EE Smart Hub SH20A (Product No. GRV9517UAC34 2-A-SA)

[Jez54]

EE Smart Hub SH20A   /   Product No. GRV9517UAC34 2-A-SA   /   Serial number: +112133+194200****R

I was just sent this hub by EE.  This is what it says on the nameplate on the bottom of the hub.  Apologies for substituting **** in the serial number, for security reasons.

Can anyone please tell me if this is the latest version of the EE Smart Hub, or perhaps an earlier version?  The 2020 version?  I was not expecting it to be a Smart Hub Plus, but I was expecting it to be the latest version of the Smart Hub.

I've seen other posts on here talk about SH(2023) as being the latest version of this hub.  Please can someone tell me what it actually says on the nameplate of the SH(2023) for its Model Name, Product No. and Serial number?  Thank you.

[XRaySpeX]

That's the Smart Hub (2023), an early, 1st version. It has 1 Gig WAN & LANs and WiFi5. It has a DSL modem. It is EE's badge-engineered version of the BT Smart Hub 2.

It has been superseded by 2 or even 3 versions of the Smart Hub Plus with 2.5 Gig WAN & 1 Gig LANs and WiFi6. They have a DSL modem except the latest of these.

Even more recently there is the Smart Hub Pro with 2.5 Gig WAN & LANs and WiFi7. It has no DSL modem.

Which EE BB plan are you on including its speed?

[Jez54]

And then, when I connect to this "new" EE Smart Hub SH20A using 192.168.1 254 it just says "Hub Manager" at the top right of the screen, and not "EE Smart Hub Manager", which I've seen other posts refer to on here?  In every respect this hub manager screen and its menu system is identical to my "old" BT Smart Hub 2, including the total inability of either the BT Smart Hub 2 or the EE Smart Hub SH20A to run a Broadband Test / Speed Test, either from the EE app or from the 192.168.1.254 hub manager screen.

The ability to run speed tests from the hub manager or the EE app was the main reason for insisting that EE provide me with a new EE router after switching from my previous BT contract, as I've only been getting under 50 Mb/s (using Ookla, from my phone or laptop) rather than the 150 Mb/s that I'm (supposedly) now paying for.

[Jez54]

Thanks,  XRaySpeX

I wasn't expecting a Smart Hub Plus (any version) because I don't need or want to pay for a 300 Mb/s contract (or more).   As two elderly pensioners, who have extremely low online needs (streaming TV on an Amazon Firestick is the most strenuous activity!!) it was more important to downgrade my price from £32 for BT's 50 Mb/s offering to £29.99 for EE's 150 Mb/s offering during their Black Friday Sale!!   Very very sad, I know, but that's just what happens when Rachel Reeves takes away your Winter Fuel Allowance!!

[XRaySpeX]

Is that on Full Fibre (FTTP) or DSL (FTTC)?

[Jez54]

I'm on Full Fibre to the Property.  The people we bought the house from in 2021 said it was installed in our village much earlier than other villages or towns around here (we live in the Scottish Southern Uplands) as a freebie community benefit (a.k.a. "bribe") a few years ago by the windfarm developers.  So the hub says it will do 1000 Mb/s WAN & LAN, which I believe is correct.

When I do a speed test from the EE app, I get a red triangle / exclamation mark symbol saying "Speed test didn't work.  Our fault.  Try again or come back later when we've fixed things".   Needless to say, no matter how many times I try again, or come back later, it still doesn't work.

And when I go to the hub manager on 192.168.1.254 and click the "Broadband performance test" button on the home page, then "Test my speed" on the next page, I get sent to a BT webpage headed "Fix a problem with broadband and Wi-Fi".  On that BT webpage, when I click "Test your broadband" I get taken first to the MyBT login page, where if I put in my BT login credentials (or EE credentials, as I've kept then the same) I then get a webpage with URL  bt.com/exp/engineer-booking  which says "Sorry, we ran into trouble checking your service" please text us for help or call us on 0800 800 150.    Clicking the "text us" link takes me to a webpage with URL bt.com/exp/engineer-booking/text-us which says "Text HELP followed by your landline number to 61998".  And of course, since joining EE, I don't have a landline any longer, so that doesn't work!!

I'm just trying to learn from wiser people than myself what options I may have, before I give EE a call. 

[JimM11]

@Jez54 The EE router you have been sent is the replacement and equivalent to the BT Smarthub2 if that is what you had from BT, it will do the job you need. Link below will let you look at and compare if you click on it.

https://ee.co.uk/help/broadband/getting-started/compare-our-range-of-broadband-hubs

[Jez54]

Sorry, I thought I had replied, but what I wrote appears to have been mislaid or taken down.  I'll try again.

I have Full Fibre To The Property.  The hub says 1000 Mb/s LAN / WAN which I believe to be correct.  The gigabit FTTP was installed to our village very early as a freebie community benefit (aka bribe) by the nearby windfarm developers, many years before the rollout of FTTP to other not-so-lucky rural villages here in the Scottish Southern Uplands, many of whom are still waiting.

When I try to do a speed test from the EE app, I get a red triangle with exclamation mark symbol, saying "Speed test didn't work.  Our fault.  Try again or come back later when we've fixed things".  No matter how many times I try again or come back later, I get the same failure.

When I access the hub on 192.168.1.254 and click the "Broadband performance test" button on the home page, then the "Test my speed" button on the next page, I get taken to BT webpage (URL https://www.bt.com/help/broadband/fix-a-problem/broadband-and-wi-fi ) where I click the link "Test your broadband".  The next BT webpage is the standard MyBT login page, and after entering my BT credentials (or EE credentials, as I've kept them the same) I get taken to a webpage (URL https://www.bt.com/exp/engineer-booking ) saying "Sorry, we ran into trouble checking your service.  Please text us for help or call us on 0800 800 150".  Clicking the "text us" link brings up (URL https://www.bt.com/exp/engineer-booking/text-us ) saying "Text Help followed by your landline number to 61998".  But of course, in the process of switching to EE for the cheapest possible service, I no longer have a landline!  The perils of being such a cheapskate!!!

I'm trying to find out as much as possible before a callback from EE on Monday morning, when the person who arranged to send me the EE Smart Hub will be calling back to find out how I've got on with getting the new hub set up.

While I was bullying EE into sending me "their" hub (because I could not get my old BT Smart Hub 2 to connect to the EE app) I was blissfully unaware that the EE and BT hubs were exactly the same under the skin.  I've only discovered that since coming on here to try to find out why I'm still unable to do a speedtest, despite now having an EE branded hub to go with the EE app!

[Jez54]

I don't know what is happening here. I've now replied to your question twice, XRaySpeX, but both those messages have disappeared, been censored or been taken down.  I'll write less, and see if it gets through.

It is FTTP, with 1000 Mb/s WAN & LAN.

[JimM11]

@Jez54 You said previous "£32 for BT's 50 Mb/s offering to £29.99 for EE's 150 Mb/s offering during their Black Friday Sale!!"  So were is the post now FTTP is ok if that is what you mean, 1Gb/s is the line speed that is possible or even faster, but have you settled on the FF 150 package and being upgrade to it shortly by EE?