Broadband ISP and mobile operator EE (BT) has today, as previously leaked (here), announced the soft launch of the UK’s first 1.6Gbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) package on Openreach’s network and the supporting introduction of a new Wi-Fi 6 capable Smart Hub Plus (Smart Hub 3) router and other kit.
Just to recap. BT announced a major shake-up of their branding in April 2022, which among other things revealed that EE would eventually become the “flagship brand for our consumer customers” (i.e. converged broadband and mobile plans etc.), while BT would become the flagship for their Enterprise and Global units (here).
Today’s announcement is one of the first big steps toward the aforementioned goal, since in the past it would have been BT’s own brand that led with the launch of new broadband routers and packages. But no longer. This time around, we see EE branded packages and hardware taking the lead.
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However, today is only a soft launch of the new packages and hardware, since none of this is currently expected to become available to order by customers until “late this summer” (we assume the August to September window). As a result, we don’t get a lot of detail.
“The Smart Hub Plus, Smart Wi-Fi Plus and Hybrid Connect will be joined by the Smart Hub and Smart Wi-Fi – replacing EE’s existing line-up in the coming months. The all-new range will feature a new look and sleek formal design created by consultancy ZAG in collaboration with renowned hardware designer Tej Chauhan. In support of EE’s commitment to greener hardware and reducing the impact its devices have on the environment, all new product outer casings will also be made from up to 95% recycled plastic, with box packaging being both recycled and recyclable,” said EE.
Firstly, there’s the introduction of that 1.6Gbps package, which is based off Openreach’s new 1.8Gbps (120Mbps upstream) tier (here). The pilot for that – taking place in Swansea (Wales) and Ipswich (Suffolk) – is currently due to run until 31st July 2023, which explains why EE won’t be formally launching their own package until later this summer.
EE hasn’t yet revealed how much they’ll charge for this tier but, based on the cost difference at wholesale, we’d guesstimate that it may be around £6-£8 per month more expensive than their current top 1Gbps (900Mbps) plan, which costs £49 per month on a 24-month term (discounted price). The full package details and prices are expected to be unveiled in due course.
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However, customers who take this FTTP plan will require an engineer visit because, in order to support that speed, Openreach will need to install a new optical modems (ONT / ONU) – either the Nokia G-010G-T or ADTRAN SDX 611Q – inside your home. Both of these support a 2.5Gbps capable Ethernet (LAN) port. Similarly, customers will also be supplied with a new router..
The new Smart Hub Plus router (pictured – top) follows the same rounded rectangle form factor as we’ve seen in the past, albeit with the primary addition of Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) support and a 2.5Gbps WAN port, although some may be disappointed to find that its regular LAN ports remain limited to 1Gbps. Sadly, there’s no support for the 6GHz band here, but EE/BT are known to be developing a WiFi 7 capable router for 2024 (here).
We understand from our sources that the new router will harness EE’s own in-house Operating System (OS) and Firmware, which is internally known as Project Indigo. But how well this performs and what features it enables customers to control will only be known once we start getting some feedback from customers. The official announcement merely says this:
“Smart Hub Plus will run on a new firmware platform built by EE, unlocking the ability for it to partner with the very latest new software and hardware partners to ensure EE customers stay ahead of the curve. It will enable EE customers to benefit from unique new features including best in class Wi-Fi controls designed to help improve their experience – allowing them for example to prioritise their bandwidth when working from home or gaming or set new advanced parental controls.”
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Smart Hub Plus Specification | |
Wi-Fi Spec | Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax 2.4GHz 3×3 5GHz 4×4 |
Smart Wireless | Yes |
Complete Wi-Fi Support | Yes (Smart WiFi Plus) |
Wired Connections | 1 x 2.5GigE WAN 4 x 1GigE LAN |
USB port | Yes (USB 3) |
On/off light control | Yes |
Integrated password card | Yes |
Digital Voice Support | Yes (DECT/FXS) |
DSL Technology | ADSL2+ / VDSL / FTTC / FTTP |
Hybrid Connect Support | Yes |
Naturally, the addition of WiFi 6 also requires EE/BT to update their complementary kit, which means that we’re also getting new Smart Hybrid Connect and Smart Wi-Fi Plus devices.
In case anybody has forgotten, Hybrid Connect enables EE to provide more connection stability and performance by aggregating (or bonding) their fixed line broadband and 4G mobile networks (sadly 5G isn’t mentioned). But the main reason for this product is to automatically switch customers over to a backup mobile broadband link if their fixed line goes down, and then back again once it returns.
