PLUS NET TO EE MIGRATION EXPERIENCE- SMART HUB PLUS PROBLEMS

[OldNumber1]

I was migrated to EE from Plusnet on 25th August 2026.  The Smart Hub Plus arrived a few days beforehand and on the day my Plusnet Hub 2 light was red when I looked at it in the morning, so I changed to the Smart Hub Plus.  Here are some issues:
1) The Smart Hub Plus light went aqua colour as expected but the phone didn't work - message of apology from EE on the line.  I phoned EE on my mobile phone and they advised that the phone line may not migrate until the following day....good job I have a mobile, both for the non-functioning of the phone and to contact EE.  The phone started working about 2 hours after the switchover

2) I could not get my robot vacuum cleaner and wifi extenders to work - these are WPA2 security, but the Smart Hub Plus is WPA3 by default, so none of these devices connected and the extenders are indispensible because my router is in one corner of the house and the walls are thick.  There is no mention of WPA3 potential issues  anywhere in the setup information.   Fortunately I have years of hard-earned experience on internet set-ups so I looked at the router settings and found there is an option to swap wireless to a "Compatible" mode i.e. WPA2.     

3) With WPA2 settings I was able to get the robot vacs to work, and I did not need to turn off the 5GHz frequency (the robots work on 2.4 GHz)  BUT neither my Wifi extenders nor my printer would pair using with WPS, I had to use the password route and re-enter the  mandatory 12 character password.

WhenI found I could not get the Smart Hub Plus to work with my wifi extenders I phoned EE who, with almost no delay, put me in contact with a technical person who looked at the router settings, agreed it should have worked in Compatible mode and ordered a EE-configured BT Hub 2 for me.  After that I found out about the WPS problem.

The BT Hub 2 arrived and works perfectly, it took me about 10 minutes to set everything up including my own passwords and WPS worked for the printers and the extenders.  The robots needed me to identify the router from a list, but that is easy.    The Hub 2 is more compact than the EE Smart Hub Plus router, which is useful as my router sits on top of my desktop PC base unit under an over-desk cupboard.   The Hub 2 status light is also easier to see - on the Smart hub you have to look at an angle to see it unless the room is dark when there is a slight glow in the two "EE" holes!    Definite case of form over function there.

I wanted to send an e-mail to EE Technical Support to thank them for the BT Hub 2 and to advise them about the WPS issue...but there is no e-mail address.  So I am posting this on the community as hopefully someone fro mTechnical Support reads these posts and my experience will be of use to other people who are "being migrated".

Regards

      

[JimM11]

@OldNumber1 Did you find that the BT Smart Hub2 version more resembled the PN2 hub that you had and used before.

WPS operation is slightly different when you go to operate in a wifi 6 mode and may depend on what EE is doing with it, there is a software start wps that may work slightly different.

EE Help is were you need to check anything in future, or BT Forum since you now are going to be using the SH2 instead.

EE like BT do not use e-mail at all for communications.

https://ee.co.uk/help/broadband/getting-started/compare-our-range-of-broadband-hubs

Different types of BT Hub | Broadband Help | BT | BT Help

[XRaySpeX]

Your points 1 & 2 appear to be solved in the recommended fashion & point 3 by the use of a BT SH2..

Nobody from Tech Support will be reading your posts. This is a public user discussion forum that can have no access to your specific account. 

EE provide no email contact. Try calling EE CS on the Freephone no.(Opt 1) in my sig.

[OldNumber1]

The BT Hub 2 looks exactly the same as the Plusnet Hub 2 except it is black.
It has been reconfigured to work on the EE Broadband service and includes
land line phone functionality.



I would not surprise me if WiFi 6 works differently from WiFi 4, all I know
is that WPS did not work with various wifi devices such as
repeaters/extenders that give acceptable wifi coverage in my house.



Whilst the router says BT on it, my contract is with EE. If the Router
works as well as the Plusnet Hub 2 I was using until last week, I can't
imagine why I would have any problems with the router other than those
caused by line drop and power cuts.which will involve EE's help service.



The EE Smart Hub Plus advertises lots of capabilities I don't need, e.g.
better wifi for multiple users providing you can use Wifi 6 and WPA3. I am
happy to have a router that is equivalent to the PlusNet Hub 2 in that it
works with my existing wireless devices!



Regards



Old Number1

[JimM11]

@OldNumber1 That you have got now BT SH2 and the PN SH2 are identical spec wise with the BT version having the ATA stage connection enabled.😶👍

The EE version off the BT SH2 is the SH20A same unit in EE clothing, with some slight modifications on the modem stage but would work just as well, one assumes.

[FoxRadio]

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@OldNumber1 wrote:

...on the Smart hub you have to look at an angle to see it unless the room is dark when there is a slight glow in the two "EE" holes!    Definite case of form over function there...

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I just had to make my own comment on this when I saw your post. I have an EE smart hub 6 plus. The design around the light on the front is ridiculous. As you say, it is impossible to see any light when looking straight on. I have set the brightness to maximum in the settings & it still cannot be seen. 

What an absurd design idea to "hide" the light behind the black plastic! 

My sister has the BT hub 3. The case is the same design (only without the broadband socket on the back), except for the light on the front. The light on that is around the BT logo, rather than hidden behind it, like it is with the EE logo.

[JimM11]

@FoxRadio SH3 is it a version with NO VDSL socket for a DSL Master Socket connection, will take a look on the BT Forum incase multiple versions like the EE Branded one it follows there is none see below single version only.

Edit:- FTTP version only to be supplied, those using a VDSL connection would get a BT Smart Hub 2 instead.

[OldNumber1]

As I wrote, I only wanted to inform EE that the Hub 2 had solved the
problem, and, as the Community seemed to be a forum to record my experience,
I could also to provide information for other people who have been migrated
to EE. I have no intention of waiting in a phone queue for that. If EE
send me a follow up customer satisfaction check, I will fill that in.



I would be surprised if EE don't periodically check what are hot topics in
the forum as a way of obtaining feedback without formal surveys. As it is
a public domain system, there is nothing to stop EE looking at the content.



Regards



Oldnumber1

[bobpullen]

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@OldNumber1 wrote:

3) With WPA2 settings I was able to get the robot vacs to work, and I did not need to turn off the 5GHz frequency (the robots work on 2.4 GHz)  BUT neither my Wifi extenders nor my printer would pair using with WPS, I had to use the password route and re-enter the  mandatory 12 character password.

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@OldNumber1 - how did you initiate WPS? The physical button on the router will only ever trigger WPS for the main WiFi network, not the Compatible WiFi network.

If you want to initiate a WPS event for the Compatible WiFi network then you need to do that using the software button in the Hub Manager on the Compatible WiFi settings page (below is from the new look Hub manager which you may not have yet but you get the picture): -

[OldNumber1]

I tried that when the WPS button on the side of the router did not cause the status light to flash.  It did not seem to make any difference and I may have lost the will to live....

I repeat, none of this is in the guides supplied with the router or the on-line help.  The Community is useful, but if you don't know a Compatible Mode exists, why would you ask about it, let alone ask about what to do if the WPS button on the outside of the router doesn't cause the status light to flash.