topic Re: EE Smart Hub 7 Locking Out in Broadband & Landline

EE Smart Hub 7 Locking Out

satko44 — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 14:32:59 GMT

Hi all,

New to EE broadband but I am now on my 3rd failed router. Had it fitted just over a month ago. I have the following setup: -

EE Router as my main router, I then have a Tenda Nova 6E mesh system plugged in and use that as my wifi (saves having to re-register devices if and when I change my provider), I leave the EE router wifi on incase the mesh goes down. I had the same setup on my old Virgin Media broadband and never had a problem.

The first router came with installation and I changed the following settings from defaults to some easier for us to remember.

SSID Name - SSID Password - Router admin password

Everything worked fine then when we woke up in the morning the router had no ouput signal (internet connection) on either wired or wifi. There was internet coming in and I could do a speedtest via the app which was fine (I couldn't connect to the EE app when I was connected to the EE wifi and I couldn't bring the router admin page up either with wifi or wired connection.)

Put it down to a faulty router and ordered another (While waiting for that I discovered my Tenda could be used as a router as well so used that. Had a guy out from EE's tech team who said he hadn't seen anything like this before and he ordered me a new one. Got the second router and changed the same things, this time the router bricked pretty much straight away. Got a 3rd router sent again worked fine (I only change the EE Wifi password as I assumed the other 2 being changed were causing the problem). This one then it just died in the same way after less than 12 hours. All router have had hard resets and they are all dead.

Like I say I can use my Tenda but its not ideal.....

Has anyone had this issue and am I doing something wrong ? I am worried about asking for a 4th one now as EE might think I am trying to break them deliberately........

Re: EE Smart Hub 7 Locking Out

Profile closed — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 14:58:54 GMT

Something isn't right 3 failed routers ? , i been online 30 years & never had one go (mostly ISP provided ones , few of my own), but three faulty routers ? cant be , here is what i would suggest , just do a plain setup with only the EE hub , wired directly to the ONT see what's happening then & i can assure you just changing the SSID Name - SSID Password - Router admin password would do NO damage at all i do this with every router i have had , we need to de complicate the setup & see how thigs go then , i mean you could have an issue before the router (unlikely) but just try EE Hub alone , no mesh & see how things go , but there is no way it could be 3 defective routers in a row if they are failing......something in the setup is making them fail.

Re: EE Smart Hub 7 Locking Out

JimM11 — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 15:00:17 GMT

@satko44 Why 4th have the other 3 never been returned? Really strange effect with it all and the way you are reporting,

Everything worked fine then when we woke up in the morning the router had no ouput signal (internet connection) on either wired or wifi. There was internet coming in and I could do a speedtest via the app which was fine (I couldn't connect to the EE app when I was connected to the EE wifi and I couldn't bring the router admin page up either with wifi or wired connection.)

The above makes zero sense. Recovery does that not happen for you?

Re: EE Smart Hub 7 Locking Out

satko44 — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 15:25:48 GMT

I currently have a bricked one which cant be accessed and a hard reset (an EE tech guru came out on the first one and he could resolve the issue). I am on my 3rd and it now doesn't work again.

What do you mean recovery ? You cannot access the router at all and a hard reset (push the pin in at the back) does not work. I am not aware of any other way to recover it, I haven't been told of another way by the telephone help or the guy that visited.

Which bits of don't make sense. There is internet coming into the router (this has been the same for all the routers). The light is light blue and when I connect via the app (as long as I am not connect to the EE wifi signal) then I can run a speed test to the router and it all shows good.

When I connect via the EE SSID then the app will not connect to the router, no internet comes through via ookla speed test and I cannot access the admin page (where you can alter settings). Even with a ethernet cable into the back of the router to my laptop there is no internet and I cannot access the admin page for the router.

It's as though the router is has decide to shut down my side.

Re: EE Smart Hub 7 Locking Out

Profile closed — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 15:29:39 GMT

What happens when you try to access it ? , blank white page ? , an error code what exactly happens when you input 192.168.1.254 ?

Re: EE Smart Hub 7 Locking Out

satko44 — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 15:30:33 GMT

Never seen this before myself.. The setup isn't complicated, it's exactly the same I had on my Virgin media which I never had a problem with. I just plugged my mesh network in and it worked fine for 2 years without a problem so it has to be a problem with the routers.

Yes possibly something on my setup is triggering something inside the router for it to shutdown but I don't know what that is and I wondered if someone else had seen anything like this.......

Is there anyway to hard reset the router apart from pushing the reset pin in for 10 seconds and ?

Re: EE Smart Hub 7 Locking Out

satko44 — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 15:34:19 GMT

It just spins and goes to the standard chrome failed to connect page, tried edge and firefox and tried on my phone, laptop and sons computer

Re: EE Smart Hub 7 Locking Out

Profile closed — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 15:37:22 GMT

Really strange , you got any adblockers ? VPNSs ?, any powerline adapters anything like this ? how are these routers plugged in power wise straight into socket ? no plugboards or UPS ?

Re: EE Smart Hub 7 Locking Out

JimM11 — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 15:37:36 GMT

@satko44 Just promote your Tenda to router mode on the direct connection for the ONT, if you need a wifi mesh wifi 7 module have a look if Tenda does one.

Re: EE Smart Hub 7 Locking Out

Profile closed — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 15:38:51 GMT

That is a great solution but i cant fathom what's bricking 3 routers , im stumped totally