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?

[Saintmatt]

Thanks @JimM11, I wonder whether the Wi-Fi 6 thing only applies to Wi-Fi Direct from the hub itself as The whole home system is connected via Ethernet and operates separately from the hub itself so can be Wi-Fi 5. I have however not been able to turn off the Wi-Fi from the hub (as I did not know how till now) so will try it and just rely on the whole home system for now and see what happens.

i thought I read somewhere that this is what you needed to do (turn off hub Wi-Fi) with the BT whole home system, but have not been able to locate where I read it

regards and thanks to all for the continued interest

[JimM11]

@Saintmatt You don't specifically need to turn the router Wi-Fi off, a lot has to do with the positioning of the master module, that connects via the ethernet, they can interfere with each other, but the main worry is that you wireless wi-fi goes out, then later the ethernet pegs out, and if correct, then you would not be able to get to the router with the IP manager by either method to see what is going on, then router reset is the only way to recover. So it could be a cascade of events, process of elimination that's the problem to get to the bottom of it. But wifi 5 mode, then the wpa2-personal settings are first to see how it goes. Hang in there the new router is not bad once you get it working the way you need it.

[Saintmatt]

Thanks @JimM11. I am still pursuing a new router (the correct one ) with EE, but I have given in for the short term and reverted to using the BT smart hub 2. I was dropping constantly. BT up and running now for 3 hours . Unfortunately it only has 3 LAN ports and the WAN port does not double as a LAN (not recognized), but a switch is pretty cheap though. One thing I did notice, the information provided in the BT technical log is significantly more than just up or down. Now up to 58 pages in 2 hours!

[XRaySpeX]

You sure there's no setting on the BT SH2 to switch the WAN port OFF or ON?

[JimM11]

@Saintmatt Just had quick look, EE log 50 pages in 26 and one half days so far, about 20 items per page/log. ? did any of the changes have any desired effect that you could see, or was it still toast... If EE get the actual facts and send you a dsl router for fttc you can always give it a go and lets us know otherwise you can just keep piling them up! Watch for advice on the wan/lan, never used the BT but there will be a way no doubt. Hope it stay's settled.👍🤞

[Mustrum]

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@XRaySpeX wrote:

You sure there's no setting on the BT SH2 to switch the WAN port OFF or ON?

It doesn't.

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[Saintmatt]

thanks @XRaySpeX, yes found it…..

Although we deliver your Hub to you pre-configured for your existing Broadband service, there may be times when we ask you to change this configuration.For example when moving to Full Fibre Broadband.

The “ON” mode is only for Full Fibre Broadband, where your Hub’s Ethernet port 4 connects to the Openreach Full Fibre modem.

The “OFF” mode is for any other Broadband service using its Broadband port. Ethernet port 4 can therefore be used as a standard Ethernet port to connect wired devices to your home network. 

it was delivered configured for FTTP, turned off, rebooted and voila 🙂 

[XRaySpeX]

Thanks! You're welcome 🙂 ! Glad I could be of assistance & glad you found it.

[Saintmatt]

lol, sadly not sorted in that I have temporarily reverted to the BT router, but don’t need to get a switch now with the WAN hack

My battle with EE continues (to get a replacement EE smart hub +, the FTTC one)

[Saintmatt]

hi all, an Update….

BT Smart Hub 2 up and running now for 24 hours+ , WAN port now a LAN port so all good (Wi-Fi 5 not Wi-Fi 6, but then I am using the BT whole home mesh which is Wi-Fi 5, so no loss). It is just not the EE Smart hub +. 
I now have 120 pages of technical log in 24 hours. To an unknowledgeable eye nothing screams out as an issue, but there is a lot of ‘talking’

Can’t conclusively say it is a faulty router as I do not have a same replacement to test, and whilst there are no drop outs with the BT one so far, it maybe a specific EE router conflict that I was experiencing. 

still awaiting a new smart hub + but losing the drive to push now I have things stable 

will keep you all posted