WIFI issue/non issue

[bradtyson123]

Hi guys, so yesterday I upgraded from 500mbps to 900mbps thinking I would get sent out a smart hub 3 or wifi6 capable router because, well, that makes sense as if I changed to EE instead of going to FTTP900 plan I would get WIFI7 nevermind 6.

After realising BT aren't sending one out this morning and checking my connection speeds to see they are exactly the same as before in reality/practice but aggregated link speed (paper/theory) went from baseline x amount to 1150mbps which is over 1gig coming into the router/house. I was receiving 460 480mbps download and 80ish upload over WIFI before the "upgrade" and after the upgrade getting 500 to 540mbps download and 90 to 100 upload, leading me to believe the router is at fault if it was getting 1150mbps to it but providing no stronger wifi signal than before.

Anyway, I rang up BT a few hours ago to see if they can send out a WIFI 6 router, as if the wifi speeds aren't changing and BT wont send out a more capable router why have I upgraded sort of thing, its fine getting the speeds but if my router can't pass it on what's the point. Why am I paying them for nothing 

They insisted resetting the connection with them over the phone which I begrudgingly agreed to and after 10 minutes noticed my link speed coming to the router has dropped and seems to be capped at 866/866 or 866/650 since. My wifi is the same speed as before now exactly just under 500mbps so less than before the phone call but still pretty good going for WIFI 5.

Clearly something has being fiddled with for the speed coming to the router to drop and cap 300mbps less than it was after a phone call and "line reset"..... 1150mbps incoming to now 866 doesn't seem right

Am I best off cancelling the upgrade in a few days and trying with EE or is it worth persevering and getting a WIFI 6 router from argos to see if it gets more like 600mbps download over WIFI, I just don't see why I should be buying a new router to fix the problem if BT offer one that is suitable but choose not to send it out?

Sorry for the essay but this has frazzled my head all day and I dont want to get into another 2 years with them if I have no reason to. Thanks

[Crimliar]

I just renewed my contract, and I was given the option of the WIFi7 router if I was prepared to stump up another £10/month!  But that 900/100 (or thereabouts plan) is all about the WAN speed, WiFi not only depends on the router capabilities, but also those of your clients.  On a wired connection, it's 1Gbps connection should come close to maxing out your WAN connection.  But even though the SH2 is capable of 1732Mbps or greater on 5GHz, you normally need special WiFi devices to get above sync speeds of 866Mbps, and even just 433Mbps sync speeds are not uncommon.

*I use my own WiFi 6 router, and we've clients that can connect with sync speeds of 2400Mbps and 1200Mbps, along with 2.5Gbps wired Ethernet.

**Download speeds: While your WAN may be capable of a little over 900Mbps, that doesn't mean that servers you download from will max out your connection - it's pretty rare that they do!

[bradtyson123]

The lowest spec device I have is s23 ultra that can support 80 - 160mhz channels and over1.5gbps WIFI download with WIFI 6E/7. All my devices can handle in excess of 600mbps over WIFI, however BT can't though it seems.... 

If my devices can support the WIFI speeds I have bought (900mbps) and the input to the router is 850mbps+  what other than the router is at fault for not getting 600mbps+ download, my guess is nothing. So why am I still stuck with WIFI5 SH2 that will not perform the same as WIFI6/6E/7 when BT offer them but pick and choose which domestic consumers have it.  Just seems borderline a scam when the speed to router is 900mbps and my devices can take it but the limiting factor has to be the SMART HUB 2. All my devices are WIFI 6/6E and above which is why I'm thinking SmartHub2/WIFI5 is throttling the WIFI speeds.

Again, if upgrading the router to WIFI6 or 6E is going to do nothing. Am I best off cancelling the pointless "upgrade" if I can get 450-500mbps via Ethernet OR Wifi on my old plan. Losing WIFI speed/money each month to gain 300mbps Ethernet that isn't used just seems a bizarre thing to do, I want great WIFI speed not Ethernet or I would have not upgraded and used a cable in the first place....

I upgraded because I wanted more tangible download/upload speed, not the theoretical idea of it. I'm getting within 50mbps of the speeds as before but the connection to the router has doubled in speed (supposedly), how is that anything other than the SmartHub2 throttling if my devices aren't the limiting factor. Will a TP-Link AX12 or AX55 help the issue, all I'm after is 600mbps ish download and 100+ upload via WIFI, is it that big of an ask in 2025 paying top dollar line rental and have all the supporting tech with bells and whistles 

[Crimliar]

Using your S23 as an example.  I believe the spec of the SH2 is that it's 4x4 with 80MHz channel width - if "DFS" kicks in at your locale you'd almost certainly need a third party 6E or better to use channel widths above 80MHz.  That is going to limit your S23 to an 866 (2x2 433+433) Mbps sync speed.

Everyone has their own usage profile, the 900/100 plan hasn't cost me any more than 500/60 would, and with an average 31 (peak 50ish) connected, it's smooth pretty much no matter what.

As for upgrading to a cheap AX router; to use it "properly" you'd lose or at least have to compromise when it comes to Digital Voice - which I don't need/use.  If you go that route I'd go mid range.  The TP-Link AX-12 is going to limit your devices in some ways more than the SH2 - it has worse 2.4GHz theoretical bandwith!

The choice is going to be yours, but single device speed is probably not the best reason for going for a superfast package.

[licquorice]

@bradtyson123 BT do NOT have a WiFi 6 router. No idea where you get the idea that they pick and choose which consumers they supply with a non-existent device.

[bradtyson123]

The idea comes from multiple posts on here talking about non business consumers being sent SH3 for one example some seemingly didn't even ask for one, others did and got one sent. I'll just cancel it, best bet seems as though we are still in 2019 era WIFI LOL, if I need to spend hundreds on a router to get use of the services I wish BT would make it clear they are upgrading no hardware and the upgrade only applys to ethernet (WIRED) connections.

I was getting similar consistent speeds (350mbps) off my s10 5g back then for 26.99p/m via virgin media (wouldn't be surprised if the hardware they sent was better too).I'm now paying almost double that for SOMETIMES 100mbps more just over half a decade later.

I've had over 800mbps download on my laptop and 750 s23 in other places, just not my own property.  I'm in a rural area with not a lot of traffic and a lot of OAP and if I could get easily 350mbps over 5 years ago in a much busier area and young people all over vs now 100mbps more in a FTTP property in a quiet village 5 miles away , paying double seems a bad do the more you think about it upgrade or not. It's all fun and games until there's 8-12 devices trying to use the internet via WIFI at once and the router can't handle it.

Seems nobody is going to do anything but bumlick BT and say "all they do is quote the line speeds to the router not WIFI"

Yes! as do every other company, but what they do is send out required hardware to use the 900 and above packages as you would expect. Weird eyyy