EE Smart WiFi Plus

[Twiss]

Bungalow, hub at one end, on its own providing virtually no useable wifi at other. So previously used BT smart hub mesh system and one dish, which proved very reliable. Changed over to EE, found could not use same position for smart wifi plus extender as EE hub WiFi range less than that of old BT hub, so had to move the extender closer, which conveniently now allowed  ethernet backhaul to be employed. But relocating the extender meant that the WiFi at far end was now poor. Got a second smart WiFi plus unit from EE, paired with first unit, and located that at far end. Now have good wifi throughout the house.

1. EE advertise the system as a mesh but then say all units should be paired with and thus communicate with the hub. This is not a mesh, but merely a hub and a bunch of extenders, by definition providing a finite and limited range from the hub.
2. So many users state that the smart wifi plus units don’t communicate with each other and hence cannot be daisy chained, but surely that is exactly what I have done. Only by daisy chaining could the required range from the hub be achieved. Whilst accepting daisy chaining slows a system, the fact that I use ethernet backhaul for the first smart wifi plus unit mitigates that problem.

Whilst I now have a system that appears to meet my immediate requirements, it seems a far inferior system to BT’s mesh system. Am I failing to understand how the system is working, or should work?

[XRaySpeX]

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@Twiss wrote:

1. EE advertise the system as a mesh

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Where? They are called Extenders.

[JimM11]

@Twiss You need to go read about the wifi5 / 6 differences for range and speed, that will clear up some things for you, and you will never beat a wired backhaul over a wireless wifi mesh backhaul especially with EE Mesh unless you can find a method off controlling it!

[Twiss]

Where?  I quote ee.co.uk.  “Smart WiFi is mesh kit, which extends the WiFi range around your home when placed halfway between your router areas with poor signal.”   Also told by EE prior to changing over that essentially I was getting the same as my old BT mesh system. And clearly from the references in this forum, plenty of others had/have the same impression.

Not sure why I need to read more about the differences between wifi5/6. Am fully aware of range/ speed differences, that is why not surprised that I could not use the smart wifi plus unit in same custom built location as the remote dish of my old BT mesh system which was wifi 5.
Aldo fully aware of the advantages of ethernet backhaul, that is why I use it on my nearest smart wifi plus as it was in easy reach of an unmanaged switch, but it is hardly practical for most unless the lady of the house doesn’t mind wires all over the place.

So from the two replies so far, I assume that I am correct in thinking that the smart wifi plus unit is merely a wifi extender. Likewise, it cannot form part of a mesh, but it can be paired with, and talk with another, and as such can be daisy chained if required to achieve the desired distance reach.

[JimM11]

@Twiss If you can ever get EE to profess to the system working Mesh, Range Extending then you can let the Forum know, and yes if you kill your First Extender and your 2nd cannot work then you for sure are daisy chaining the wireless wi-fi on those two nodes!