Hi everyone,
I'd really appreciate some help, not being very knowledgeable about networking.
I'm currently a BT Infinity customer, and I have the original BT Smart Hub (sometimes called Home Hub 6). I've got a number of non-WiFi devices connected to it via Ethernet (NAS, printer etc.), and I want to continue to use this wired setup, but without BT's Internet provision in future.
Basically, I want to move to 3's broadband service by adding the 3 5G hub to my existing network – WIRELESSLY, if possible (though it could be wired if it absolutely had to be) – to become the new provider of the Internet connection. I've just received a Zyxel NR5103EV2 and it's working very well – giving me typically four to five times the performance I get from BT, for a third of the price.
However, I don't know how to configure things to do what I need. I'm assuming that I need to create a WiFi bridge somehow, but I want to be able to connect to the 5G hub with individual devices, and I believe that putting the 5G hub into Bridge mode (if I can even do that) would stop it working wirelessly with multiple devices in that way. I've already read that the BT Smart Hub (home version, at least) doesn't suport bridge mode itself, which I think I'd need it to do if connecting wirelessly.
What I need to know is how I can add the 5G hub into my existing network to take over from the BT Smart Hub in providing the Internet provision to my home. As things stand right now, I've got two separate wireless networks (one from BT Infinity, the other from 3) and I get fantastic performance from the 3 network, but if I connect to it from my laptop, I lose access to all the devices on my wired network. I need to add the 5G hub into my existing network so it can take over the Internet provision, and then discontinue the BT Infinity service one everything works. (Or, if I can't do it, I need to determine it in the next month so that I can return the 3 5G hub for a refund. But I hope that won't be necessary.)
Here's a summary of what I've got right now:
1. BT Smart Hub (Home Hub 6): this has DHCP enabled and assigns numbers in the range 192.168.0.1, so all my existing devices are set up in the x.x.0.x range (some with fixed addresses).
2. A set of three BT Whole Home WiFi range-extender discs (original generation, not the more recent Premium or V6 versions). I suspect that I'd be able to manage without these in future, as the 5G Hub's WiFi coverage seems good, but if they work OK with the 5G Hub instead of the BT Smart Hub, I may keep them.
3. The 3 5G Hub (Zyxel NR5103EV2): this also currently has DHCP enabled and assigns numbers in the range 192.168.1.1; I'm not sure what impact that would have on my existing x.x.0.x network address space.
My options appear to be:
(a) Somehow reconfigure the equipment I've got to do what I want, IF that's possible; but I'm not sure that it is.
(b) Get something else to make it possible: presumably a dedicated WiFi Bridge device. I'm looking at a device like the BrosTrend 1200Mbps Ethernet-2-WiFi Universal WiFi Adapter. I could add this to my wired network in place of the main BT Whole Home extender disc, and have it connect directly to the 5G Hub.
If I went for option (b), presumably I'd simply turn off DHCP on the 5G Hub (and leave DHCP to the BT Smart Hub), and assign it an address in the 192.168.0.x range to match my existing network.
Am I missing anything with option (b)? Or could I make it work without having to buy more equipment (option (a))?
Advice would be much appreciated. Thank you!
