topic Re: Move from EE Bright Box router to EE Smart Router. in Broadband & Landline

Move from EE Bright Box router to EE Smart Router.

scooby73466 — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 11:46:51 GMT

I have agreed a deal with EE to change to fibre broad band and today I received the EE Smart Router that will enable that to happen. I am currently using an EE Bright Box router and have made a copy of all the IP and MAC addresses that currently have access to the network. My question is : do I remove the BrightBox router and install the Smart Router immediately, even though the date of changeover has been set for 3 days hence or do I have to wait until the fibre broad band is actually up and runnibg before I change to the new router ?

I have read through the user guide and that part of the installation is not explained. Sincere thanks and appreciation for any help that be given. Regards - David.

Re: Move from EE Bright Box router to EE Smart Router.

XRaySpeX — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 14:48:06 GMT

@scooby73466 : Do you have the BrightBox 1 (horizontal) or 2 (vertical)?

You should be able put the Smart Router in now. It will work on what you have now, presumably Standard ADSL BB, & Fibre BB and will auto connect.

Re: Move from EE Bright Box router to EE Smart Router.

scooby73466 — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 19:27:54 GMT

Thank you very much for your reply. Judging by the look of my old Bright Box I think it is the horizontal version. I have installed the EE Smart Router and I am getting on reasonably well. I opened up my Windows desktop and answered a question and I found that I could access the Internet and when I logged on to the router I could see that, presumably because it has a LAN connection to the router, that it was connected with it's correct name.

I have also been able to connect 2 iPads by going into the respective iPad settings and inputting the router password. I do have a query at the moment though. In the list of items connected to the router there is an item with an IP and MAC address that is nothing like anything that I had connected to the old router (I took a screen shot of all the items that could be connected to it). Anyway, thanks again, I obviously have more work to do.

Re: Move from EE Bright Box router to EE Smart Router.

XRaySpeX — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 20:56:45 GMT

Thanks! You're welcome 🙂 ! Glad I could be of assistance & trust it is now sorted.

The Smart Router will issue its own internal IPs which will not necessarily have any relationship with those issued by the Brightbox. You can change them manually & mark as "Always use this IP".

What is the name, IP & 1st 6 digits of the MAC of the mysterious item?

Re: Move from EE Bright Box router to EE Smart Router.

scooby73466 — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 22:11:29 GMT

Thank you again for your help. I have actually sorted out the mysterious item. It was my iPhone !! I do have a couple of other things which are annoying rather than serious. 1. I don't see a "Log Off" option anywhere when using the new router in the same way that I could with the old Bright Box router and when I leave I would prefer to log off. 2. I also managed to find a way of putting an icon on my desktop that would take me straight to the Bright Box. I know I only found that by Googling it but can't figure out how to do it now for this new router. I know that it is only the IP address for the router but can't figure out how to link it to a clickable icon. I also find the user guide very poor. I have searched YouTube & Google for a better version but to no avail.

Thanks again for your help. I do appreciate it very much. Kind regards - David.

Re: Move from EE Bright Box router to EE Smart Router.

XRaySpeX — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 22:27:02 GMT

There is no "Logoff" for the Smart Router but it is much less sticky than the Brightbox & will log itself out after some period of inactivity. That doesn't mean that it won't stay on the Home page but the log-on is only required to get to any of the Advanced Settings.
All you need is a new Desktop Shortcut to http://192.168.1.254

Re: Move from EE Bright Box router to EE Smart Router.

scooby73466 — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 22:43:32 GMT

Thank you again. You are being very helpful. I wondered if the Smart Router logged off after a certain time but couldn't find any settings. Yes, I realise that I just need a desktop shortcut to that IP address but can't remember how I did it last time. I'll spend some time tomorrow and get it sorted. It just saves time when wanting to log on and in any case, at my age and with my awful memory it means that I don't have to keep going and looking for the address every time that I want to log on to the router.

Thanks again - you are being very helpful. Kind regards - David.

Re: Move from EE Bright Box router to EE Smart Router.