Both the new router and hybrid connect kit have also been designed to work seamlessly with EE’s latest Smart WiFi Plus kit, which is the name they use for their repeaters (i.e. WiFi mesh networking). The basic specs for both can be found below.
Smart Hybrid Connect | |
4G Module | LTE 4G CAT 6 |
Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 5 802. 11ac 5GHz 2 x 2 |
Ethernet | 1 x 1GigE |
LEDs | 4 x RGB LEDs (1x status, mobile 3 signal strength) |
4G Antennas | (Optional) 2 x SMA external antenna (auto-sensing) |
Smart WiFi Plus | |
Compatibility | Smart Hub Plus |
Wi-Fi Spec | Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax 2.4GHz 2×2 5GHz 2×2 |
Smart Wireless | Yes |
Wired Connections | 1 x 1Gig Ethernet |
USB port | No |
On/off light control | Yes |
Marc Allera, CEO of EE, said:
“As we create the UK’s most personal customer-focused brand, we continually look to bring truly innovative products and services to market to help our customers manage their increasingly busy households. Whether it be working from home, gaming, or juggling the increasingly digital elements of everyday life – EE home broadband backed-up by EE’s award-winning mobile network will set the standard for broadband for years to come, offering customers the best experience and putting them in control of their home connectivity.”
We should point out that both the Hybrid Connect and Smart WiFi kit follow the same rough cosmetic design as EE’s new router, albeit at different sizes and the repeaters adopt a cream white colour. Otherwise, there’s not a lot more to say, until we get the package details.
Congratulations to everyone that has been waiting for this!
A mass-market ISP launching a residential over-1Gbps product is a big move, let’s hope it shifts the market a bit.
I think Virgin Media did that a little while ago?
In a decade when its priced somewhat affordable it just might.
Shame that there are about two houses in ipswich with Openreach FTTP available 😀
CF and Vermin coverage is good tho.
Vermin haha
Literally millions but ok
Like Vermin, rat based coverage?
“EE’s own in-house Operating System (OS) and Firmware, which is internally known as Project Indigo”
Why that name Indigo 😉 ??
Pass, but I hope it is better than what they put in BT’s own routers. Plusnet routers are not that bad, a bit basic, but that is the good thing about them, no bloat
Only 1 x 2.5Gb port?
that will disappoint, unless you can aggregate 2 x 1Gb ports
Might be cynical, but these ISP routers with only 1 x 2.5gbps Ethernet port (the WAN port) are deliberate in the ISP’s favour.
Basically, no one can have test results from 1gb ports and moan about not getting the speed as ISP can say limitation for the port. They also can’ then moan about speeds over Wifi as ISP will say WiFi isn’t guaranteed at those high speeds.
Solution is to use own router with 2.5gbps LAN and WAN ports or 10gbps ports but these are way out of price reach for most consumers.
If there is only on 2.5gb port doesnt that mean ethernet connections to your pc will be limited to 1gbps? Where does the cable from the ONT box go?
Around 940mbps as only 1gbps LAN ports. The 2.5gbps WAN port is shared to them and WiFi.
able from ONT goes into 2.5gbps WAN port of router.
So if i want 1.6gbps to my main pc i have to use wifi?
@K,
If you want to take this product and actualy receive 1.6gbps to your devices, you need to use your own router. The connection coming out of the ONT will be 2.5gbps ethernet, and have full 1.6 (likely full 1.8)gbps bandwidth available. If you plug that into your own router that has not only 2.5gbps wan but also lan ports, you can utilise it.
Switches are a thing.
2.5Gb/s on Wan only seems to be useless, the router zzoomm provide has a 2.5Gb/s lan, Wan is 2.4Gb/s, only two 1Gb/s lan. I think they use Zyxel for their 1Gb and higher packages.
It seems they are going more for looks than function, a lot of routers are hidden behind something or other anyway.
Yup anonymous, it’s false advertising. If you bundle a router, surely it should be capable of meeting the advertised median speeds at peak time, over a wired connection.
You’ll need to show me where they advertise that you can receive the full downstream throughput to a single device with the kit they supply.
Virgin have being doing this for a couple years. The ASA have rejected any complaints as Virgin never claimed you could get their highest speed to a single device.
So BT doubled the downstream from 900 to 1800Mbps but only felt it reasonable to increase the upstream by 10Mbps?
That’s a poor show.
It’s the usual BT shambles and dictating that nobody needs higher speeds (in their opinion).
That’s why a number of people like ALTNETS because a number of them provide symmetric speeds.
Only hope is for VM to do symmetric on their XGS-PON network (once most of their network is converted from hybrid to XGS-PON) who are big enough to force BT to re-consider. BT will always try and limit to protect leased lines business.
