Creating my own hybrid connect?

Hello. New here and got my brain in a twist. We live in a rural area with meagre broadband speeds on "superfast" broadband. It's a business line. So I now have a TP Link MR600 mobile broadband router as well. Our landline broadband keeps dropping out - on a good day we get 6mbps. But it regularly cuts out or goes below 1mbps. Had engineers out to check line etc but we are a long way from the cabinet.

So the question is. BT have this new BT hybrid connect service where a mini 4G router kicks in if the main broadband goes down. I am about to change providers to BT and have been offered this package.

However I already have a very good wifi 6 router (Asus RT-AX88u) and draytek modem. Plus the TP link MR600.

I am just wondering if I can create my own "hybrid connect" using these two existing routers? I assume there is some software in the BT Smart hub 2 though, that tells their 4G router when to kick in.

At the moment the 4G router is in a room with a very thick wall between that room and the main house - only used in that room and partly to prevent clash of wifi bands etc.

What would happen if I connected the 4G router to the Asus router with an ethernet cable?

As you can see I am not an expert but my OH is even worse and have a teenager tearing his hair out over the internet dropping out.

I don't want to use the BT hub - I like the Asus router and it allows me two extra guest networks - one for guests and one for smart devices.

The BT 4G service works well - you still need to have the BT SmartHub, There are ways if you have a dual WAN router others will be better to advise on that .

What post code are you, have you checked for any better connection ?.

Thanks. Same speeds quoted by all providers.

Good to hear the BT hub works well. In our area the mobile broadband speeds are significantly faster. Average 15 to 20 mbs instead of 6. Partly why I got the separate router for mobile broadband but that fluctuates wildly and latency is bad (for teenager and his games). So basically at the moment we just switch between networks when one goes down - which is more or less what the BT hub does isn't it? Difference being the Bt hub would work out cheaper as currently paying for two broadband packages (one landline,one mobile).

So in some ways it would be a bit weird having the BT mini hub only kick in when main landline dropped off as the speeds are faster on mobile broadband!

The original intention was only to have mobile broadband - but the teenager hates it due to the high latency/ping and huge fluctuations when he 's playing games.

Still typing while @Hazel123 answered my question.

Edited by GonePostal (Wed 05-May-21 21:51:40)

Yes, the BT 4G is a "large USB drive" in a small base with 1m lead.

Switches automatically and will wait until FTTC has been stable for 15 minutes before it switches back. People have been know to "disconnect" th phone line when a high speed connection is needed for streaming films.

Cheers. So - you can disconnect the phone line and just use the mobile broadband hub alone? I would have thought there'd be a data limit set on the mobile data.

This might sound like a noddy question but - does the BT mini mobile hub only affect wifi users? Our main PC is connected with ethernet to get the most stable connection. So if the broadband goes down and the mini hub kicks in - will this work on ethernet or just wifi? Assume you would also need an ethernet cable to the mini hub? Or at least have the mini hub connected to the BT hub by ethernet.

One thing I have done is ask BT for a quote for FTTP. We're eligible for FTTP "on demand" because it's a business line. But there are no plans to run FTTP in our area for a long time. I am assuming the quote will be extortionate!

No, but if it is not connected then an auto fault may be raised

It is NOT a mini hub, just a device pluged into the standard SmartHub.

Anything connected, Ethernet or WiFi will use it

In reply to a post by MHC:

if it is not connected then an auto fault may be raised

That was my understanding

In reply to a post by Hazel123:

One thing I have done is ask BT for a quote for FTTP. We're eligible for FTTP "on demand" because it's a business line. But there are no plans to run FTTP in our area for a long time. I am assuming the quote will be extortionate!

Can you elaborate on this as I've never heard anyone ask BT for a FTTPoD quote before, normally its companies like Cerberus who do FTTPoD

Ok. So in ringing round providers, Plusnet told me we could get FTTP. I said - I don't think so. She said - google BT wholesale broadband checker. First result is "BT Broadband Availability Checker. Open this and you put in your phone number and complete the captcha. Everything about your connection is then listed and what options there are. Under "Featured products" it said "FTTP on demand" 330mbps with availability date showing as available.

I got quite excited. Plusnet said - we can't provide it but some providers might. Phoned BT. They said no it isn't in your area but FTTP on demand is where you get a quote to pay to have it run in yourself. Only available on a business line. She has passed all the details onto "the team" and someone will get back to me to discuss and give a quote. I said - it'll probably cost thousands - she said - not necessarily it might not cost that much.

I shall have to wait and see. What that does mean is I now have to stick with the business line until I find out because I was about to switch to a residential line because business line only does one package which is 80/20. Engineer said we should be on a 40/10 package as frequency too high on 80/20 causing all the drop outs. To get 40/10 needs a residential package!

So right now I am changing nothing until I get the quote for FTTP. Except contract ends with Plusnet soon so considering switching to BT and trying this hybrid connect thing.

If we could get FTTP it would be brilliant. But somehow I think it will be an extortionate cost.

Just to add - by "the team" she said something about one of the people who do this. So it may well be a private company.

In reply to a post by Hazel123:

... Engineer said we should be on a 40/10 package as frequency too high on 80/20 causing all the drop outs. To get 40/10 needs a residential package!

Absolute poppycock (being polite). It makes no difference!

Can I ask which business package you have? If you go for "Superfast Enhanced" you will get better fault response times, the 4G dongle, additional IT support, static IP.

Given your distance from the cabinet you are probably also a long way from any aggregation nodes. The FTTC cabinets are fed from those nodes. It's possible there is a node nearer to you that feeds other cabinets, but not a high probability of that.

An FTTPoD to you would be fed from the most suitable node. Not necessarily the one that feeds your fibre cabinet. But! Not a common occurrence as far as I know.

If it did turn out to be your cabinets feeding node, you would be talking tens of thousands of pounds for the installation.

Not nice. But for many businesses, worth it!

I don't remember anyone getting quotes that weren't in the thousands for FTTPoD for installation. I think someone on here has been tracking but I suspect the average is probably somewhere north of £8K install. There are other providers you can order from - Cerberus is the one most people posting here have used.

In reply to a post by Hazel123:

So the question is. BT have this new BT hybrid connect service where a mini 4G router kicks in if the main broadband goes down. I am about to change providers to BT and have been offered this package.

However I already have a very good wifi 6 router (Asus RT-AX88u) and draytek modem. Plus the TP link MR600.

This on Asus routers is called Dual Wan.
https://ibb.co/q5gFF0X

The USB is where connect USB 4G/5G dongle. When then WAN geos down changes over to USB and when WAN back up changes back.