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Message 1 of 5

Smart Hub 2

Good afternoon.  Hoping for some not-too-tecchie help please!  I recently threw off the shackles of my Sky subscription and moved to BT TV.  All the equipment arrived and it set up no problem - until I realised that the premium channels (ie the Sky channels) were all scrambled unless I watched them through the Now TV app (in which case they were fine).  I think I have traced the issue to the fact that I don't use a traditional router - I have BT FTTC so I have a BT supplied modem box, which used to be connected to the BT supplied hub.  I then changed the hub for a TP Link Deco mesh system, so the modem plugs into a deco unit.

I don't think the deco can handle the multicast (or if it can, I can't make it do so!).  So I bought a Smart Hub 2 which arrived today.  I was told that the Smart Hub 2 comes in 2 versions - one with a red WAN port and the other with 4 "normal" Ethernet LAN ports.  I checked with BT that they were sending the version which would be compatible with the modem I already have but lo and behold they have sent the version without the red WAN port.

My (apologies - longwinded!) question is will the version without the WAN port still work?  At the moment my modem is plugged directly into a deco LAN port and it all works fine.  But even basic networking scares the bejeezus out of me so I just want everything to plug in and work.  So I'm not sure that this Smart Hub without the WAN port will be OK.

I'm planning to have the Smart Hub connected by Ethernet into the BT box, which I'm hoping will sort out the premium channel issue but to disable the wifi on it and continue broadcasting wifi through the deco as it extends around the house.

Hope that makes sense and many thanks in anticipation!

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Message 2 of 5

Re: Smart Hub 2

I'm confused. If you only recently moved to BT I doubt you have FTTC with a modem. Do you mean you have FTTP with an ONT?  If so, why buy another hub to replace the one you already have that you replaced with the mesh system? If you no longer have it, you will need a hub with a WAN port.

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Message 3 of 5

Re: Smart Hub 2

I've been with BT for ages.  I have a white BT Openreach modem.  That, as I understand it, handles the "fibre" bit of it and I used to have connected to it a BT Home Hub (when we first got the fibre connection).

That Hub did not send the wifi around the house (old place, stone walls etc) so when mesh systems started to come in, I bought the deco.

The Deco system now is connected by Ethernet to the BT Openreach box.  There's no hub (and I no longer have that hub).

So what you're saying is that the new hub has got to have the red WAN port?

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Message 4 of 5

Re: Smart Hub 2

No, I misread your post, I thought you had just moved from Sky broadband. The SH2 doesn't need the Openreach modem, just unplug the lead  from the modem DSL socket and plug it into the SH2 DSL socket. You will then need to connect the deco to the hub.

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Message 5 of 5

Re: Smart Hub 2

Excellent!  Thanks so much for that - much appreciated!

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