Full Fibre UK ISP Hyperoptic Launch New ZTE WiFi6 Hyperhub UPDATE
Customers of city-focused gigabit broadband ISP Hyperoptic, which aims to cover 2 million UK premises with their full fibre (FTTP / FTTB) network by the end of 2023, may like to know that the provider has introduced a new ZTE ZXHN H3600 Hyperhub router, which appears to be their first Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) capable device.
The provider, which is currently getting close to reaching 1 million homes passed with their network (up from 900,000+ in July 2022), last launched a new router to their line-up – the first since late 2020 when they introduced the reasonably capable Nokia HA-140W-B device. But Nokia’s kit was a Wi-Fi 5 unit, and the new ZTE ZXHN H3600 looks to be much more capable, at least in terms of WiFi.
We don’t yet have a full specification for the new device (we’ve requested this), but it appears to feature the following ports: 1 x Gigabit WAN, 4 x Gigabit LAN, 1 x USB 2.0, 2 x RJ11 Phone (FXS / FXO) and the usual power switches / inputs etc. The device also features several buttons on the top for switching on/off WiFi, WPS, LEDs and Resetting.
The actual capabilities of the new router are somewhat of a mystery, and even the manuals we found online don’t include a lot of detail, which is rather unusual. But the inclusion of Wi-Fi 6 should ensure that its wireless performance is superior to the previous router from Nokia, which itself was no slouch. We did see one close-range speed test of the new ZTE vs old Nokia kit and that seemed to indicate a c.50-90Mbps uplift in WiFi speed on the ZTE (highly anecdotal).
However, feedback from one of our readers (credits Zakir) suggests that only those on Hyperoptic’s 1Gbps plan may be able to get the new device. “It is available to our 1gb customers in a commitment plan free of charge. Depending on external factors as well as receiving device, its cabled and wireless connection should be similar in speed in the room with the [Nokia] router,” said one of the provider’s support staff.
In other news, Hyperoptic has appointed ex-BT Director, Jo-Anne Dunning, as Business Development Director to continue to grow its presence in new build homes across Britain. The ISP recently celebrated the milestone of connecting more than 100,000 new build homes, and it has agreements in place to connect a further 100,000 over the next 12 months.
We hope to have further details on the new ZTE router soon.
UPDATE 12:44pm
We’ve been furnished with an official image from Hyperoptic and the provider has confirmed that the new router can deliver dual-band concurrent Wi-Fi 6 at speeds of up to 1800Mbps (theoretical). The router also supports the latest WP3 encryption and up to 128 user terminals can be connected. The router has technically been in use since they launched a new Mesh WiFi solution in March 2022, but it wasn’t officially announced at the time.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook and Linkedin.
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Brave move to pick a designated high risk vendor at a time of global political instability.
Obviously it’s not core network equipment but it only takes a slight policy shift and all this CPE becomes redundant.
When there are plenty of other good WiFi6/6E choices in the market this seems an unnecessary risk to take.
I guess their product team don’t speak to their regulatory team.
It should be said that Huawei is currently the only HRV (High Risk Vendor) which has in place a bespoke risk mitigation strategy, forcing removal from networks. But ZTE is indeed the other HRV, although this relates more to the internal than consumer connectivity side.
Back in 2020 the NCSC stated:
“ZTE is also considered a High Risk Vendor. The NCSC assesses that the national security risks arising from the use of ZTE equipment or services within the context of the existing UK telecoms infrastructure cannot be mitigated. The NCSC’s advice to operators in relation to ZTE has not changed as a result of this analysis”
https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/files/Summary%20of%20the%20NCSCs%20security%20analysis%20for%20the%20UK%20telecoms%20sector.pdf
https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/information/hrv-faq
I have the Tilgin Router currently. Just got upgraded to 1Gbps and the Tilgin router gives ~550Mbps down and 450Mbps upload. Will receive the WiFi 6 router (possible ZTE H3600) + compatible Total Wi-Fi. Lets see if the speeds increase, and if so, by how much.
More cheap Chinese designed to spy on people and fund genocide and the invasion of Taiwan. Shame on them for cutting corners and making deals with an authoritarian regime
Is there any evidence USA couldn’t prove it and banned them as we know following pressure from USA,UK banned them from networks not consumer side.
I tried posting evidence but apparently links are not allowed. All companies in china are state owned and are mandated to have a quote of a % of employees to be party members to make sure the company tows the party line
Google CCP + tiktok data/Uyghurs/russian oil/indian border/organ harvesting/HK crackdowns/Taiwan
The Biggest spies are USa and UK and biggest bullies and evil nations who have committed more genocides and wars and rape murder around the world than any other nations, whats so secretive they going to take from individuals data that would make any difference to their agendas, its all made up by usa who spy on rest of world with their NSA etc.
Thanks President Xi!
+1000 social credit score loyal comrade
Breaks over, get back to your sociology class so you can listen to teacher droning on about the tories and how badly paid they are.
I cannot be the only person in the technology industry (B2B and I’m being vague for good reason) that remembers certain US networking equipment suppliers were well renowned for including back-doors (and not even subtle ones) which allowed the US security services to spy on enterprise customers. Obviously I am not absolving ZTE or Huawei and saying they are safe. That said, any infrastructure grade Huawei kit supplied in the UK was built in the UK and done under the supervision of GCHQ engineers. Of course back doors can still be built in, it’s just harder as even the firmware was inspected by GCHQ.
It is worth remembering: There is no such thing as perfect security when it comes to networking or networking hardware or vendors. If one wants to mitigate risk then yes, choosing manufacturers from so called “friendly” nations can help. But, as the US has proved previously, even then you can still end up installing easy attack vectors for their security services.
Kudos on this balanced, erudite comment.
Thank you Mr JIMM E SaVILLE!!!
I got Hyperoptic (1Gb) a few months ago and was given a ZTE H298A.
~500Mb/s on WiFi and 700-900Mb/s wired, depending on time of day.
Requested the new router from Hyperoptic (which they sent, no problem) and now on WiFi the latest test shows 778Mb/s which more or less matches the wired speed at the same time.
Are your devices WIFI 6 or older WIFI 5?
Because 778 Mbps for WIFI is totally impressive!
Also can you choose the band of 5GHZ instead of 2.4 GHZ or does the router automatically choose the best one?
I wanted at first the Nokia thinking this is what they give for 1 Gbit connections,but they offered me the ZTE H3600..I will have my broadband activated next week so I will know then..
I have this one for a couple of months now and the speed is impressive, much better than the previous one I used.