This topic

Adding a Netgear Nighthawk AX5400 to my BT SH2 to offer WIFI 6 help needed.

cacher1 — Sat, 06 Nov 2021 19:29:05 GMT

Hi all, Im relatively new here and not as smart as many on these boards.

I want to take advantage of the WiFi 6 capabilities of the above Router. I understand that my SH2 is both Router and Modem. I have seen posts suggesting all I have to do is turn off the WiFi on the SH2 and connect the Night Hawk to the SH2 via an Ethernet cable to have the BT Modem function as normal, but have the speak of the WiFi 6 from the Netgear. Before I make a purchase, I am asking is it really this simple? From reading posts on here and with BT making no announcement about a WiFi 6 enabled SM3 I want to upgrade as the boys still live at home and we have wifi and games consoles coming out of our ears. Xbox is Powerline connected, other consoles are either Ethernet or WiFi. Suggestion and help would be much appreciated.

Re: Adding a Netgear Nighthawk AX5400 to my BT SH2 to offer WIFI 6 help needed.

licquorice — Sat, 06 Nov 2021 21:11:45 GMT

Are all your devices wifi 6 capable? What particular capabilities of wifi 6 is it you wish to take advantage of?

Re: Adding a Netgear Nighthawk AX5400 to my BT SH2 to offer WIFI 6 help needed.

cacher1 — Sat, 06 Nov 2021 21:18:42 GMT

It is Fibre to Home and I have the digital phone service, mind you we are not big users of the landline, the have BTTV also.

Re: Adding a Netgear Nighthawk AX5400 to my BT SH2 to offer WIFI 6 help needed.

licquorice — Sat, 06 Nov 2021 21:23:43 GMT

If you have FTTP, the hub is just a router, the ONT is the modem. Unless you have a pressing need for the phone line you don't need the hub at all, just connect the Netgear to the ONT.

However, it doesn't answer my questions in my previous post.

Re: Adding a Netgear Nighthawk AX5400 to my BT SH2 to offer WIFI 6 help needed.

cacher1 — Sat, 06 Nov 2021 21:27:50 GMT

Not all of our devices will be WiFi 6 capable, but some are. I want to increase the speed and traffic efficiency I suppose. Having 4 mobile phones, iPads, smart watches, bluetooth speaker, several games consoles upstairs using wifi etc, I thought it might improve things ref multiple connections and general connections speeds for the mobile and wifi devices.

Apple TV, BTTV,PS5 computers are all connected via Ethernet downstairs as easier to run cable. Tried a couple of Powerline Adapters for Xbox upstairs, the new fast one is being returned as it isn't reliable connection, the old BT AV500 seem to be better at connecting, albeit slower connection.

Re: Adding a Netgear Nighthawk AX5400 to my BT SH2 to offer WIFI 6 help needed.

cacher1 — Sat, 06 Nov 2021 21:29:48 GMT

Forgive my ignorance ONT?. See answers in other post below.

@licquorice

Re: Adding a Netgear Nighthawk AX5400 to my BT SH2 to offer WIFI 6 help needed.

licquorice — Sat, 06 Nov 2021 21:31:17 GMT

The optical modem, the white box your fibre and hub connect to.

Re: Adding a Netgear Nighthawk AX5400 to my BT SH2 to offer WIFI 6 help needed.

cacher1 — Sat, 06 Nov 2021 21:34:58 GMT

Google is my Friend sometimes. So the ONT on the wall in the hall is the modem and I can plug a compatible Router into it and so long as I point it in the right direction, it should work ok. What about the BTTV etc the Router needs to be IPTV compatible?

@licquorice

Re: Adding a Netgear Nighthawk AX5400 to my BT SH2 to offer WIFI 6 help needed.

licquorice — Sat, 06 Nov 2021 21:35:05 GMT

If you add the Netgear to the Hub, the Hub will still be performing the routing and DHCP functionality and the Netgear will just be providing the wifi.

Re: Adding a Netgear Nighthawk AX5400 to my BT SH2 to offer WIFI 6 help needed.

licquorice — Sat, 06 Nov 2021 21:37:32 GMT

@cacher1 wrote:
Google is my Friend sometimes. So the ONT on the wall in the hall is the modem and I can plug a compatible Router into it and so long as I point it in the right direction, it should work ok. What about the BTTV etc the Router needs to be IPTV compatible?

@licquorice

Yes, it needs to support IGMP snooping for BT TV. You would also lose voice capability with a third party router as the Hub is required for Digital Voice (BT's proprietary VOIP)

Re: Adding a Netgear Nighthawk AX5400 to my BT SH2 to offer WIFI 6 help needed.

cacher1 — Sat, 06 Nov 2021 21:49:26 GMT

Ah ok, so I can replace the SH2 completely if not worried about the digital side of things, if the land line is important then I need to keep the BT SH2 and turn off WIFI and the Netgear Router would do the WIFI 6 traffic connected via Ethernet to the SH2. I assume the BTTV would continue to work in this configuration? If I not worried about the Digital Line then I could just plug the Nighthawk into the ONT and it would need configured to the BT address, but it would then take over doing all the work assuming it is capable of doing the IGMP snooping etc.

@licquorice

Re: Adding a Netgear Nighthawk AX5400 to my BT SH2 to offer WIFI 6 help needed.

licquorice — Sat, 06 Nov 2021 21:52:27 GMT

Correct.

The Netgear just needs the generic PPPoE username and password of bthomehub@btbroadband.com and BT respectively.

Re: Adding a Netgear Nighthawk AX5400 to my BT SH2 to offer WIFI 6 help needed.

cacher1 — Sat, 06 Nov 2021 21:52:45 GMT

or I could just get a faster power line adapter for the xbox and wait on BT SM3....... lol