2.4GHZ and 5GHZ Bands BT Smart Hub 2

[Andy_N]

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@licquoricewrote:

 you can't give the 2 frequencies different SSIDs

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Crikey is that the case? With my old Hub 4 I've set the SSIDs with different names (simply added .5 to the end of the SSID - which I gave a new name anyway)

[imjolly]

Last hub where you can split networks was hh6

just turn off 5ghz network in hub manager then connect your device to the 2.4ghz network and once connected enable the 5ghz network again

[JohnBateson]

I have been strugging with this issue for a couple of days now and the clue came when I spotted that the SSIDs for 2.4 and 5.0 could not be split. While I want the 5G on my desk machine and Surface, simply because there is a significant wifi speed difference, these machines now do their own thing and select one or t'other seemingly at random.

I can obviously switch off the 2.4 in the hub and this forces both to use 5.0 but then my printer will not work! This is a newish printer, a TR 8550 from Canon so I would not have expected this to happen.

I also have a laptop which does not like 5.0, only the 2.4 flavour, but a dongle cures this seemingly, with the annoyance of having to reselect it every time the laptop starts up.

It is beginning to seem as if every improvement makes things worse, especially in the wifi area which speed is now well down from 2 years ago - but perhaps I should just chill on this one!

John Bateson

[Macca1]

Thanks Distinguished Sage.  I tried what you suggested by switching off the 5GHZ but I'm afraid it didn't work.  

[imjolly]

@Macca1  if you turned off the 5ghz did your device not connect to the 2.4ghz network?

[Darryll]

I see I am not the only one. Switching off the 2.4ghz only causes problems with other devices, even though the 5ghz devices continue to work. The Smart Hub 2 is a major step back from the original Smart Hub to say nothing of the financial outlay. It seems to me BT do not seem to care about this issue otherwise a newer hub or firmware update may help.

[Macca1]

No the device would not work with 5ghz turned off.  The device is not faulty since it works at my son-in-laws address. 

[JohnBateson]

I have done some more tests, with both speeds ON or single speeds selected, rebooting between each change.

Columns are Date, Measurement source,Time, Download, Upload, Ping and then some detail data where it was available or to describe the settings.

18/11/19	Router	10:41	60.23	20.00		3.4/6.3	13.3/6.5	15.8/6.5
	Ookla	10:44	51.24	18.74	20				5 only
	Ookla	10:49	34.81	18.73	17				2.4 only
	Ookla	10:51	37.00	14.36	17				Both ON after reboot, 2.4 selected by PC
	Ookla	14:45	29.96	18.72	17				2.4 only available
	Ookla	14:48	51.44	18.47	17				Set to 5 only, reboot

When I started on this I found it hard to believe what was happening. There is a significant difference between 2.4 and 5.0 in terms of speed. My original set of results showed a 3:1 ratio. OK, so I would expect the 5.0 to be faster anyway, but not to the extent that it is beginning to affect UHD streaming at the default 2.4.

It is also noted that it is grossly inconvenient to force the 5.0 to be selected by turning 2.4 OFF. But if I do this I cannot use the printer so I have to fiddle again with the router.

This is not only really, really annoying but is begining to seem like a major foul up with BT. I am beginning to wonder if reverting to my Hub6 will be an option, it will certainly save me time and reverting to the older contract which had plenty of time to run will save me money as well.

It is worthy of note that 2 years ago I got speeds faster than these anyway, in the region of 59.0 but the speed has been creeping down ever since.

John Bateson

[JohnBateson]

After a long discussion with parts of BT, the technical guys sent me a second disc to improve the signal although I could not understand how this might improve the speed issues. On testing this , initially there seemed not to be an improvement so I switched both of them to OFF at the mains.

However, now my PC, without any further adjustment either to position or usage, always seems to catch the 5G signal whereas previously it would aim for the 2.4 signal. Weather wet or dry, temperature hot or cold, same result.

Speeds on OOKLA on 5G are now 51.5 down and 18.7 up, which is satisfactory and I am now a happier bunny than I was 6 weeks ago. But I am keeping a close eye on it! And it still slower than a couple of years ago!

Must stop moaning, Christmas is nearly here.

John Bateson

[Bob45]

Interesting thread.

My smart hub 2, not being able to choose which band I can use, affects my Nest thermostat. With 2.5 Ghz the Nest thermostat works fine but with 5 Ghz the Nest hardly works at all. I actually thought my boiler was broken and called in a Vaillant engineer who told me he sees this issue all the time. He advised me to keep the Nest thermostat fixed on the 2.4 Ghz as the 5 Ghz can’t get past or through walls, girders etc. Obviously with this hub you can’t do this so every now and again we have no central heating. Is there any chance of Bt solving this issue?