This topic

Keeping old router and returning new (unopened) one

Bungaroosh — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 15:12:28 GMT

My copper landline (which I never use) is changing to digital.

BT have sent me a Smart Hub 2 in the past week or so. I want to just keep my existing old equipment which works fine. The reason for this is that I have the Wifi disabled on the old hub as it's right by my desk, and I have a wired set up which I don't want to change. I'm not bothered about losing the landline or needing to have a new digital "landline".

A few years ago BT sent me a newer hub to replace the old BT Home Hub 3.0. I kept and am still using the Home Hub 3, and gave the new hub to my sister (who is/was a BT customer).

I've logged into MyBT and there is an "Equipment Return" request. It's for a Smart Hub (presumably the one I gave to my sister). It says "Total failure to return charge: £0.00". Wondering if this will go up if I don't return it.

Ideally, I'd like to just return the new, unopened Smart Hub 2 that they've just sent, and leave everything else alone. I'm not sure whether I'll need to contact BT to get them to agree to this.

Apologies for the long-windedness of this. Maybe I should just try to contact them and let you know how I get on.

Thanks in advance though for any comments.

Re: Keeping old router and returning new (unopened) one

Crimliar — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 16:05:59 GMT

The HomeHub three is more than a decade old, there will come a point where you'll not be able to receive either in-person support or security updates for it. The process for turning off the WiFi is simple enough, so personally for peace of mind I'd swap to the new router.
*I run a third party router, so I can see how often my IP/router gets attacked. I wouldn't want a vulnerable router!

Re: Keeping old router and returning new (unopened) one

Bungaroosh — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 16:29:15 GMT

@Crimliar
Thank you for this info.

Would you (or another member) know if I would select "Disable All Wireless" on this Hub Manager screen shot here (on someone else's thread), does it disable all Wifi signals? Including "BT Wifi"/"EE Wifi"?

To be clear, I would want no Wifi transmission whatsoever from the Smart Hub 2.

Many thanks again.

Re: Keeping old router and returning new (unopened) one

FlyingKiwi — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 03:52:19 GMT

I've tested this on my Smart Hub 2 and confirm that after selecting to disable all wireless in the Hub Manager, when I then attempt to connect my laptop to WiFi, there's no sign of either the normal SSID or any EE SSIDs.

Re: Keeping old router and returning new (unopened) one

Edinburgh-wg — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 08:01:46 GMT

Wait, wouldn't you still get BT's open WiFi network which you can't switch off by default? So, you can switch off your own WiFi, but the public WiFi would still broadcast. The only way to deal with that is to get a different make.

Re: Keeping old router and returning new (unopened) one

naylor2006 — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 09:05:12 GMT

I would probably at this point ask, "why"? My aunt does not want any WIFI in her house either for health reasons, so I do understand there are reasons for it, even if I dont agree or in her case the science proves otherwise 🙂

If you straight up dont want WIFI and dont care about digital phone line, my recommendation would be to just buy your own router which has no WIFI capabilities, then you dont even need to worry about the hub of choice from your ISP. If you have FTTP its very easy to set up, if you have personal reasons for not wanting WIFI enabled at all then thats the best route.

A factory reset for whatever reason of your router will enable WIFI again, BT have access to the router if its theirs. Im not sure about the question @Edinburgh-wg posed, to opt out of that WIFI service you have to do it via your account somewhere, I forget specifically where but is that radio always on....a Hub expert could answer that.

So it depends on, "why", if you dont want to be exposed to any WIFI within close proximity and want to be 100% sure then your own 3rd party router will be the way to got that does not have WIFI at all, if its a hacking worry and WIFI concerns you the same applies.

As a final point, you need to use the latest router really if you want tech support, if you line ever has a fault you will certainly be asked to plug in the current router, so you might as well put it there now.

Re: Keeping old router and returning new (unopened) one

imjolly — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 09:27:36 GMT

to turn off BTWIFI go to MYBT then your products then scroll down to BTWIFI then learn more then scroll down to 'opt out BTWIFI'

Re: Keeping old router and returning new (unopened) one

WSH — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 11:10:20 GMT

I believe it was not possible to turn off everything with the older firmware. As far as I can tell, the latest firmware* does turn off everything. (*That's v0.43).

At least as far as I can tell. As is the case these days, there is actually so much Wi-Fi traffic about that judging what might or might not be originating from your hub is not straight forward, unless you unplug it and check again.

Re: Keeping old router and returning new (unopened) one

TimCurtis — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 11:48:51 GMT

I can certainly confirm that disabling - rather than turning off - wifi does prevent any wifi signals from the SH2 as @WSH states.

If you use the SH2 it will automatically update to the latest firmware - whatever version it is - so no real fear of wifi transmissions.

Re: Keeping old router and returning new (unopened) one

FlyingKiwi — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 18:11:07 GMT

No @Edinburgh-wg you don't get any WiFi connections/SSIDs showing at all from the hub

Re: Keeping old router and returning new (unopened) one

Edinburgh-wg — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 18:40:48 GMT

So, just to confirm: disabling WiFi on the router also disables BTWiFi/EEWiFi on that particular router, too?

Re: Keeping old router and returning new (unopened) one

Bungaroosh — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 18:00:44 GMT

Months later I've finally got around to installing the Smart Hub 2 and managed to switch off the wifi.

The reason for wanting to do this (for the curious) is that I can't sit and work at my desk with a powerful wireless router 60cm away from my head.

Re: Keeping old router and returning new (unopened) one

FlyingKiwi — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 22:53:36 GMT

If you can make do with an ethernet or powerline adapter connected network over WiFi connections, thats always a better way to go anyway (irrespective of any health concerns). It's also more secure/hacking resistant.