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Smart hub 2 and original whole home wifi

patters_uk — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 11:04:04 GMT

I’ve got a smart hub 2 and an original set of 3 whole home Wi-fi discs but the smart hub fails to recognise that these discs exist. They happily connect to the hub, all are wired connection, but the hub sees all the devices connected to the discs as wired connections

Are the original discs incompatible with the smart hub 2 (the down side of early adoption) or is there any way to resolve this issue ? If the answer is the discs should all connect via Wi-Fi then that’s not really a solution for me due to the nature of my set up.

thanks

denis

Re: Smart hub 2 and original whole home wifi

licquorice — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 11:16:35 GMT

If everything is working except the pretty picture, what's the problem? The hub network map is dire.

Re: Smart hub 2 and original whole home wifi

patters_uk — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 11:37:26 GMT

2 reasons basically … Firstly I generally connect to the SH2 so can’t “admin” the other discs from there with the whole home app. SecondlyI’m not sure the handoff from hub to disc and vice versa works as it seamlessly should despite the SSIDs being the same.

Re: Smart hub 2 and original whole home wifi

supertedster — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 12:34:56 GMT

The Smart Hub 2 will only recognise the "Complete Wi-Fi" disks.

The disks you have create an independent Wi-Fi network for you.

Re: Smart hub 2 and original whole home wifi

patters_uk — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 13:25:38 GMT

Hmm, thanks BT for thinking about compatibility when you released the smart hub 2.

Re: Smart hub 2 and original whole home wifi

licquorice — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 13:29:32 GMT

Its nothing to do with compatibility, the white discs are agnostic to ISP and work with any router.

Re: Smart hub 2 and original whole home wifi

supertedster — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 13:31:01 GMT

You bought a stand alone product which works as it was intended to.
It is compatible with the SH2, it just doesn't integrate into the control panel.

Re: Smart hub 2 and original whole home wifi

patters_uk — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 15:21:58 GMT

So is the seamless handoff between hub and disc supposed to work when the both advertise the same SSID ?

Re: Smart hub 2 and original whole home wifi

Keith_Beddoe — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 15:28:11 GMT

@patters_uk wrote:

So is the seamless handoff between hub and disc supposed to work when the both advertise the same SSID ?

No, the Whole Home System is a totally separate wireless mesh, it cannot give seamless roaming to the smart hub 2. In fact you would be better turning off the wireless on the smart hub 2.

Seamless roaming requires that all wireless nodes work to the same protocol, and have firmware to handle the routing.

Re: Smart hub 2 and original whole home wifi

licquorice — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 15:44:26 GMT

There's a common misconception that by giving wifi devices the same SSID they will seamlessly hand over to each other, that is not the case.

Re: Smart hub 2 and original whole home wifi

patters_uk — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 15:48:55 GMT

But it is the case with whole home Wi-Fi

Re: Smart hub 2 and original whole home wifi

Keith_Beddoe — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 15:59:16 GMT

@patters_uk wrote:
But it is the case with whole home Wi-Fi

That is because nodes communicates with each other to keep a record of which devices are connected to each node, and at what signal level.

Once the signal quality deteriorates, a device will be handed over to the next node, which has the better connection, depending on whether the device can handle seamless roaming, not all devices can.

All nodes have the same SSID, but their BSSID (Wireless MAC address) is different for each one.

Re: Smart hub 2 and original whole home wifi

licquorice — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 16:00:33 GMT

The whole home wifi is a standalone mesh system which has the necessary software to hand off seamlessly but doesn't integrate with the host router of whatever make or model. The Complete wifi system (black discs) is integrated into the Smart Hub2 as a mesh system.

Re: Smart hub 2 and original whole home wifi

patters_uk — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 16:16:16 GMT

I’d best look to get a complete Wi-fi disc then. Are there any differences in the types of the black discs if I try and buy from eBay. Bt shop price of £100 is a bit steep

Re: Smart hub 2 and original whole home wifi

licquorice — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 16:24:55 GMT

Can you not experiment with the location of the 3 white discs and simply turn off the hub wifi?

Re: Smart hub 2 and original whole home wifi

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 16:29:57 GMT

@patters_uk

Before you pay out for a Complete Wifi disc, it might be worth checking that it will actually work:

Just yesterday I was also thinking about ditching my 3 disc WHW system in favour of a Complete WiFi disc, due to WiFi Calling calls dropping out when moving between discs. I called the WHW Helpdesk to enquire if they were aware of this call drop out issue, (they weren't), and also said that I was thinking about buying a Complete WiFi disc instead.

I was told that just having the black disc is not enough - it also has to be enabled within the SmartHub2. This apparently can only be done by BT, when getting the system from them.

I repeat this in good faith - as to whether it is true or not I cannot say.

Re: Smart hub 2 and original whole home wifi

Keith_Beddoe — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 16:30:10 GMT

@patters_uk wrote:
I’d best look to get a complete Wi-fi disc then. Are there any differences in the types of the black discs if I try and buy from eBay. Bt shop price of £100 is a bit steep

Stick with what you have, you are unlikely to see any improvement with the BT Complete Wifi black discs. Just remember to turn off the wireless on the smart hub 2, to reduce any possible interference.

Re: Smart hub 2 and original whole home wifi

patters_uk — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 17:15:35 GMT

Thanks. If it’s a configuration item that bt have to enable then I’ll leave as is. I’m not paying out a shed load more if it’s not going to work.

Re: Smart hub 2 and original whole home wifi

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 17:18:43 GMT

As I said, I'm not able to confirm if BT do have to enable the SmartHub for Complete WiFi discs - hopefully someone else on these forums may be able to advise?

Re: Smart hub 2 and original whole home wifi

supertedster — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 17:48:53 GMT

Nah, you have the "add a new disk" option in the settings of the SH2. It detects them when you fist connect them over ethernet.

You don't get seamless transition, from disk to disk. With the Complete Wi-Fi disks either. Some devices stubbornly cling to the first connection. Only changing when signal is lost.