BT Smart Hub 2 Firmware Updates.

[Mitch3]

Hello,

Is there an option in Smart Hub Manager, or elsewhere, to pause/suspend Firmware updates for the Smart Hub 2?

If we go on holiday we connect some freestanding battery powered Security Cameras (2.4 Band) to our router via an App on our phone. If an update is applied to a Windows PC a reboot is required, and I assume with a Smart Hub 2 Firmware update a restart may also be needed? If this happens any battery devices will lose contact with the Hub until we return - they will not reconnect themselves. Can I suspend these updates to avoid reboots?

Thanks for your help,

Jim.

[licquorice]

Unfortunately you can't.

[DarrenDev]

Hubs can reboot at any time if they need to - not just for updates. e.g. if they're running low on memory, or a configuration change is made on your line.
The only way I can think of that your devices are guaranteed to not lose wifi signal is to use a separate access point - e.g. a Wifi extender. These will maintain the wifi signal, even if the broadband goes down.

[Mitch3]

Thanks for the replies. The wifi extender option is interesting. I'm not sure how that would be set up? That's a bit beyond my knowledge level. Normally the devices are connected to the 2.4GHz band through a mobile connected to the router at that band. If the hub is restarted would that also knock out the connection to the wifi extender?

Thanks.

[DarrenDev]

Buy any wifi extender (whatever you can find that is cheap). Follow device instructions to connect it to the hub, It'll then broadcast a new wifi network - connect your phone to that, and then set the cameras up to use it.

If the hub is rebooted then the wifi extender network will keep running, so your cameras will remain connected to it. They won't have access to the internet, but they won't know that. When the hub comes back up, everything will go back to normal.

[Mitch3]

Thanks very much for that info. Sounds like a great solution and I'll certainly look in to that.

Much appreciated.

Jim.

[licquorice]

Seems odd that the cameras don't reconnect when WiFi is restored.

[DarrenDev]

My thoughts too @licquorice, though being battery powered I guess they can only keep retrying for so long.

[Mitch3]

I tried today to see if they reconnected.  Turned the cameras on then switched off the router for a minute.  

The Ring cameras reconnected but the other cheaper one didn't. Maybe it's more to do with the type of camera.

Thanks for all your help. 

[Mitch3]

Hi I wanted to ask an add on question about the wifi extender that Darren Dev mentioned please? We are waiting for the activation of our BT Fibre2 service. We are allowed to keep our existing router which is a Zyxel VMG3925-B10B (2019)  from our present ISP. If I wanted to connect our 2.4 devices to our old router and keep the Smart Hub2 as is, as Darren suggested, how would I connect the Zyxel to the Smart Hub2 and would I need to reconfigure the Zyxel? Would a factory reset of the Zyxel be enough to get the 2 routers to talk to each other?   The Zyxel broadcasts 2.4 and 5g separately. 

Any advice would be grateful. 

Thanks.