Reply With QuoteIt's currently £197.19 on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/BT-088269-W...dp/B01NBMMVG7/
Have just installed mine apart from a couple of stupid niggles, not having a space in the wifi name. Its a great bit of kit for £207 off the ~BT website vs £299 now £249 from Amazon and then if look on their site they are selling ex demos for £207. I bought a Linksys Velop which is equally impressive but for £499, so will be sending it back and using the BT from now. We have a decent sized house and my office is over 25m from the main router, with 4 walls in between and now get full 100mbs in the office, infact in most of the garden too. Easy to set up and better app than the Linksys.
It's currently £197.19 on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/BT-088269-W...dp/B01NBMMVG7/
Thanks for flagging this up - just ordered (11% cashback available as well if you do Quidco)
Was going to get Google Wifi next week when I'm in the US (the triple pack is $299 in the US, v's £229 for the double pack in the UK) - but reviews of this look good and it has a 30 day money back guarantee. Hopefully this is going to put an end to the never ending copmplaints from the rest of the family
We live in a reasonable size Victorian terrace with a loft conversion - there's a Virgin Media Superhub 2 in the entrance hall and the old VM superhub 1 in the loft (the two are connected via ethernet) - which gives us 3 wireless netwroks in total (5G & 2G downstairs and one in the loft) . There doesn't a seem to be a day go by when someone doesn't complain that wifi either doesn't work or is tooooooo slow
I looked yesterday and its was £249, that's a bargainOriginally Posted by Phil Lee
I've just purchased. I was thinking about a WiFi extender but at that price it's a no brainer.
Thanks for the Heads Up.
Now, being technologically inept I just need to set it up.
It's really easy download the app and it guides you through the process. The box is nice too
Never heard of it, but ordered as our router is one end of our house and we have poor signal at the other end so hoping this will make a difference. Good work team.
searched the web but can't find much detail on this.
Can someone who has one confirm if you can set up a guest network and if there is time scheduling to control access to individual devices?
As far as I can see neither of these functions available today, you can rename the network but not have two networks. Individual device control is coming but not there today you can manually kick a device off. Again it's a feature that on the support page is going to be added, but no indication when.
BT have now dropped the price on their site to £199
http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/bt/14...d-spots-begone
Will this system speed up your internet if you have a slow speed to start with ?
Not really, will make sure you get the maximum speed across the whole coverage area, which helps
Would it allow me to get wifi in the garage about 30m away from the house?
Yes if you position the discs in the right places but the app helps to maximise the coverage
Thanks. I think I'll order some and give it a try.
This is functionality that Google wifi has using its app.
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Well, despite selecting free delivery, it turned up the following morning. Installation was incredibly easy - probably no more than 30 minutes from opening the box. The main disc plugs into the existing router and then you find the best positions for the other two - in my case, I assumed one on the first floor and one in the loft. When I first plugged the one for the loft in, I didn't get a good signal, but as I already had an ethernet cable up there, I plugged it in and didn't persevere in trying to find a better position for wireless operation. The app shows an excellent signal on all 3 discs and I now seem to have the full BB speed available throughout the house (Virgin 50meg) - whereas before there was the odd blackhole and the ongoing saga of having three wireless networks and the handover between each as you moved around
So 24 hours in and no complaints from the family so far (two teenage daughters - it's a tough crowd). Also, quidco tracked at £18.33, so all in all it's a highly positive experience so far
Now looking to see if I can buy them singularly - we have a studio at the end of the garden which has a very tempremental TP link powerline/wireless adaptor in it. Fancy fitting one of these BT discs and having one wirless network that covers the house/garden/studio
The bit I've bolded above is particularly interesting - hope you don't mind me asking a question regarding this...
We also suffer from areas in the house that simply don't have strong WiFi signal (i.e. the other end of the house to where the router is). We opted for powerline adapters to resolve the issue. Whilst this sort of worked, the major frustration was that our devices wouldn't automatically jump between the WiFi access points (be it main router or newly installed adapters) and would try to retain connectivity to the very weak (and therefore slow) signal offered by the further access point, even if a stronger signal was available close by. Note, both access points would have the same name (we tried with different SSIDs too). To get around this, we'd be forced to manually select between network IDs on our devices = not ideal if you're streaming or on a Skype call as your connection would drop. So we sent the kit back.
