Smart Hub plus 7 - Always use this IP address Issue

[jsviper77]

Hi all, 

I have just switched from Sky to EE. 

I have the new Smart Hub 7 Plus and although most of it works, i have a couple of issues. 

1. When i try to turn on "Always use this ip address" for devices on my LAN it won't toggle. Therefore i cannot set fixed LAN addresses for smart devices etc around the home.   (I changed the DHCP Range/Router IP to match Sky's)

2. Port forwarding, although works, creates two entries every time.

Frustrating for the most simplest of functions.

Anyone have the same issue or can help shed some light on what might be the cause.

Is it a bug in the firmware, as i can see previous models had this working ok.

[Joycee501]

People have said that the Port Forwarding still seems to work, but this hasn't been my experience. When I go to Port Forwarding, and enter the details, an error comes up saying that "The IP addresses used are assigned by DHCP. Before you set up port forwarding you will need to configure a static IP address for the Internal device.". Then it will give another error, before eventually saving the changes. However, despite the port forwarding rule showing on the page; the port is not actually forwarded.

So are both things broken because of this firmware issue, or is there something I'm doing wrong?

[pdpd]

Hi all

I found the ultimate solution - bought a proper router. The EE Smart Hub Plus is trash. I bought an ASUS router for around £70 that is AX3000 spec and everything is 100 times better. Internet is much faster, signal spreads everywhere around the house, mobile app for management, all the IP stuff just works, and you can install a VPN at the router level. Not ideal but well worth the money for the significant increase in quality and speed. 

[jsviper77]

I have a call on Thursday with a Guide that is aware of the issue and to give me an update on the fix/My Options. I will ask them if they have an estimate for the fix's release.

@Joycee501 I have made the  port forwarding work, keep clicking and accepting the errors, sometimes clicking the plus sign. It may create duplicates, but found it does work. I was told that this issue is also being fixed in the next update as it is related to the DHCP static IP issue, which you can confirm yourself from the errors. 

[Joycee501]

Thanks for the suggestion. I have followed what you (and others) have said about just clicking and accepting the errors, and can see the newly created rule in the list; but traffic is not being forwarded to the device I am choosing. 

I guess I will just have to wait for the fix..

[Pecbeck]

Same. I fix static addresses on my raspberry,  outside of dhcp range as I did with bt hub which worked fine. I see my two port forwarding rules set ok in firewall, but ports are closed and not forwarding 

[Joycee501]

Just spoke to customer support and they were completely unaware of this issue and offered the following advice:

"You can't have a static IP address, only business accounts can have that, so you must upgrade".

When I explained that the reported issue is around static IP addresses within my network, they claimed that couldn't be done through the router. 

When I asked about the next firmware update, they claimed that there were no scheduled firmware upgrades in January, or February... 

Can you please clarify that this is incorrect and give some update to when this will be addressed. Are you still suggesting that it will be another 10 days before this is fixed

[XRaySpeX]

@Joycee501 : CS is ignorant of the diff between static external public IPs & static internal private IPs. So that whole convo was a write-off. 

[Joycee501]

Understandable, I worked in a call centre once, I understand they get minimal information; but the fact Christopher_G told us they'd reported this to CS so they were aware, and now they are not aware; leaves me questioning when Christopher_G says this will be fixed 'by the end of the month' or 'in a few weeks'; whether that's true or just another 'fob' off...

Surely It can't be that hard to provide a realistic update when we can expect basic functionality of a router to work...

[JimM11]

@Joycee501 Possible that the memo got the usual filing place executed at that time, EE FW get's released pushed and updated whenever, this next week, maybe the week after, ok let's do it 6 weeks from now, oops going to take a few months so lets do 4 and see how that goes... If it gets through with no other issues it may happen, the EE Smarthub 7 Plus is new, just out off the box, been through some minimal exposure and possible a few other oops that you have not even come across yet!

There will be a TARGET date, if it gets met so be it, if not then the sliding scale begins, it's NOT the only EE Router that is being worked on! 

[Joycee501]

With every respect, **bleeped** if they're working on a thousand different routers at once. Releasing a product with 2 fundamental parts of it not working, then going completely silent on when the issue will be fixed, is abhorrent behaviour.

And it's not like the 2 features that are broken are new to the world of routers.

Not to mention the breach of contract in terms of consumer rights act, failing to provide a product, fit for purpose or of satisfactory quality. Static IP address and port forwarding are reasonable expectations of a router, especially with the 'Plus' label, and the failure on EEs part, after acknowledging the fault, to provide reasonable expectations of a fix timeline, is very weak.