Does at least 1 Whole Home Disc need to be connected via Ethernet?

[omgitzmo]

I currently have the first gen black disc and it only needs to be connected to the router via Ethernet during the initial setup, after that I can disconnect it and place it anywhere. 

I saw somewhere that with the white whole home discs you need to have at least 1 disc connected to the router via Ethernet at all times, the other 1 or 2+ discs can be placed anywhere wirelessly, is this true?

If it’s true why has this process changed compared to the black discs? To sell more discs? Doesn’t it defeat the purpose having one disc nearest to the router when it could’ve been placed somewhere more useful rather than next to the router itself?

[licquorice · Accepted solution]

@omgitzmo wrote:

I currently have the first gen black disc and it only needs to be connected to the router via Ethernet during the initial setup, after that I can disconnect it and place it anywhere. 

I saw somewhere that with the white whole home discs you need to have at least 1 disc connected to the router via Ethernet at all times, the other 1 or 2+ discs can be placed anywhere wirelessly, is this true?

Yes

If it’s true why has this process changed compared to the black discs? To sell more discs? Doesn’t it defeat the purpose having one disc nearest to the router when it could’ve been placed somewhere more useful rather than next to the router itself?

The black discs form a mesh with the SH2 and can only be used with the SH2. The white discs are a universal mesh solution that can be used with any router and any ISP, hence they cannot form a mesh with the router as it will be an unknown quantity and are therefore connected by Ethernet.

It doesn't have to be next to the router, it can be up to 100 metres away. However, it is usual to turn off the wifi on the  router when using the white discs purely for the reason that they don't mesh with the router.

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[Keith_Beddoe]

@omgitzmo 

The BT Black Complete Wi-Fi discs connect wirelessly to the BT Smart hub 2, but not to any other of the home hubs, or any other router.

Its only the white BT Whole Home discs that need to have one physically connected to the router.

[omgitzmo]

On the BT setup process it mentions to forget the old network ie the router, is this necessary? My router is WiFi 6 so I’d still like to use it when I’m near it?

Is it fine if I skip the “forget the network” step and change the name of the discs from whole home to my existing router one? So if I walk near the router I may be connected to the router, if I walk near the discs I may be connected the discs.

[Keith_Beddoe]

@omgitzmo 

If its a black disc you have, it only works with the BT Smart hub 2.

The black discs are not BT Whole Home Discs, they are BT Complete Wi-Fi add-on discs.

https://www.bt.com/broadband/complete-wifi

[licquorice]

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@omgitzmo wrote:
On the BT setup process it mentions to forget the old network ie the router, is this necessary? My router is WiFi 6 so I’d still like to use it when I’m near it?

Is it fine if I skip the “forget the network” step and change the name of the discs from whole home to my existing router one? So if I walk near the router I may be connected to the router, if I walk near the discs I may be connected the discs.

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Yeah, that should be fine,  as you are aware they will be 2 different networks with different SSIDs