Homehub 6 (smart hub)

Looks like you can order them by phone

Also they're being offered when taking up a new contract
https://s32.postimg.org/tj2uyof5h/Screenshot_2016_06...

Anyone got specs?

It's odd that they're available with no public info available. I can't find anything useful.

Hmmm. That looks as though it comes with powerline with passthrough power at the router and ethernet + wifi at the remote. Similar to this kit but slimmer. Probably a lot faster than the TP-Link as well.

All I've found so far is

HH5 wireless AC 3x3 mimo
HH6 wireless AC 7x7(?) mimo

I'm assuming
G.fast support of some sort

And rumours of mobile signal booster is also been said.

Some people have them already

Would like to get the full stats before I order one.

Edited by epyon (Sun 19-Jun-16 02:51:55)

The 7 antenna I can confirm, G.fast nothing yet and I'd be surprised

Living with HH5a currently and as a plug and play it seems fine (replaced a Sky Hub SR102), some blips on wireless but suspect that's 2.4GHz vs 5GHz and swapping band, will tweak and see if that goes away.

I've found my HH5a connects MUCH more reliably with the 2 bands separated. Not just mine, but several friends' as well).

I have one on the way, when it arrives I will provide all of the details I can possibly provide

Very nice, looking forward to it.

My superhub is dead so wouldn't mind jumping to a HH6

Splitting the 2.4GHz and 5Ghz is a part of the wireless troubleshooting BT do, not sure why it doesn't come as standard like this, Virgin's SH2 came that way.

... the specification clearly suggests a powerful device, which features 7 antennas, a modern chipset (Broadcom 63137, 4366, 43602) and built-in filters that automatically block interference....

Specification for the BT Smart Hub
* Integrated ADSL2+ and VDSL2
* No. of antennae: 7
* Dual wi-fi bands with �next generation� 802.11ac spec
* 2.GHz wi-fi band (3�3 11b/g/n/ac) = up to 217Mbps
* 5GHz wi-fi band (4�4 11a/n/ac) = up to 1700Mbps
* Built-in Advanced Filters
* Connections: 4 x Gigabit Ethernet
* USB: 1 x v2.0 Port
* On/off light control: Yes (i.e. you can switch off or dim the hub lights)
* Removable password card: Yes
* Smart Wireless: Yes
* BT Smart Scan: Yes
* Built-in 4G filters: Yes
* Power Usage (11W fully loaded and 7W idle)
NOTE: Regarding the 4G filters, these protect the 2.4GHz wi-fi receiver against neighbouring signals above and below the wi-fi band which can desensitise or �deafen� a standard wi-fi chip. This is more of a protection against future deployments as these bands are not heavily occupied, yet.

from http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2013/07/uk-isp-...

Some more media coverage:

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/137993-bt-smart-hub-...
http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technolo...
http://www.seenit.co.uk/hands-on-the-new-bt-smart-hub/
http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technolo...
http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2016/06/new-bt-smart-hub-bo...

Initial impressions seem very positive with some big improvements quoted in WiFi speeds/coverage

The articles suggest that its free to recontracting BT Infinity users (and you can recontract again even if you have just done so) and "for those who prefer not to re-contract, with BT [are]offering them the chance to buy the Smart Hub for £50, ahead of an eventual retail price of around £130."

The one getting just 28 Mbps out of a HH5 something was clearly wrong, as if that was the case we'd see lots more posting about slow wi-fi on the Home Hub.

Though I do expect the HH6 to go faster, i.e. wifi more suited to the 300 Meg products (i.e. G.fast is probably going to be Openreach CPE for the initial year or two)

This actually looks better than the Sky Q hub, one of the reasons I went for an Asus AC87U was the time filtering on devices.

Looks like the new Smart Hub means I could actually ditch the AC87U. Although I do have individual wifi networks for the kids and I don't see multiple SSIDs listed.

But the 4 gigabit ports is a plus.

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

I have one on the way, when it arrives I will provide all of the details I can possibly provide

Get them to hurry up and deliver it I might jump from Pulse8 to BT what with the cashbacks, choosing my billing date and BT Wifi when we are out and about.

I spent a lot of time this morning discussing with BT about HH6 and after a lot of discussions with the help adviser who kept talking to others in the system, she advised me that is only available FREE to Infinity 2 users. She said it is not even being offered to Infinity 1 customers at present.

My Infinity 1 contract is up for renew in September and she advises to wait until then.

Having said that, if anyone is on Infinity 1 and has been offered it or indeed sent one as part of the new contract package, and is getting it free, I would like to know to whom they spoke.

So whats new with this device then....

