BT Smart Hub 2 Router - Upgrade Options?

[Pitre]

Moved back to the UK last year and I'm increasing the amount of smart devices I've connected gradually, however the BT Smart Hub 2 seems to be struggling.

I'm no network person (always viewed networking as a black art, frankly!) but I think I need an upgrade, or is it possible to tweak the configuration of this router? I've switched off the 5Ghz option as my smart devices seem to struggle to connect, was this the right thing to do?

All tips/advice or upgrade suggestions from you network wizards greatly appreciated!!

[xeny]

How many smart device, how big is the property and what are the symptoms?

Anything that wants a fast connection (so typically not smart devices) would likely benefit from the faster 5GHz connection, and free up 2.4GHz capacity for the smart stuff....

[Pitre]

Small property (2 bedroom bungalow).

Alexa/echo dot, 4 smart lights, 4 smart sockets, 2 smart cameras, smart heating/hub, smart TV. Plus two tablets, two phones.

Plus 2 of those network extenders that use the mains wiring and ethernet tethering (TP Link AV500s)...

Edited by Pitre on Saturday 2nd December 17:02

[dmsims]

Do you have an ONT ?

[dxg]

https://www.ui.com/uk/cloud-gateways/express

Just out. Getting great reviews.

I have the non-rack Ubiquity Dream Machine at home and it is absolutely brilliant... Integrates seamlessly with other Ubiquity kit - I have a couple of their APs around the place. This does the same and is a bit cheaper.

[Pitre]

dmsims said:

Do you have an ONT ?

Sadly not yet...

[dmsims]

Pitre said:

Sadly not yet...

TP-Link Deco (with Gigabit ethernet ports) in Access point mode

When you get an ONT switch to Router mode and bin the BT hub

[worsy]

Pitre said:

Moved back to the UK last year and I'm increasing the amount of smart devices I've connected gradually, however the BT Smart Hub 2 seems to be struggling.

I'm no network person (always viewed networking as a black art, frankly!) but I think I need an upgrade, or is it possible to tweak the configuration of this router? I've switched off the 5Ghz option as my smart devices seem to struggle to connect, was this the right thing to do?

All tips/advice or upgrade suggestions from you network wizards greatly appreciated!!

Bit of a thread resurrection but some experience from me which might help people searching on BT SmartHub.

My Ubiquiti AP devices are EoL and having recently had FTTP installed I thought I'd go with the SmartHub plus the Wifi Discs. Unfortunately the 2.4ghz and 5ghz channels can't be separated with different SSIDs. I found that my Smart Devices would go offline as they struggled to connect to the SSID when both 2.4 and 5ghz switched on.

Another issue I had was not being able to lock a devioce to a certain disc. For some reason devices would seemingly connect to the furtherest disc which led to unreliablity and disconnects.

Having switched off 5ghz to help, my work laptop had a pretty poor experience dropping out randonly. I had work look at my wifi experience and could see random drops on the 2.4ghz channel.

I've bitten the bullet and gone back to my TPLink router, replacing the WiFi discs with 3x Ubiquiti AP U6+ devices. Everything is now rock solid and I can run separate SSIDs at 2.4ghz for Smart Devices and 2.4/5ghz for other, lock certain devices to particular APs etc.