Smart Wifi Pro Connection Issues

[MichaelW901]

I have just moved from BT to EE .  I have the 900 Mbps service and I have opted to have the Smart Hub Pro and the Smart Wi-Fi Pro, plus a phone service.  The installation took place last week on the 28th January.  Using Ethernet connections to 2 PCs I am getting speeds of around 930 Mbps down and 108 up, which is excellent.

The wireless connection is, not surprisingly slower between 500 to 600 Mbps up and more consistently 108 down.  This is with the phone right next to the Hub.  However moving away from the hub I am probably getting less than half of these speeds.  We live in a fairly large 4 bed roomed house which has been extended over the years so many of the now internal walls were thick external walls.  For this reason some years ago I installed Ethernet cables to several of the rooms and used access points to improve the wireless connections.

The Smart Wi-Fi Pro would seem to be an ideal solution to this problem and so earlier today I thought I would set it up.  As I was going to use it connected via an Ethernet cable I followed the instructions here for setting up by Ethernet.  I then moved to one of the other rooms, I tried the wireless speed before plugging in the Smart Wi-Fi Pro and the after plugging it in to the Ethernet cable and of course the mains.  The achieved speed was exactly the same as without the Smart Wi-Fi Pro, around 250 down and 90 up.  I then connected a laptop directly to the Ethernet cable that is connected to the Smart Hub Pro and got a speed close to what I was getting earlier, that is 930 Mbps down and 108 up.

I then went back and had a look at the Hub Manger with the Smart Wi-Fi Pro connected to port 4 of the Smart Hub Pro.  I noticed that the Hub Manager showed no devices connected to Port 4 and nothing was shown in the Wi-Fi extenders either Wireless or Ethernet.  So I then tried plugging my main PC which I am using now to send this, into port 4, and port 4 now showed 1 device, this PC but nothing else.

I tried resetting the Smart Wi-Fi Pro and it went through the process until the Aqua light was steady.  But everything was and is exactly the same; the Smart Wi-Fi Pro does not show up in the hub manager and makes no difference to the Wi-Fi speeds.

I am assuming that the Smart Wi-Fi Pro connected via Ethernet should give wireless speeds comparable to that achieved when sitting next to the Smart Hub Pro.  Otherwise there does not seem much point to it!

So either I am doing something very wrong or I have a faulty Smart Wi-Fi Pro.

I would be most grateful for any assistance. 

Michael

[JimM11]

@MichaelW901 You are doing it correct, the port looks good as you can put the laptop on the end off the network cable that would plug into the Smart Wireless extender and get it to report back, the EE Pro and the Smart wireless extenders for the Pro version have 2.5Gb/s network connections, and there has been posting that they are very picky regarding cable, so try the units close together with the short network cable supplied, have a look again with the web manager and see that the unit reports in the Advance wireless extenders section as ethernet connected.

The ports take 30 seconds just like the older EE Smarthub+ ethernet to negotiate and then display if not then refresh the web page to force display update. Wireless speed is down totally to the ability of the device to report the speed, so my Samsung A54 android, hits the 500/70 split with no issue, and the Asus laptop reports 1730/1730 wi-fi sync to the EE Smarthub+ that is what i expect it to do, but FF 500 pipe is all it can shove it through...

Re: Smart Hub Pro Wifi 7 MLO Backhaul - The EE Community

Take a close look at the extender, the web manager and the app are not the best at getting info showed, make sure extenders and router have upgraded and matching FW, there is a picture but will find and link the post so you can see.

[MichaelW901]

@JimM11     Thank you for your reply. 

I searched for the word extender in the " Manage Hubs Advanced setting" search bar and found the screen that you had the Re: Smart Hub Pro Wifi 7 MLO Backhaul - The EE Community linked to in your reply.  I could then see the Smart Wi-Fi Pro with similar details to as shown in the link above.  It showed that the connection type was Ethernet, the firmware version for the Smart Wi-Fi Pro and the hub are the same and that the Internet status is 1000 Mbps .  I have been using the short cable that came with the Smart Wi-Fi Pro all the time that I have been trying it up.  I will experiment with other longer cable so that I can find longer cables that will work.  I also renamed the Smart Wi-Fi Pro to something more meaningful.   

However the Smart Wi-Fi Pro still does not show up as being connected to Port 4.  Is this normal?

I can't try the Smart Wi-Fi Pro away from the hub at present, I will have to wait until tomorrow, but am I correct in assuming that it should boost the speed to close to what I am getting from the hub when sitting right next to it?

If I change the names of the networks from the EE-8X.... to something else, does the Smart Wi-Fi Pro, connected by Ethernet still broadcast the EE-8X... name or does it change.  I can see no additional networks, or anyway of seeing what the Smart Wi-Fi Pro is broadcasting.  When I previously used surplus BT routers as access points/extenders I was able to change the networks names they broadcast to be different or the same as the main hub 

Other than the speed increase (if any) how do I know whether I am connected wirelessly to the hub or the Smart Wi-Fi Pro?

Which of the networks does the Smart Wi-Fi Pro work on, All of them, the main, the compatible and the guest or just the main?

Sorry for all of the questions but I am trying to get it clear.  

Again thank you very much for all of your assistance

Michael

[JimM11]

@MichaelW901 If you change the SSID on the router, then the smart wireless will change also to reflect, other devices yes you can do what you want with naming, but not the EE Pro with its paired smart device, have seen pics like the one you found and those have been ethernet connected, so they do work via Ethernet Backhaul, it's the best way as full speed down the cable to the router, the reported 1000 on the screen is an oops, it should be 2500 as 2.5Gb/s direct Nic to Nic. Easy check plug ethernet cable into port 4, go to your other end of the cables, plug the laptop in and it will sync at your laptop speed, so if it has a 1Gb/s nic in the laptop that is what it will report in laptop properties, speed test will get you up there, just make sure you laptop is powered so running at full speed, and not reduced performance because operating in battery mode. You can test all the ports of the Router Lan's, JUST allow for the delay in the router NIC as if like the + takes 30secods to get back as nic up and working just another oops for the routers, 

If you can there is a program called Netspot for android, and there is a windows version also just make sure you use the free and do not pay for anything, shows what wi-fi is connected to device wise, you just have to NOTE the mac so you know were and what you are connected too. 

Cannot see why the PORT 4 is an issue, lan is lan and the units should connect any where they are plugged into, use you laptop and check ALL the lan ports are ok, the router is 2.5Gb/s on all of them i think, short cable should be no issue what so ever, longer then it's what you find, is reported the ports are cable sensitive cannot say as not a Pro user so have never tested to confirm that either way.

[JimM11]

@MichaelW901 Link to a netspot picture i posted up a while ago. You can take a look see, was android, i do use wifi analyzer from mat haffner as my laptop version it's free version just restricted, i do use the pay'd version off it as it is a useful utility for me, used it for years so seen it grow through time, just like it but that's me... 

Solved: Re: On 3rd Smart Hub Plus (SH32B) in 2 months with Very Poor Wifi - The EE Community

Sample of wifi analyzer below also.

Re: Review of WiFi 7 Pro Router & 1.6Gb Service - Mixed Feelings. - Page 4 - The EE Community