EE Smart Hub and DFS channels

A family member has just changed from BT to EE with TV. However due to being near an airport we would like to move the 5 Ghz channel away from the DFS bands, as it's set to Auto at the moment.
The problem is it seems like there is no method of changing this? On the 2.4Ghz band the Auto can be switched off and the channel manually set, but I can't see any similar option for the 5Ghz band?
Have I missed something?

In reply to a post by Adduxi:

Have I missed something?

You have missed telling us what router or access point you are using ...

You're possibly not going to see anything. I suspect DFS is either on by default. Or as seems to be more likely, going off the dozen or so BT, EE and Sky networks I can see, it's already limited to using the non-DFS 5GHz channels of 36 to 48.

In reply to a post by DFScale:

In reply to a post by Adduxi:

Have I missed something?

You have missed telling us what router or access point you are using ...

EE Smart Hub as supplied by EE.

It’s a very locked down box IMHO and seems to be using channels 100 + for 5Ghz which I believe is quite up the range. I’d rather be able to set it in the 36 to 48 range.

Channels 100 to 140 (band B) have a greater EIRP limit (1W vs. 200mW) compared with channels 36 to 64 (band A), 144 (band B/C) and 149 to 165 (band C), so may have been chosen to provide better range at the expense of having to put up with DFS hits (usually false positives in an indoor setting).

Only channels 149 to 165 (since 2020) plus the original 36 to 48 (lower band A) do not require DFS.

Hmm. If it is the smart hub pro there does not seem to be a manual for it online. And if it is the smart hub, what there is of a manual appears quite rudimentary. I think you are asking to do more than EE will let you. This thread https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/Broadband-Landline/Sma... indicates that EE have locked a lot down.

It's a theme of mine, but I think if you actually want to control this stuff, you would do better to supply your own router and only use the ISP router if you need to allow the ISP to investigate problems.

It's just the EE Smart Hub and it is pretty well locked down. I was wanting to move the 5Ghz channel as they are close to a major airport and I believe if using a DFS channel it delays devices connecting ? They don't want to spend any money on a better Router, and it also provides their TV, so I suppose they can't change it anyway.
I'm guessing they will just have to live with it and put up with the odd quirky delay in connections.

In reply to a post by Adduxi:

They don't want to spend any money on a better Router, and it also provides their TV,

Isn't a TV just a device which plugs into an ethernet port these days? I don't have one, but I wouldn't think yo would need any special router.

In reply to a post by Adduxi:

I was wanting to move the 5Ghz channel as they are close to a major airport and I believe if using a DFS channel it delays devices connecting ?

Not exactly. Before an AP can use a channel it performs a Channel Availability Check (CAC), this takes 60 seconds for most channels. However for any which overlap with 5600 to 5650MHz the CAC is 10 minutes.

Once the AP has performed this check there is no additional delay in clients associating. The check will be peformed when the wireless AP or router is powered up or reset, and also if a DFS detection event occurrs requiring the AP to switch to a different channel.

In reply to a post by Adduxi:

They don't want to spend any money on a better Router, and it also provides their TV, so I suppose they can't change it anyway.

You're right, with the likes of EE\BT TV it isn't as simple as replacing their router with your own in the same way if you take EE\BT digital voice. Thats not to say getting EE\BT TV to work is impossible with all customer supplied routers but not worth the hassle to be honest.

Edited by PCJM40 (Tue 25-Feb-25 11:51:40)

As an aside. I am quite close and between to two major airports - one civilian and one military and they work closely together to avoid traffic interaction! If a civilian aircraft does a "go around" it will cut straight across the approach/take off path for the military. As such there is probably a lot of radar monitoring around here.

I use several DFS channels and they are stable and I do not have any "hits". Howver, when roadworks are around with temporary traffic lights, I get very frequent DFS hits.

Looks like they will just have to live with the EE Hub.
Still, thanks to all for the comments, especially around the DFS channels. I've learned something new and that's always a bonus - everyday is a school day, even for those of us who have more time behind us than in front ...