EE 1.6gbps - Question relating to fibre modem and supplied Hub

[Ultrabeat]

I have ordered the 1.6gbps package from EE which should be going live on 5th December. 

I am currently on BT's Full Fibre 900, so already have the small white fibre model box in my home, but what I would like to know is if this Fibre modem is actually capable of speeds greater than 1gbps, or if an engineer will be needing to change this on the day?

I guess second to this, is the new EE Hub also the modem? I use my own networking equipment and I am trying to prepare what I need to be able to support the upgrade on day one. I know I will be able to put the EE Hub in bridge mode if this is the case, I am just also unsure how many 2.5g ports the new hub has?

[Mustrum]

@Ultrabeat    As I understand it, unless you have one of the later ONT's (fibre modem)  it will need to be upgraded.

The EE Hub is not a modem, nor can you put it in bridge mode, you can just carry on with your equipment plugged into the ONT - at the higher speed.

HTH

[Ultrabeat]

Thanks. Having done somes more reading it does seem that I will need to have my fibre modem upgraded to the newer Nokia or Adtran variants that support 2.5gbe. By the looks of my current unit I appear to have the 1gbe Nokia model.

[XRaySpeX]

1. Probably not! The older ONT only supports 1 Gbps Ethernet speeds, while the new ONTs will have a max speed of 2.5 Gbps. So it'll probably need an OR eng to come in & replace it.
2. With Full Fibre the ONT is the modem. The new EE Smart Hub Plus does have a 2.5 Gig WAN port & 4 x 1 Gig LAN ports. 

[Ultrabeat]

I really never understand why a hub would be offered that can only support 2.5gbe on the WAN, but not a single other hardwired device can benefit from the speed increase.

There is not a chance the Wifi is going to hit anyway near 1.6gbps either, so without your own equipment I really can't see what is being offered other than more bandwidth. 

[juiceof2limes]

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@XRaySpeX wrote: The new EE Smart Hub Plus does have a 2.5 Gig WAN port & 4 x 1 Gig LAN ports. 

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So based on this, the 1.6 Gig service would theoretically provide greater download bandwidth to the ONT and onward to the Smart Hub Plus if multiple users were downloading from the LAN ports at the same time, but as the LAN ports are only 1 Gig, you wouldn't really see that much of a difference to having the 900 Mbps service.  And then you add to the mix the WIFI and again you wouldn't see that kind of speed.  Or have I got it all wrong 🤔

[Ultrabeat]

Yes, there would be more bandwidth, so two people could download at 800mbps each at the same time for example, but no one device in the house will actually benefit from 1.6gbps with the EE supplied equipment 

I did the maths the other day and going from 900mbps to 1620mbps is pretty much going from 110MB/s to 200MB/s download, which could halve game download times. Whilst 100MB/s is no slouch, the bandwidth is absolutely less important in a home than speed. The chance of multiple devices sucking up all the bandwidth at once is pretty low. 

[bobpullen]

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@Ultrabeat wrote:

There is not a chance the Wifi is going to hit anyway near 1.6gbps either...

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Granted I'm stood right next to the Smart Hub Plus, but...

[TuckerUK]

Quick question are you upgrading from BT or is it a brand new order. As I was with BT on FF900 and couldn’t upgrade to the new 1.6Gbps package. I’ve been told by EE current customers of BT can’t get it without being a brand new customer. @Ultrabeat and transferring to EE from BT doesn’t count. 

[Ultrabeat]

BT Business customer, where EE have bought out my contract to move me over on this plan