BT Whole home premium wifi discs can you extend with Ethernet.

[meridius]

Hi all. Just a quick question.

Can you extend the range of the premium Wi-fi white discs by using Ethernet in the back of these

. I am not to sure on theses as I want to plug them all into Ethernet to use and extent the range and pass the data back and forth using Ethernet.

I have switches all over the house and want to plug these into it using the Ethernet as the backhaul. I know one disc needs to be plugged and next to the router but then the router is plugged into a switch which then goes to another switch at another location. 

any help on This as I noticed the discs have two Ethernet ports.  

thwnks. 

[JohnC2]

Hi @meridius, thanks for your post. Have a look at the WHW Faq's and if you can't find the answer give the WHW product helpdesk a call on 0808 100 6116 ( Mon to Fri 9am to 5.30pm and Sat 9am to 2pm) or drop them an email to: btconnectedhome@bt.com

Cheers
John

[meridius]

Hi thanks. I did read that but it sound like it’s contradiction its self. 

Can I connect more than one disc to my hub (router) using the Ethernet cables?

If you're using Whole home Wi-fi  or mini  you can. If you wish, you can locate a disc a long distance from your hub (router) - for example, in an outbuilding - and have an Ethernet cable connection back to your hub (router). Just plug in the cable in the disc’s RJ45 socket and it'll join your Whole Home Wi-Fi networ

 you're using premium whole  home  Wi-fi you can't. Only your first disc can be connected to the hub (router) using an Ethernet cable. If you wish to connect more discs by Ethernet, you'll need to connect them to the Ethernet port on another disc. You can also use the Ethernet ports on these discs for devices such as tv and printers.  

I think I understand so that if you have three discs and plug each disc back to the hub it will not work but if you daisy chain the discs to each other and then one disc to the hub it will meaning a separate network cable in the whole house or 

if that’s the case this will not work with switchers then ? As each disc would be connected to a switch apart from the first one.   I could you plug the first disc into the hub then a network cable from the disc 2nd port  to the switcher  and then plug the other discs into the switchers.  Would that work.  

I do t know why bt made this so hard if the whole and mini work ok why not these.  
thanks. 

[Gary_C]

I think it means you can daisy chain the disks but you can't (shouldn't ?) connect more than one to the router.

[meridius]

Read post above. I edited it.  

I am interested in Whole premium Home WiFi but want to be sure that it will do what I want before I buy. I have BT Smart Hub and Smart Hub 2 which I have. Not decided on which to use , and I am trying to get better WiFi coverage through the house. All rooms have wired Ethernet ports which connect to a switch. So what I am trying to achieve is a single mesh WiFi network, with seamless handover between discs,  but I also want to make use of the speed and reliability of the Ethernet ports. So if I buy a 3 disc Whole premium  Home, can I connect each disk Ethernet port  apart from the first disc which will go straight to the hub. to the Ethernet port using a switcher in the room and get it to operate as I intend ?

thanks. 

[Gary_C]

I don't think so at the moment.
Plugging a device into a switch which is then plugged into the hub is just like plugging it into the hub directly
The premium use a separate wireless channel for communicating the data (backhaul) between them so if your hard wiring, you dont need this feature.
https://community.bt.com/t5/BT-Devices/BT-Whole-Home-Premium-Wifi-Ethernet-Backhaul-and-Wireless-AX/...

If you can wire each disk into the hub or a switch connected to the hub, you might be better off with the non-premium white disks as you will get full wifi speed as the backhaul will be done by ethernet.

To be honest, I have the mini's (because they were only £75 for three) and with them all hardwired, I can get 450mbps down (measured at Fast.com) and the handover is seamless as you move about the house. I have a 5 bed three floor home and the three disks just about covers everywhere (though a 4th would make it perfect)

[meridius]

Thanks. I might give the premium a miss then. I just don’t understand why by did this and not only that I have been reading up and they seem very poor as they had many firmware and resetting problems. 

thanks for the help 

[Sircoynie]

Yep they are VERY POOR and so is the support. 
 
I have raised a ticket regarding this feature with the help desk, it has been apparently escalated weeks ago yet I have still not heard anything. I have posted on these forums for months asking for an update and been completely ignored by the mods. I am now suspecting that there is a fundamental hardware issue and that this isn’t patchable hence the issues and lack of response.

[meridius]

Thanks might wait for the refurb whole home Wi-fi versions as they seem to get good reviews.  Been waiting  ages for them to drop but there the same price as new ones which I find strange.  I thought they might have some sort of discount as there refurbs but there the same price as the new ones.  Lol

they normally go for £99 when on offer for the set of three   So  I will just have to wait.  

[Jacobz]

Is this still the case? I'm going through the same thought process. It is annoying to run more cable but it's not impossible for me, the fact that my access point 1 between the router and access point 2 will have to use both its ethernet ports to daisy chain the connection seems ridiculous though.