EE Smart Hub + continuous drop out

[Saintmatt]

Good evening, grateful for any advice etc on the following issue

i have an EE smart hub+, since changing from BT last year. I have FTTC so it is the old copper connection to the hub.

i have 4 Ethernet connections to this hub

1 is computer ( Mac mini M1)

2 is BT whole home WiFi mesh 

3 is sky tv

4 is Hive

all worked fine before on old BT smart hub 2 (didn’t have hive and had a pc not Mac back then), problems started about 3 months ago and have got worse - Wi-Fi drops then shortly after all the Ethernet links go, yet the lights remain aqua green on hub.

several engineer visits later, line problems have been identified and fixed (apparently), yet problem still happens almost on an hourly basis and need to wait or reboot and the cycle repeats. The last option is to change the router, this has not happened despite being sent 4. I am now the proud possessor of 2 boxed EE mart hub + (the FTTP version so does not have the broadband ‘in’ port) and 2 BT smart hub 2’s because they can’t seem to send me the right EE hub. 
before I bite the bullet  and revert back to the BT hub (will need to purchase  a network switch as the BT hub only has three Ethernet ports), any ideas why the hub loses all connection, not just Wi-Fi? I get that there might be Wi-Fi conflicts, but to knock the Ethernet link out as well?

[robh661]

Until EE request the hub back, unless you paid for it outright.

I would stick to the BT hub, as you say the broadband has been stable for 24 hours. 

So there must be a hidden fault, that’s not showing up on the logs or at the exchange. 
Because I had that years ago when they upgraded my standard broadband from ADSL 1 to ADSL 2. The broadband kept on dropping out, it wasn’t until the 6th visit that they tried switching the broadband back to ADSL 1, that the errors & fault showed itself. 

[Saintmatt]

I could actually accept the BT hub as a replacement, I just wanted the most up to date one and a direct replacement for what I had, however this has shown me that in my particular case the BT hub is sufficient at this time.

It is however interesting the difference in information that the two routers provide in their technical logs

ee is simply up and down times of the ports since last reset

bt is the following (just a snapshot)

ed:AllTime and dateMessage

22:27:54, 18 Sep.

ARP [del] br0 192.168.1.251 34:3e:a4:35:71:94

22:27:53, 18 Sep.

admin login success from 192.168.1.139

22:27:43, 18 Sep.

DHCP device Connected: 192.168.1.217, 60:74:f4:33:b5:ce, unknown

22:27:43, 18 Sep.

LAN [ADD] ARP 192.168.1.217 with 60:74:f4:33:b5:ce from br0(eth0)

22:27:43, 18 Sep.

Receive a DHCP request

22:26:49, 18 Sep.

DHCP device Disconnected: 192.168.1.217, 60:74:f4:33:b5:ce, unknown

22:26:48, 18 Sep.

LAN [DEL] ARP 192.168.1.217 with 60:74:f4:33:b5:ce from br0

22:26:46, 18 Sep.

ARP [del] br0 192.168.1.217 60:74:f4:33:b5:ce

22:26:44, 18 Sep.

DHCP device Connected: 192.168.1.251, 34:3e:a4:35:71:94, Ring-357194

22:26:44, 18 Sep.

DHCP device Disconnected: 192.168.1.251, 34:3e:a4:35:71:94, Ring-357194

22:26:44, 18 Sep.

LAN [ADD] ARP 192.168.1.251 with 34:3e:a4:35:71:94 from br0(eth0)

22:26:44, 18 Sep.

ARP [add] br0(eth0) 192.168.1.251 34:3e:a4:35:71:94

22:26:44, 18 Sep.

LAN [DEL] ARP 192.168.1.251 with 34:3e:a4:35:71:94 from br0

22:26:42, 18 Sep.

ARP [del] br0 192.168.1.251 34:3e:a4:35:71:94

22:26:16, 18 Sep.

Receive a DHCP request

22:26:02, 18 Sep.

Receive a DHCP request

22:26:02, 18 Sep.

ARP [add] br0(eth0) 192.168.1.217 60:74:f4:33:b5:ce

22:25:45, 18 Sep.

Receive a DHCP request

22:25:25, 18 Sep.

admin timeout from 192.168.1.139

22:24:38, 18 Sep.

Receive a DHCP request

22:24:06, 18 Sep.

Receive a DHCP request

22:23:58, 18 Sep.

DHCP device Connected: 192.168.1.217, 60:74:f4:33:b5:ce, unknown

[JimM11]

@Saintmatt Logging of the events to the router does seem like a lot as you say, but not able to compare as do not know about the BT Smarthub2, and as EE have sent you 2 units, do they look brand new, FW versions would have a look see, not sure how this would be effected so you may be on an OOB with no updates, you can compare one to the other as you have a couple of them. As long as the router can handle the logging it should be ok, and once full as long as it clears log but you will see that by start end dates, IF it is like the EE logging, can you apply filters to see what's going on, will lower page counts.

