EE Smart Hub Pro Review | WiFi 7 Broadband Router

Considering buying an EE Broadband plan with their Smart Hub Pro WiFi 7 router?

In this article, we’ve got hands-on with the Smart Hub Pro, and tested its real-world performance, to see what it’s like to use.

We’ve run speed and WiFi tests with this router, looked at its settings and customisation options, and assessed whether it offers good value for money on EE full fibre broadband at the moment.

Before we begin, make sure to visit the EE Broadband website to check what deals they’re shipping this router on, as it can change over time.

Here, you can also check what it costs to upgrade to this router if you’re looking at one of EE’s cheaper broadband deals.

Contents

• Router overview
• Unboxing & setup
• Settings & options
• WiFi coverage
• Speed tests
• Value for money
• Verdict: should you get a plan with this router?

Router overview

The Smart Hub Pro is a WiFi router offered to new customers by EE Broadband at the moment.

This is a tri-band WiFi 7 router – a new WiFi standard with better speeds and signal compared to WiFi 5 and WiFi 6. The Smart Hub Pro was the first WiFi 7 router to be offered by a major UK broadband provider.

EE typically reserves this router for customers buying their most expensive 1.6 Gbps broadband plans. But this can change over time, so make sure to visit their broadband deals page to check what tariffs currently come with the Smart Hub Pro.

On most of their other broadband deals, EE offers their WiFi 6 Smart Hub Plus router.

However, no matter which EE Broadband plan you buy, you can normally upgrade to the Smart Hub Pro by scrolling down to “extras” on their broadband deals page.

The Smart Hub Pro comes with four 2.5 Gb LAN ports, a separate WAN port, a phone port, and a USB port. There is also a WPS button, and each port and button is labelled in braille, which is a nice touch.

The router is normally sold paired with a Smart WiFi Pro device, which is a WiFi extender designed to work with this router.

The status light is built into the EE logo on the front of the Hub. We’ve explained how to read the status light as the router initiates in the next section.

Unboxing & setup

If you’re upgrading to fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) broadband for the first time, EE will likely send an engineer out to your address, to get you up and running.

In this case, they’ll most likely set up the router for you. But if you need to do it yourself, the process is quite straightforward.

First, grab the white WAN cable from the box, and plug it into the red WAN port on the back of the router.

Then, plug the other end of the cable into your Openreach ONT. This is a small white box that acts as a modem for FTTP broadband connections, located inside your house, near to where the broadband connection comes in – most likely near the front door.

Now, plug the Smart Hub Pro into power, using the supplied power cable, and press the grey power button on the back of the device.

On the instructions, EE pushes you towards installing their app to set up the router, but this isn’t necessary. The app is mostly used for customising certain settings, which we’ve discussed more in the next section.

At this point, the router will spend a few minutes initialising and setting itself up. The EE logo on the front will illuminate to show the router’s status.

• Green light: router is booting up.
• Flashing orange: router is connecting to broadband.
• Solid orange: router has no internet connection.
• Flashing red: there is a power-related issue. Ensure that the router is upright and is not overheating.
• Flashing blue: WPS button has been pressed.
• Aqua: router is working and you’re ready to connect to the internet.

The WiFi login details are available on the back of the router.

You need to slide off this white plastic piece to reveal them, and you can take this card with you to login on devices around the house, which is handy.

Settings & options

Compared to some older BT and EE routers, like the Smart Hub 2, there is a decent range of settings and customisation options available with the Smart Hub Pro.

You can:

• View devices connected to the network.
• Turn on port clamping.
• Set up dynamic DNS.
• Turn on/off each of the three WiFi bands, and change the channels they operate on.
• Set up WiFi extenders.
• Change DHCP settings, and disable the DHCP server.
• Set up port forwarding.
• Set up Universal Plug and Play (UPnP).
• Set up DMZ.
• Configure IPv6 ULA and pinholes.
• Control the brightness of the hub’s status light, and turn it off completely.

There’s also an FAQ and user guide option, helping you find the settings you’re looking for inside the admin portal more easily.

Certain settings must be changed in the EE app, for example, parental and access controls, WiFi scheduling, and setting up guest network access. We would prefer if you at least had the option to control everything from a single location, as many of these settings it would make sense to be able to manage from a web interface.

This router also has some of the customisation limitations that BT routers (and most other broadband providers’ routers) have always had.

For example, you can’t:

• Set custom DNS on a router level.
• Set up a VPN on the router.
• Change advanced firewall settings.
• Enable bridge mode.
• Manually trigger a firmware update.

WiFi coverage

One of the biggest strengths of this router is its WiFi coverage and speeds.

We tested the Smart Hub Pro in a two-storey, four-bedroom house that has been renovated, meaning it has a few brick internal walls.