XRaySpeX — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 01:04:52 GMT

R Click on Desktop.
New > Folder
Type URL & Name it.
Finish

Re: Move from EE Bright Box router to EE Smart Router.

bobpullen — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 05:50:03 GMT

@scooby73466 wrote:
Yes, I realise that I just need a desktop shortcut to that IP address but can't remember how I did it last time.

What web browser are you using David?

Re: Move from EE Bright Box router to EE Smart Router.

scooby73466 — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 08:24:31 GMT

I'm sorry but I wasn't able to follow your instructions. I created a new folder on the desktop and tried to name it as the IP address of the router but that isn't allowed because IP addresses contain certain characters. But thank you for continuously trying to help me. Regards - David.

Re: Move from EE Bright Box router to EE Smart Router.

scooby73466 — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 08:24:03 GMT

Hello and thank you for coming in to help me. My default browser is Firefox. Regards - David.

Re: Move from EE Bright Box router to EE Smart Router.

bobpullen — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 08:49:38 GMT

Thanks.

I don't think Firefox has a native method of installing a website as a self-contained app shortcut anymore (it used to, and other browsers like Chrome and Edge still do).

You could create a simple website shortcut on your desktop, by browsing to the Hub Manager, hovering your cursor over the lock icon at the left of the address bar, and click/dragging to an empty space on your desktop?

Re: Move from EE Bright Box router to EE Smart Router.

scooby73466 — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 09:29:20 GMT

Thank you for your reply. I just can't remember how I put the IP address start-up icon (what we used to call a batch file in MS-DOS days !) on my desktop. It wasn't a simple process if I remember correctly but I only did it a couple of months ago. I think I had to go to the Command prompt and type something but somehow I also got an icon attached to it. I have a funny idea that I initially found the process on YouTube.

I do have other minor issues, for instance I have a CCTV system with a network video recorder that is attached to the router via a LAN cable. This is so that the iPads can pick up the cameras at any time. If we hear any of our alarms go off we grab one of the iPads and have a look to see what's going on. This is working perfectly now but when I log on to the router it says that the NVR is not connected when it obviously is.

Thanks again and kind regards - David.

Re: Move from EE Bright Box router to EE Smart Router.

XRaySpeX — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 10:38:07 GMT

Sorry, I meant:

New > Shortcut

Re: Move from EE Bright Box router to EE Smart Router.

scooby73466 — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 11:12:14 GMT

Sorry but that doesn't work for me. It is obviously looking for a file, not an IP address.

But I have found out a way to do it (on Windows 8.1 64bit) :

Log in to the Smart Router > Right Click > Bookmark This Page (rename it if appropriate). Then go into Bookmarks and find the Bookmark that has just been created. Right click the Bookmark and click Copy. Then open the Desktop and click Paste Short cut. The shortcut will appear on the desktop which can then be moved around in order to keep things tidy. My only problem with this is that for the EE router the icon is not very distinguishable. Please see below :

Anyone know how to edit/change the icon ?

Re: Move from EE Bright Box router to EE Smart Router.

XRaySpeX — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 11:38:45 GMT

@scooby73466 wrote:

Sorry but that doesn't work for me. It is obviously looking for a file, not an IP address.

No it isn't! It says "or Internet Address" thus:

Finish & you end up with an icon like that of your default browser:

Re: Move from EE Bright Box router to EE Smart Router.

scooby73466 — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 11:56:06 GMT

Sir, you are a STAR. 👍 I hadn't put the http:// in front of the IP address. And the icon is exactly the same one that I had for my old EE Bright Box router.

A very genuine thank you. Kind regards - David.

Re: Move from EE Bright Box router to EE Smart Router.

XRaySpeX — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 11:59:09 GMT

Thanks! You're welcome 🙂 ! Glad I could be of assistance & trust it is now sorted.

Re: Move from EE Bright Box router to EE Smart Router.

scooby73466 — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 14:37:27 GMT

Thank you. Just starting to get back to somewhere where we were with the old Bright Box router. I am due to be switched over to fibre on or before midnight on Thursday of this week. Would you know if I have to do anything once it is switched over or is every done that has to be done from my end ?

Re: Move from EE Bright Box router to EE Smart Router.

XRaySpeX — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 14:47:16 GMT

It should auto sense the BB mode.