The above scenario, as I understand it, is a particular a problem with Apple iOS devices as they are not 'intelligent' enough to recognise a stronger signal closeby and automatically jump to it seamlessly without dropping connection. Android devices, I think, are better in this regard.
So the question - do your family have Apple iOS (and OSX/MacOS) devices, and do they jump between the strongest access points automatically?
Hope that makes sense...
Last edited by cman; 14th April 2017 at 14:36.
As far as I understand, the system seamlessly distributes connections around as it sees fit, based on position, bandwidth demand etc - I can be in the same room as one of the access points, but if other devices are connected, it can move me to the next nearest one if that's being unused. Just tried a facetime call with mobile data turned off - was able to walk all around the house and even out into the garden with no break up in the call at all.
It's only been 24 hours, but it does look good - the kids are in and I've not had any shouts of "Dad, wifi isn't working again!!!" -
Thanks very much for posting back.
Sounds like it removes the issue described then! The behaviour must be to do with the 'mesh' principle, thought I must admit I'm not familiar with the ins and outs of it.
I guess, based on your experience, you don't really need to worry about which access point you're closest to. During your test call in the garden you must have crossed one access point 'zone' and in to another without any manual intervention. Ideal.
p.s. was it with an iOS device?
Last edited by cman; 14th April 2017 at 15:41.
Yes, it's the way it creates the mesh and moves devices around them as required. I started in the loft and walked to the garden, going into every room along the way and then back again. It was a facetime call, so iphone to iphone - the other phone was connected to a different wifi network
Thanks again Stevoc - very helpful indeed. Yes, my bad - you did mention FaceTime which infers iOS device - I didn't make the connection! All sounds very promising.
The Google WiFi product seems a little more discreet, but you only get 2 devices at £229. BT's offering includes 3 devices and for £197. Tempting indeed.
From my limited understanding and research, the Google wifi product does a lot of clever machine learning in the background to ensure you're always on the strongest connection and also has a different more recent standard of connectivity which has more chance of making it future proof.
I'm looking into wireless mesh networks and have a question regarding the BT offering. Can you configure the DHCP? I understand that the BT system doesn't have the facility to set up a Guest network. The Google Wifi alternative does have this latter option but doesn't have the facility to configure the DHCP; both are essential features for me.
Sorry to go a little off-topic, but what are the primary reasons for you wishing to configure the DHCP? i.e. what can't you do without it (not a loaded question - just trying to understand)
I have a large number of peripherals that are configured with fixed IP addresses and I don't wish to use the home standard 192.168.1.X series.
Last edited by Skier; 20th April 2017 at 08:43.
Don't these use the DHCP from the router?
No, they are the router!
They still need a router. Looking at a number of reviews, if they detect a DHCP server on the network from the existing router thye will use that rather than their own.
orbi....
The Netgear Orbi seems to have everything I want.
It is pretty good albeit expensive. Netgear however are taking their bloody time releasing the additional extender units!
So, the Netgear Orbi was delivered this morning and having set it up, it and all the internet enabled devices seem to be working well. The setup using the app was somewhat frustrating as, for example, it offers the opportunity to change the SSID and WiFi password and admin log in details and then updates the firmware which resets them to the defaults! Added to that several indications that the satellite couldn't be detected but it hadn't moved since it was set up and indicated a strong signal. I did the basics using the app and then logged in to configure the network as I wanted it. It's now rock solid.
Anyway, all now set up and working well with very strong WiFi throughout the house (a large barn conversion with 2.5ft walls in places) as well as much further out into the garden. Here's hoping it's stable and reliable for years to come.
Last edited by Skier; 20th April 2017 at 22:23.
Was looking at this myself along with google. I hate BT with a passion after the grief they gave us over 6 weeks when we moved house so will never buy any thing from them.
But we a e going to move to sky q sometime this year and the boxes create their own mesh.
Maybe not as good as other solutions but worth holding off to give it a try.
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Unless you use Sky's wifi their mesh won't work, they told me. I share your dislike of BT, but it's not their product it's just branded by them and you can buy it off Amazon. I have had no problems at all with it. I am also of the opinion that I would not spend extra just on principal when it will not have any impact on them.
Yes, Sky Q is (I think) pretty much the same technology as these mesh-type setups, but it is exclusively for the Sky TV - you can't seem to use it to boost your internet coverage.
It does (on the whole) seem to work pretty well for the TV, and this is why I'm tempted to get a mesh system for my internet as well.
You're correct re the BT option. The Netgear Orbi has the router capability built in so you just need a modem - in my case a Dratek Vigor 130.
