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Daveb99
Beginner

on ‎22-02-2021 14h56

1,129 Views
Message 1 of 3

BT Smart Hub 2 and Whole Home Wi-fi......and wireless access points.

Hi, I’m a BT Broadband customer and looking to improve my Wi-fi coverage.

We have a large 5 bedroom house.  My current setup is a BT Smart Hub (the first black one, not v2) with a couple of Netgear AC1200 Wi-fi Extenders set up as Wireless Access Points, connected via Ethernet, at the far corners of the house where the signal is worst.   I have them configured with the same Wi-fi network name as the Smart Hub, so as you move around the house it is seamless.

However there are still some other places in the house where the Wi-fi is poor, and I started thinking about the BT Whole home Wi-fi solution.

I have a couple of questions.  I understand the Whole Home Wi-fi works by creating its own Wi-fi network separate to the Smart Hub.    If I purchase a Smart Hub 2 is that still the case, and if so do you still have to connect one of the discs to the Smart Hub via Ethernet?

Also, how would I then be able to utilise my RJ45 wall ports (where my Netgear access points are currently plugged in), can you connect the discs to those via Ethernet to duplicate full Wi-fi signal or can they only be used wirelessly to connect to each other?     Obviously having wired Ethernet around the home is beneficial, so I want to use that to create the strongest signal if possible.

Thanks in advance...

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2 REPLIES 2
Les-Gibson
Guru

‎22-02-2021 21h33 - edited ‎22-02-2021 21h36

1,096 Views
Message 2 of 3

Re: BT Smart Hub 2 and Whole Home Wi-fi......and wireless access points.

One of the WHW discs must be connected to the hub at all times. This link should be helpful

https://www.bt.com/help/user-guides/bt-whole-home-wi-fi-faqs---set-up-and-installation

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TimSmedley
Expert

‎22-02-2021 22h27 - edited ‎22-02-2021 22h28

1,086 Views
Message 3 of 3

Re: BT Smart Hub 2 and Whole Home Wi-fi......and wireless access points.

Hi Dave

We too have a large 5-bedroom house on three floors and prior to extenders I had had to hard wire Cat5 cable to each room.

I now have a Smart Hub 2 with 4 black Complete WiFi discs connected wirelessly as you suggest you would like, this is in addition to the SH2 which also access as a WiFi access point in its' own right.  As the norm I get ~85-95% of the hub speed on every WiFi disc and in every room! https://www.bt.com/broadband/complete-wifi

In addition, I still use the wired network around the house to various work desks etc using the RJ45 connectors plugged into the ports on the back of the SH2 and in this regard it is like any other Home Hub. BTTV also needs a wired connection. There are 4 ports available on the back of the hub. 

When  you first set up each WiFi disc you have to register/pair it with the hub by connecting it with an Ethernet cable, once paired there is no need for the cable. I have not tried attaching it to an Ethernet as a long distance spur to the HH as it is unnecessary in our home but believe that this can be done, someone else may be able to advise.

I heard that the maximum number of Complete WiFi discs technically supported is 6, you can have up to 3 under the guarantee in pursuit of a minimum of 10 Mbps, of course you can buy more! The discs have a mounting point on the back so you can hand them on the wall and I found thinking in 3 dimensions when placing them enables a better signal coverage.

Hope that Helps.  Tim

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