Linksys Velop with BT TV (or not, as it happens)

[pagenotfound]

Just bought a pair of Linksys Velop MX5300 mesh routers and they seem to do the required job well enough, however, when I've replaced the Smarthub 2 with one of the Velops internet was absolutely fine but the BT TV subscription channels stop working. I'm aware of the suggestions for enabling multicast which I've done but that hasn't helped - administration options are fairly limited even through the browser admin interface. I tried finding any igmp settings available but nothing is obvious. I've now put the Smarthub 2 back in place and everything's back working again so no immediate issue but would prefer to retire the BT Smarthub if possible.

Has anyone else has been able to successfully replace the Smarthub 2 with a Linksys Velop and get BT TV subscription/multicast channels to work? If not, hopefully this thread will be a useful reference for anyone considering the Velops.

Other than the multicast issue, they do work well and have fulfilled the main purpose I got them for. I have a Mac mini with 802.11ac wifi so was only getting the maximum allowed by the ac standard of 300Mbps over wifi. Now, when connected via ethernet to one of the Velop satellites, it gets around 660Mbps so can use more of the bandwidth I'm paying for.

[NigelB72]

A quick Google search takes you to Linksys website where it says that you have to turn multicast on ... Have you done that? 

[pagenotfound]

Thanks for attempting to assist but as per my initial post, I've enabled the multicast filtering option but to no effect. I believe not all routers can be configured to work with BT TV and this may be one of them unless someone here has had some success.

[Iain2252]

I’ve got exactly the same issue with my Velop. Did you manage to come up with a solution or are they simply not compatible? 
I’ve had to stick my Velop in bridge mode to get the BT tv working but it’s annoying as bridge mode disables certain features such as device prioritisation etc

[pagenotfound]

@Iain2252 Unfortunately I didn't get any further with it as I didn't have time to play around with it but I couldn't get it working with the multicast option switched on and that seemed to be the only option available.

I did as you have done and configured in bridge mode so my BT TV Pro box is physically connected to the BT Hub and the Velop carries out the WiFi duties. It is a shame as you do lose the advanced features of the Velop but it does the main job I needed and I'm happy with the system. 

I'm hoping that Linksys bring out a tri-band WiFi 6 mesh router and that it will have the necessary settings to work with BT TV and I can then incorporate it with the Velop Mesh. They only have a dual band WiFi 6 router at the moment but they do have a tri band WiFi 5 router so maybe one will be released in due course.

The IGMP Multicast support required for BT TV IP streaming doesn't appear to be widely supported so it may not be something a future Linksys product will include but I'm thinking of raising a support ticket with them to see if it is something that could be supported.

If anyone else is thinking of getting a Velop WiFi 6 mesh network, I'm happy with their network performance and they are available at a really good price on Amazon at the moment if anyone else was interested in getting these.

[Snoogle]

I have the same Linksys MX5300. I spent hours trying to sort this as I absolutely did not want to have 2 routers on my hall table and I hated the prospect of losing all the features I paid good money for by placing the Linksys in Bridge Mode. I tried everything including getting in touch with BT and Linksys. NO JOY!

HOWEVER, I tried again in this morning and found a setting called IPTV Configuration. I enabled it and now the BT TV works. No more piece of garbage BT smart hub 2 on my hall table (if it had of managed to give me a decent signal in my office I would not have needed to go out and buy an alternative).

Those settings can only be found when you login to your router via the web browser not the through the app. I also had to take the router back out of bridge mode first.