RE-USE don't RE-CYCLE!

[PioneeringStar]

I've just moved from BT to EE for broadband. I have a perfectly good BT router and don't need a replacement. It works, it's fine and it's just there to connect our house to the internet. That's its ONE job. The BT and EE networks are the same network. So, why is it that EE insists on sending me a new router and then are going to charge me if I don't return the old one for recycling? I spent a good 20 minutes with an EE rep who was incredulous at the thought that I was happy with what I already had? "But, but it has WiFi 7!" I was told. Great! Don't care. Don't need it and none of our current devices support it anyway. 

Seriously, if an EE person reads this, give your customers a zero-fuss switch-over. No need to change routers. I can understand if we were switching from Virgin to BT or EE. It's a different technology, but when it's basically just changing the badge on the front it's cheaper and better to RE-USE NOT RE-CYCLE!! If you are so desperate to have your corporate logo slapped on our router, send us a sticker not a piece of binnable hardware.

[Matt_124]

It is usually the case that BT customers keep their same Hub on migration, unless moving to specific packages which would benefit from an upgrade.

Do you know which package you have went for so we can explain why you are receiving new hardware?

[PioneeringStar]

I was offered a Home Broadband Upgrade when I was in the store on Saturday. I have a receipt and been told that I'm to have a new router delivered today. As far as I was aware, it was a like-for-like swap from BT to EE full fibre broadband. Hence my "**bleep**" moment when I received the message about the router. It's a bit bonkers to replace perfectly good hardware and then charge me if I don't return that hardware for recycling. The EE website is not giving me any information beyond my phone yet.

[Viva15]

@PioneeringStar 

I feel your pain. I have several old routers going back a decade up in my loft which weren't at the time required to be returned. They'll all end up in WEEE waste eventually as none of them are any good any more, plus I'm on FTTP now anyway.

I have to make an assumption here, is your BT supplied router a Smart Hub 2?

If it is the SH2 you have, personally, I would take an upgraded EE router over the SH2 any day. The SH2 is now 8 year old tech. Just because it works, doesn't mean that it's providing you with the best user experience or, security.

I appreciate that you have stated that you have no need for a WiFi7 router, neither do I, but the latest router will provide better security protocols than the SH2 can provide, such as WPA3 Personal over WPA2. That might not mean much to you and it might not have any visible benefit, but it is still a security upgrade.

For myself, I use a third party router, one that I have control over. I can alter a myriad of settings within the router itself. I never for instance use my ISP DNS resolver, preferring a more secure DNS resolver that my ISP can't use to target me with Ads or sell my data. My router is WiFi 6 and it works much better than my previous rather poor in comparison BT and Plusnet SH2 routers which weren't WiFi 6 and so locked down, I couldn't do a thing with them.

There will be benefits to accepting a brand new EE router, so please don't dismiss it out of hand. If you're not particularly tech minded, none of this may matter.

Don't forget, when you return your old BT router, keep the proof of posting and do as some do, photograph the receipt so that if BT say they haven't received your return, you can at least prove you've sent it back.