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Smart Hub Plus launched

Anonymous — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 10:23:21 GMT

So as many suspected, EE have provided the first glimpse of the new WiFi 6 router and hybrid connect, although the new design may well surprise considering how different it is (in a good way I think).

A reminder (if needed), that EE is becoming the consumer brand in BT Group, so the vast majority of us will be moving at some point.

1.6 Gbps Full Fibre as well for you lucky buggers with FTTP!

Full story here but still early days on this soft launch.

New EE kit

Router on the left, repeater in white, connect on the right.

Official release information is here if needed.

Re: Smart Hub Plus launched

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Jun 2023 09:57:04 GMT

They (soft) launched the smart hub plus yesterday at a new "EE Studio" store at Westfield White City.

You can get a flavour of the "connected experience" vibe they are going for with EE as the new consumer brand and even BT TV makes a brief experience in this video:

EE Studio tour featuring Big Zuu

Probably showing my age, but I have no idea who Big Zuu is! 😆

Re: Smart Hub Plus launched

Crimliar — Sat, 17 Jun 2023 15:35:44 GMT

As for the router looking good - it looks just as fresh as the day the design launched with Vodafone Austria! The innards are probably different though!

Re: Smart Hub Plus launched

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Jun 2023 16:24:30 GMT

I hope EE/BT get their money back then... 🤣

The all-new range will feature a new look and sleek formal design created by consultancy ZAG in collaboration with renowned hardware designer Tej Chauhan

Re: Smart Hub Plus launched

Cliffycliff — Sun, 18 Jun 2023 21:46:25 GMT

Its another pointless product. great they provide a 1.6Gbps connection, will i be able to receive on my PC no. Why is that you say Well The new router has a 2.5Gbps WAN, perfect, lets gues teh speed of the LAN connections. All 1Gbps, what is teh actual point of this.

Now my third party router has a 2.5Gbps WAn port adn 2 x 10Gbps LAN ports, easy then i can just use this, err no i can cause we are using Digital Voice and at the rish of bereaking anti trust laws (refer to microsoft forcing people to use their web browser) i have to use thsi new BT / EE branded router.

Whoever is in charge of BT product development should be fired, plain and simple

Re: Smart Hub Plus launched

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 09:59:48 GMT

Why not get a VoIP line with another provider so you can use your own kit?

Is there a particular reason you have to stick with DV?

I’m not sure who needs 1.6 Gbps download to be honest, but the upload still seems low for those shifting big files around.

Re: Smart Hub Plus launched

Cliffycliff — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 10:30:06 GMT

It's not a case of who does and doesn't need 1.6Gbps it's the fact they will be offering it with equipment that cannot meet the 1.6Gbps download speed. At least 1 of those LAN ports should support 2.5Gbps.

Re: Smart Hub Plus launched

licquorice — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 10:36:29 GMT

Please tell me what you intend doing with 2.5Gbps on a single device?

Re: Smart Hub Plus launched

Cliffycliff — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 10:56:10 GMT

Maybe I'm downloading 100GB game files while streaming 4k content. That's not really relevant. If I purchase a service that is advertising 1.6Gbps I expect to be able to log onto my desktop and receive those speeds. Adding the necessary LAN ports to deal with this died would cost all of £2 per port. There is zero excuse for bad router design

Re: Smart Hub Plus launched

licquorice — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 11:05:29 GMT

The service is providing 1.6Gbps to be shared between multiple devices.

Do you seriously think a game server will serve your download at 1.6Gbps?

Re: Smart Hub Plus launched

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 11:14:30 GMT

I have to be honest, I agree with you both.

The notion that anyone can and will use that amount of bandwidth seems remote, but offering hardware that couldn’t utilise what you pay for if you did want to seems short sighted.

I assume someone with a spreadsheet has worked out that the amount saved by not providing 2.5Gbps ports is substantially more than the loss to EE/BT of the custom of those who have the technical knowledge to maximise the throughput.

Re: Smart Hub Plus launched

Cliffycliff — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 11:20:41 GMT

Yeah I do and I've seen it done. Bt are providing it off date tech that is unable to support it's own service. Go build a current PC, even a last gen PC many motherboards no longer have 1Gbps LAN ports instead a great many are now shipping with 2.5, 5 and 10Gbps ports along with WiFi 6e not 6. You are obviously very keen to defend BT but fact is the router is already out of date by at least 1 generation and is not suitable for providing such a service

Re: Smart Hub Plus launched

licquorice — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 11:32:09 GMT

I am not keen to defend BT at all. I am a pragmatist and can understand why a mass market ISP with millions of customers that require a very basic service won't spend any more than they need to in order to provide 0.00001% of their customer base with something nobody else requires.