I'm not seeing anything that wil be much if a benefit to me or many in that matter....

Don't seem like there's going to ever be a guest network service put on these devices, I see the red WAN port is now gone so if it would even support an outside modem it would mean losing a LAN port...

I don't see how the WiFi can be any better as theres restrictions under the EU regarding output power levels....

I wouldn't mind giving it a try but considering BT first said to me it would be a trial and now it seems I would have to pay £50... they can ..... or they can disable their BT Hotspot [censored] and still give me access to hotspots for free....

Phoned up

"hello this is rasjhid our system is down can you call back in 4-5 hours

Oh well i'll try tomorrow.

edit OK i got a call back from a uk guy

he sent me one without charge just re-contracted

Edited by epyon (Mon 20-Jun-16 14:16:17)

http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/tech-news/bt-smart-h...

So if I am not struggling with wi-fi on my HH3 I may just as well stick with it?

If you're happy with the performance then there's no need.

In reply to a post by gomezz:

So if I am not struggling with wi-fi on my HH3 I may just as well stick with it?

yep, unless you would like a 'one box' setup for the modem & router.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

The one getting just 28 Mbps out of a HH5 something was clearly wrong, as if that was the case we'd see lots more posting about slow wi-fi on the Home Hub.

Though I do expect the HH6 to go faster, i.e. wifi more suited to the 300 Meg products (i.e. G.fast is probably going to be Openreach CPE for the initial year or two)

Not sure, 28Mbps is the exact speed my HH5 used to slowdown to (internal network transfers as well), on the older firmware. It doesn't do this anymore. This review is probably just picking up the same issue I was seeing.

Speak to options team, it's £50 on BT infinity 1. Free with Infinity 2 if you recontract and accept their ludicrous price.

0800 800150

Direct number: 0800 022 3263 - Customer options team

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

Speak to options team, it's £50 on BT infinity 1. Free with Infinity 2 if you recontract and accept their ludicrous price.

0800 800150

I did not make myself clear. Yes I know you can pay for it on infinity 1. I do not intend to do that. I will be waiting until September.

Eventually it will be free with all but the cheapest plans.

In reply to a post by ggremlin:

In reply to a post by gomezz:

So if I am not struggling with wi-fi on my HH3 I may just as well stick with it?

yep, unless you would like a 'one box' setup for the modem & router.

The modem is on the wall hidden behind the sideboard so not an issue (except on the one occasion I needed to check the lights when I the router lost internet connection).

Fair, I paid £50 but got them to add a £50 credit onto my account, so it is free. Just swings and roundabouts, playing the system.

I see many saying

they added £7.50 a month onto my bill

whats that about?

i still have a discount till April next year

Just had an email from BT stating the following:

All you have to do is simply sign up to your existing infinity package for an extra £7.50 per month for another 18 months.

I'm on Infinity 2 by the way so doesn't look like it's free for me either.

In reply to a post by WelshWArrior:

I'm on Infinity 2 by the way so doesn't look like it's free for me either.

Well, as you and I know there is no such thing as a free lunch. Not with BT anyway.

Hi

Just wish to give all a heads up.

I called BT yesterday and was told i could only have a Smart Hub 6 if I recontacted for 18 months and pay £50 for the hub and a delivery charge of £7 approx. Ive looked at some reviews and the BT press release.

It states extisting Infinity customers can purchase a unit for £50 (they don't mention a delivery charge) or by reconstructing. It does NOT state you must have both componets to obtain the Smart Hub.

Existing BT Infinity customers will be able to get a BT Smart Hub for free by recontracting or can buy one for just £50.

I have complained this morning saying it was mis sold -I did ask and was told i was incorrect.

Just beware all when you call.

Lee

In reply to a post by epyon:

I see many saying

they added £7.50 a month onto my bill

whats that about?

i still have a discount till April next year

As far as I am aware it is only free to those on infinity 2 without discounts, so we are talking base price of around £32/33 of the top of my head. With discounts, you are right, they will offer it for free but you would see the price going upto a non-discounted price.

At a guess paying £25/m on Infinity 2 now, and £32.50 is the standard price

You guess correctly That's a bit bad by BT but to be expected i guess. I'm not interested in the HH6 enough to pay an extra £7.50 a month. Plus I think the wife will kill me if I tell her we're paying an extra £7.50/month!!!

Also lets face it, if it's anything like the previous HHs it will take them two years to get the firmware stable & even then it wont be as stable as the Sky Hub or TalkTalk HG635 / 633.

In fact I use a HG635 from talktalk to avoid the HH reboots (which for me are far more often than every 14 days).