It’s only 5Mbps. currently 1000/115 with 1200/120 & 1800/120 coming soon
I’m pretty sure that Openreach would offer faster upload speeds if there was sufficient demand from its ISP customers.
It’s for commercial reasons. Partly it’s because both Openreach and Virgin Media have lucrative leased line businesses that they don’t want to cannibalise. But also it’s because the people who upload a lot are the ones who consume more bandwidth overall.
Having a faster download speed doesn’t necessarily increase the amount you consume: you just download the same amount in less time. Once you’ve done a big game download (say), you still have to spend time playing it.
But big uploads can happen 24×7: if you’re doing off-site backups, you’re working on big media files, you’re running P2P filesharing, you’re hosting etc.
Therefore, I’d say this is a side-effect of “unlimited” packages in the marketplace. If you were limited to uploading (say) 10TB per month, then allowing high speeds would be fine – but you know how much people complain about such limits. Having a lower upload speed is an indirect way to limit the volume of uploads, without actually applying a data cap.
(FWIW, 100Mbps ~= 32TB per month)
Sure: many altnets don’t have such limits. That’s because they’re desperate for customers – *any* customers – and for any way to distinguish themselves in the market. OR and VM don’t need, or want, to attract the least-desirable customers.
@Anonymous “BT will always try and limit to protect leased lines business.”
I have no idea what my router is synced as but I have always hoped on my BT net service I could get more than 941/941 – I thought a LL would be as uncapped as uncapped can be but no.. I hope when it comes to renewal this new stuff will help them treat me better on price. That said if anything like that comes here I won’t be renewing the BT net anyway
I totally get the last comment and it’s one of the reasons I fork out for BT Net. I am in business obviously but also I download a hell of a lot and I upload about 30TB a month split between all I do. I don’t want to inconvenience anyone, nor do I want to be inconvenienced.
Sound argument there Sir. And not one anyone can really go against. I guess when it comes to shared resources there has to be a cap. I am yet to have anything shared so I don’t know how it works (really) even my mobile is calls/mins and WIFI calling no data allowance as I never need it living above the office.
@charles
what am I missing there – 940 is as good as it gets for gigabit once overheads are accounted for. What are you expecting them to “uncap”? If you want more than 1 gig, they’ll happily sell it to you.
@Ivor
I don’t know. I just wrongly assumed as people on VM were getting 1.2Gbps or something like 1145mbps the 2.5GB port would do the same on my hardware. The problem with managed service is I can’t see anything but online stats. They will sell me more you are correct, It’s great as it is not sure I want to spend an extra £13000 to upgrade the bearer and then an extra £650 a month to get 10GB. BT don’t seem to offer anything in between 1 and 10 – well at least not when I ask anyway
@NE55 that makes no sense. If my backup today is 100GB it’s going to be 100GB regardless of my upload speed. It’s not like I’ll get a faster connection and create a whole bunch of new data I need backing up.
Having just spoke to BT on when this will be available i was told it will be around October, as trials end the end of July and then about 8 weeks of in-house checking everything is working as it should, just in case other people like myself wanting to know when the new router is out
Imagine if you just read the article and saved yourself the time.
Pardon my cynicism here, but EE are releasing a 1.6Gbps tier with 1Gbps LAN port and WiFi 6 with no 6Ghz band. How in the blazes is anyone ever going to get near that speed, even if they conjoin themselves to EE’s router? Of course the only solution is to replace the router with a third party at your own cost, but then why bother even releasing this package with a router instead of a ‘wires only’ approach if it’s impossible to get even close to these speeds? That is really very poor indeed.
I agree. I had hoped to plug a 1.6gbps connection into my 2.5gbe switch but just found out i cant to that. Dont see the logic in it. Whats wrong with having at least 2 ports on the hub which run up to 2.5gbit so you can at least use the full speed via a cable? I went and bought an 8 port 2.5gbe switch last month too.
@K,
I generally agree, the service is let down by the router their providing.
However, as we havent got the router yet, we don’t know what it’s capable of.
I dont kno which, but one of the VM routers (SH4??) had 1162mbps package coming in via docsis cable, but only 1GBE lan ports. However, it did allow you to use LAG to bond two ports together, allowing for 2Gbps of bandwidth to a managed switch.
Considering this is apparently an inhouse EE router with their own software, theres no reason they couldnt provide this functionality. It might only give you a 2Gbps connection to your switch, but thats more than the upto 1.8Gbps bandwidth of the package, so in theory, it does mean you can make full use of the connection.
Easier to just buy your own router though, something that VM dont allow, and might be the only reason they ‘had to’ support LAG.