Re: Smart Hub Plus launched

Cliffycliff — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 11:54:29 GMT

Ok well let's take it further. BT are not exactly known fruit regularly updating there smart hub. Why provide a new smart hub now with it of date tech that will need to last 3 to 5 years?

More scenarios also. Maybe I have 8 devices up stairs and I want to share my bought and paid for 1.6Gbps service between them. So I install a WiFi disc provided by BT. I device to write that disc into the hub so the devices can share all of the speed. Wait a minute that won't work cause the hub and discs only have 1Gbps LAN ports. So I'm losing nearly 50% of my paid for service.

Instead I device I'll write those devices into a switch on the landing. It has 8 x 1 Gbps LAN ports and a 2.5 Gbps port. Great all devices can now share the 2.6Gbps died I just paid for oh but wait they can't cause the smart hub only has 1 Gbps ports.

This service with these speeds and the premium price would not be attentive to the majority of BTs customers to start with. The small percentage of users that would want this service would be aware of these things though

So the question remains why would BT come up with a service that would only appeal to a small customer base that knows about tech and not provide the equipment that can benefit from it

Re: Smart Hub Plus launched

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 12:00:21 GMT

Funnily enough, I read on ISP Review that they are also prepping a WiFi 7 version.

Not sure the standard is confirmed yet but, hey ho.

Re: Smart Hub Plus launched

DarrenDev — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 12:10:24 GMT

As reported in many other media outlets, this is the first hub that has been designed and built internally using new firmware developed internally (codename "Indigo", based on OpenWRT).
No longer do we need to wait for hardware manufacturers to update their firmware to match our requirements - we can do it ourselves, using any hardware we want. This means we can release new hardware and software features much faster than ever before.

Also, don't forget that the router also supports Wifi 6 (802.11ax) with a theoretical maximum speed way in excess of the 2.5Gbps. I'm not sure what this hardware is capable of though (just checking with the team now - no response yet).

Re: Smart Hub Plus launched

Cliffycliff — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 13:19:23 GMT

With WiFi 6 users will be lucky to get 8-900Mbs WiFi 6e they may have an outside chance of hitting 1.6Gbps but this is not a 6e solution.

I admit my previous listed usage cases would not be that of the majority of BT customers but then this offering is not really fit the majority of BT customers This is a premium product with a premium price and should provide the full speed out of the box.

Sure I could use my third party router and get real performance but then I would lose digital voice and would have to go with another VOUP provider. As a BT customer postings for a premium service I should be able to use all of my BT products without compromise.

This hub should of had at least 1 x 2.5Gbps port and arguably the discs should of had 1 too.

I look forward to seeing reviews of the service and hardware asking with users doing software and not getting there full speeds.

This would of been a day 1 purchase for me but I cannot justify it now

Re: Smart Hub Plus launched

DarrenDev — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 15:16:44 GMT

I think it's fair to say that you're not the target market for this product then @Cliffycliff, and you're welcome to vote with your feet.

For those who want faster speeds to their home (and not specifically to a single device), this new offering will be more than capable/sufficient.

Re: Smart Hub Plus launched

Cliffycliff — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 15:34:06 GMT

LOl I could not agree more, i think potentially your lack of knowledge on tech is clouding the bigger picture for you. I seriously doubt you willnotice any difference of a 1.6Gbps connection using one of these new smart hubsand to think otherwise is laughable. Bt balls'd this product up, Premium Speeds, Premium Price, inferior hardware again.

I think its clear you are unaware of products available on teh market even in teh low end bracket that leave this "Smart Hub" in teh rear view mirror. Buying this would be like getting a Ferrari and only driving it at 70MPH. Pay a premium and have it crippledby incompetence. My guess is you have some sort of affiliation with BT / EE because everyone i have spoken to in person and on proper tech forums thinks thsi is trash

Re: Smart Hub Plus launched

DarrenDev — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 16:03:52 GMT

I do have an affiliation with BT/EE @Cliffycliff - I work for BT, in a team very close to the hub team. I've also been using one of these new routers for a few months.

The Smart Hub Plus will allow a household to consume the entire 1.6Gbps bandwidth, across multiple devices - via multiple LAN/WiFi connections. If all your devices are located a long distance from the hub and you only have a single uplink to it, then I agree that you're going to struggle to use it fully, but you'll be the exception rather than the norm. This is a consumer product, not business.

As for being able to notice the difference - I think that's fair to say for most people. Even if it did have 2.5Gbps LAN ports, people would struggle to notice a difference except for the one scenario you gave of downloading something very large to a single device, from a host that offered sufficient upload bandwidth.

What really needs to happen here is that people stop talking about headline speeds - they've become irrelevant. CPU manufacturers stopped using clock speed as their main measure a long time ago, and the same now needs to happen with consumer ultra fast broadband.