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

[cacher1]

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.

[licquorice]

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

[cacher1]

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.

[licquorice]

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.

[cacher1]

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.

[cacher1]

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

@licquorice

[licquorice]

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

[cacher1]

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

[licquorice]

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.

[licquorice]

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@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

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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)