Last edited by Skier; 24th April 2017 at 18:05.
Just bought the BT Whole Home and it was easy to install and the WiFi around the house has improved a lot but I have found that if I am connected to, and standing by, Disc2 in the front bedroom I get the max wifi speed. Disc 1 is downstairs connected to the router. If I go to the back bedroom and stand by Disc3 then its still connected to Disc2 and the wifi speed drops to single figures. I thought the idea is that it would seamlessly connect to the strongest disc? I can't find a way of actually manually connecting to the closest disc on the app.
Precisely the problem I was trying to describe in post #17 above!
I too thought the idea of a 'WiFi mesh' system removes this kind of problem - removing the need to *manually* connect to the closest and therefore strongest access point (disc in your case). Maybe not...?
Mesh Wifi does remove this problem, I have not experienced this at all on mine. Although I did have to reboot after a firmware upgrade this week as it seamed to cause some issues freezing. Maybe try a reboot.
Updated the firmware last night and reset all the discs. Now my device will change to the nearest disc but its not instant. But after the reset disc3, in the back bedroom, now has an amber status light whereas it was blue when installed and it has not been moved. Go figure! The speed does not appear to be impacted when connected so I think I'll leave it as is.
Argh my sympathies. I hate to say it but no such problems with Google Wi-Fi. Yet.... The app interface is actually really good and the AI and machine learning in the background seems to be doing its thing.
The Whole home had been faultless in the month or so I have had it, but the last update has needed a reset to settle it. Seams all ok today so fingers crossed. So much better than the old world of frequent resets with the old home hub!!
Nine days in to Netgear Orbi ownership and use; absolutely faultless. Excellent signal strength throughout the house and no internet drop outs. I know this thread is primarily about the BT Mesh Wifi system but if anyone has any questions re the Netgear Orbi system I'll be happy to (try to) answer them.
Last edited by Skier; 28th April 2017 at 19:54.
Yes I'm sure after a while we will just take it for granted but at the moment I am loving the stability and lack of frustration!
Has anyone directly compared BT Whole Home, Google Wifi and Netgear Orbi?
I've used the first two, but not the third (yet).
BT Whole Home was good but the range between devices wasn't good enough meaning I couldn't reliably connect the three discs to provide seamless wifi throughout my house. I also noticed that when moving from one part of the house to another changing connection from one disc to the next wasn't perfect meaning that I'd be nearer disc 2 but still connected to disc 1. Finally, there was less functionality like being unable to set up a separate guest network.
Google Wifi was very good. The range was better, transitioning between 'discs' was seamless, the app was excellent, functionality was better (e.g. guest network)... but, annoyingly, the wifi security protocol on my AirPrint printer is not supported by Google Wifi. My printer is cheap, but I can't be doing with the hassle of changing it as I only bought it a few months ago.
So, I'm planning to try Orbi next but haven't done so yet as I haven't found anywhere I can easily buy, try and return if I don't like. I'm hoping from the reviews I've read that Orbi will be as good or better than Google Wifi AND will allow my existing printer to work.
Wifi is a pretty frustrating part of my existence right now...!
I suspect very few will have physically compared all 3 products. One note on Orbi if you have a particularly large house. All the satellites MUST be within range of the router; the satellites will not communicate with each other i.e. it's not a true 'mesh' but a 'star' topology. So far, I have been hugely impressed with it in my home.
I am interested in this, I have a 200Mb virgin box that delivers thyat if you are 5 feet in front of it or connected to it via Ethernet. Move to the next room and it drops and half, move downstairs and I am lucky if I get any connection. The only thing I would say about all of these mesh networks is that it looks like a totally mixed bag in terms of user experience (looking at the Amazon reviews).
To throw another into the mix I have Linksys Velop which works really well - it is a mesh system one unit has to connect to the router - the others have to be in range of each other. I have disabled the Virgin WiFi and just use this now although I have the odd accessory plugged into it still that doesn't need to be on the network. You will probably need a small switch as there are only 2 Ethernet ports on the units and with one connected to the router that means only one additional thing on the network. You can also link the boxes via Ethernet to join them over larger areas - it does work seamlessly it seems unlike the power point adapters I tried it also seems less temperamental but only a few months in.
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It gets 25-45 MB on speed test over WiFi
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Can't you connect the printer to a PC and share it via that? That would let you use the system you have now that otherwise works well.
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