Will an EE Smart Hub Pro work with plus.net FTTP ?

[#1]

Background:

We have just upgraded from FTTC (40Mbps) to FTTP (500Mbps) and stuck with plus.net due to static IP which neither BT or EE seem to offer.

Currently setup

ONT to BT Smart Hub 2 + EE complete Wi-Fi disc mesh extender (SW10A)

This setup works but I'd like to upgrade to the EE Smart Hub Pro to have Wi-Fi 7. Will this work ? Does the ONT still require the plus.net account credentials in the router or will any router or even a switch work with the ONT ?

Hopefully someone can help, we tried speaking to plus.net and they couldn't offer any advise.

[#2]

@JonH-H   PN no longer a static IP.

Doubtful the Smart Hub Pro will work on PN, it is not setup to use the PN username/password nfo, and much of the control is done with an App and an EE account..

The BT Smart Hub pro is more than you need for 500Mbps fibre.

[#3]

@Mustrum We discovered that static IP addresses are no longer offered when we looked at FTTP options but since we already have one with plus.net on FTTC they would continue this with the FTTP connection which is why we've stuck with them. We would have ideally moved our landline to a digital line which BT/EE offered but the static IP was more important ; plus.net feels like the poor cousin in this respect.

So a router is still needed for authentication with the ONT then ? I wasn't sure if this was handled in the ONT and the router could be anything (was also considering Netgear / TP-Link options).

[#4]

@JonH-H You can use third-party routers, but not EE's, as that is locked to EE.

[#5]

@JonH-H 

assuming that what @Mustrum said is correct,

you might be able to use the EE Hub as a WiFi-7 wireless access point,

if you are able to disable the DHCP server in the EE's LAN settings.

With the EE's DHCP disabled, and the EE set to a different static IP address (than the BT) in the BT's LAN subnet,

you would connect the EE and BT hubs together by their LAN ports.

.

[#6]

@jab1  EE routers are not locked to EE, but depending on the model there are likely to be restrictions. The username and password are the same as BT, some can be edited and used on PN.

@JonH-H  The ONT is just a dumb modem, it handles the VLAN = 101, but that is about it, you still need a router that can seet the PPOE settings to your username and password. 

[#7]

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@Mustrum wrote:

@jab1  EE routers are not locked to EE, but depending on the model there are likely to be restrictions. The username and password are the same as BT, some can be edited and used on PN.

Ah - thanks for the correction, I must have misread a previous bit of info on them.

[#8]

The switch is an interesting question.

[#9]

@grumble  Why is a switch an interesting question?   I don't believe any normal ethernet switch can negotiate a PPPoE connection with a modem or ONT.

[#10]

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@JonH-H wrote:

Background:

… I'd like to upgrade to the EE Smart Hub Pro to have Wi-Fi 7. Will this work ? Does the ONT still require the plus.net account credentials in the router or will any router or even a switch work with the ONT?

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You can’t use the EE Smart Hub Pro as a router on a Plusnet line. The login credentials are hard coded to BT’s/EE’s and cannot be changed by the user.

You could disable DHCP, change the IP and use it as a wired access point however, if you do, prepare for some fairly obnoxious flashing lights on the EE hub (it will think it’s in an error state and consistently try alerting you to the fact).

Do you have many Wi-Fi 6E/Wi-Fi 7 devices?

Edit: a switch won’t work either, you need something that can do a PPPoE connection.

[#11]

@bobpullen Thanks -  you have confirmed what I thought.