New Premium Whole Home Wi-Fi Firmware released 10th Feb 2020 version SGAB202226

[SeanD]

Hi everyone,

We have released new firmware for the Premium Whole Home Wi-Fi.  At a top-level, this firmware has the following improvements and fixes.

• Improvements to the Smart Topology feature
• Fixed an interop issue with certain standalone DHCP servers
• Improvements to device steering mechanism
• Additional network self-healing mechanisms

Upgrade advice:

• After the update, we recommend you leave your discs for a few hours to allow them to settle into their configuration
• During this time your Wi-Fi connection will be working fine, but you may see lights turning orange and blue and short drops in connection. If this happens we recommend not moving your discs or adjusting any settings
• When your network has settled, you may also notice that the disc layout displayed on the App is different or that your devices connect to a different disc – this is completely normal
• If you have good internet connection on all your devices, your Whole Home Wi-Fi is working properly so there should be no need to change its layout or network configuration

If the new firmware is not working as you’d like, try powering off/on all the discs at the socket and allow them to reconnect and settle. If you still need help afterward, come back to us, here on Community, or contact the helpdesk on 0808 100 6116 or email btconnectedhome@bt.com so that we understand your issue and help fix it

Cheers

Sean

[freestyle]

Hi Sean,

Thank you for this update, are you able to confirm AX3700 is enabled on this release?

There appears to be no way for customers to confirm this feature is now activated on their devices.

[Dan-O]

Hi @freestyle 

AX3700 has been enabled since the very first launch firmware for Premium Whole Home Wi-Fi.

The connection between discs uses an 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) radio and the connection for client devices is 802.11ac.

The product description (BT Shop: Premium Whole Home Wi-Fi) lists this:

Premium Whole Home Wi-Fi adds a third Wi-Fi radio for "tri-band" which offers a dedicated high power connection between discs that utilises brand new 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) technology to deliver ultrafast speeds around the home.

Hope this helps.

Dan-O

[cameron1975me]

Hi,

So I purchased the premium 3 disc setup about 3 week ago, had nothing but problems since purchasing.

Returned the 1st set of discs for a new set but still same issues of the discs disconnecting to the master ever 10 hours or so.

The latest firmware has made no difference at all. Both slave discs keep disconnecting (light flashes blue-pink alternately, eventually settling on pink).

I’ve tried factory resetting. Both the discs and my BT (ultrafast) smarthub. 4 times and it makes zero difference.

I’m very disappointed with the reliability. Expected better with the premium discs. 

Any news as to what the issue is?

[Sircoynie]

DO NOT BUT THIS PRODUCT IN ITS CURRENT STATE:

WH = BT WholeHome

WHP = BT WholeHome Premium

So I thought I would upgrade from my existing WH kit to this.......WHAT A LET DOWN!

The speeds advertised can only be roughly achieved in absolute ideal situations, and when placing my discs in the same locations as my old WH system I actually found the old WH to be quicker and more reliable (yes both are on the latest firmware)

Comparison (Note I have Full900, my speed is around 960/130), I have tested this the following way and I'm getting the following results:

FTTP Full900 -> Smart Hub 2 (All wifi disabled) ----Ethernet---> Both BT Mesh systems connected ---- Wi-Fi Backhaul to a single (all others turned off) Slave Disc*--->Ethernet----->MacBook Pro with 1Gbps USB C Ethernet Adapter

Results

*Range ~0.5M (No walls): WHP = 550/120 WH = 350/120

*Range ~2M (No walls): WHP = 400/120 WH = 350/120

*Range ~5M (1 wall): WHP = 300/120 WH = 350/120

*Range ~7.5 (2 walls): WHP = 290/120 WH = 320/120 (Note both systems stated the slave disc as having only a GOOD connection, not excellent like in all other tests) 

All results are approximations from testing using and systems were left for around 30mins each before testing:

https://fast.com

https://projectstream.google.com/speedtest

https://www.speedtest.net

I have no idea why it is actually SLOWER than the older model, but for me it has a more rapid drop off when placed further away from the master disk than the original WH. Luckily I have a return window via amazon until the 31st May. If no updates come out to address this before then I will be returning all 5 disks and staying with WH whilst looking at alternative brands.

This product is a joke!

[Sircoynie]

Oh and it also disconnects discs randomly! What an utter piece of rubbish this thing is at the moment.

What is going on BT?

[GaryMo]

I’m losing patience with them myself. I was told over two weeks ago that a firmware update was two weeks away, still waiting and being frustrated with daily disconnects. 

[DrBell17]

Having exactly the same problem here. Charging between £200 and £270 for a defective product is obscene. BT have constantly been telling us that these issues will be addressed in a firmware update, I'm yet to see one still.

Don't get me wrong; during the periods that they're working, they work great! BUT, they are constantly disconnecting, crashing, forcing my VM Hub 3.0 to restart, it's just becoming a nightmare, I'm already looking at alternatives, I've waited too long for some actionable assistance now.

[Sircoynie]

Yep, and their lack of dialogue is just damn right rude. This will be the last BT product I will have ever purchased.