how to get better wifi than Smart Hub?

[eemh]

Our home wifi is a bit patchy from our Smart Hub, we are on FibrePlus and getting the promised speeds.  The laptop has 802.11ax whereas the smart hub is slower 8011.ac.  I am considering buying a modem router that supports 802.11ax or WiFi 6 but am a bit baffled by the selection.  House isn't so big as to need a mesh system.

And wonder if it is straightforward to swap it over for the EE Smart Hub?  What are the potential problems please?

Thanks, Matthew

[XRaySpeX]

You may replace the EE SH with any ADSL/VDSL modem router. If you are after future-proofing you'd go for an ADSL/VDSL/G.Fast modem router which will run on EE's Fibre Max products.

In Home Broadband settings you'll find almost everything you need to set up your own router. What's missing for Fibre is:

• VLAN ID = 101

[eemh]

Thanks I am looking at websites about ADSL/VDSL/G.Fast modem router 

but the choice is taking time to work through and there's a variety of happy / unhappy reviews...

Matthew

[XRaySpeX]

The choice of G.Fast routers looks sparse but someone here recently suggested the Zyxel XMG3927-B50A,

[eemh]

This one has WiFi 6 so would suit our laptops. Can you see any reason not to get it?  I had to look carefully becasue there is a similar one that isn't a modem, but you can check from the sockets on the back.

https://www.asus.com/uk/Networking/DSL-AX82U/

Next problem is finding one in stock somewhere!

Matthew

[XRaySpeX]

The DSL-AX82U does incorporate a modem but it doesn't do G.Fast only VDSL.

[eemh]

Thanks, I have found out there is no WiFi6 Modem-Router yet available in the UK.  I'm not anticipating ever needing a better Broadband plan than EE Fibre+

Would it be possible to buy a WiFi6 Router eg Linksys Mesh WiFi 6 Router MR7350 looks good, or Netgear nighthawk AX4 (how does one choose??)  and connect it to my EE Smart Hub, so then I'd have to turn off the WiFi of the SH. 

Would I need a super-fast short ethernet cable to connect them? Thanks again

Matthew

[XRaySpeX]

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@eemh wrote:

I have found out there is no WiFi6 Modem-Router yet available in the UK.

I thought you just id'ed 1 above with the Asus. It'll work on EE Fibre+. You don't need G.Fast.

There is no reason to not to connect a Mesh system to the EE SH.

[eemh]

Thank you for all the advice which I have found useful.  The ASUS WiFi6 modem-router looked just the job - but it isn't for sale in the UK!  I have emailed to ask when it might be, as I'm not in a hurry.  Maybe various manufacturers will produce them in 2021 so there will be a choice.

Meanwhile I was reluctant to buy a separate Router and connect it, so just I bought a little Netgear WiFi extender which is some help meanwhile, although its connection lights vary even though nothing has moved.

[eemh · Accepted solution]

It's been a long time but I now have the DSL-AX82U AX5400 Dual Band WiFi 6 xDSL Modem Router, WiFi 6 802.11ax, and am getting ready to change over from  my EE SmartHub.  There is a configuration box with a lot of settings to adjust (or maybe leave as default) not all of which are covered in the EE Router Help Pages.  I tried to put a screenshot but it's only showing a yellow triangle for some reason.screenshot  Any help with Settings would be appreciated.  Many thanks, Matthew.