Homehub as switch/wifi

Hi all,

I'm fairly new to OpenWRT but am constantly amazed at what it can do.

I bought a Homehub 5 from eBay with OpenWRT already installed and, after a few days of tinkering (and lots of reading on here), managed to get it to connect to my ADSL line and got a DLNA media server working.

However, in the next few days I will be getting BT FTTP installed.

I've had a Smart Hub 2 delivered which will be what Openreach use to demo that the connection is working. However, I then have a decision to make - do I stick with the Smart Hub and just use my Homehub as a switch & wifi access point or do I use the Homehub in the place of the Smart Hub?

Any thoughts?

Also, can anyone give me some step-by-step instructions on what I have to do for each of the above options? Whilst I'm a fairly technical 54 year old I'm afraid that I struggle with neworking terminology so some of the instructions I've found online have just been beyond me.

TIA

Depending on the speed of your fiber the HH5 might not be capable of handling the routing.

Which would mean you could / should use it as a dumb AP instead.

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Wow - thanks for the ultra-fast response with instructions that even I should be able to follow :slight_smile:

np,

but if I were in your shoes, I'd try the HH5 first.
If it works, and isn't a bottle neck, I'd keep it in place, otherwise covert to dumb AP.

If you're getting fiber, your Homehub will be woefully underpowered to handle those speeds as a router. The Lantiq SoC is pretty weak and it can handle ADSL without issues, but fiber is another ballgame.

Have you studied section 7.12 of the installation guide for HH5a, covering performance issues?
https://openwrt.ebilan.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=266

AP mode is also covered in section 9.6

If you have BT FTTP significantly faster than 80 mbps, the hh5a is simply not fast enough to use as a router.

In Wireless AP mode, it will typically max out at 130mbps. Imho, if you want best wifi speeds, use a router or dedicated AP running stock OEM firmwares, not OpenWrt.

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