Smart Hub 2 firmware upgrade

[licquorice]

As a matter of interest, please indicate where the latest router firmware is listed for any ISP supplied device.

[WSH]

I don't think it's fair to say BT is ignoring security.  I think it's more a case of BT taking care of security behind the scenes as the average user doesn't care/is not capable of doing so.  (And the last Netgear router I had was terrible).

Anyway, I'm getting bored with this, so as a more helpful and final suggestion, do what I do.  Periodically enter a search on here for the next version.

Having checked yesterday, I can tell you that no one on here has made mention of a v0.47 yet, so v0.46 must still be the latest version.

Edit:  And they're all getting on the bandwagon:  https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/russia-apt28-hijack-routers-uk-ncsc/

[gg30340]

As regards BT taking security seriously. The hubs are as you know updated automatically by BT albeit BT for security reasons do not publish when and what "fixes" updates have included except when there is a particular security issue that has been discovered nationally and is an immediate threat and there is a need to update urgently. I can only recall this happening once.

I am unaware of any users on this forum reporting the security of their hub having been overcome at any point except when the user has given out their wifi password either intentionally or unintentionally or they have allowed access to their network through either a scam or downloading malicious software  giving direct access to their devices which in the case that you have mentioned does not appear to be happening in that manner.

In any event what makes you think that the BT hubs are not already secure given that they are automatically updated and any fix if required could have been added at any of the previous updates, where as I suspect many of the third part routers are not set to be automatically updated and instead rely on the owner updating them manually and could therefore be less secure than BT's hubs if the owner is not diligent about checking for updates on a regular basis.

[roxburd]

@WSH 

Well, we can agree on that - my Netgear router was pretty awful and it was mis-sold to me, too. No, I won't be buying Netgear ever again.

@licquorice 

Generally, they can be checked in a very similar way to operating systems, printers, IDEs... and any other software - you click a button labelled 'Check for updates', it goes off and securely retrieves the versioning info and you are then advised if you need an update or if you are, in fact, up-to-date.

And there is no reason why an auto-updating system cannot offer the very same feature. In fact, Windows and many others do just that.

The Smart Hub 2 admin pages just show:
Firmware version: v0.xxxx
Firmware updated: (date)

Even just a static field with a link to a page that shows the latest version would allow me to click-through and check that my hub is not faulty and it is up-to-date. That same page could also tell me when (not if, when) the hub is obsolete and no longer getting security updates and is therefore a *great* threat to my security and should be replaced as a matter of urgency. It's called up-selling and BT can't even get that right.

[roxburd]

@gg30340 

Your faith is admirable.

In IT, there are things called faults. This is when instruments operate other than as intended. If my hub has a fault, it may fail to update.

Also, one day, it will be obsolete. I do not have faith that BT will let me know when my hub is no longer supported, not receiving updates and therefore wide open to a zero day forever.

> I am unaware of any users on this forum reporting the security of their hub having been overcome

Well, as has been pointed out to me on this thread, BT aims its hubs at users who do not know what an IP address is. The idea that they could forensically diagnose a network breach is far-fetched.

> what makes you think that the BT hubs are not already secure

As I have mentioned - faults happen so my hub *could* have a vulnerability which should have been fixed but hasn't. That's not guaranteed to happen, but possible. What is guaranteed is that my hub will be obsolete one day and will no longer get updates. As the gateway to my home network, I would like to know when that happens. I do not trust BT to tell me.

[gg30340]

I am well aware of "faults".

All of which takes me back to, why are you still a BT customer and why are you using their hubs and not a third party one if they are so bad.  If it is down to BT routers are free I have to laugh at your concern over security only being down to cost.

Anyway this thread is now going round in circles so I will leave you to it.

[Kimberlin]

For those that don't give it a second thought or aren't usually even remotely interested in their own cyber security, have a go at running these checks and see how you get on:

https://checkcybersecurity.service.ncsc.gov.uk/

grc.com/shieldsup

[WSH]

Despite my last comment supposedly being my last, this article might be interesting:

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2026/04/the-scourge-of-malware-infected-customer-devices-at-bi...