Smart Hub 7 Plus - Signal rubbish?

[RiskyJ]

New to EE and really struggling with signal strength from the Smart Hub 7 Plus. In all my time having home WiFi I’ve never experienced such weak signal. It seems the router is completely incapable of penetrating walls. House is a very average size 4 bed. 

Rang tech support who were worse than useless. After failing to understand the issue was the WiFi signal they then misinformed me that no extenders were available for the 7 Plus. Eventually they conceded that they do exist, but that they can’t order them. I was then directed to the ‘value team’ who don’t seem to answer the phone. 

My point is; in 2026 surely extenders shouldn’t be necessary in an ‘average’ house?

[JimM11]

@RiskyJ Opinions do vary, the older Hubs are way better signal wise, and the WiFi7 BE chipset that you are using just may not be cutting the Mustard so to speak...

Those who have the 7 Plus do rave about it, as you are new connection then hopefully it has done all it's FW updates etc. You can see the version if your app is working. Getting Extenders may be an issue, connecting them has been a problem and EE are throwing multiples out the door so some may have loads and yet to return them all!

[RiskyJ]

The firmware version is r3.35.23-R-1648107-PROD-84001

I couldn’t see anywhere in the hub manager to check for a firmware upgrade. 
 
Just ran a speed test, 918Mbps at the hub, just 63Mbps upstairs directly above the hub. 

The BT Smart Hub 2 we had before this was miles better. 

[RiskyJ]

Apologies for double post but I can’t see an edit button. 
Looks like I’m at least one version behind (the firmware updates page here on the community confusingly says r3.35.24 is the latest but then further down says there is an r4

[JimM11]

@RiskyJ This is the history so far, the proposed one in the pinned post has not transpired as yet or NO one has posted it otherwise. Edit if you have it is on the actual post circled V symbol within 1 hour of the actual post, level dependant also!

You cannot do an upgrade, only EE push it out when they get round to doing so! BT Smart Hub 2 is a wifi 5 device so has way better penetration than the wifi 7, was there a reason you did the upgrade, that BT hub is good to FF900 but may be a little lower on wifi around the 600Mb/s mark at a reasonable distance. Your device does it have a number in the bar's etc 4,5,6,7 or blank for 2.4Ghz connected. EE have confirmed that until ALL the hubs are updated/upgraded then that is the point they will go correct the Table Entry....

Smart Hub 7 Plus
FW: r3.29.4-R-1511690-PROD-84001 and the gui is at App version 3.7.4 19/12/2025
FW: r3.35.15-R-1597208-PROD-84001 and the gui is at App version 3.11.2 19/12/2025
FW: r3.35.24-R-1648110-PROD-84001 and the gui is at App version 3.11.3 23/01/2026

See the linked posting below.

Solved: Switch from bt - The EE Community

You can if you still have it just put the BT Smart Hub 2 back on the connection, it will work fine.

[MrMirza]

I just switched from Virgin Media to EE. I have a Smat Hub Plus 7. The EE router is in the exact same location as the Virgin Media Hub 5 was (downstairs, center of the house). I never had any issues with the Virgin Media hub but the signal strength of this EE router is very poor. If I go upstairs and into my bedroom (which is still the middle of the house), I lose signal if I am on the left side of my bed but laying on the right side, the signal comes back. If I go into the next bedroom or the bathroom after that, forget about it! no Internet access here! This is really poor. What can I do? I am not interested in wifi extenders - the router should match or better the signal that the Virgin Media hub provided. I did request a Smart Hub Pro 7 the day I joined but they said they couldn't provide me one. I understand the pro version has better signal strength? I am on firmware version r3.35.24-R-1648110-PROD-84001 and connected using 2.4GHz. I have tried different channels.

[JimM11]

@MrMirza If you are not happy invest in your own Equipment! EE Smart Hub 7 Plus is just a typical ISP Hub and your VM was no were near that spec at all!

Flea market and one off these. EE WiFi Extender 7 Plus Device Guide | Device Help

And the proposed around the corner when EE get's to it all.

EE Hub firmware versions - The EE Community

Please note that Wi-Fi 7 routers will only benefit Wi-Fi 7 clients (not Wi-Fi 4/5/6 clients). And once you
do actually have Wi-Fi 7 clients, there is very little point in upgrading your router to Wi-Fi 7 if you are
not currently noticing any speed issues. Give Wi-Fi 7 technology time to mature.
The benefit for Wi-Fi 7 will be mainly for devices that are 'near to' (in the same room) as the router/AP-- expect a maximum PHY speed of around 4.8 Gbps for a 320 MHz 2×2 channel.
Understanding the speed increase: Wi-Fi 7 will make 320 MHz channels commonplace, instantly
doubling throughput over the 160 MHz channels in Wi-Fi 6. The impact of MLO remains unknown
(waiting for Wi-Fi 7 clients to appear).

[MrMirza]

@JimM11 I shouldn't really be expected to do that. I don't expect the router to be amazing but good enough for basic functions. The fact that I go upstairs and over one room (which is still central to the home) and I lose signal is really very poor. What do you mean my Virgin Media hub was no where near that spec? It performed way better than this EE router. I could go to the back of my house and still have a signal, a weaker signal but still present. No need for a Wi-fi extender. Now with this router, I can't travel very far at all. 

I'm not interested in Wifi 6 or 7. I'm interested in the pro router as it's my understanding that it provides better coverage due to having more antennas.

[JimM11]

@MrMirza You have TWO choices, go buy a Pro 7 hub off the Market mentioned earlier, or return to VM in your cool off period. You think the 7 Pro is better that is what you said, do you also have any idea's how many the Plus has compared to the Pro.

Third choice that may be way better and also financial would be pick up a BT Smart Hub 2 used, will probably penetrate wireless wifi were you need it most upstairs.  

[MrMirza]

My cool off period? I joined EE almost 1 month ago. I wouldn't leave an ISP purely based on a poor router. I left Virgin Media because they were overcharging me and won't give me a good deal (they did once I joined EE but then I told them enough messing around, it's too late).

EE offers the Pro router to some customers. What is the criteria for that? I'm on a 900mb package. I might take your suggestion and look on eBay for a Pro model. From my limited research, the pro has better antennas and coverage than the Plus but I couldn't tell you any more than that as I don't know.

I have a TP-Link AXE5400 router but that's used exclusively for VR.