THE SMART HUB 2 IS AWFUL!!

[BeWary]

Thanks for the suggestions.  I tried modes 2 and 3, each worked for about 15 mins and then settled back to to about about 20 mbps download and 30 mbps upload. 

More convinced that I have dodgy kit....

[BeWary · Accepted solution]

Last post for this one.

Moved Hub to slightly new position in home.  Maintained central position but placed higher (on top of a bookcase).  BT also posted a second disk and so located both disks to serve more devices.  More devices (laptops and phones) now pickup the 5Ghz signal hence higher throughput speeds (very rarely below 100 Mbps download and 27Mbps upload).  Most of the time now achieving 140 Mbps download and 27Mbps upload.  Before changing location of Hub etc nearly all devices used the 2.4Ghz, a better signal but slower data throughput speeds.  Shame that the smart hub 2 can't be configured to identify the 2.4 and 5Ghz  frequency bands so that laptops and phones connect to 5Ghz only.  Last point, TV connected via ethernet cable, several Amazon devices use the 2.4Ghz frequency band.  Quite a kerfuffle to find a solution but happier now.

[Stu_H]

the one named SSID never works well. Some manufacturers call it smart connect and so on but it's hit or miss so many will seperate their channels and connect devices to what they wish too. 

Thats not a fault of the BT router, many routers suffer this but many allow you to at least  turn it off.  Unfortunately with 2.4 on some routers perform better  than others in that department, for example I could hit over 100 on my RAX120 where I'm lucky to see over 40 on my unifi router. Ok different hardware but with wifi you rely on hardware, drivers, environment and software so it's never plain sailing.

at least BT sent discs and that has helped to solve your issue. 

[BeWary]

Yes there are many variables to consider.  The last thing I did today was to check the wifi adaptors on all family Windows 10 laptops .  Three were set to no preference for 2.4 or 5.0 Ghz so adjusted using the following steps:

1. Start the Device Manager.
2. Expand the Network Adapters menu.
3. Right-click on the Wi-Fi adapter.
4. Select the Properties option.
5. Click on the Advanced tab.
6. Select Preferred Band  (or Band option) option.
7. Expand the Value drop-down list.
8. Select 5 GHz only or Prefer 5 GHz band option.
9. Click the OK button.

Now all four laptops connect to 5Ghz and have full speed 150Mbps download and 30 Mbps upload.  All four tested at different intervals 😁

[BeWary]

Anyone reading this also check Message 14 as this also helped significantly today.

[Stu_H]

Be aware that band steering can create issues too.  You will need to see if devices drop off and the way wifi works you can end up with slower network performances pushing all devices over.

what tends to happen is devices start to hog airtime as they all chat on one channel and as its wave 2 it's one at a time so as you push away from the router retransmission tend to degrade the performance of the network.

Bandsteering, min RSSI settings are normally the culprit of an issue with devices.

[BeWary]

Good  point.  Will check over the next week and update post.  Checked with MyBT app which says all other devices such as phones etc all connecting at 2.4Ghz, only laptops connecting at 5.Ghz.  Devices/laptops not connecting at the same time and all is fine at the moment.

Will update in about a week.