BT Smart Hub

BT Smart Hub
BT Home Hub v1.0
ManufacturerInventel
Technicolor
Gigaset/Sagem
Huawei
TypeWireless router
IP Phone
Release date10 May 2013 (2013-05-10) (BT Home Hub 5)
Introductory price£129.99[1] (free with BT Broadband)
Operating systemLinux
StorageOptional external USB drive
ConnectivityHome Hub 1.0 and 1.5

Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g)
Fast Ethernet
USB 1.1
Home Hub 2.0
Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n)
Fast Ethernet
USB 2.0
Home Hub 3
Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n)
Fast Ethernet
Gigabit Ethernet
USB 2.0
Home Hub 4
Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n)
Fast Ethernet
Gigabit Ethernet
USB 2.0
Home Hub 5
Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
Fast Ethernet
Four Gigabit Ethernet ports
One USB 2.0 connector
Smart Hub 1 and 2
Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
Fast Ethernet
Four Gigabit Ethernet ports

One USB 3.0 connector
DimensionsHome Hub 2.0
18.2 cm (7.2 in) (h)
17.5 cm (6.9 in) (w)
8.8 cm (3.5 in) (d)

Home Hub 3
11.0 cm (4.3 in) (h)
18.5 cm (7.3 in) (w)
4.0 cm (1.6 in) (d)
Home Hub 4
11.6 cm (4.6 in) (h)
23.6 cm (9.3 in) (w)
3.1 cm (1.2 in) (d)[2]

Home Hub 5
11.6 cm (4.6 in) (h)
23.6 cm (9.3 in) (w)
3.1 cm (1.2 in) (d)[2]
Mass301g (BT Home Hub 5)[2]

The BT Smart Hub (formerly BT Home Hub) is a family of wireless residential gateway router modems distributed by BT for use with their own products and services and those of wholesale resellers (i.e. LLUs) but not with other Internet services. Since v 5 Home/Smart Hubs support the faster Wi-Fi 802.11ac standard, in addition to the 802.11b/g/n standards. All models of the Home Hub prior to Home Hub 3 support VoIP Internet telephony via BT's Broadband Talk service, and are compatible with DECT telephone handsets. Since the Home Hub 4, all models have been dual band (i.e. both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz).

The BT Home Hub works with the now defunct[3] BT Fusion service and with the BT Vision video on demand service.[4] 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 (BT Infinity). Version 5 of the Home Hub, released in August 2013, includes a VDSL2 modem for fibre-optic connections. New firmware is pushed out to Home Hubs connected to the Internet automatically by BT.

The Home Hub 5 was followed on 20 June 2016 by the Smart Hub, a further development of the Home Hub, internally referred to as "Home Hub 6".[5] It has more WiFi antennas than its predecessor. It supports Wave 2 802.11ac WiFi, found on review to be 50% faster than non-Wave 2.[6] The Smart Hub was subsequently replaced with the Smart Hub 2 (Home Hub 6DX).

  1. ^ "BT Smart Hub - The Uks Most popular Wireless Broadband Router - BT Broadband". BT. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "The UK's most reliable broadband connection from BT's new hub". BT Press Releases. 7 May 2013. Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  3. ^ "BT Fusion on Hub 1.0". BT Customer Help. Retrieved 24 February 2013.[permanent dead link‍]
  4. ^ "BT Vision self install process". BT Customer Help. Retrieved 24 February 2013.[permanent dead link‍]
  5. ^ Mark Jackson (20 June 2016). "UK ISP BT Launches New Smart Hub Wireless Broadband Router". ISPreview UK. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  6. ^ Alastair Stevenson (20 July 2016). "BT Smart Hub review". Trustedreviews.com. Retrieved 29 March 2017.