I am likely to get mine, use it, see a tonne of issues and put it in a draw.

Why not just wait a while before getting a Smart Hub then?

In my experience, it often takes a few firmware versions to optimise any modem etc. after it's been released - regardless of brand (so it's not just BT)

Otherwise, you could end up not using something that eventually works very well..

The kit has been through a few trial phases over a vast time, so all being well it should be good to go from day 1

In reply to a post by gt94sss2:

Why not just wait a while before getting a Smart Hub then?

In my experience, it often takes a few firmware versions to optimise any modem etc. after it's been released - regardless of brand (so it's not just BT)

Otherwise, you could end up not using something that eventually works very well..

I got it for free, so will give it a whirl. If I have issues I will return to my previous setup. I didn't pay the £50 like others here, or have a contract price rise. I am still paying £10pm on infinity 1. I paid £50 upfront and got a £50 credit applied to the account. So why not right?

Edited by ukhardy07 (Tue 21-Jun-16 11:26:40)

Ah well, if you didn't pay for it..

Have to say the the use of the Broadcom chipsets quoted does seem like good news.

Yes, I am sure there will be no "show stopping" issues given the tests BT will have carried out but that doesn't mean the firmware won't be improved/optimised over time..

The Zyxel I use most of the time is very reliable - has been released for about two years - and has had had at least 14 different firmware versions released for it. I expect there will be more as they continue to tweak the code..

@ukhardy07 How did you argue the case for £50 credit?

Edited by planetf1 (Wed 22-Jun-16 08:27:31)

In reply to a post by planetf1:

@ukhardy07 How did you argue the case for £50 credit?

I had logged issues with HH5A on my account, so they needed to send me out a replacement anyway. Hence free replacement and I talked them up to replacing it with the HH6 which they eventually agreed to. So my situation was definitely a little unique.

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

In reply to a post by planetf1:

@ukhardy07 How did you argue the case for £50 credit?

I had logged issues with HH5A on my account, so they needed to send me out a replacement anyway. Hence free replacement and I talked them up to replacing it with the HH6 which they eventually agreed to. So my situation was definitely a little unique.

Now that's interesting. I opened up a case for wifi issues with HH 5a a few months back. it got escalated, but I got worn down and gave up chasing it for a bit. I figured they'd closed it, though a few weeks ago I had a letter/email confirming the escalation and they were investigating ... perhaps I could use that as a discussion point to get a new HH.

To elaborate further.. I thought I'd had an email confirming the issue closed, but the letter I have is from 22 May & says "we are really sorry for the time it's taking to deal with your complaint".. and then provides ombudsman information. The issue was about disappearance / failing of the 2.4 Ghz wifi network, an issue that didn't affect a loaned VR900 I had. I still get a variation of the issue but figured an ISP change, or a new router, was likely easier than continuing to chase BT.

Any advice on using this to my advantage welcome. Do I bring it up with the regular team when recontracting? It's actually a genuine suggestion for a technical fix to the issue. different HW = different behaviour. In fact they had previously sent out a HH4 having promised a new HH5 (which I already had - a HH5a) and admitted that was an error...

Edited by planetf1 (Wed 22-Jun-16 10:08:32)

Well it's clear from this thread that BT's just screwing everybody over.... I suppose thats what loyalty gets some of you, I can't complain from that angle only been with BT since Jan.

I don't think its worth paying anything for this new P.O.C it will just be a higher spec dissapointment.... and to be fair I have whats considered one of the best routers in the world and the only way I can get it to work well is by having it setup as operating in a non EU region.

So whats the point of having something thats locked down with conformity.

https://s31.postimg.org/5vnyhomh7/Capture.png
https://s31.postimg.org/74qzuwpqz/Capture2.png
https://s32.postimg.org/wghasqwqd/Capture3.png

Very impressed so far

miles better than the HH5 regarding the GUI and wireless

also my ping has dropped by 3 in every test so far

spooky

Edited by epyon (Wed 22-Jun-16 16:07:54)

As I have FTTP my HH5 connects to the ONTE through the red WAN port. So I wonder whether the HH6 would even work in my situation.

In reply to a post by brightd:

As I have FTTP my HH5 connects to the ONTE through the red WAN port. So I wonder whether the HH6 would even work in my situation.

It would - the User Guides are at http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/10477...

They show one of the LAN ports works as a WAN port when needed (such as FTTP)

Yes it has Infinity 3/4 Settings on the router

so it will be compatible.

EDIT:

ohh IPv6 is fully enable

10/10 on the ready test has it just been rolled out?

Edited by epyon (Sat 25-Jun-16 11:07:15)

Just to confirm, BT are charging just £50 for this new hub without requirement of new contract ??