Would be good if you can re-iterate the exact fault that was happening with regards to the EE Smarthub+ now you are getting the feel off the operation. It is very difficult without precise details to advise. Your general attachment you have said so we know that, If concerned about logging take a look see on the BT forum incase some OP has raised before? edit link below if needed to go look.

Solved: Smarthub 2 Firmware latest version? - Page 3 - BT Community

[Saintmatt]

You raise an interesting point re BT units and whether brand new (ie refurb). I looked at the first page of the log copied below and noted there were entries for October 1st before my boot up on 17th

Page 123 of 123

16:58:50, 17 Sep.

2.4G WiFi UP

16:58:50, 17 Sep.

5G WPS feature enabled

16:58:50, 17 Sep.

5G WPA2 mode selected

16:58:50, 17 Sep.

5G WiFi UP

00:00:29, 01 Oct.

Booting firmware v0.40.00.04147-BT (Fri Apr 14 12:04:31 2023)

00:00:25, 01 Oct.

System start Button press (PowerButton)

00:00:25, 01 Oct.

System up

00:00:23, 01 Oct.

Has a problem to connect to SAAF framework (4 times)

00:00:23, 01 Oct.

2.4G WiFi auto selected channel 11 Bandwidth:20M(Reason:boot)

00:00:11, 01 Oct.

2.4G WiFi scan(Reason:boot)

00:00:08, 01 Oct.

2.4G WPS feature enabled

00:00:08, 01 Oct.

2.4G WPA2 mode selected

00:00:08, 01 Oct.

2.4G WiFi UP

00:00:08, 01 Oct.

5G WPS feature enabled

00:00:08, 01 Oct.

5G WPA2 mode selected

00:00:08, 01 Oct.

5G WiFi UP

00:00:00, 01 Oct.

Configuration file is corrupted, reset to default automatically

[JimM11]

@Saintmatt So looking at your quick extract, and the FW link i sent, you are back in 2023 when it was last updated, and as i say not sure how this would be done now, question for you to ask of EE Tech support, surprised the log is maintained but it is a GOOD feature, there may be a way to dump the log to a file, if possible that is what i would do and see that it's captured on the PC, then find if a way to clear the log, switch off and restart from today! Some devices log a lot, and it may or may not be a bad thing. And you are finding that you have more stability with the BT router....

[Saintmatt]

@JimM11 thanks, I am in clover currently re stability. Hard to get used to no drops at all.

• the extract is just the first page , and shifts to now, halfway through. Later there are entries to confirm firmware updates to current latest.
• log has been exported and saved by me. It appears to have slowed down (number of pages no speed lol), maybe a lot of updates and settling down! currently 125 pages. I will look to see if a reset will clear .

[JimM11]

@Saintmatt Always what happens, you get the old gear just working away fine, throw the cat amongst pigeons and merry hell breaks out, now everything is upset and you have to find that cat and get rid of it for it all to settle down again. Trust me when i say this, it can be painful to get a new system up and running, when you had no issues with the previous!!!! But you are fighting the case, and no doubt learning a lot as you go along....

[Saintmatt]

Thanks 🙂

I think that once I realised that using the whole home mesh meant I wasn’t using wifi6, then the additional capabilities of the smart hub + compared to the older BT smart hub 2 were of no consequence. Also, I suspect the EE hub (based on the content of the logs) is heavily dumbed down compared to its BT one, despite the BT one being older. 

[Saintmatt]

Greetings, I thought I would give you all an update.

i eventually got the correct replacement EE smarthub plus (31B) FTTC, and after 15 uninterrupted days of broadband, swapped out the Replacement BTSmarthub 2 that I was sent in error, for the new EE one………………….

excellent stability etc for about an hour then constant crashes. I have swapped the BTsmarthub2 back in.

i can only assume that there is a conflict within the EE hub and my set up which is not there with the BT one.

someone suggested the whole home Wi-Fi may be the conflict, this is connected to one port so I can’t follow why it would knock out the whole broadband, ie the othe4 three ports, and Wi-Fi Direct from router

anyway the BT hub is stable so happy enough ……….. for now

EE help/desk unhelpful,

[JimM11]

@Saintmatt Sorry to hear the EE router did not fix, and same experience as before, the other OP posting did not get either, but would be sure that if he still had the same issue then would have posted up and he had EE replace to the smartwifi units, it maybe that the Wholehome is not working and swamping the ethernet in such a way that it does not like, but as you say back on the BT router and you are good to go.