Using a different router to replace the smart hub?

[Jonjon1239]

As the title suggests really, I've had no end of issues both wired and wirelessly (Mostly major ping spikes when gaming) for the past year or so as my post history can show, so I'm wondering if I'm able to buy a router and use that instead?

At my old place I had Google WiFi but sold that once we moved out and got EE as I understand you can't use the smart hub as a modem/bridge. Would I be able to just replace the hub with a different router? If so, how do I got about it? I've seen small dribs of instructions online but nothing comprehensive.

Would something like this work? TP-Link AX5400 or is there potential for the newer hub to solve my issues if I play my face? I assume my EE mesh WiFi discs wouldn't be compatible either a different router either, so does anyone have any recommendations?

I'm currently on a FTTC service, 70mb down/ 18mb up but it's mostly the ping jitter and spikes that are the issues.

[Mustrum]

@Jonjon1239   yes that modem would work, you just need to set it up as PPOE, use the default BT username and password, and set VLAN to 101.

Will it make a difference, probably not, the issues you seem to be having may well be congestion, either on your LAN or elsewhere = but may well be worth a go - I prefer using my own router as it has options for greater control.

[Jonjon1239]

Appreciate the response, can I just ask is there's a sort of dummy guide to do the above? PPoE and username? Also any recommendations on a router? What one do you use?

The technician who came a few weeks ago did comment that I have a lot of devices (Mostly smart home tech, approx 40 devices) but he said nothing seemed to be hogging the download or upload. 

[Mustrum]

@Jonjon1239  Most third party devices can be set up in a number of ways, PPOE is just used as part of the authentication. There was a handy simple guide to using your own router but I can;t seem to find it at the moment. But they now use the standard BT VDSL settings, which google has lots of examples.

I  currently use an Asus DSL AX82U which can show the amount of traffic the router is processing . I also monitor the line via think broadband quality monitor https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality  

40 devices should not be a problem, but gaming is very sensitive to other traffic, so streaming or backing up to the cloud at the same time will quickly show up and slow down your responses. 

[XRaySpeX]

 In Using & Configuring a Third Party Router you'll find everything you need to set up your own router incl. the BB creds.

[Jonjon1239]

Thanks for that info. Does anyone know if the Draytek Vigor 2862 is any good for what I need it for?

[Mustrum]

@Jonjon1239   that model is end of life.

If you look on the Draytek site they have this useful comparison chart. As you will see, the base models have no WiFi, so you need to choose the one based on your needs.

https://www.draytek.co.uk/products/comparison/router-comparison