Am I at a disadvantage with my current BT Smart Hub 2?

[Mellman]

Hello all, 

I currently have the FTTP 150mbps plan with the BT Smart Hub 2 (I have a TV Package also, if that's relevant), though I have just chosen to upgrade to the 500mbps plan, as it was only a few quid more. 

I've been looking at the network situation in my home and trying to make improvements where I can, this has lead me to find that numerous people have asked the same question on these forums about being able to split the bands on this model of Router but I can see that this is not possible - how much of an issue is this? Well, for me I'm finding that it's impact my Firestick 4K's as the downstairs one is fine staying on the 5Ghz channel but the upstairs ones are defaulting to the 2.4Ghz - is there anything I can do about this? Should I turn off the 2.4Ghz temporarily and forget the network, reconnect to the 5Ghz then re-enable the 2.4Ghz? or is that only delaying the inevitable reconnection to the 2.4Ghz that will eventually happen to them.

If there's no way to navigate it - Should I contact BT/(Actually now my contract is with EE) about getting a different router? 

Also - how will the Smart Hub 2 handle the 500mbps Wifi? I haven't got anything receiving via Ethernet (currently at least) so it will all be reliant on the WiFi, though we live in a new build so the walls are thin as hell and I'd hope that we are able to get the most from the speed via that method, though I have read on various home networking subreddits that people have struggled with speeds on this router but I'd like to hear more opinions.

Any and all insights welcomed, thanks in advance!

[imjolly]

as you are currently using the SH2 there will be no changes to your actual connection apart from you see an increase in speed.  It is possible some of your devices cannot connect at 5ghz but it is the device which decides whether it connects at 5ghz or 2.4ghz not the SH2.  devices furthest from the SH2 are more likely to connect at 2.4ghz as 5ghz has a shorter transmission range

[gg30340]

It is your devices that select which channel to select not the Smarthub 2.

If you were to be able to split that channels you would obviously need to name them differently and yes you could then control the device selecting the 5Ghz because you would just log it onto that channel and not log it onto the 2.4GHz channel and as such it would have no option but to be on the 5GHz channel.

Because you can not split the channels you could try turning off the 2.4GHz and select the 5GHz and you may find that it stays on that channel when you reactivate the 2.4GHz but there is a possibility that it will revert to the 2.4GHz. You would just need to try it and see.

BT will not routinely supply you a different router however there is no harm in asking if they can supply you with a Smarthub rather than the Smarthub 2. The SH2 does allow the channels to be split. Using the Smarthub would stop you from having/using Digital Voice should you still use a landline phone.

The Smarthub 2 will be able to handle your network and deliver good wireless speed but do not expect to get the full 500Mbps through wireless. There will be some loss of speed but I doubt you would notice it without doing a speed test. 

You do have the option of buying a far better third party router and using that instead of the cheap mass market BT Smarthub 2 . Most will allow dual bands to be split, have far more user options and are simple to set up. 

Again you would lose Digital Voice if you use or want a landline phone.

[WSH]

OK, one or two things to be aware of:

5GHz supports considerably faster speeds that 2.4GHz.

Speed is never likely to be as good as a wired connection because of the way wireless works.  It is known as “half-duplex”.  Basically, it can’t send a receive at the same time because it is too loud to hear anything when it is transmitting.  What it does is it sends a bit then listens for a reply, then sends a bit more etc.  Generally with Wi-Fi, 1000Mb/s really means 500 send + 500 receive.  Wired has separate wires for send and receive, so it can do both simultaneously.  This is “full duplex” and 1000Mb/s means 1000 send + 1000 receive.

Physics dictates that low wireless frequencies penetrate denser materials better, so 2.4GHz can penetrate walls and travel further than 5GHz.  (Probably the reason why you are having problems upstairs).

On the up-side, 5GHz is less prone to interference from other sources because of the limited range.

As has been pointed out, sometimes the 2.4GHz dominates because of these properties and you may be able to get a stable 5GHz connection by temporarily turning off the 2.4 until the 5GHz is established and then turn it back on again.

The latest builds might have thin walls but I believe current standards dictate the plasterboard be foil backed, for insulation.  Of course, wireless does not penetrate metal very well, (especially the 5GHz again).

If you do want to separate the 2.4 and 5, one way of doing it would be to buy a cheap wireless access point, (a WAP), and plug it into a LAN port on the hub, then run one band on the hub and the other on the WAP, (under different SSIDs).  It is possible to re-task an old hub to act as a WAP.  Essentially, you just give it a static IP address and turn everything off except the wireless part.

[Mellman]

Thanks for the detailed response - when it comes to a 3rd party router - do you have any recommendations on something that would be able to fulfill the potential of this WiFi package (500Mbps) (I may increase in the future to 1Gb but I know that cannot be achieved through Wifi). I'd be happy to purchase a router if it meant future proofing myself a bit and actually getting my moneys worth from this BT/EE package - do you know if it's a complicated process to assign a 3rd party router to the service?

[Mellman]

Thanks for the detailed response - when it comes to a 3rd party router - do you have any recommendations on something that would be able to fulfill the potential of this WiFi package (500Mbps) (I may increase in the future to 1Gb but I know that cannot be achieved through Wifi). I'd be happy to purchase a router if it meant future proofing myself a bit and actually getting my moneys worth from this BT/EE package - do you know if it's a complicated process to assign a 3rd party router to the service?

[imjolly]

@Mellman 

as you are actually an EE customer you may be able to get one of the newer EE routers with wifi6 or even 7.  you can try phoning EE

[Kodikid]

Wifi 7 router is £10 a month extra with EE.

All new customers on full fibre automatically receive the wifi 6 router. 

Ring up EE and explain that you require the wifi 6 router to take full advantage of your broadband 

Failing that you can pick one up on ebay for around £40.