BT Smart Hub v BT Smart Hub 2

[Bluestinger]

Hi.

Sorry for dragging up an old post but it's relevant and the first link I came to while searching for Smarthub 1 vs 2.

Anyway, I have just upgraded to 500mb fibre from 72mb. The Smarthub 2 arrived today (and two alexa phones that I didn't ask for, whatever) so I decided to look up the differences between it and my existing smarthub 1. This thread came up, and has me worried about the lack of splitting the bands. My new connection is still a couple days from activation.

I use an Oculus Quest 2 VR headset, which I connect to My PC via wifi. It needs to be connected to 5ghz and without anything else connected to the same band. No problem with smarthub 1 because I can force everything else I have that uses wifi (phone, tablet and security cam)to all use 2.4ghz. Ideal because they all lose connection at 5ghz anyway when the other side of the property.

It's a shame a feature like this has been removed, and thus makes sh2 inferior to the original for me, and a bit pointless. Can I still use the original SH when I get activated? Seems I can looking back on some replies in this thread but as it was old I just wanted to be sure this is still the case.

Cheers!

[rbz5416 · Accepted solution]

@Bluestinger 

No, the SH has no WAN connection for the ONT. If you've been sent phones then presumably also moving to DV, which only works with SH2.

So you'll need to run the original SH as a wireless access point & hope the double-NAT doesn't affect the Oculus.

[Bluestinger]

Thanks. Well that's a shame. So much for an upgrade then. I'll try your suggestion re the access point and fingers crossed. As for the phones, well I've not had a land phone for over a decade and don't recall ordering anything to do with a landline so no idea why I've been sent two of them.

Anyway, thanks for the help and I'll update when the line is activated later in the week.

Cheers!

[imjolly]

surely with the massive jump in connection speed there will be more than sufficient for your VR headset and other devices to run on the 5ghz network.   I would just try the SH2 on own first.  to save hassle just change the Sh2 SSID to that of existing hub and password for 2.4ghz network then all you have to change is password on VR headset to the new password assuming the 5ghz had different password to the 2.4ghz

[Les-Gibson]

Apart from the DV capability and Complete Wi-Fi, there is no substantial difference between the two. See Different types of BT Hub | BT Help

[Bluestinger]

Internet connection speed is irrelevant. The headset isn't connecting to the internet it's connecting to my pc via the router, that's why 5ghz and no interference from other devices is a must. Everything else must use 2.4ghz while the headset is active.

[licquorice]

I don't have a VR headset but, I find it extremely strange that it will only work if it is the only device using the 5Ghz band. I can't see how other devices can 'interfere' with the signal, share the bandwidth (of which there should be far more than required) yes,but not 'interfere'.

The reason the SSIDs can't be split is that for correct band steering it is necessary for the 2 bands to have the same SSID and also for correct operation of the black discs.

I agree that it would still be possible to allow the bands to be split by expert users, however that would probably result in an increase of calls to the help desk when bands were split by inexperienced users in error. In view of that and as the hubs are items produced at a cost for the mass market, I suspect the decision was made to not allow the splitting of the bands.

[Bluestinger]

Gaming via wifi from my pc to headset uses huge amounts of bandwidth, which is why 2.4ghz isn't good enough. 5ghz is a must and an uncontested signal will always produce best results. If I cannot select 5ghz each and everytime I use the headset then thats a major issue. If everything else I use also connects via 5ghz then that is also an issue, a smaller one yes but none of this was/is an issue with the smarthub 1 which allowed me to split the ssids.

I may have to invest in a 3rd party router to resolve this.

[licquorice]

Or, as @rbz5416  suggested, turn off the 2.4Ghz wifi on the hub and use a 2.4Ghz wireless access point with a discrete SSID for 2.4Ghz.

[gg30340]

Presumably you have not even tried the SH2 yet so why are you looking for problems that might not arise.

Try it first, if there is a problem then look for a solution.