Broadband guide

BT Home Hub 3 router: a visual guide

Monday 30 April 2012

By Duncan Heaney

We take a look at the BT Home Hub 3 router.

Routers allow you to connect all of your home computers, as well as other devices such as games consoles, smartphones, internet radio or printer to the internet and each other using a broadband connection. Traditionally, you would need a modem to receive a broadband connection and a separate wireless router to establish a Wi-Fi network and connect wirelessly. An all-in-one router combines both into a single device for extra convenience.

BT Home Hub 3

The BT Home Hub 3 - front view

The BT Home Hub 3 is a powerful and reliable wireless router, available with BT’s Total Broadband and Infinity packages. It has a great range - enough to cover most houses certainly - and a few compelling features, including intelligent power management and the ability to automatically compensate for interference.

BT Home Hub 3 is compact (width: 17.5 cm, height: 11cm), and has an attractive, clean design. A built-in base means it can sit comfortably on a shelf or table out of the box.

There are just three indicator lights on the front of the device: “Power”, which lights up when the device is plugged in; “Broadband”, which comes on when a broadband connection is detected; and “Wireless”, which signifies that the router is transmitting a wireless network.

There are two wireless area network ports on the back of the router - one for standard broadband over a phone line (ADSL), and another for BT’s superfast fibre optic service. The dual ports provide a certain amount of future-proofing for BT customers that are using their phone lines for broadband - if they decide to upgrade to BT Infinity, they can continue to use the same router.

The back also has four ethernet ports. Users can use ethernet cables (BT provides one in its welcome pack) to connect up to four compatible devices to the internet through a fixed line, as opposed to the wireless network.

The BT Home Hub 3 - back view

The final port on the router is for USB connections. This appears to have no official purpose at present - BT may be planning to roll-out a service that uses it in the future, although that’s purely speculation. Even so, users have reported they can use it to connect a printer to a network, or access a USB storage device on multiple computers that are sharing the connection.

At the top of the router is a pull out tab that contains the wireless PIN, and the password for accessing important administrative features. Most providers print this information on a separate card, which is easily misplaced, so having easy access through the top of the router is so much more convenient. When you’re done with the information, you just click the tab back into the slot at the back of the router. The same information is printed on the base of the device too, in case the tab goes walkabout.

Features

BT Home Hub 3 includes “Smart Wireless” technology, which is designed to increase the stability of Wi-Fi connections. Wireless signals can often encounter interference from other devices. For many routers, the result is a slow or lost connection - easily fixable by switching the router off and on again (the solution to most IT woes). The Home Hub 3 automatically detects these sources of interference and adjusts the Wi-Fi signal to compensate.

The router also uses less electricity than many of its rivals, thanks to intelligent power management. The Home Hub 3 automatically cuts power to any of its Ethernet or USB ports that aren’t being used, which makes it one of the more environmentally friendly options on the market.

Set-up

BT provides a booklet that walks users gently through setting up the router. It also provides a set-up CD, which guides users when connecting their computers to the network.

Jon Ingram, digital TV expert at Consumerchoices.co.uk, has recently set-up the Home Hub 3, replacing Home Hub 2 at his three storey home. He said: “It was a doddle to set-up and is small and unobtrusive.

“We weren’t experiencing any major problems with our wi-fi connection before, but I can say the Hub 3 is working well and we’re not getting any reliability problems at all.”

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