BT Full Fibre 900
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Not sure if this post is in the correct place for help.Hi Bt have now got their full fibre 900 FTTP broadband where i live. I have read that replacing BTs home hub 2 with another router/ modem not sure what i need. This also needs to run my digital phones too. At the moment with the full fibre 2 FTTC i use home hub 2 and deco M4s which has been quite good. So i think i will also need some new Deco whole home wifi pods to give me better wifi across the house. My house is a 4 bedroom detached house with a garden room about 20 feet from the back door. All of which need decent wifi coverage. I am assuming BT will put the fibre connection into my house where my old phone line is in my hallway. Any help would be appreciated.
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I'm not sure what help you're asking for, but my immediate response is...
You say you have BT's Home Hub 2 at the moment: do you mean BT Smart Hub 2 (SH2)? If so, then BT won't provide a replacement because that's all they have at the moment for full fibre lines. If you don't have the Smart Hub 2 then they will replace what you currently have with a SH2.
Openreach (not BT) will install your fibre line, hopefully using the same ducting already in place for your copper line. Within reason, Openreach will probably put the ONT wherever you want.
If you have BT's Digital Voice service for your home phones then you must use the SH2 as your router, connected directly via an Ethernet cable to the ONT. There is no other way - if you replace it with any other kit, your Digital VOice service won't work. And, no, you won't be able to put the SH2 in modem mode. Of course, you could go for a proper third party VoIP service (which you can use with many routers), but you almost certainly won't be able to transfer your current number away from BT while you're still in contract (and I'm guessing you're just starting a new contract with them).
So your Decos will have to be operated in Access Mode. I'd advise turning off the SH2's own WiFi to minimise interference. I can't advise where to place the nodes, as I don't know the topology of your house, and what solid walls or other obstructions you have that affect your WiFi. In my case, I also have a 4 bedroom house and find that three Deco XE75's provide good coverage. One is placed near the front left of the property (where the ONT is), hard-wired to the SH2. The second is placed on the kitchen window sill (central-back of the house) and the third is in my office upstairs (front-right of the property), where I connect various devices via an Ethernet switch and via WiFi.
This gives me adequate WiFi coverage throughout the property and back garden (via the kitchen node), though I don't have a garden room to worry about. You may be OK, but you may need some out-door kit (such as the Deco X50-Outdoor?) in place if all the work of running an Ethernet cable there is not an option.
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Hi, Deco M4 does not support digital phone line connection and you might need a Deco that supports VOIP, like Deco X73-DSL for example.
But it would be better to wait until the fiber service is finally installed. Most service providers would provide a free modem router within the service plan.
So if the new fiber modem router had an FXS/telephone socket, we could keep using Deco M4 to provide the Mesh network.
Thank you very much and best regards.
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@David-TP My phone connects to BT Smart Hub 2 the BT smart hub 2 is in access mode and my main M4 deco connected to that. Then the other M4 decos are around the house. I want better Deco units for the BT FTTP 900Mbps broadband and would like to buy a router to replace the Smart hub 2 as the ONT will become the modem. I have read there are better routers out there than BTs smart hub 2 giving a better wifi signal. If my digital phones don't work with other routers i will get rid of them.
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@Pip60 I have the BT Full Fibre 900 FTTP package as well and I replaced the BT Home Hub 2 with a trio of XE75s I ordered during a black Friday sale. They work really well so far and I've had them since early 2023, originally wireless backhaul and now wired backhaul. I can't speak for other TP-Link routers but I can safely say the XE75 can replace the BT Home Hub 2 when it's plugged directly into the FTTP modem.
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Hi if i use my Deco M4s with BTs full fibre 900 will they work but just restrict my speeds down to what the M4s can handle.
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@Pip60 Yes, the wifi won't achieve the full speed of the connection anyway but if you use a wired connection to the second port of the router from a computer you should get the full benefit of your BT connection, as the ports are 1 gigabit each. Regarding the digital phone system, I have no idea how the BT digital system works but I suspect that you could set the Smart Hub as an Access Point and plug it into the second ethernet port of the M4, then just disable the WiFi on it and plug the phone into the hub. If you are looking to run a wired connection between each M4 for a better connection I would recommend using X75s instead as they have 3 ethernet ports for connecting additional devices, and you'll get faster 6E wifi if your devices support it. Hope this helps!
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