My bet this is designed for multiple users sharing and not one user using the full bandwidth.
But I’m sure there will be other ISPs offering this soon. You can always use a 3rd party router plugged directly into the ONT
@Harmeet Virgin media does allow you to use your own router by turning their router into modem mode and the new SH5 has 2.5Gb port
while disappointing that it doesn’t have at least one 2.5G LAN port, it’s also worth pointing out that many PCs don’t even have 2.5GbE, hardly anyone has bought 2.5G capable switches, and the sorts of people who do are also the same people who don’t use ISP routers anyway. Yes, you can upgrade (or add it, USB-C dongles are cheap if you can tolerate certain chip manufacturers) but many won’t.
As long as the limitation is clearly communicated to the customer and that it’ll deliver 1+Gbps across multiple client devices then it’s fine IMO.
@James™ hub5x has 10gb port
Ivor
Most PC’s from over the last 2 years have came with a 2.5gbe port. Or at least nearly all motherboards have done so, unless you were buying a cheap computer.
nah. eg laptops – if you’re lucky to get built in ethernet at all these days given the thinness war, it’s often still 1gbe, even at the mid-high end.
For example, the shiny new thinkpad my employer bestowed upon me – new enough to have wifi 6E, but merely Intel gigabit ethernet. It’s not like you’d see 2.5G in a typical office anyway.
If I chose to buy Lenovo’s fancy thunderbolt dock, it actually has a 2.5G capable chip inside it, but a) it works with only certain laptops and b) when it does, such as with my new thinkpad, it apparently won’t negotiate more than 1G anyway.
For giggles I looked at Lenovo’s highest end desktop workstation. The onboard LAN and their optional cards are all gigabit only.
Or how about something more consumer-y – Apple – again, gigabit in the iMac and Mac Mini, though the latter can have a 10G NIC (also 2.5/5 capable) at extra cost.
I am sure there are motherboards out there that do have it – but I stand by my point, it’s not common. Last time I bought a motherboard, it was a minefield to try to get one that didn’t have realtek gigabit LAN…
Ivor
That is a very selective thing to say. If you check motherboard specs (not the cheap stuff) you will see modern motherboards usually come with a 2.5gbe port. I am now on my 3rd main pc that has a 2.5gbe port.
@Ivor, that is true, i know of two people who have networks faster than 1Gb.s, one is 2.5 the other 10Mb/s, as you say most people won’t have the equipment to get the use of it anyway. i was going to say updating a PC to use them is not cheap, but thought I would have a look first, and the prices have reduced a lot. get a PCI-E NIc for around £25, that is pretty good. £30 if you go for a better known make like Tp-link. A simple 2.5Gb/s switch is still pricy, you are looking at over the £100.
But for stuff that is not expandable, like Mac minim, you need to get USB 2.4Gb/s adaptor.
‘hardly anyone has bought 2.5G capable switches, and the sorts of people who do are also the same people who don’t use ISP routers anyway.’
Very true on both counts. The sorts of people with 2.5G capable switches actually have 10G capable switches as 2.5G has a really specific use case and buying 8 port 2.5G switches for home is crazy.
@Martyn: The VM hub 5X does indeed have a 10GbE LAN port but it’s on trial for XGS-PON. Gig1 customers with a hub 5 (but not a hub 4) have a 2.5GbE LAN port which enables full use of the expected speed range of 1069-1138Mbps.
Why should a Wifi 6 router work on 6Ghz band? That’s wifi 6E onwards territory
It still supports ADSL? Fantastic news, looking forward to these being on Amazon or Ebay should I still not have FTTP by years end
This is a prosumer product I guess. That’s why the router they’re bundling with it sucks, as it’s only capable of gigabit speeds.
Want faster than gigabit? You’ll have to pay out-of-pocket for that I guess.
For me it would cost:
4-port 2.5gbe Intel nic for pfsense: £135 (2port would work £85)
8-port 2.5gbe switch: ~£150
1-port 2.5gbe nic for PC: ~£35
So to upgrade my network for faster than gigabit speeds it would cost c.£300! I’m probably just going to upgrade the network directly to 10 gigabit when the time comes. Seems more cost-effective rather than doing incremental upgrades.
Patrick
Change your IT supplier.
I got an 8 port 2.5gbe switch for £106 after it went up in price.
A 2.5gbe card is under 25 quid.
Is the switch VLAN capable?
I think 2.5gbe is just a silly stop-gap tech anyway. When I upgrade I’ll go straight to 10gb. Hopefully by then, prices and power consumption on 10gbe equipment come down to a reasonable level.
