This topic

Adding another Router to a FTTP Smart Hub 2 to add broadband to garden annex.

edavsto — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 17:18:33 GMT

Hi community,

I'm in the process of building a granny annex in the garden and the family will need wifi and TV connectivity so tried to simply request additional BT TV boxes but apparently the max you can have on a single account is 2 (which I already use in the main house). So plan to run a cat6 cable from the SH2 to the lodge (approx 60m away from hub) and add another router to provide the wifi connectivity. Will move the BT TV boxes to the annex and I'll switch to Sky in the main house

Has anyone performed a similar activity and any suggestions/gotchas to be aware of please.

Has anyone been able to simply add more BT TV boxes to their main SH2 as I may have just been given incorrect info by the advisor ?

Re: Adding another Router to a FTTP Smart Hub 2 to add broadband to garden annex.

licquorice — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 17:25:33 GMT

You don't need another router, you just need a wireless access point with Ethernet ports connected to the Ethernet cable.

Re: Adding another Router to a FTTP Smart Hub 2 to add broadband to garden annex.

edavsto — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 17:26:17 GMT

Argh great any model suggestions

Re: Adding another Router to a FTTP Smart Hub 2 to add broadband to garden annex.

Keith_Beddoe — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 17:33:29 GMT

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/access-point/tl-wa801n/

That is 2.4GHz only.

There is a dual band version, but I cannot remember the model number.

Edit: Its this one https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/access-point/tl-wa1201/

Re: Adding another Router to a FTTP Smart Hub 2 to add broadband to garden annex.

edavsto — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 17:39:31 GMT

Thanks I'll check them out, I'll need a model with additional ethernet ports for physical connection to old peripherals initially

Re: Adding another Router to a FTTP Smart Hub 2 to add broadband to garden annex.

licquorice — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 17:48:51 GMT

The models @Keith_Beddoe suggested don't have extra Ethernet ports. I would normally recommend TP Link products but they don't do a WAP with extra ports.

There is the Netgear WAX204 which does have extra Ethernet ports, £64 from Amazon.

Re: Adding another Router to a FTTP Smart Hub 2 to add broadband to garden annex.

edavsto — Fri, 17 Mar 2023 09:04:02 GMT

thanks all, great feedback I'll give this a go

Re: Adding another Router to a FTTP Smart Hub 2 to add broadband to garden annex.

TimCurtis — Fri, 17 Mar 2023 10:25:06 GMT

Just to add that with any of these devices that it's important that they support a feature known as IGMP Snooping otherwise all devices attached to it can be flooded with the BT TV transmissions which can severely impact things like gaming or general usability.

Re: Adding another Router to a FTTP Smart Hub 2 to add broadband to garden annex.

DarrenDev — Fri, 17 Mar 2023 10:30:13 GMT

As this is a BT forum, it seems only fair to recommend the relevant BT products for this.
You can either rent BT Complete Wifi:
https://www.bt.com/broadband/complete-wifi

Or purchase BT Whole Home Wifi:
https://shop.bt.com/brands/bt/whole-home-wi-fi

With these products, you'll get a guarantee that BT TV will work correctly.

Regarding the additional BT TV box - it depends what you want to watch on it. There's nothing to stop you buying additional YouView boxes and connecting them to the same account, however your BT TV subscription channels can only be active on 2 of them at once - you can move the subscription between the boxes as needed though. Freeview channels will be available without restriction.

Re: Adding another Router to a FTTP Smart Hub 2 to add broadband to garden annex.

edavsto — Fri, 17 Mar 2023 10:56:37 GMT

Hi Tim,

Based on the updates from the other respondees my thinking is as follows:

1) Keep FTTP WAN input to the existing BT SH2

2) Connect a Cat6 (A end) to one of the SH1 GigE ports and run to the annex

3) Connect Cat6 (B end) to Netgear wax204 and configure WAP for wifi access in annex

4) Connect annex BT Main TV box to a Netgear GigE port.

5) Connect additional annex mini BT TV box to WAP wifi network.

In the main house I plan to switch to Sky Stream over the SH2 wifi network.

I "googled" the WAX204 and it appears to support IGMP (off by default)so what additional steps do I need to perform if I activate this in the annex please?

Re: Adding another Router to a FTTP Smart Hub 2 to add broadband to garden annex.

edavsto — Fri, 17 Mar 2023 11:06:27 GMT

Hi Darren,

Agree, staying within the BT products was my original idea but looking at the range between the main house SH2 (front of house) to the garden annex will be some 60m away through the majority of both properties i didn't feel adding additional wifi extenders was going to work (especially as the annex is timber frame with aluminium backed celotex insulation so somewhat a faraday cage).

Also the wifi only (no ethernet ports) option would restrict the connectivity of the legacy peripherals (printers etc) and the connection of the BT TV main box needs GigE connection if I'm correct?

I like the YouView boxes idea though so will look into this thanks

If I'm missing something in your suggestion please let me know as I'm not anti BT I just couldn't see any obvious solution 🐵

Re: Adding another Router to a FTTP Smart Hub 2 to add broadband to garden annex.

DarrenDev — Fri, 17 Mar 2023 11:24:47 GMT

Both Complete Wifi and Whole Home Wifi allow wired backhaul - i.e. you can use the Cat 6 to connect it. You could use any switch (or even a hub) at the garden annex end to connect the Wifi disc(s) as well as all your legacy peripherals. The BT TV Pro and Mini boxes have both wired and wireless connectivity options. If you have older boxes, then they need to be wired.