BT Fibre and Best Mesh System

[Bobthebyk]

I am new to the forum and not overly savvy on the tech front so would appreciate help. I current have a BT Fibre Smarthub and get a speed of around 300 to 500. Connected to it are BT Premium Discs. There is also a wired link to a garage where I have put in a NetGear WAX 206 Access point. That provides a separate wifi network for the Garage which works well.
The problem that I have is that the BT premium wholehome discs constantly drop connection and are not monitorable from outside the home so I never know what is going on until someone calls me to tell me it is not working (generally my children).
Can people possibly recommend the best Mesh system to replace the BT premium discs and whether I should take out the SmartHub from the system as well or keep it? I need to cover a fairly large area so probably need 3 or 4 nodes I think and want to be able to monitor remotely too. I do not use voice services from BT, only internet and so could ditch the SmartHub.
If the recommendation is to keep the smathub but add a Mesh, I probably need words of one syllable to explain how I should set it up and any settings that need changing.
Thanks

 

[ChrisD.]

Best Home WIFI Mesh Network

Hi guys, my parents have just bought a new house which is a pretty large barn conversion, we don't have the internet setup there yet but i'm anticipating it have poor Wifi coverage from one point and as such, whilst they are in the process of some light renovation before they move in I wouldn't...

forums.overclockers.co.uk

Discussed here and in many other topics.

 

[Bobthebyk]

Thanks - this is helpful and I can see a mixture of suggestions including TP Link PX50 and Asus products. What I am struggling with is working out:
(i) which of these work well with BT internet
(ii) do they replace the SmartHub and, if not, is there something that one has to do within the SmartHub to allow them to work; and
(iii) can one access the whole system remotely from any location to check it is working.
Again, apologies if this has already been covered. I am really just looking for a very simple recommendation and noddy guide to what to do.

 

[GregI]

The BT premium discs are the worst product BT ever made imo. They have multiple different firmwares trying to fix problems and they still suffer from the exact problems you have stated. Ironically the technically inferior standard BT whole home wifi discs (also white in colour but no silver rings) are rock solid. Work that one out!

Apparently some people have had luck getting a full refund for the discs even after months and months while citing this thread as all the troubles they have had: https://community.bt.com/t5/BT-Devi...me-Wi-Fi-6-SGAB-C20832C-now-live/td-p/2213130

They know about that thread internally. BT support should offer a refund once sent back.

As for what to get in your situation especially if you're not so technically minded.

1: You could just go for the cheaper bt wholehome non premium setup exactly the way you currently have things. You won't need to monitor that, it just works.

2: The Eero Pro 6 system is a good shout. You have an app on the phone to set it up and since it's cloud based you can monitor the network remotely. A 3 pack was £239.99 which is not much more than what premium bt discs are.

With Eero you would take out the BT router altogether and that connects directly to the internet (the box on the wall ).

 

[Bobthebyk]

Thanks Greg - I suspected that the "premium" discs were less than premium! Very helpful advice. On the Eero Pro 6, from memory that only has 2 or 3 ethernet ports and so I would probably need a switch if I need to connect more to the router.
Would you suggest the TPLink PX50 so I can try to use the powerline too. Would that also replace the BT router?
Sorry for so many questions.

 

[GregI]

I don't know much about the powerline versions of the Deco but it might be worth looking at the X55 for more simplicity and ease (not to mention price). Currently £189 for a 3 pack. 3 ports on each unit so 2 free once you factor in that the box on the wall will occupy one of them.

Both the PX50 and X55 would replace the BT router.

 

[Bobthebyk]

Sorry - last question is whether any of these systems will have a problem with the separate Net Gear WAX206 access point in the garage. I want to make sure they do not block each other or have incompatiblity.

 

[Orcvader]

Sorry - last question is whether any of these systems will have a problem with the separate Net Gear WAX206 access point in the garage. I want to make sure they do not block each other or have incompatiblity.

It won't have any conflict.

I don't know much about the powerline versions of the Deco but it might be worth looking at the X55 for more simplicity and ease (not to mention price). Currently £189 for a 3 pack. 3 ports on each unit so 2 free once you factor in that the box on the wall will occupy one of them.

Both the PX50 and X55 would replace the BT router.

TP-Link offers an access point mode so if OP wanted to, they can keep using the BT hub as a router.

 

[Alexrose1uk]

Thanks Greg - I suspected that the "premium" discs were less than premium! Very helpful advice. On the Eero Pro 6, from memory that only has 2 or 3 ethernet ports and so I would probably need a switch if I need to connect more to the router.
Would you suggest the TPLink PX50 so I can try to use the powerline too. Would that also replace the BT router?
Sorry for so many questions.

My family use the previous version of the PX50, P9. They found for best results they kept the BT Router as the central hub/router, and then daisychained the master P9 off it via Ethernet as the P9 processing wasnt quite enough to keep up/delivery full bandwidth of the the 500Mbps service they have now, when not having to act as the central router however it does a pretty good job of getting the service around the entire 5-6 bedroom house they are in, with some awkward walls, and are getting multihundred connectivity across the entire house now, so it has done a decent enough job, especially for the price they paid for it

The PX50 has faster WIFI, Homeplug (G.Hn vs older HomeAV) and better processing, so should do an even better job, and probably could replace the router, although worth trying both ways, especially if it gives you more flexibilty on the location of the master node for optimum positioning by running it off an Ethernet cable.
Official - Deco PX50(AX3000 + G1500), Deco P9 (AC1200+AV1000)

I have always rated homeplug for its ability to get anywhere if your power cabling was up to snuff, and it is always good in terms of latency and jitter when it works, so having both built into foundation of the mesh system just seems like a good idea, as if it optimises traffic appropriately, you can route latency sensitive traffic via homeplug and bandwidth heavy via WIFI as appropriate; also gives it essentially triband connectivity for additional flexibility of how to route node-to-node communications, and as the G.Hn connection is rated at 1500Mbps, in real world conditions, its probably able to push multi hundred megabits by this routing alone, and this routing whilst susceptible to power interference etc, will not be be subject to congested WiFi and the likes.

 

[matt1]

It won't have any conflict.

TP-Link offers an access point mode so if OP wanted to, they can keep using the BT hub as a router.

I replaced my BT router with a TP link setup as one side of the house had terrible/no Wi-Fi and the change has been amazing. Bought the 2 pack just over a year ago now and they haven’t skipped a beat, thoroughly recommend them or an equivalent depending on the specs you want.

TP-Link Deco M9 Plus Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi AC2200 System LAN/WAN/USB