&C I see no mention any more for router use restrictions on Sky Fibre, Pro or non-Pro, so there must have been another policy change.

Of relevance to the OP, Sky now supply an all-in-one VDSL unit which doesn't support bridging, so people wanting to use their own router would need to either source an all-in-one VDSL modem/router capable of DHCP auth, or source an Openreach VDSL modem on Ebay and buy a router capable of DHCP auth.

Quite a hassle and expense just to change DNS on the router of course. Client-side DNS changes are maybe another option.

Edit: Re-reading the OP I see they use client-side DNS, but the information might be relevant to others.

Edited by Oliver341 (Sat 05-Dec-15 17:02:14)

The router restriction still seems to be there in section 2j in the T&C

T&C from October 2015

In reply to a post by Snarks:

The router restriction still seems to be there in section 2j in the T&C

T&C from October 2015

Thanks, I was searching for "router" not "modem".

So it appears third party routers are still banned on Sky Fibre, whether Pro or not.

I use my original HG612 with my own router and support are quite happy with that.

Odd as it may seem, it appears that Sky are quite well aware that people use their own routers on fibre and seemingly have no interest in doing anything in terms of enforcing that clause from the T&C's.

They simply won't officially endorse it or provide any support for it.

Kinda makes you wonder why they don't just remove the clause altogether really and replace it with a "you can use your own kit but we won't provide support" clause, as with the ADSL service.

I have been thinking about moving to Fibre Pro and rang their number last week.I was told there are no restrictions on using other routers but that they won't support them. They won't provide a list of known working routers either.

Richard

I'm using a Billion 8800NL on my Sky connection and when I told one of the Pro support bods he couldn't really be bothered. In fact he wasn't particularly complementary about the SR102 Sky supplies and referred to it as a POS.

There's a list of routers that work with Sky somewhere on skyuser.co.uk