Question Best modem/router to replace BT SmartHub?

I'd be interested to explore how you have determined the incumbent HH "cannot cope" - have you any evidence (e.g. systems logs, etc.) or have "talked yourself into it?" There are many many cause of Wi-Fi problems and it is unwise to "just assume" all ills are attributable to your router. Thusly, a replacement may not be the cure all.

At the SOHO end of the switch market there's not a great deal to choose between them. Mostly you're shopping for the form factor (e.g. plastic versus metal) the "light show," if that sort of thing turns you on, and the price and warranty. You could compare the packet switching rates/bandwidth on the datasheets, but pretty much everything can handle full throughput on all ports simultaneously these days.

I'd just stay clear of any generic unbranded stuff and stick with one of the "big boys." I advocate buying 10/100/1000 (AKA "gigabit)" switches rather than slightly cheaper 10/100, though the latter is getting rare now. Then it's really about choosing an appropriate number of ports. Most "desktop" switches are "unmanaged" which means there' nothing to configure, just power up, cable up and off you go. Beware that some of the higher port count models might be active fan cooled which might make more noise than you think. But smaller "desktop" models tend to be passive cooled. Rack mounting options might be something to consider if you are thinking of deploying into a "proper" equipment rack, but it's not required. Desktop switches tend to be powered off an separate "wall wart" PSU rather than a built in transformer running off a "kettle lead." Bear in mind you'll need to get some juice to it.
 
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HI no i don't have logs just can't really see how a 2 year old bt smart hub would be as good as modern set up ,I forgot to mention i also have also have wired a Philips hue lighting hub & Cambridge cxn streamer and nest heating as well as the mac & sonos and 2 iPads and 2 iphones on wifi so there is quite a lot is going on I am a real novice but I do need 6-8 Lan Ports I just think the Synology router RT 2600AC would be good with the nas but it only has 4 ports so then i need a modem and then a network switch which also need to be plugged in, I just wonder if i need to get a better router that can do all this but can't decide on the best option !
 
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So... I replaced my BT SmartHub last week with a Draytek 2862 - got it for £70 off eBay.
Since then I have had no drops in connection.
As my BT Hub was acting as a network switch when it rebooted it took the whole network down which with working from home was becoming a nightmare, BT were adamant the fault was inside my home. I guess I proved it was... it was the hub they provided!
 
@BarryWarren i would look at something like the Netgear GS116 Prosafe switch. These can be had relatively cheap, second hand on ebay. That is a 16 port switch which will leave you plenty of room for any further expansion.
This would make a good foundation for a wired network. Then look at a router afterwards.
 
@BarryWarren I second what @mushii has said, don't buy cheap switches as have been burned in the past with these. I now only use Netgear and go for the metal ones over the plastic versions as they are more robust.
 
HI no i don't have logs just can't really see how a 2 year old bt smart hub would be as good as modern set up ,

"As good" in what way...? Equally, by what logic can you conclude that a separate modem-router will be "better"...? (BTW - these things don't "wear out".) I fear you are talking yourself into this rather than basing it on evidence. It's a bit like medicine, we start with symptoms, diagnose the cause then prescribe the treatment. Your reasoning has that in reverse - you've decide what the treatment is, then are looking for a reason to support that conclusion. As they saying goes, "it's your dime," but you could be completely wasting your money.

I forgot to mention i also have also have wired a Philips hue lighting hub & Cambridge cxn streamer and nest heating as well as the mac & sonos and 2 iPads and 2 iphones on wifi so there is quite a lot is going on I am a real novice

Novices are welcome in these parts. There's a few experts that lurk in this forum in the fields of data networking, cabling and NAS.

Wi-Fi is an "Only one thing at time can transmit" technology. The more things there are, the more data they need to transmit, the more competition there is for some "air time." Having acquired an air time slot, if the signaling conditions are less favourable, then each transmitter may not be able to "get much done" (ie the speed is low) with their transmit opportunity.

On big sites with lots of clients, there's two principal reasons we put up multiple Wi-Fi Access Points (AP's,) One is to achieve the require geographical coverage, one is to split up the number of devices in each cell to reduce the air time contention ration. By way of example, I've deployed Wi-Fi in schools and colleges: I used to insist on "an AP in every classroom," instead of mounting them out in the corridors, to reduce the contention (and improve the signalling conditions by availing unobstructed line of sight) in each cell. That "cost" us because we needed more AP's, but gave a much more robust, reliable (or as least reliable as Wi-Fi can be - it's fundamentally unreliable) and faster usage experience.

