Smart Hub Pro or Plus?

[Krakoan]

Hello,

I'm strongly considering EE as broadband in my new house but I can't decide between sticking with the standard Smart Hub Plus and adding Smart WiFi Plus extender or, alternatively, going with the new Pro equivalents. The £3pm difference is pretty immaterial and my decision will purely be based upon how useable and reliable  the setup will be in my particular circumstances.

The reason I'm asking here is because I went into an EE store yesterday to try and get a better understanding and had what I would describe as a pretty poor experience. 

My new house is an Edwardian Semi-detached which means that it's long and narrow especially compared to where I am now which is more cube in shape meaning that the existing BT router reaches every part of the building. When I move, the router will be in the front part of the house where I'm sure it will cover the dining/living rooms plus the bedrooms above quite happily. It's the rear portion of the house that I'm concerned about. I want the signal to reach the back of the house but in between the router and the spot I want it to reach there will be:

Dining/Living Rooms --> Interior brick wall --> Stairwell --> Interior brick wall --> Kitchen --> Interior brick wall --> Small utility --> 

I would estimate that the total distance between the router's intended location and the back of the house is 15 meters ... which is why I'm pretty sure I need to extend! Going back to the decision that I need to make, I have read a couple of times that the new Pro router/wifi running WiFi 7 doesn't handle brick walls being in the way so well and I suppose what I'm looking for is people's experiences with the routers and whether they've successfully managed to use either of the extenders over the sorts of distances that I'm talking about.

Thanks in advance 🙂

[JimM11]

@Krakoan Put simple the wireless network on Pro uses the 6Ghz channel to try it's best to be the high speed hog, it does not work as the slightest barrier in the way it falls over, If you Ethernet cable to each of the extenders/booster's/smart wireless what ever you wish to call them then max wireless in the area, as it shoves it all down the cable.

Mesh is a minefield, you want it done right then get a professional company who know what they are doing.

You can read and think as much as you like, until faced with it up front even the best off the best can just do oops, wish i had moved it over that way couple off feet, would have been better! 

[Krakoan]

Hi @JimM11  

Thanks for the response, that chimes with what I've read in my (extremely amateur!) searching. It's guess it's just the nature of home wifi that you're always going to have trouble getting a signal if a couple of walls are in the way . 

You can read and think as much as you like, until faced with it up front even the best off the best can just do oops, wish i had moved it over that way couple off feet, would have been better! 

I did wonder if I've totally over-thinking this so that's good advice to just make a choice and go with it because, whatever I choose, it'll either work or it won't.

Thanks again for taking the time.

[JimM11]

@Krakoan It is not that you are not aware, from your posting i could easily see that you were aware as you asked and pointed out all off the obstructions in the way. The problems are do you have wi-fi 7 devices that can and this is a maybe will work and play nice with the EE Pro and it's Extenders. There is NO control over very much off either off those units, they are heavily tied down and restricted, you have to use a mobile app and you will come across many parts on that tripping you up. As it say's on the tin 1 Pro and up to 3 Extenders as/if required, and EE make that decision what you need by test and engineers visit's.

Connect it up, move it about, the laws of physics cannot and will not be beaten by wireless mesh. There is better out there but it cost's and has to be done/controlled to make it all happen. The first is i bought 900Mb/s so I WANT it everywhere, and that just does not happen.

Your layout has a few little oops and you may get over the hump with them, Pro is future proof with it's serious 6Ghz speed will just NOT get through a wall lucky it stays strong in the same room, so that is your MAIN concern as it is used for the wireless backhaul, EE have not given it enough thought, no doubt they are working on it, either get's better or at worst more off a bumpy ride along the way...

Need some reading then go here. www.wiisfi.com 

And a few other useful reads.

Info links about mesh
https://www.howtogeek.com/290418/what-are-mesh-wi-fi-systems-and-how-do-they-work/
https://www.howtogeek.com/802557/mesh-router-mistakes-to-avoid/
https://www.highspeedinternet.com/resources/how-to-set-up-mesh-network#:~:text=You%E2%80%99ll%20only....

[Krakoan]

Hello again @JimM11 cheers for the follow up. 

Your point about comparable devices is a really good one and one that I'd failed to think about - I really only have one device that will take advantage of WiFi 7 and am not thinking of upgrading others in the near future which kind of makes my mind up for me. 

Prompted by your mention of T&Cs, I looked more closely and EE do indeed offer additional extenders if required and, if that doesn't work then I might have to accept that basic home WiFi will always struggle with multiple walls and long distances. If I have to live with that, I'll live with it. 

As you say:

the laws of physics cannot and will not be beaten by wireless mesh

... quite true! 

Thanks again, it's been useful to get some feedback and it's helped me make my mind up about what I'll do.

🙂

[JimM11]

@Krakoan We are here to help and advise, you never ever have to take it, point out the facts, and let the customer run with what they feel is the most comfortable solution for them! From confucius 

1. "When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals; adjust the action steps."