Hey Patrick,
2.5G exists to reuse existing Cat5e cable to backhaul WiFi access points that can carry above a gigabit on their radios.
You’re way better going to 10G if you’ve existing cabling. Even if it isn’t great it’s very unlikely it’ll be long enough to have any problems handling 10G.
Finally, now Virgin has to do something to become the “fastest”
Lots of moping about the router – we’re 6 months from launch, it’ll be something different by then.
As for Virgin, your move now sonny. You can guarantee they’ll have a faster full 2Gb tier by the time this actually launches.
oct i read somewhere earlier for launch
It won’t be, it’s been in testing for ages. They won’t be adding anything else hardware wise.
I have 1gb symmetrical from you fibre. Home cat6 lan. Its fast enough at £29 pcm.
Virgin Media with a 1700mbps service in about 2 weeks then!
They tested 2.2gbps several times over the last few years so that’ll probably be their move.
Middle of London – VM are on the next street but not on ours.. I would kill to get that for the price people pay even if it is shared and throttled
About time we had faster upload speeds!
‘Wired Connections
1 x 2.5GigE WAN
4 x 1GigE LAN’
How ridiculous. Having seen Virgin Media getting grief from customers for selling >1G over kit with gigabit ports only EE have said ‘Yeah, let’s have some of that’.
They’re doing it purely to save a minimal amount of money on the switch chip and connections in the router. This is idiotic. Folks buy >1G give them kit with >1G ports. They don’t, give them the standard tat. They upgrade ship them new kit via the usual low cost courier.
Legacy WiFi too. Pretty pathetic penny pinching.
You guys could use ppoe with a Linux system setup as a router then send to a switch which is a much better way of doing it that way you can control all elements of the connection and firewalls etc. All you need is a half decent system with 2 lans and your golden. (I do this now on the current 1gb Tier)
That’s actually a great idea. I knew about this being a feature but never thought of it to get around the 1Gbps bottle neck. I’m a Linux user myself with an unsavoury addiction to distro hopping. What distro are you using to accomplish this? It will give me something else to mess around with 🙂
I will say again, I cannot for the life of me understand the logic of releasing this the 1.6Gbps tier with hardware that will never support it. It is utterly ridiculous and I hope EE reconsider this before it officially launches. I would love to here their rationale around it.
+1 for this. It’s what I do though I use Mikrotik’s software as I know it and like it. Price is way lower than a router of the same performance would be.
https://freeimage.host/i/H6e6Rja
I must say after all the continued delays and what mainstream competition already have in their routers, I feel quite underwhelmed with the new Hub and users on the higher tiers are still going to be able to get the most out of their connections.
I thought they would of at least made the router with the hybrid connect in one box rather than having to use 2 power supplies to use up.
Another thing that has come to light now that more people have seen the new Hubs is the lack of telephone support both with a socket or digital service.
It is well know that BT are moving all residential customers over to EE this year but what is going to happen when they wanted to upgrade their speeds and are in a FTTP area will they be you have to give up your landline ?
What do you mean by “give up your landline”?
I have FTTP on BT/EE and have Digital Voice. The cordless phone base unit can plug into the back of the EE router shown in this article, or if you have a Digital Voice handset it can just pair to the router’s wifi.
If it is not offering DIGITAL PHONE it is of no interest to me
It has a phone socket on the back.
Meanwhile, no mobile signal in the home, only sporadic outside and a measly 1.5mb down and 300kb up. What a joke
Lack of 2.5Gb lan port seems poor. For my personal use case if link aggregation is available on the lan ports this could substitute but anybody with a PC with a 2.5Gb or better network port who wishes to connect directly to the smart hub is stuffed.
It seems as if EE are actually launching two new routers, the EE Smart Hub and EE Smart Hub Plus, I would have to make the assumption that this article has inadvertently combined the specifications of both hubs and actually that the Smart Hub Plus will have Multi Gigabit LAN ports.
The EE 1.6 gbps ‘ soft launch ‘ was nigh on 3 months ago. Any indication when potential customers can register an interest and when the products will actually be launched to consumers? If you are a BT Full fibre customer[ 900 ] will you be left behind? I appreciate BT and EE have joined forces but will existing BT customers be offered a comparable package in speed / peripherals terms?
I think for now the higher packages will be rolled to “new EE” then will be followed by a BT offering and a Plusnet offering.
In current circumstances the flagship brand is BT then EE Then Plusnet.
You can contact EE now and move to EE 1.6gbps broadband without paying any termination fees to BT if new plan is higher priced then old one. I was on BT 900mb for £63 and moved to new 1.6gb EE for 69.99 just waiting for installation of the new ONT modem to support the speeds