BT has unveiled its next-generation Smart Hub 3 Wi-Fi router.
Broadband subscribers who switch to this "powerful" new wireless router will enjoy a Wi-Fi 6 connection, which offers increased capacity, faster speeds in crowded spaces, and lower latency. The latter is especially important for real-time online activities, like multiplayer video games.
The benefits of Wi-Fi 6 should be immediately obvious if you live in a busy household with dozens of security cameras, wireless speakers, video doorbells, and other smart home gadgets running on the same network. Likewise, if your home is connected via a faster full-fibre connection, you'll benefit from the faster wireless speeds.
BT-owned Openreach recently confirmed that it had expanded its next-generation full-fibre speeds to 18.3 million homes and businesses across the UK as part of its mission to connect 25 million premises by the end of this year.
But the Smart Hub 3 isn't just about speedier and more stable connections.
Wi-Fi 6 also supports enhanced security via WPA3, which boasts better protection against software that brute-forces password guesses to break into your network.
BT boasts: "Built to power everything your household does online, whether that’s work calls, banking, streaming or scrolling. Smart Hub 3 delivers faster speeds, stronger performance and a smoother connection even when multiple devices are online at the same time, thanks to its Wi-Fi 6 technology."
The next-generation Smart Hub 3 offers several improvements on the existing model, pictured above, which tops-out at a slower Wi-Fi standard
|BT PRESS OFFICE
By default, Smart Hub 3 will ship with BT's Hub Threat Protect functionality built in.
Working in the background at all times, this system automatically blocks suspicious activity and lets you view all contained threats on a single easy-to-use dashboard. BT will put a stop to anything that it deems suspicious, but you'll always have the ability to override its filter to access a specific file or website.
BT also offers account-level Wi‑Fi Controls, so you can pause the internet on selected devices and manage screen time – all from a simple dashboard. This is "perfect for helping families stay balanced and in control online," BT claims in the blog post about its incoming Wi-Fi router.
Smart Hub 3 is compatible with BT's Complete Wi‑Fi Plus, which creates a single, seamless Wi‑Fi network from basement to attic. Your devices automatically connect to the strongest signal as you move around your home, keeping speeds smooth and connections rock‑solid wherever you are.
Both the time limits, user-specific restrictions, and whole-home coverage are similar to what you'd find with after-market solutions like eero – a mesh Wi-Fi system owned by Amazon — that relies on multiple nodes throughout your home to create a seamless network that boosts coverage and eliminates dead zones.
Its simple dashboard lets you restrict internet access for specific people or at certain times, add content restrictions, and create a standalone Wi-Fi network for guests. TalkTalk no longer builds and ships its own custom-designed Wi-Fi routers, like the Smart Hub 3 from BT, and instead offers full-fibre broadband subscribers an eero.
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EE already includes its next-generation Wi-Fi 7 router, the Smart Hub Pro, and up to four Smart Wi-Fi Pro extenders at no extra cost with its maxed-out broadband plans, dubbed Busiest Home Bundle and Made For Gamers, which include download speeds of 1.6Gbps
| EE PRESS OFFICEFinally, Smart Hub 3 is also compatible with Hybrid Connect, giving you an automatic backup connection via the EE mobile network. So if your broadband drops, your home stays online.
That said, this is designed to be a temporary solution since you won't want to power all of the devices in your home via a 5G connection if you don't have an unlimited data allowance each month.
BT's Smart Hub 3 is playing catch-up to many of its closest rivals. The telecom, one of the biggest in the UK, was one of the last to still ship a Wi-Fi 5-powered wireless router with its faster full-fibre connection. That's in stark contrast with EE — which is owned and operated by BT — that became the first broadband supplier in the UK to offer faster, more stable Wi-Fi 7 as standard with all of its Wi-Fi routers late last year.
It's unclear exactly who will be sent the Smart Hub 3. It's possible that BT will start to slowly upgrade existing broadband subscribers with ageing hardware, like rival Virgin Media O2 has started to do.
GBN Tech will update this article with more details once we know the Smart Hub 3 release date, pricing, and how to claim this Wi-Fi 6 upgrade for your household broadband connection. Stay tuned.