topic Re: Unable to forward port 80 in Broadband & Landline

Unable to forward port 80

Yellow-Banana — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 17:28:16 GMT

I was with Plusnet but they moved me over to EE a few weeks ago. I was sent a new router:

EE Hub Manager

Product code: SH31B
Firmware version: r4.26.3-R-1923144-PROD-83002
GUI version: 3.14.5

I have a Synology NAS which I access from outside the home over HTTPS. The SSL certificate is provided by Let's Encrypt, and to renew the certificate, port 80 must be open and forwarded to the NAS. All was well until today, when the certificate expired and the NAS attempted to renew it.

It all worked fine with my Plusnet router, but forwarding port 80 does not work with the EE Hub Manager. The NAS uses UPnP to set port forwarding rules on the router. This works for all my other required ports, but it fails to set up and verify forwarding of port 80. If I go to the router's UI and forward port 80 manually, it is then listed along with all the other ports as a forwarded port, but it doesn't actually get forwarded. For example, if I go to an open port check tool, it says port 80 is closed.

There are some other threads on this forum complaining about this, but not all have the same router, and I couldn't find a solution.

I'm not going to do a factory reset, since I've only recently set up the router from factory condition, and I know from experience that a factory reset never solves anything, and it just wastes a couple of hours while you have to set everything up all over again.

Unbelievably, I telephoned EE support and was told that they do not provide technical support for port forwarding! This is EE, which is part of BT. I expected first class technical support, not this.

Does anyone know how to get port forwarding of port 80 working on a EE Hub Manager? Product code SH31B.

Thanks in advance.

Re: Unable to forward port 80

XRaySpeX — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 18:32:51 GMT

I tag @bobpullen who is a whizz at Port Forwarding Port 80.

Re: Unable to forward port 80

Yellow-Banana — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 18:32:37 GMT

Out of curiosity, I'd still be interested in whether this issue can be solved, but in the meantime, I'm so **bleep**ed off with EE support that I've just phoned up Plusnet and they are taking me back. Good.

Re: Unable to forward port 80

XRaySpeX — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 18:33:53 GMT

Curiously, yes, it is soluble!

Re: Unable to forward port 80

Yellow-Banana — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 18:37:46 GMT

"Soluble" is the right word, since I just dissolved the EE contract. 😅

Re: Unable to forward port 80

bobpullen — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 18:43:07 GMT

@Yellow-Banana - I am successfully forwarding port 80 so it is possible.

I assume you are successfully forwarding port 443 (or whatever you're using for external access) else you wouldn't be able to reach your NAS at all from outside?

What does the port forwarding table look like in the Hub Manager? i.e. what ports are forwarded, to what devices, and can you see any UPnP rules listed (they'll be greyed out with a tick in the UPnP column)?

Reason I ask is because we've seen other cases where port forwarding rules that are added do not work if they appear below automatically created UPnP rules. See my post here. That was a different hub type but perhaps the same applies to the SH31B.

Re: Unable to forward port 80

Yellow-Banana — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 19:00:09 GMT

Hello @bobpullen - thanks for your reply.

As mentioned, I've decided to go back to Plusnet, but because we won't be at that home until next month's activation date, I'm still interested in fixing the problem until then.

I access the Diskstation UI of my NAS over HTTPS on port 5001. Also over HTTP on port 5000, but that just redirects to HTTPS on port 5001. I only require port 80 because Synology uses Let's Encrypt for an SSL certificate, and the Let's Encrypt challenge requires port 80 to be forwarded to the NAS.

There are a whole bunch of UPnP rules listed. Some are created by the NAS, as expected, and some are created by Tailscale.

Re: Unable to forward port 80

JimM11 — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 19:06:07 GMT

@Yellow-Banana And also this post linked. Common look, common feel so common 💩

Solved: Smart Hub 7 plus - Port Forwarding horror. - The EE Community

Re: Unable to forward port 80

Yellow-Banana — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 19:18:46 GMT

Yes, thanks, I read all that thread (and other threads) before I posted. It's not really all that comforting to know that other people have the same problem and are just as frustrated as I am.

Re: Unable to forward port 80

JimM11 — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 19:31:52 GMT

@Yellow-Banana If you do not need the EE Hub for anything then just replace it with a proven Hub that works, one way to get round it all, Landline DV Digital voice if needed by EE is the only real stumbling block. Even though you get it all working any FW update from the EE bods may cause havoc on a fully working system, been there done that and no longer an EE Customer. Painful though it may be, once the uPnP rules are in and written that is the big stumbling block to get over. My opinion only....

Another way may be pick up a 2nd hand BT Smart Hub 2 unit, think that works well with none of the real EE currently mixing it up. Covers the landline as well.

Re: Unable to forward port 80

Yellow-Banana — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 19:35:18 GMT

Hi @JimM11 ,

I did ask the support person whether I could use my own router, if they could provide the WAN password, but all he could say was that they recommend that people use the EE router. Of course, he would say that. That was on his script.

A bit like Hi-Fi separates compared to the old music centre, I'm tempted to use my own components (modem + router + switch + Wi-Fi access point) at some point. Maybe build my own router from a little fanless PC with two Ethernet ports. Anyway, that's for the future.

We don't require the landline. It was there, but like everyone else these days, we just pick up our mobile phone and use that instead.

Re: Unable to forward port 80

JimM11 — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 19:47:44 GMT

@Yellow-Banana All you need is here, connection depends on copper/fibre for the modem stage.

How Do I Use My Own Router for EE Home Broadband? | Broadband Help | EE

Re: Unable to forward port 80

Yellow-Banana — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 19:50:40 GMT

Thanks, but as already mentioned, I'm going back to Plusnet, activation date mid-September.

Re: Unable to forward port 80

XRaySpeX — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 19:51:53 GMT

Yes, EE does allow the use of 3rd-party routers. However they may only investigate any issues unless you put the supplied EE router back. In Using & Configuring a Third Party Router you'll find everything you need to set up your router incl. the BB PPPoE creds. which are now the same as BT's.

Re: Unable to forward port 80

JimM11 — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 19:51:59 GMT

@Yellow-Banana Smart move.

Re: Unable to forward port 80

Yellow-Banana — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 19:55:19 GMT

That makes sense, but if you've decided to use your own equipment because EE technical support leaves everything to be desired, who cares? You are on your own, and probably better off for that.