EE Smart Hybrid Connect WIFI - Ethernet Port Purpose

[kmccarthy4]

Hi there,

I recently renewed my BT/EE Fibre package and as part of the new package, I was supplied with an EE smart wifi unit (SW10A) and an EE smart hybrid connect WIFI unit (HC10A). Both of these units have a single ethernet port on the back  of them which from the instructions provided seem to be only used when setting these up on my BT Smart Hub 2. Initially I thought these could also be used to hardwire a device such as desktop PC which doesnt have built in wifi. I currently use a range extender in the office room we have to which my destop PC is connected but I thought with these mesh extenders coming as part of the upgrade, either of these would have replaced the existing one I have. Just to confirm, when i connect my desktop PC to either of these EE mesh extenders, my PC cant obrtain an IP  address on my home network thus cant connect. my only explanation is that other than for setting up these units to my smart hub (which I did wirelessly anyway), these ethernet ports are redundant. I could be wrong, but is there a way to activate these in the setting? and is the EE app the only way I can access the settings (cant seem to access by the ip address of either mesh extender)?

[XRaySpeX · Accepted solution]

Is your router the Smart Hub (2023) (SH20A)?

The Ethernet port on the Smart WiFi (SW10A) extender is either for connecting to the router for wired backhaul or for connecting a device to it.

The  Smart Hybrid Connect is not a WiFi extender but a mobile router as fall-back in case the main BB goes down. Its Ethernet port is for connecting back to the router.

[kmccarthy4]

thank you sir. 

[XRaySpeX]

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