I don't mind paying for one as long as no new contract or price change and it remains mine once my contract ends.

Deleted

Edited by deleted (Thu 30-Jun-16 07:35:13)

Does the WAN respond to Pings?

In reply to a post by mlmclaren:

Just to confirm, BT are charging just £50 for this new hub without requirement of new contract ??

I don't mind paying for one as long as no new contract or price change and it remains mine once my contract ends.

BT are sending them out for £50 without a re-contract yes (for me anyway). That said I did not actually get one, they called me back to say I cannot get one until the end of the summer due to stock issues & a HH5B arrived instead.

Interesting.... I ordered mine an hour or so ago...

£58 with postage and no mention of any stock issues... will be delivered on Wednesday... better not be a HH5b... trying to get rid of all them as it is lol.

My new Smart Hub arrived yesterday without any issues. Sounds like you were told a load of rubbish on the phone

Edited by robertcrowther (Sat 02-Jul-16 15:30:40)

On the HH6 is the DNS locked to BT, or can it be changed to another DNS service?

No idea sorry.

In reply to a post by johnb2008:

On the HH6 is the DNS locked to BT, or can it be changed to another DNS service?

Ask me on Thursday

I'm surprised at that - I ordered mine Thurs and it arrived yesterday!

Mine arrived yesterday but didn't get chance to plug it in. I'll do it sometime today and report back. I'm also hoping telnet will be accessible on it too

In reply to a post by WelshWArrior:

I'm also hoping telnet will be accessible on it too

A £50 bet on that might be less than prudent .

Is it a Broadcom chipset?

Edited by RobertoS (Sun 03-Jul-16 08:40:02)

Yeah I was thinking that. Yes from all I've read it is indeed a broadcom chipset. I'm expecting it to be pretty locked down though so I'm not holding my breath on telnet access!

I was just wondering if anyone has ever tried:- http://192.168.0.254/setup.cgi?todo=debug

You had to do that on the old Netgears. It just opened a window saying " Debug enabled", which you simply closed. It was just a notification.

(On Netgears it was http://192.168.0.1/setup.cgi?todo=debug but AIUI HHs are 192.168.1.254).

In reply to a post by mlmclaren:

Does the WAN respond to Pings?

No.

In reply to a post by johnb2008:

On the HH6 is the DNS locked to BT, or can it be changed to another DNS service?

It's locked to BT

Thanks. That's why I'm not using my HH's 3 & 5. They are both sitting in their boxes in a cupboard. I use Open DNS.

It's always possible they may get change it in future - the current firmware needs some polishing at the very least. Though I gather one reason they haven't done this in the past is that BT's parental controls don't work with non BT dns

simply change DNS via adapter properties in windows, right click the network icon on the taskbar, then choose open network and sharing centre and then on the left choose change adapter settings, right click the adapter and choose properties, highlight on internet protocol version 4 and then hit properties at the bottom, change the dns servers to those of your choosing and click ok

job done, no need for any setting in the router.

on topic,

I have a home hub 6 and i am liking it for the wireless coverage which blows the home hub 5 away, 2 issues though, if you lose power then phones will not connect to the wireless without first disabling and re-enabling it in the router and although my max att has risen to 72xxx i get 70.26 every time

pings are also lower which is a bonus for gaming

Sorry should have quoted the guy above**

Edited by deleted (Mon 04-Jul-16 08:22:09)

In reply to a post by Ianph:

Sky Fibre Unlimited

39999 sync
Sky Hub 2

Am I right in thinking these are no longer your stats?

It has been a while since i was here i have fixed it now

Ordered one today on the actual BT website.

www.bt.com/smarthub for anyone interested. I do not trust BT CS to be able to get one dispatched themselves.

Wish I wouldn have found that the other day, I ended up waiting on chat for ages for them to get the order confirmed and good I did as the order wasn't placed at first.

It is moment like that where I hate being a BT customer.

Yes... Their CS service worse than every other ISP I've dealt with.

Even the UK support, whilst being really friendly, often promise things e.g. that the smarthub will be with me in 48 hours, when in reality it does not get dispatched at all for over a week, when I called again they then back-tracked and claimed it was not available.

Small things such as package changes have resulted in the entire line being ceased.

I have never dealt with an ISP which manages to get quite so much wrong. I would say every single communication with BT to date has resulted in another problem.

The little things which you would not expect to cause issues generally do, for example I placed the Smart Hub order online and My BT Order Tracking appears to now show an engineer, for some unknown reason.

