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The middleware was developed by Jungo, a subsidiary of NDS, and is based on their openRGTM product. Come to think of it this is exactly why I don't have a BT router. Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Below we've broken down each BT router so you can figure out which one you have and what the benefits of each one are.
The 5th generation Home Hub was released in mid-October 2013 and is an upgrade to the Home Hub 4, with Gigabit Ethernet connections, 802.11ac Wi-Fi and an integrated VDSL modem. Customers upgrading from ADSL Broadband pay only a delivery charge; existing Broadband customers pay a £45 upgrade charge. There are two variants of the Hub 5, Type A with Lantiq chipset , and Type B with Broadcom.
Hands on: BT Smart Hub review
All of the major components were hidden under a metal cap which prevented us from identifying them. You will still need to check the user guide to interpret the hub lights though . It's also worth noting that the lights on the router can be switched off or dimmed, and the lights and icons present on the Home Hub 5 have been removed to avoid confusion.
You’ll find your wireless key and wireless SSID number on a plastic card which is slotted into the back of the router. This is displayed on a sticker underneath the Home Hub too. Alternatively, a 'migrate' script is also available where no original nanddump is available - use earlier 'LEDE install image' v0.1 where the 'migrate' script has been tested.
Serial
It is possible to replace the firmware of the Hub 5 Type A (and the identical 'Plusnet Hub One' and 'BT Business Hub 5' Type A) with OpenWrt, unlocking it from BT and providing the features of OpenWrt. In April 2018, scripts for modifying the stock firmware of a BT Hub 5 Type A to enable SSH access, were published on the GitHub repository; this enables access to the native OpenRG command-line interface. Each touts 1,300Mbits/sec 802.11ac, with a 3×3 MIMO stream internal antenna setup. Each has four Gigabit Ethernet ports at the rear, coupled with a DSL/VDSL port for fibre and ADSL2+ connection, plus a WAN port for those who need a separate modem. There’s a USB port so you can plug in a USB stick and share files, WPS and reboot buttons sit on top of the device, and you get a power switch at the rear, which makes it simple to cycle the power should the router freeze up. Branch Type Download link n/a UART u-boot for installing OpenWrt/LEDE.
This is what comes with all of BT's Superfast fibre broadband plans. As you'd expect from a brand like BT, the Smart Hub is a super powerful router - the most powerful in the UK claims BT. All-round performance is impressive for an ISP-supplied router. Up close, we saw similar file-transfer speeds to the TalkTalk Super Router, with 802.11ac speeds reaching an impressive 50.4MB/sec, but the Home Hub 5 is better at long range. In our 30m test, 802.11ac speed fell to 22.7MB/sec, but it at least completed the test; TalkTalk’s 802.11ac network failed to connect at this distance.
Different types of BT Hub
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards. In addition the Home Hub 5 also makes the leap to 802.11ac wireless.
Tested with Seagate Expansion Portable HDD 500 GBs (USB 3.0). It is also worth testing with irqbalance running (after installing with “opkg install irqbalance”). Download the image on your PC, copy it to a memory stick and insert it in the router. There are a few scripts that save you time so you don't have to type lots of commands manually.
Smart dual-band technology reduces wireless interference and drop outs, giving our customers an unbeatable connection for all their devices. The BT Home Hub can only be used with the BT Total Broadband package without modification; the 1.0, 1.5, 2A, 2B and 3A versions can be unlocked. Consequently, the Home Hub 1.0 can be flashed with some firmware such as that for the 7G; however full functionality cannot be achieved using this method. The Home Hub 1.5 firmware, whilst not hardware locked as previously claimed, does have extra locks in the bootloader which can now be circumvented and full functionality achieved.
It uses smart scan tech, has four ethernet ports and has USB slots. However, it is only single band W-Fi so there is no support for 5GHz bands. This isn't the end of the world but it does mean it won't always be as fast for certain devices with 5GHz connectivity. The Home Hub 4 was supplied free of charge to new customers, with a £35 charge to existing customers. It has intelligent power management technology which monitors the hub functions and puts them individually into power-save mode when not in use.
For a wired connection, connect an Ethernet cable from your device to one of the yellow LAN ports . Although wired connections can be faster than wireless, they’re not always convenient so choose the option that best suits your needs. Resistor number Function Info Notes R77 Serial TX Below the NAND flash Use the solder to the pad right of it R78 Serial RX Directly below R77, and to the left. Use the solder pad to the right of it R45 boot_sel2 Below R78 to the right.
The BT Home Hub works with the now defunct BT Fusion service and works with the BT Vision video on demand service. The BT Home Hub 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 devices connect to the Internet using a standard ADSL connection. The BT Home Hub 3 and 4 models support PPPoA for ADSL and PPPoE for VDSL2, in conjunction with an Openreach-provided VDSL2 modem to support BT’s FTTC network .
It also packs some clever technology that reduces interference, improving reliability by reducing the number of dropouts. Another nifty piece of tech, BT Smart Scan, seamlessly swaps channels in the background to dodge any congestion. The hardware contained within the BT Home Hub 2.0B was manufactured by Siemens' Gigaset division in Germany.
Up until now all Infinity customers were forced to have a separate bulky modem and was wired into either the Home Hub 4 or a third-party router. The Home Hub 5 does away with this and runs cool and quiet. While several features vie for our attention, we’re going to start with the integrated VDSL modem. Somehow BT has squeezed this into the Home Hub 5 without any size or weight penalty. Not only is this a remarkable feat of engineering but it also means BT Infinity customers finally have a neat, single box solution.
If LuCI lists seven ports (Port 0 – Port 5 + CPU), it's probably using the swconfig numbering and ignoring /etc/board.json. On the bright side, you don't need to edit anything to make use of the WAN port. Select 'Custom Interface' and enter 'ptm0.101' or 'dsl0.101' for LEDE 17 and OpenWrt 18 respectively to set vlan 101 for BT Openreach network compatibility. In some cases, it may be the case that USB port does not provide enough power to run a portable HDD or even a USB stick. As it has been tested there also seems to be a reboot issue when hot-plugging a USB device. This issue is related to low power output from the USB port although the supplied power adapter provides more than enough juice for the router.
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