topic Re: Smart Hybrid Connect in Broadband & Landline

Smart Hybrid Connect

Lundavra — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 10:39:53 GMT

Just been moved to EE from BT and sent a Smart Hybrid Connect.

It would be nice to see this actually working i.e. transferring to 4G. How long does it take to switch to 4G?

I hope there will not be a BT Openreach man at the door asking if my broadband has failed!

I had one thought, most of us have Powerbanks to charge our mobile phone away from home, it would be rather nice if a Powerbank coule be plugged into USB at the back of Smart Hub Plus - I presume one cannot be used to maintain the telephone in a mains failure?

Re: Smart Hybrid Connect

JimM11 — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 10:55:10 GMT

@Lundavra The transition is estimated up to 20 minutes in both directions, it was all in the help for the product! Pull the Internet wan connection off, DSL/FTTP whichever you have then time it when the Internet get's restored via the 4g Hybrid backup device, once you are online give it ten minutes, reconnect the wan again and see when you transition back to the main hub, speed check may be the easiest way to find out as the 4g just keeps the minimum connection going!

https://ee.co.uk/help/broadband/getting-started/hybrid-connect-set-up

Re: Smart Hybrid Connect

JimM11 — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 10:51:13 GMT

@Lundavra DO NOT connect a powerbank to the USB it DOES NOT have that function, the 12V D.C. Input is the way to keep the hub up via it's main power connection, and that is if the Fibre even works anyway at the Exchange level, the phone you need to take care of other way's depending on your specific type power wise.

Re: Smart Hybrid Connect

Lundavra — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 10:57:24 GMT

I would not do so without knowing it was possible but just a pity that
someone did not use a bit of lateral thinking and build into the design the
ability to do so. Lack of mains backup is the biggest criticism of 'Digital
Voice' and in future years I am sure that lives will be lost because of the
removal of a reliable telephone service.

Re: Smart Hybrid Connect

XRaySpeX — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 11:47:04 GMT

In event of a mains failure the router will switch off anyway. So its USB will be useless.

Re: Smart Hybrid Connect

JimM11 — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 19:08:28 GMT

@Lundavra This is the link to the latest and greatest EE one, although there may be some cabling issues around different units currently hub wise.

Battery Back Up Plus (Digital Voice) White | EE

Re: Smart Hybrid Connect

Lundavra — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 15:14:14 GMT

I think I would rather buy a standard UPS so it can be used on other item. I have one for the PC which I can use. I have an older one but has seen better days.

Re: Smart Hybrid Connect

Lundavra — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 15:19:37 GMT

@XRaySpeX wrote:
In event of a mains failure the router will switch off anyway. So its USB will be useless.

Obviously but if the feed to it is still working - the amount of resilience in the digital network seems variable - then for a small cost they could design into it ability to power from a standard Powerbank which would be useful if only enough capacity to make a couple of phone calls or EMails.

The resilience of the whole system is appalling when compared with what it used to be. I had to transfer a lead this morning so the DECT was powered down briefly which meant that the handset was unregistered.

Re: Smart Hybrid Connect

Lundavra — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 16:26:22 GMT

I got around to testing this today, I unplugged the Broadband input and as explained earlier, it did not switch immediately.

I was going out later for an hour or so, I unplugged again and when I returned home it was running on 4G.

Then I reconnected the Broadband input and left for an hour or so but it did not recover. I then switched off, I left for some time and eventually it recovered.