BT Hybrid Connect

[yngndrw]

Hello,

We have BT FTTP but it has been down a couple of times recently. BT sent out an EE Smart 4G Hub with an unlimited sim for us to use while we waited for an engineer but we live in a very rural area and get a terrible 4G signal. We can just about get a usable signal if we put it on top of a window blind, thankfully it has a battery in it as a power cable wouldn't reach it. Aside from the poor signal in this area, the other issue is that we both work from home but I'm using a desktop computer without wifi so I'm still unable to work during an outage.

I've just realised that BT now have a Hybrid Connect offering which appears to provide that same connection failover but has a few advantages:

1) It connects directly to the router, so it can be used with wired devices

2) It has external antenna connectors

BT Hybrid Connect is a £7 per month offering which isn't great, seems as you only need to use it when BT have failed to provide a stable connection. Fortunately they do send out the EE Smart 4G Hub for free which brings me to my question - Will the sim from the EE Smart 4G Hub work within the BT Hybrid Connect unit? That way we could have the best of both worlds, the BT Hybrid Connect hardware with an unlimited sim which can be activated whenever we have downtime.

[licquorice]

Am I missing something, that's what the hybrid connect does.

The only way to obtain the hybrid connect device is via halo 3+ in any case.

[yngndrw]

It is what Hybrid Connect does, but the question is really about the SIM. I can get a Hybrid Connect device on Ebay for very cheap, but rather than having to pay a flat fee of £7 per month for a SIM I'm going to very rarely use I want to use the free one that is included with the EE Smart 4G Hub when you have downtime, as part of the Halo Keep Connected Promise.

[licquorice]

The reason it is very cheap is because it won't work.

[yngndrw]

Oh the SIMs are locked? That's a shame, I don't know why BT don't fulfil their Keep Connected Promise via Hybrid Connect rather than using the using the little 4G Smart Hub, it would be a much better solution as customers could retain their existing network configuration.

[licquorice]

No, the hybrid connect only works with the SH2 when halo3+ has been configured.

Again, am I missing something here?

With halo3+, the hybrid connect kicks in automatically after a few minutes of loss of service and requires no changes to network configuration as it effectively becomes the WAN input to the hub.When service is restored, the hybrid connect just disconects and service resumes on normal broadband.

[yngndrw]

Well we do have a SH2 with Halo 3 (Or at least, our bill says Halo 3 and complete wi-fi while the "current deal" says Halo 2 - I'm pretty sure it's Halo 3 thought as it was only activated a few months ago) so does that mean it will work for us?

We don't have a Hybrid Connect device and during the downtime they sent a mini hub - Should we have received a Hybrid Connect instead? That's ultimately what I want, a Hybrid Connect instead of the mini hub. If we were meant to get one with it then that's great I'll get on the phone and ask for one.

[licquorice · Accepted solution]

You only get the hybrid connect with halo 3+ as previously stated,  not halo 3.

[yngndrw]

Ah I didn't realise they'd switched to +, we've only been connected here for a few months - They seem to change their Halo packages more often than the wind changes.

That explains it though, thank you for your help.

[imjolly]

You need halo 3+ not just halo3 to get hybrid connect