Premium & Whole Home Wi-Fi 6 SGAB/C208426 Full Release now live

[RobbieMac]

Hi Everyone,

SGAB208426 and SGAC208426 have been made available for Full Release as of 22nd August 2023.

Changes since SGAB/C20832C:

• Fixed issues where Data Usage stats needed to be regularly reset
• Fixed issue where Smart Topology settings reset to default when discs are rebooted
• Fixed issue where Master disc crashes on reboot
• Fixed EE router compatibility problems
• Stability improvements

Outstanding – Instability where 5 or more discs are connected via Ethernet cable will be fixed in the next release.

Important Upgrade advice for Premium Whole Home Wifi Customers:-

For those on an older version than 822C you will not be able to upgrade directly to 8426, therefore you will need to first update your discs to SGAB20822C before having access to any further updates, including this release. This can be done using the Firmware Update option in the Settings tab of the WHW app.

General 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 a 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 afterwards, 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.

Thanks,

Robbie

[johnbusby]

I'm on this firmware but still having issues with the entire network going down which requires a reset to factory settings. How are other folk getting on? Definitely more stable than the previous version for me but far from perfect...

[Kev2021]

Hi @johnbusby 

I’m running 7 discs, 3 via Ethernet to master and 3 on Wi-Fi.  There’s the occasional disc reboot every few weeks which pretty much goes unnoticed. Otherwise it appears to be working well, and certainly the upgrade we’ve been looking forward to.

Perhaps you could share specific details of your setup, as much detail as possible so that other posters can compare.

If it helps: I’ve three Wi-Fi 6 discs, one is a master hosting the router connection, the other two are connected via Ethernet to the first using an unmanaged gigabit switch.  Also four Premium discs, one via Ethernet to the switch and 3 via Wi-Fi.  All other Ethernet devices are connected via a different managed switch to the router, they don’t share the Wi-Fi switch.  PlusNet Hub Two router.  Only around a dozen Wi-Fi devices at the moment.  Otherwise using all default settings.  I did however factory reset and upgrade firmware of all discs individually (I.e. power of all others) prior to setting up the mesh.  I’ve never had to factory reset or reboot anything since, 2-3 months back when pre-released.  Between 2-4 weeks, some discs reboot themselves occasionally, but we have power cuts where I live, so a high score uptime of much beyond a month tom6 weeks just isn’t achievable for me.

[Tiger23]

My own experiences of the Premium discs:

I own 4 Premium discs - originally two (shortly after they first came out) and later added two more.  They were all purchased through the BT Shop.  One of the first pair died at 10 months after purchase.  After phoning the BT Shop - who passed me directly to BT support, the failed disc’s coloured light characteristics resulted in me being asked to return both discs and I had a brand new pair delivered within the week.  I was impressed by the service.  Since then, all has been well.

One disc is connected by ethernet to my (BT 6) router.  I have a large old house with a lot of thick masonry internal walls so original WiFi had always been very patchy.  The Premium discs solved that problem and I get excellent WiFi coverage throughout the house and in the garden.  Downstairs is “L” shaped.  The discs are in a star configuration and the longest disc to disc distance is nearly 40 feet.  The 4 discs are all positioned so that the “sightlines” between them largely comprise lightweight structures such as doors or the odd bit of lath and plaster wall.  Hence, the phone app tells me they all have “excellent” connections.

Apart from the master disc - router ethernet connection, I had never used the spare ethernet connectors. This changed, recently, when I connected one disc to the hub of a new Gigaset VOIP/DECT phone system; everything has functioned perfectly.

Living in rural Norfolk we often get short power outages, yet the discs always recover on their own.  Two or three times each year I notice a random disc being “down” - showing a red light.  A simple restart to that disc provides an instant recovery.  In short, I have been very happy with the discs.  I read of some other people’s difficulties and note it often seems to be the same names.  Whilst they have my sympathy, I have always assumed they must be unlucky; on the other hand, are a few of them doing something unusual with their set-up which is not being revealed?  NB  I have always used the latest issued firmware – including the recent one. 

