In reply to a post by broadband66:

If the advertising works then you have fallen foul of it by purchasing an Echo Dot and wifi bulbs and plugs. I'm sure your previous plugs and bulbs worked perfectly well.

You can't have a go at people wanting newer, usually better, technology and then buying stuff that is not really needed.

To be completely honest I went down the echo with smart bulb route for two reasons (none of which related to adverts from my perspective.)

Two of my smart bulbs are LIFX WiFi the rest are Philips hue through alexa.

Firstly we wanted a surround sound system with additional options which the echo would do.

The second reason the echo's were chosen was around the time we removed old lighting fixtures and we didn't have any light bulbs, this meant we had a choice of either smart or normal, as time passed we got more echo's with lightbulb's kits as the remaining lights were those old rubbish ecos that took ages to "warm up" and as time passed we also had bulbs die so it was sort of a staggered process.

I will happily say that there are lots of rooms on normal light switches, and some that are smart for the reasons I said.

I don't see the point in replacing LED's when they are perfectly fine however replacing dead bulbs or rubbish ones, with ones that are more suitable, that makes sense to me.

In reply to a post by chriswillsher:

There have long been rumours of a new BT Smarthub and I have been hoping the Zen would start supplying the FritzBox 7530 AX model that their manufacturers have been promoting for a long time now. Is it a cost issue, chip supply problem or the need to get rid of old stocks?

It will mainly be cost and chips. The lack of sufficient chips pushing up the cost. Added to which there are still considerable availability and cost issues with shipping stuff globally.

Finally, there is a lack of consumer demand from the customers who tend to go with the big residential ISPs like BT/Sky/Vodafone/Talktalk etc

In reply to a post by jchamier:

Enjoy!

Thanks, I did, but I think I had a couple too many

In reply to a post by broadband66:

If the advertising works then you have fallen foul of it by purchasing an Echo Dot and wifi bulbs and plugs. I'm sure your previous plugs and bulbs worked perfectly well.

You can't have a go at people wanting newer, usually better, technology and then buying stuff that is not really needed.

First, I am not having a go at anyone for wanting newer as long as newer does something different from what they had before, all they are going to make use of it. In the past I know people who want the fastest newest computer to replace a machine that is working fine, and then they just do the same thing as they did before, Office stuff and browsing. Nothing taxing at all. The same with mobile phones, they want the fastest greatest latest phone and yet they do nothing different with it than their old phone and they do this even if there is nothing wrong with the phone, why? Because they have been told they need it and believe they do.
The same with routers, people want a new router just because they think they do.

Second, i did not get a Echo because of adverts, in fact I never wanted one, I never trusted them, a mate of mine lent me one and it stayed in the bag in my hall for months until I gave it to him it back.

I had a smart thermostat fitted by my energy supplier in 2017, and it was that which started me off on the smart home journey. I thought maybe an Alexa would be useful to turn the heating on and off by voice.

I agree that the previous plugs and bulbs worked fine and for the most part the new ones are a gimmick, but the one on the coffee machine is useful since the machine takes a while to warm up, so having it turn on when I wake up is great as it is ready by the time I have had my shower and breakfast.

We all buy stuff we don't really need, I have been thinking about getting a counter top dishwasher over the last few months, do I really need one since I here alone most of the time. Probably not.

Al;l the bulbs i replaced were normal bulbs, not LED. i still have a normal bulb in my reading light, as I still hate reading with LED.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

In reply to a post by jchamier:

Enjoy!

Thanks, I did, but I think I had a couple too many

Posting some more on here after noting that probably not a good plan

In reply to a post by XGS_Is_On:

Posting some more on here after noting that probably not a good plan

LOL.

Well the old plusnet hub one is still working at the moment.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

In reply to a post by Intoxicating20:

I’ve got Zzoomm installed, the grey box outside is just the splice enclosure, they then feed the cable inside the property to the ONT.

Zzoomm only give you one router these days unless you pay extra for the extender add on.

The ONT is 10Gbps with the ethernet port supporting 100mb 1/2.5/5/10G so is pretty much future proof.

When I saw your post I went to have a look and yes, only one router, something called a icotera, never heard of them.
That is a bit of a shame, if I went for zzoomm, I would have got them to run the cable up the outside of the wall between the two routers, save having a cable running down the stairs.
I suppose they have to make cutbacks to pay for the free 6 months they are giving people.

I saw a zzoomm van a couple of roads away yesterday, I thought maybe they were starting up here, but I think they may live there, I don't think they will start around for months yet, the map says spring/summer, but I would not hold my breath.

I still go by what I have said before, about staying as I am if plusnet offers me a good price when the contract ends next year.

I don't think I can cope with the hassle of them digging here to bury the cable in my driveway.

How did you find their installation service? There are a few complaints about them here, someone took a photo of the way zzoomm left their inside wall after installation, it was not good, plaster cracked and falling. Surly, it is best to drill from the inside and not the outside of the wall. Also, how is it working now it is up and running?

The Icotera was ok to use, it’s locked down so advanced settings can’t be changed such as adding a VoIP provider which is a shame.

The install was pretty painless, they ask if you have an idea where you want things and then offer their suggestion but are pretty open to doing anything the customer wants which is refreshing. Drill work also no issues and even gave a choice of colours for both internal and external cable entry covers.

The service is great and although I have no real need for 2Gbps symmetrical it is pretty much future proof.

After Netgear borked the Orbi with a dodgy update I got on to Zzoomm for the Zyxel and I’m actually surprised that it performs much better and even more positive is Zzoomm haven’t locked it down so you can change any setting along with adding VoIP.

The Zyxel is the ax7501-b0 and does come with a 10G SFP+ ethernet, you still have to connect to the ONT with ethernet but that is a 10G connection as well, the Zyxel also has one 10G ethernet for the LAN. WiFi 6 wise I can get 1.1Gbps on a Note20 Ultra.