BT Hybrid Connect

[stereohaven]

If you want a Hybrid Connect that works directly with a Smart Hub 2, then you need to re-contract to Halo 3+.

I can recommend waiting to do so though as deals change, I ended up at £44.99 for Fibre 2 with Halo 3+, but had watched the price fluctuate for a few months between £58.99 and £68.99 in my offers.

Alternatively, you can easily recreate the functionality with an off the shelf 4G hub from Amazon and a PAYG sim, but as you have discovered, it isn’t seamless fallback so you need to manually intervene.

In the end I moved to Halo 3+ from a DIY solution because it is a neater solution for the family when I am not here.

On a side note, I would only personally use Halo 3+ on a FTTC broadband connection, the newer FTTH services are far more robust than the copper based ones.

[yngndrw]

It says it's £1 / month more and we have a fresh contract so it isn't really going to extend it by much, so it seems like a no-brainer.

We do have FTTP but it has gone down a couple of times (Engineer booked, will be interesting to see why) and thanks to our location and being forced onto Digital Voice, it leaves us with absolutely no communication mechanism - I'm not sure we'd even be able to call 999. If we can get Hybrid Connect setup with an external antenna, we'll have reliable communication again.

[licquorice]

You need to be aware that DV doesn't work via the hybrid connect.

[stereohaven]

We are in a decent area for EE and still have to use an external aerial to get 2 bars on the Hybrid Connect but it has still worked fine when I have forced an "event".

The connection is limited to 30 Mbps when active. What is annoying (especially for the money), is that it isn't always active and essentially providing a bonded line and higher aggregate speeds, which a business version of the product does, albeit only for those on ADSL. 

[yngndrw]

Good to know about DV, we can still take advantage of it with Wifi Calling but it's disappointing to hear that DV is not supported.

[stereohaven]

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@licquoricewrote:

You need to be aware that DV doesn't work via the hybrid connect.

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A good point and considering the exceptionally low bandwidth used by VoIP, a real head scratcher of a decision.

[yngndrw]

Can I ask what external antennas you've used on yours? I'm planning to put an antenna on the roof for it so should get an acceptable signal there. We can just about use the mini hub when it's in a very specific place on top of the blinds (Can get 7meg, but everywhere else we get about 50k so it must be a sweet spot there) so hopefully up high will be good.

[stereohaven]

Have you considered something like Starlink if you are rural?

When I said external aerials I actually meant the "rabbit ears" type, not an outdoor aerial, apologies. this is quite a good video explaining what to look for though: https://youtu.be/AqFD2b6yz-w 

I found the Cellmapper info very helpful in particular.

[licquorice]

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@stereohaven wrote:

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@licquoricewrote:

You need to be aware that DV doesn't work via the hybrid connect.

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A good point and considering the exceptionally low bandwidth used by VoIP, a real head scratcher of a decision.

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I guess its not the bandwidth, its the complication of temporarily accessing the 'landline number' via the mobile network.

[yngndrw]

We have considered Starlink but with having FTTP here it isn't really worth it, we just need a backup for as lower recurring price as possible. Shouldn't really need a backup with FTTP but it is what it is and being so rural if it goes down we lose everything - Can't work and can't call anyone in an emergency.

And thanks, will take a look.