We are still on an FTTC service but very lucky to be close to our local OR cabinet with just under 80:20 Mbps.  No FTTP yet, but an “Alt Net” is on its way.  I shall be leaving BT but will certainly continue with the Premium discs.

[sgresswell]

Here's my experience of the upgrade.

The previous release (20832C) was always stable for me, except using ethernet for backhaul. When I configured using ethernet backhaul, the system would be OK for a few hours and then would become progressively unstable and eventually the satellite disks would disconnect.

The auto, overnight upgrade didn't work. Some mornings the satellite disks would have disconnected and needed a restart. I forced a manual upgrade and this was successful. However the iPhone app was then intermittent in being able to get any status information and make config changes. Most of the time it was showing no discs and no devices. However the network map correctly showed the disc configuration. The web interface was OK, but very slow. In the logs, it was showing errors regarding duplicate entries for priority devices, which I fixed by disabling the priority feature. I left it in this state for a a few days and connected the satellite disks over ethernet. This actual wifi network worked well and was stable using ethernet backhaul.

I then did a full factory reset and re-configured using ethernet backhaul. This has resolved the issues I had with the iPhone app and slow web interface. So far the configuration with ethernet backhaul has been stable and good performance.

So in summary

• Upgrade has to be forced manually
• Upgrade seems to leave some corruption in the config database and needs a factory reset
• This version seems stable and good performance

For reference my setup is

• Internet service is fibre from Trooli and a Technicolor DGA4134 router
• Discs are all connected via a Netgear, unmanaged gigabit switch

[Kev2021]

So a question for BT: Are there any plans for a further firmware update for the Premium and WiFi6 discs, or is this now at the end of the road?

[foz]

I see BT still NOT providing regular updates for this product, almost 12 months on from the statement "Outstanding – Instability where 5 or more discs are connected via Ethernet cable will be fixed in the next release." LOL

So glad I switched to Unifi APs!!

[naylor2006]

Eventually I moved away from Wholehome to Unifi but my experience was generally good.

I sympathize with the manufacturer though, its tough to build a WIFI solution like this that on the one hand makes it impossible for the user to mess it up causing support calls...and on the other hand be resilient enough with a one time config.

As you will know from Unifi you can tailor each AP to your own requirement, whether that by channel, gain, band width etc etc....the Wholehome setup simply cannot be like that, its not designed for that, its designed for the typical internet user who wants to extend coverage easily, buy it, switch it on, connect to it, it works.....

So whilst I love my new Unifi setup and I have zero the problems I had with Wholehome whilst also performing far better, I wouldnt **bleep** on it because I think its a pretty decent product for most homes.

[foz]

But that has little to do with regular firmware updates? The money bt charged for these premium nodes and the support that followed is a disgrace!

Most people including myself had purchased the original mesh triple set, which after 12 months of fw support reached a point where they were stable for most. After purchasing the premium set this just never played out. Years between updates is not really supporting your customers.

I wasn't comparing unifi to bt.

[naylor2006]

I know you werent comparing it, but I was to make a point, also I went really far with Wholehome ending up with the most ridiculous 9 disc setup ever:

A Story - BT Wholehome AC2600 9 Disc Setup (Anyone... - BT Community

.....I started with a 3 disc setup in 2019 and collected second hand ones mostly since, yes they are very expensive and an individual Unifi AP is cheaper, I think my U6+'s were 85 quid each....eventually I came to my senses, my concrete house needed something else more customizable, still cost nearly a grand for all the AP's, associated switching, ethernet work I did and Cloud Key.....BT Wholehome offers a far easier method depending on your requirement.

Really you dont want more the 4 devices in MESH anyway, the interference generated over the 5Ghz backhaul along with the actual traffic you are pulling at the client is a nightmare, also you cannot change channels to a point to avoid interference. Instability with 5 discs doesnt surprise me, not sure how they can fix that.

My point was somewhat lost I admit myself, but what I meant is I dont think we can expect the same from the Wholehome type of product as we can from Unifi but Wholehome is okay even if a little over priced.