Hub Horrors, Disc Dilemmas, Speed Shocks - BT H/W - Bin it?

[dave44]

I don't use the BT Hub. I also have FTTP and have my Deco in router mode. It's basic as far as routers go,  but then so is the BT Hub and at least the Deco allows you to change DNS servers.

It's not that BT don't like you doing it., they don't care. It's just that it is unsupported. Don't call them and ask for help setting it up, and if you ever have a fault they will ask you to test it with their provided equipment, which is reasonable I suppose.

[naylor2006]

Yeah it’s totally reasonable for BT not to support you with a 3rd party router.

Having said that they are one of the easier ISP’s to get going with 3rd party, everyone has the same PPPOE username and password and the chap authentication method is widely supported. Most PPPOE wizards on a factory reset 3rd party will work perfectly.

Sky for example use DHCPv6 PD on their FTTP, which isn’t as straight forward.

I use an ER-X with my FTTP 900 and it’s bang on.

[originalracingsnake]

Thank you all for the encouragement and advice here. I'm going to be buying a Deco setup today. Once that is done, I'll let you know what I bought, and when it is setup, how it is performing in comparison to my BT equipment.

[naylor2006]

If you know what youre doing its always best to use your own gear, just keep the BT Hub in a cupboard somewhere incase there is ever an issue and you need support.

The faster internet gets the more the issue of WIFI comes up, alot of customers are like, "I pay for 900Mbps and yet I only get 150Mbps what the hell is going on?" Without the knowhow of going on your own you are kind of stuck.

Its almost pointless going for the top wack connection if devices are relying on WIFI. If say you wanted at least 500Mbps of WIFI in every room you are going to need alot of WIFI AP's. I dont need it but I have a Wholehome disc in every room with them all connected to the ethernet back end, the AC2600 WH discs will give me about 400-500Mbps in each room to WIFI devices whilst I have 900 at my direct ethernet. Home networking is a bit of a hobby so overkill is fun.

Hope you enjoy the Deco!

[originalracingsnake · Accepted solution]

*** UPDATE ***

I ordered a pair of TP-Link Deco XE75's. Ordered from Amazon at 10am, arrived the SAME day at 7pm...

This is how I got on....

Opened the box, pulled the units out. I downloaded the app by scanning the QR code in the "Quick Start" guide, fired it up and went through the procedure.

Ensure you have data coverage for the mobile you are running the TP Link app on.

Unplug the BT router and plug in the ethernet cable from the Openreach box into the Deco RJ45 port.

The app will find the Deco, run a "wizard" to get you connected to your ISP, all I needed was the BT username and password (Googled it) and after 5 minutes, we were in business. Configured the SSID, password, and did a speed test. All good so far.

I went up to the 3rd floor of the house, plugged in the second Deco, waited for 2 minutes, done.

I'm getting 490Mbps next to the Deco downstairs. 150 in the room next to it which used to be 20! 250 in the kitchen which was 50.

Upstairs, I'm seeing 160-200MBps, it was, wait for it......... <=20Mbps.

Am I happy I spent the money? No. Am I pleased with the performance, ease of set-up and stability? YES!

Moral of the story here? If you want whole home coverage, and have a house that is not made from straw and sticks, and your current BT kit isn't cutting it, buy some Decos. I allowed BT 3 chances to fix the issues and they either wouldn't, couldn't or just hoped I'd go away and fix it at my own expense/time. Which I have.

[naylor2006]

Total win for you and also so satisfying solving something yourself, and now you can enjoy the freedom of your own gear.

Like I said, I actually use BT Wholehome but the kit you buy yourself which you can use for any ISP, I used to use it with my Virgin Cable, there are no stud style partitions in my house so every wall is a problem, I have alot of AP's to cover the house.

Hey over time you may find ways of getting ethernet to those other DECO's....and once they are all hooked up your going to be getting huge speed in every room!

They are WIFI 6E arent there those ones so you should be able to get well over 500Mbps if the client device supports it, of course that will only be achievable from ones that are connected via ethernet to the router, as you can see the daisy chain hops do dramatically decrease performance.

Chuffed for you, just dont end up like I did, obsessed and end up with 8 AP's all hooked back to ethernet because you want a pointless 500Mbps WIFI in every room 🤣