My Experience of BT Whole Home WiFi 6

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Can I just start this thread by thanking everyone for all their help and assistance around this project.

As some of you may know, we have had issues with flaky WiFi for a while. I have tried a couple of fixes over the years.

Powerline, which didn't really work and then I got some old Plusnet routers and rejigged them as APs.

Things got worse when people started working from home. At any time there could be three people here working from home.

So, I bit the bullet, did some searches online for reviews and chose this kit:

https://shop.bt.com/products/bt-whole-home-wi-fi-6---three-discs-105601-GD38.html

When I bought them, they were on sale at £300.

The reason I chose the AX6600 was that you can connect using WiFi 6, and two devices in the house are WiFi 6 enabled. Plus, it would be ready for the future.

To start with, installation was straight forward. You install the BT app on your phone, then follow the instructions. This was fine for the first one, which you plug in local to the existing router.

The second one did not install the first time and we had to repeat the process.

The third one would not install at all, despite many lengthy attempts, so I plugged it into the router and ran through the process again. It again showed all the same signs of a failure to link.

Giving up for the day, I moved the disc to its final location and when I checked the app, it said "Your disc is working well."

As far as coverage goes, the old system had an AP in three locations, in addition to the router in the lounge. As there are only three discs in the kit, I was worried that the location without a disc would be a potential deadspot.

In practice, while the number of WiFi bars is reduced, internet access is not an issue.

I was also a bit worried about some of the reviews that said they had issues with dropping out while moving round the house, but so far I have experienced no issues whatsoever.

The app has some very useful features. You can temporarily disable WiFi to all, or just to individual devices, or to a selection of devices. You can see who is connected to which disc and the strength of connection each disc has to the others.

You can block devices from connecting if need be, and you can set up guest WiFi, changing the SSID and PW.

You can prioritise bandwidth to 3 of the most important devices.

You can also add further discs to the network, up to a total of 6. When you buy a multi-disc kit, all the discs have the same SSID, PW and admin PW. If you bought an individual disc to add to your network, I'm not too sure how you would change the new disc's details to match.

Each disc has an LED on the front. You can change the brightness in the app, or turn them off.

In the app, you can also see the data usage of each device on the network.

I have noticed that two devices can be a few feet apart, but be connected to different discs, but the system automatically chooses the best disc for a device to connect to.

So to sum up, I'm very impressed with the way the system works, less so with the installation process.

The d/l speed using WiFi on the new Mesh network has at least doubled compared to the old system that had routers rejigged as APs, and Pcs connected via Cat 6 gain only slightly.

I have also upgraded the system and made sure that all ethernet cabling in the house is Gbit capable and the switches that I used to replace the APs (which were limited to 100Meg) are now Gbit capable too.

This is because we are shifting from Plusnet's 66 Meg FTTC to BTs 500 FTTP.

On the old system:

upload_2022-1-24_13-49-57.png



On the new system, after swapping the routers-cum-APs for Gbit switches:


upload_2022-1-24_13-51-47.png


The switches I bought were these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007DHTWUW?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Edited for clarity.
 
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I am still with Plusnet.

I have signed up to BT, but the installation date is not until 14th Feb.

Having said that, I don't know whether BT provide IPv6 or not, but knowing that they water down what Plusnet can offer their customers, it's quite possible they do.

I shall try and remember to update here once we are swapped.
 
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They are pretty good and are rated by Which?

But parent company BT does greatly restrict what they can offer customers.
 
Update.

Been using BT BB for a while. Good. The Mesh is still great, but occasionally drops out in our bedroom (extension furthest from nearest Mesh disc).

Biggest issue is using the VOIP phones. Have to dial STD even when in the area. I was told we couldn't guarantee keeping our number if we swapped to Digital Voice. So I agreed with the sales guy on the phone we would keep the copper.

But when we tried the phone later, it was dead and showing a different CLID. Eventually, we got the phone working, having plugged it into the back of the SH2 router.

Still getting used to dialling STD for local calls!!

But generally happy with the system/ service.
 
VOIP is the standard offering in many areas now. For those, old analogue phone lines are not available for new installs.
https://www.openreach.com/content/d...off copper locations list 12 January 2022.pdf

VOIP has no concept of area, the full number is required.
With proper VOIP providers (where the phone has an ethernet connection), that phone can be taken anywhere and it will still work. Take your phone on holiday to Australia and receive your calls via your 'local' home phone number.

Bournemouth has required the full number for the last 10 years, as the 01202 code didn't have enough numbers left to meet demand, so it was altered so that individual 6 digit numbers could start with 0, 1 and 9, meaning that the whole 11 digits were required all the time.
 
Didn't know that!

Thought there might be a doobrey in the exchange that would add the STD.
 
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