Replace BT Smart Hub 2 with netgear R7000 router

[gg30340]

If all you want is to extend your wifi buy a wireless access point (WAP) and use that. They are more or less plug and play.

[Jake12]

Device specific vpns don't really guard against 'device to device talk' e.g. your non VPN TV comms with your non VPN router back to your VPN computer. Ie your are less protected compared to a VPN on the router itself

[licquorice]

@Jake12 sorry, but you clearly have no idea about what you are trying to do and how to achieve it. one minute you are wanting a router with VPN capabilities, next a simple wireless access point. No idea why on earth you think you need WPS for telephony.

At this point I'll leave to it 

@Kimberlin but the OP wants a VPN on his local router rather than a device whilst out and about. Entirely different scenario.

[bobpullen]

@Jake12 - I'm amazed that the Netgear would see noticeable improvement range-wise over the BT hub to be fair. On paper, it literally has one less antenna and the spacial streams on the 5GHz network aren't as beefy (it looks to be 3x3/3x3 as opposed to 3x3/4x4 on the SH2).

If you really want to persist with your endeavours (I'm of others' opinion that using and end-of-life product is rarely worth your effort), then the way  I see it you have these options: -

• Scrap the SH2, connect the R7000 directly to your ONT, use your VPN and lose Digital Voice/anything else dependent on the BT hub.
• Use the R7000 in routing mode via its WAN port connected to a LAN port on the SH2. I have no idea if this is even a viable option and question if the VPN would work anyway given the R7000 would not be looking after the Internet connectivity (the SH2 would).
• Use the R7000 as an access point by disabling DHCP, configuring its IP address to one in the same subnet as the SH2 and disabling WiFi on the SH2. You would connect LAN <> LAN when doing this. The VPN almost certainly will not work and you would only get the WiFi 'benefit'. Your Digital Voice handsets communicate using CAT-iq, not WIFi - so as long as they are paired to the SH2 then you shouldn't need to have either WiFi or WPS enabled.

TLDR: I'm not convinced there is a viable option here for having network level VPN, the Netgear doing the WiFi and retaining Digital Voice.

[Edinburgh-wg]

I'd personally not use a product that is end of life, as it'll not receive crucial updates anymore. Having said that, lots of 'current' products don't receive updates and have still unresolved security issues. Netgear is the 'fast fashion' company in the tech area, so I don't expect them to provide any emergency fixes. So, ultimately it's your call.

I'd not agree with the previous OP that it's just the number of antennae because what also matters is the manufacturer, with some being better than others, for example in relation to range: cf. Fritz!box 7530 Vs 7530ax.

Instead, you'll have a better result by having a RPi on your network and routing everything through it, DNS queries or VPN, to name a couple, if you wish to have these at network level, rather than device level. However, with the Hub, you won't be able to do that, unfortunately, because crucially, the Hub doesn't let you change DNS resolver names. Unless you don't use digital voice, you can get your own router otherwise.

[bobpullen]

I'd not agree with the previous OP that it's just the number of antennae because what also matters is the manufacturer, with some being better than others, for example in relation to range: cf. Fritz!box 7530 Vs 7530ax.

@Edinburgh-wg - you're literally comparing different WiFi standards (WiFi 5 vs. 6). Both the SH2 and R7000 are WiFi 5. I don't dispute that there might be some marginal difference depending on the environment; my point is that I can't see it being particularly substantial - certainly not worth the effort this post is going to!

Using a Raspberry Pi for DNS is not the same as running a network level VPN client on the LAN. Even if it was...

However, with the Hub, you won't be able to do that, unfortunately, because crucially, the Hub doesn't let you change DNS resolver names.

You don't need to be able to change resolver names on the hub. You could use the Pi as both a DHCP and DNS server and simply disable DHCP on the hub. In fact, that's probably a better way of doing things where DNS is concerned as it avoids proxying everything through the router. It's a moot point though as I don't think it offers much of a solution to the OP's problem.

[Kimberlin]

I'd literally guarantee that the vast majority of customers here wouldn't even know how to set up a Rasberry Pi. Most, if you read through many of the posts on this forum, apparently have difficulty resolving even the most basic of tasks involving anything to do with routers.

[Edinburgh-wg]

@bobpullen 

Hello? I said range. It's significantly lower on the ax model than on the ac model. In terms of distance, of course.

I said DNS *or* VPN.

There is always someone who reads without understanding.

[Jake12]

I have poor mobile signal reception so I have to keep the BT SH. Using the R7000 as an access point is preferrable as the R7000 WiFi does extend far beyond the Smart Hub 2.  Smart Hub 3 uses WiFi 6 so I don't know if I can switch SH2 with SH3.

[Jake12]

I have to keep Digital Voice so cannot scrap BT SH. The R7000 WiFi extends far more than the SH2. Can I switch the SH2 with SH3?