Monthly hub rental

[Isbenals]

When I agreed my new contract- upgrade to full fibre 300- the cost per month had no mention of an additional £7 per month for rental if the Hub.

Surely this should have been mentioned as my bill now is more than I contracted for. 

[Matt_124 · Accepted solution]

That sounds like it's not for the Hub but for Smart WiFi or Smart WiFi Plus, which is the service package for the WiFi Extenders.

Whether you have Smart WiFi or Smart WiFi Plus depends on the Hub that you have. Are you using a BT Smart Hub 2, an EE Smart Hub or an EE Smart Hub Plus? If you are unsure feel free to take a picture of the unit.

Did you have WiFi Extenders or discs previously? If so, this is so that you can keep those that you have and continue to receive support from EE for them. Under Smart WiFi or Smart WiFi Plus you are able to have up to 3 Extenders to cover any weaker zones of WiFi Coverage in the household.

If you didn't take this package with your new contract, you would have had to return any of these that you had or pay a non-return charge, as all equipment is provided on a loan basis to the customer and remains the property of BT/EE. Even in the case of paying a non-return charge, these still remain the property of BT/EE and ownership is not transferred.

You can find out more about Smart WiFi here: https://ee.co.uk/broadband/smart-wifi 

It however should have been included on the Pre-Contract Information and Order Confirmation that you received through the order process, as well as the digital contract agreement process.

[XRaySpeX]

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@Matt_124 wrote:

Did you have WiFi Extenders or discs previously? If so, this is so that you can keep those that you have and continue to receive support from EE for them.

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Not if you now have the EE SH+ or EE SH Pro & you previously had the BT SH2 or original EE SH. They won't be compatible & in the case of the BT SH2 it & its extenders need to be returned to BT. This all depends on which routers the OP has/has which so far has nor been revealed.

[Matt_124]

@XRaySpeX 

Yes I had asked for clarification in my second paragraph on the type of Hub.

"Whether you have Smart WiFi or Smart WiFi Plus depends on the Hub that you have. Are you using a BT Smart Hub 2, an EE Smart Hub or an EE Smart Hub Plus? If you are unsure feel free to take a picture of the unit."

The £7pm will be the cost of Smart WiFi or Smart WiFi Plus, not rental of a Hub, regardless of which of the these it is. The post does seem to be more of a billing query, so I tried to cover both permutations of Smart WiFi at that price to answer the "why".

Indeed if a new Hub was provided (which would be unusual when agreeing a new contract/upgrade for Full Fibre 300, as stated by the OP), the associated Smart WiFi add-on would auto-dispatch the respective Extender device alongside any new Hub, and request return of the now incompatible models.

Smart WiFi Pro, to get the EE SH Pro and WiFi Pro extenders would be £10pm, so that was not present in my response.

I would be interested to hear from the OP as to whether any new equipment was dispatched, as that would narrow down to which of these it is.

[XRaySpeX]

I think you are confusing Smart WiFi with Smart WiFi Pro or Plus. The old-hat EE Smart WiFi with its white round discs only went with the white EE Smart Router.

[Matt_124]

@XRaySpeX 

I am certainly not.

There are 3 variations of Smart WiFi on New EE.

Smart WiFi is for continued possession and support for those moving across with a BT Smart Hub 2 and BT Complete WiFi Discs (black round discs) or those with an EE Smart Hub (WiFi 5). This is so they can continue to keep the discs and not have to return them in the case of the BT equipment.

Smart WiFi Plus is for those with an EE Smart Hub Plus (WiFi 6).

Smart WiFi Pro is for those who want the EE Smart Hub Pro (WiFi 7) and Smart WiFi Pro extenders.

https://ee.co.uk/help/terms-and-conditions/broadband/smart-wifi-terms-and-conditions 

[JimM11]

@Isbenals Did you get the Smart Wireless addon feature to your package?

[XRaySpeX]

@Matt_124 : Are EE upgrading users with the original WiFi5 Smart Hubs & Smart Routers to EE New FF BB & not supplying them with SH+'s but making them continue with their existing routers?

[Matt_124]

If they're already on Full Fibre and are regrading their speed, they'll keep their existing Hub unless going to 900Mbps where they may require and be provided with a SH+. In other cases where a new Full Fibre installation is required, then they will usually get new equipment in the form of a Full Fibre compatible Smart Hub Plus.

We don't know whether this was from FTTC to FTTP, or if new equipment was supplied, so my answer encompassed those possibilities in the absence of specifics or clarification.

Specifically I mentioned the example of the Smart Hub 2 above for BT to EE regrades.

EE will not make customers keep a Smart Router as that is not officially a New EE Router (unlike the BT Smart Hub 2), and Legacy to New EE Customers are treated as new customers in the absence of an established migration route and as such will automatically get a SH+ dispatched.