Almost always if you have Wi-Fi coverage and/or performance problems, the best solution is more AP's closer to the clients rather than magic "uber-routers" with "much better signal" (whatever than means.) By way of exemplar, if you have 100GBP to spend on "improving Wi-Fi," a forklift replacement of you incumbent router might give you (say) a 10% coverage improvement (made up a number 'cos it's impossible to predict - it might even get worse.) By contrast if you instead spend the 100GBP on an additional AP (extra hotspot) you get a guaranteed 100% coverage area improvement and (if you distribute the clients between the cells) a reduction in air time contention which probably leads to performance (speed) improvements as observed in any given end station.

but I do need 6-8 Lan Ports I just think the Synology router RT 2600AC would be good with the nas but it only has 4 ports so then i need a modem and then a network switch which also need to be plugged in, I just wonder if i need to get a better router that can do all this but can't decide on the best option !

Data travels around networks in discrete little units called "packets" like letters in the post. Switches, routers and AP's are like the sorting office. They receive each packet, then make decisions about where to send it next by reading the addressing information written on the envelope. The mechanism of switching and routing are different, but for the purposes of this discussion the detail doesn't matter (though switching is computationally simpler compared to routing.)

Just as the posties in the sorting office don't need to have "knowledge" about or be "compatible" with my letterbox, you don't need to concern yourself that router X "works" with NAS Y - they don't in any way "talk" to each other, your router (and switches) will simply process the traffic (packets) to/from your NAS just like any other traffic. The routers/switch don't "care" what the endpoints are, they just process the traffic forwarding it towards it's destination as required. (Incidentally, any "local" traffic passing through a SOHO "router" is "switched" and not "routed" - it's only stuff to/from the Internet that passes through the routers routing engine.)

Changing router to get more switch (LAN) ports would be a really expensive way to go about it. As discussed by others, I think you'd be better off to keep your existing router and buy an 8 or 16 port switch. That'll last you a lifetime unless actually dies and you won't ever need to replace it if (for example) you change ISP's or you Internet service "presentation" (for example, get fiber to the premises installed.) Thence if you cable the majority of you local devices to a switch, all "local" ethernet traffic will only pass through the switch and won't even reach your router thereby unburdening the router so it may "cope" better (though I remain unconvinced that it actually has a problem in the absence of evidence.) Thusly, the only traffic your router has to cope with is traffic to/from the Internet, heading to/from the Wi-Fi AP built into your router and/or anything cabled to the LAN ports of your router.

After that, go fix any Wi-Fi issues by deploying more AP's if the HH still isn't cutting it for Wi-Fi coverage. (Incidentally, if you think you might end up going down this route, you might think about buying a Power Over Ethernet (POE) capable switch. They cost more, but it's really neat way to provide power to Wi-Fi AP's as you don't have to run a separate power supply to the AP alongside the data cable. But you don't have to - individual POE injectors are available for POE devices.)
 
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Hi everybody thanks for all the excellent interesting info (far more than I ever expected)

The only reason I was thinking of getting a new router is that it would have a better faster processor and more antennas both which I thought would help coverage and speed.

I totally understand the principle of what you are saying so will add 8 more access points to my current Home hub and see how that runs, as long as its simple to set up maybe a Netgear network switch GS116 Prosafe which has been mentioned earlier but not sure if I would better getting one that’s managed so I have some control over my devices so alternatively the Netgear (GS308P) POE Network Switch Hub, Internet Splitter which may be useful in the future if that would also work?

If things don’t improve then I could always change the router or add more access points later I guess?
 
I would separate out the requirements for a reliable connection to your ISP with a need to improve WiFi connectivity. You could end up overspending on a device that fulfils one need but not the other. If you have ISP<>connection issues then your ISP needs to sort this out.
 
I would separate out the requirements for a reliable connection to your ISP with a need to improve WiFi connectivity. You could end up overspending on a device that fulfils one need but not the other. If you have ISP<>connection issues then your ISP needs to sort this out.

The bt connection is actually stable I just get dropouts when streaming music through sonos, so I was looking for advice on how to overcome it :thumbsup:
 
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If you are able to hardwire the Sonos then that should reduce audio dropouts compared to wifi-only streaming ... I guess that's Spotify/Apple Music rather than from a NAS ? ... again a NAS that's hardwired into the network will stream content happily all day :)
 

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