EE app - "Restore old hub's settings" vs "Back up new hub" vs "Do this later"

Dabmonger · ‎26-10-2025

I changed the admin password that my SH+ came with to a new password (using Hub Manager).

I entered a password that was less than 12 characters, which resulted in an error.

However, when I was asked again to enter my old password, it didn't work. It turned out that the less than 12 character password that I entered had actually been taken as the new password, despite the error. Perhaps I should now change this new password to a longer password, but whilst pondering this I discovered that the EE app would no longer display Manage > Broadband.

Does changing the a hub's admin password always affect the EE app?

In the end, I uninstalled the EE app, and I see that I have to pair the app with my hub once again.

I've started this process, and I've reached the page where I'm given the options of:

"Restore old hub's settings"

"Back up new hub"

or I can select "Do this later".

What should I do here, bearing in mind that I'm just trying to get my current hub re-paired with the EE app, and don't want to change any of the settings on the hub?

Dabmonger · ‎29-10-2025

"It should have reprompted you for the new admin password (I'm pretty sure I've seen it do that in the distant past). If it didn't, then it would explain why things broke."

I changed the admin password using Hub Manager on a web browser - when you say "it", do you mean the EE app?

To do anything on Hub Manager, the admin password is required (obviously so that only people knowing the password can make changes and see certain hub info).

On the other hand, the EE app is paired with the hub, and to access the hub on the EE app, a user must first pass the app's security (eg fingerprint, PIN) , which is the same idea as entering the admin password in Hub Manager.

What I can't understand is why the app cannot be set up by EE so that where the hub admin password has been changed, and the user selects "Broadband", the app says that since the admin password has been changed, the new password will have to be entered in order to proceed (thus avoiding the need to carry out a re-pair).

But, unfortunately, a re-pairing seems to be required after changing the admin password.

As for Restore old hub's settings, I assume that this is for the situation where a user had a previous hub, and wishes to use this old hub's settings on the new hub (or for the case where a factory reset has been performed, and the user wishes to use their previous settings).

As for Back up new hub, I cannot recall backing up my hub's settings in the past, and I cannot find where to do this on the EE app after the hub has been paired/re-paired (I decided to skip this when re-pairing the hub, as I didn't want to risk messing anything up, and having to reset the hub, or whatever) .

On asking the EE guide on chat, they said that these back up and restore options are in relation to contacts on a Digital Voice Phone. I would've thought though, as you say, that they're to do with the backing up of the WiFi settings.

bobpullen · ‎29-10-2025

@Dabmonger wrote:
What I can't understand is why the app cannot be set up by EE so that where the hub admin password has been changed, and the user selects "Broadband", the app says that since the admin password has been changed, the new password will have to be entered in order to proceed (thus avoiding the need to carry out a re-pair).

This was exactly my point. The App should have prompted you for the new admin password. That's the bit I've seen happen in the past when I went through a similar journey.

@Dabmonger wrote:
As for Back up new hub, I cannot recall backing up my hub's settings in the past, and I cannot find where to do this on the EE app...

Tap into the hub, tap the 'three dot' overflow menu top-right and looks like the option's there.

@Dabmonger wrote:
On asking the EE guide on chat, they said that these back up and restore options are in relation to contacts on a Digital Voice Phone. I would've thought though, as you say, that they're to do with the backing up of the WiFi settings.

Not in my experience they're not. My Digital Voice contacts are lost after a factory reset, whether the Transfer/Backup journey is used or not.

Dabmonger · ‎29-10-2025

Thx a lot for that.

I think only once before have I tapped on the hub in the app, in order to get that page, and that's because I read it somewhere.

It's not obvious (to me anyway!) that hitting the hub will bring up a screen of options.

That's great to know.

Perhaps in my case the issue was that I chose a password that had less than 12 characters, in which case the password was both accepted (it's working) and rejected (I may have gotten an error, not just a warning, and the pair with the app was broken)?!

I don't fancy experimenting, as I was alluding to, as I don't want to take any chances that I'll have to carry out a factory reset 🙂

Dabmonger · ‎19-11-2025

One further moan about re-pairing the EE app to the hub after the admin password has been changed.

We determined that this may not always be necessary after the admin password has been changed - it may have happened in my case as I changed the admin password to one with less than 12 characters.

I've just had to go through the process of uninstalling and reinstalling the EE app on another phone, and I had to try and recall what to do again.

I just cannot understand for the life of me why the EE app cannot just say that the admin password on the registered hub on the app has been changed, and thus the new one has to be provided.

What a palaver to go through, and is likely to cause many customers a big issue regarding to what to do if they don't already know.

A Google search said that a hub factory reset is required - I hope people realise that that's not the case at all.