Anyway, come next February I will be leaving without a question. Until then I am just grinning and rolling with it. Connection wise it is flawless.

I would say in terms of CS, TalkTalk and BT are very similar.
Virginmedia and Sky are both leaps and bounds ahead for overall CS. The difference is honestly staggering and you really really feel that difference.

The only ISP I've had consistly good customer service with is Sky, Virgin's not too bad but theirs alot of lieing that can go on and also some other issues which Virgin are currently investigating.

TalkTalk... attempted once....

BT... hard to get anyone that knows anything, always ends up with a complaint being raised before any help is made available.

Unfortunately Sky wasn't suitable for me, and BT is the only ISP that FTTC seems to work well on... IE. Capacity seems good.

Anyway, getting off topic, for those interested I will be running a Q&A for the new Smart Hub from Thursday all being well... I'll be starting a new thread for it, so keep your eyes peeled if interested.

Yep, I used to enjoy ringing Sky we would often have a laugh and discuss our favorite cocktails. They're the best of the bunch in my opinion. Nobody is absolutely perfect, but alas, that's life. I am considering switching over entirely to Sky Q.

They are a mixed bag that is for sure

If you're lucky enough to get a hold of the scottish centres they're mostly alright for sorting things out

But beware the BT billing dept

i used to work there in 2010 and people don't give a heck

There where a few that just trolled

hanging up on customers and laughing was a usual practice.

In reply to a post by epyon:

But beware the BT billing dept

i used to work there in 2010 and people don't give a heck

There where a few that just trolled

hanging up on customers and laughing was a usual practice.

Sounds about right, I had a nightmare sorting out a refund for an account which was not ceased properly after migration, one of them hung up on me. Needless to say it will be a very long time before the person I was helping considers returning to BT.

Well my new hub still not been dispatched.... they've only had since 11am Saturday morning to dispatch it of course...

If it don't arrive tomorrow I'll be ripping [censored] out of BT's complaints department.

Same thing happened to me. Over a week later I called, they claimed they could not send one out and a home hub 5b arrived... I hope you experience is slightly better.

I ordered online on the website yesterday and it has apparently been dispatched. Appears computers are better at getting things done than BT customer service.

I despair, Royal Mail tracking number shows

"Status: Sorry - we don't recognise that reference number"

I am not holding my breath.

Well my orders not been dispatched it seems, I've just this morning sold my existing router on eBay too...

I've had to ask them if they can wait and also placed a new order online for the Hub and wrote a complaint to BT demanding part or full refund for the hub and postage.

This is going to be going on the list of 'Why Nots' when considering BT as an ISP in future.

The my New, New, New Hub should be here on Friday now.

Mine said this also

then around 3-4 after it was delivered it had an update

When you placed your order did you track it closely??

Mine says: Order-Pending-CreditReferral

I remember this when I originally ordered my connection and it was some sort of hold up...

EDIT: Spoke too 4 departments and now 'hopefully' it's sorted!

Spoke to order tracking online chat team, they got sales to call me to look into order, they transferred me to Credit Referrals who thought I was trying to order a new service and didn't understand why I was being credit checked for ordering a new Hub they then transferred me to Customer Options who then push the order through the submit stages and confirmed it will be dispatched today for delivery tomorrow.

The only person who could understand what had happened and what they needed to do was at an English call center... everyone else I spoke to where on very bad lines and speaking poor English.

I asked the last lady for her full name so she could be excluded from my report to Complaints and eventually CEO.

It it don't turn up tomorrow I may well just order Sky and tell BT I'll see them in court.

Edited by mlmclaren (Wed 06-Jul-16 15:14:06)

If it doesn't arrive today, as planned, after having the threat of a ceased line twice, having no landline for months & dealing with BT CS for months on end, I will just move ISP. Anyways, it's a sunny day so I will stay positive that it arrives.

In reply to a post by mlmclaren:

BT... hard to get anyone that knows anything, always ends up with a complaint being raised before any help is made available.

I have found posting on BT's Community forums and getting in touch with the moderators there to be very effective.

I gather their forum moderation team is based in NI and take personal ownership of all their cases - including chasing up and then calling people back to confirm everything is sorted/resolved

Well I've had confirmation of dispatch and tracking says its reached one of Royal Mails centers... lets hope its a HH6..

In reply to a post by gt94sss2:

I have found posting on BT's Community forums and getting in touch with the moderators there to be very effective.

I've never bothered with BT's forums... I've heard to many stories of people being banned because they have spoken out of tone about BT's services and aired oppinions on their customer service quality (or lack of it).... I can't be bothered with censorship there's too much of it around.... put you off contributing it does... maybe why I've been.......