We also didn’t use the router with the EE Smart WiFi Pro extender device, in order to more accurately compare its WiFi performance with other standalone broadband routers.

Using the Smart Hub Pro, we were able to get strong WiFi throughout the entire house, with no signal boosters, which is very impressive.

We even get WiFi down the street, and about six to seven metres into the back garden, on the opposite side of the house to the router, where it’s installed by the front door.

In areas with WiFi signal, the maximum our speed drops off is about 10-15%, except on the very edge of coverage outside the house.

It’s also worth mentioning, most of our devices are only WiFi 6 compatible, so they are not taking full advantage of this router’s WiFi 7 technology.

When testing with a WiFi 7 compatible phone, we find that performance is almost the exact same, just a little bit faster on a more consistent basis – the download speeds never drop off inside the house for example, even when our broadband connection is under significant load.

Speed tests

We tested the Smart Hub Pro on EE’s Full Fibre 150 plan, which comes with a download speed of 150 Mbps, and an upload speed of 30 Mbps.

Over WiFi, at close and medium range, we always received the full speeds on offer from our connection, with a download speed of about 145 Mbps, and an upload speed of 30 Mbps.

Further away from the router, our download speeds would drop off to an absolute minimum of 100 Mbps, but our upload speeds would normally stay about the same.

Over Ethernet, we only ever receive our full speeds from this router – about 148-150 Mbps down, and 30-31 Mbps up.

It is worth mentioning though, on this broadband plan, from purely a speed point of view, we aren’t really using this router to its full potential.

One of the main use-cases of this router is being able to get a speed of 900 Mbps or more over WiFi, or up to 2.5 Gbps over Ethernet, which very few other broadband providers’ routers are capable of at the moment.

With Full Fibre 150, we’re not really pushing this router. The main reason to get the Smart Hub Pro on a slower broadband plan like this is for its WiFi signal strength – which is very good.

Value for money

To get the Smart Hub Pro without paying an additional charge, you normally have to buy EE Broadband’s 1.6 Gbps ultrafast broadband deal.

Make sure to check the EE Broadband website to see what plans they’re currently shipping this router on.

The 1.6 Gbps option is a bit expensive, but does come with some of the fastest download speeds of any broadband deal in the UK at the moment.

The problem with this package is, the upload speed is currently just 115 Mbps. This is plenty for most households, but it’s a lot lower than the 1,600 Mbps download speed offered on this tariff.

Fortunately, you can normally add on the Smart Hub Pro to other EE Broadband deals as well, for an extra monthly cost.

If you go to the EE Broadband deals page, choose a speed, then scroll down to extras, you’ll be able to see how much extra they’re charging for the Smart Hub Pro when you’re reading this.

The Smart Hub Pro is a good bit of kit, but so is EE’s Smart Hub Plus router, which they ship for free on their cheaper deals.

So, we think it’s only worth paying extra for the upgrade to the Pro if you have a larger house, and want to get the best possible WiFi signal.

The Smart Hub Pro is also helpful if you have a few different WiFi 7 compatible devices, and want to ensure that you always get the best possible download speeds from your connection.

Or, you may want this router for its 2.5 Gb LAN ports. Most other routers are limited to 1 Gbps Ethernet at the moment.

Verdict: should you get a plan with this router?

Overall, we rate EE Smart Hub Pro 4.3 out of 5.

This is one of the best routers on offer from any broadband provider in the UK at the moment.

It offers almost unbeatable WiFi performance, fast LAN ports, and decent customisation options for a BT/EE router.

We just wish you could adjust settings like custom DNS on this router, and that you didn’t have to use the EE app to access some of its configuration options.

And we wish it was more widely available across EE Broadband’s plans, without having to pay more for it.

Remember, go to the EE Broadband website to see what deals come with the Smart Hub Pro at the moment, as it can change over time.

And if you have any questions about this router, let us know in the comments below, and we’ll reply as soon as we can.

About the author

Tyler Bevan

Tyler is the co-founder of Broadband Savvy. He has been helping people improve their broadband connectivity since 2018 by writing about fibre broadband and mobile broadband providers, as well as creating tutorials to help people improve their broadband speeds and Wi-Fi signal.

Tyler is responsible for the majority of buyer’s guides and broadband reviews published on Broadband Savvy. He has a wealth of experience testing and reviewing different broadband tariffs, including fibre internet plans, as well as 4G and 5G broadband deals. He is responsible for testing and evaluating Wi-Fi routers, performing speed and latency tests, and comparing the value for money of different broadband providers on the market in the UK.

Before co-founding Broadband Savvy, Tyler had a long history of tinkering with computers. He built his first PC at the age of 12, and since then, he’s become obsessed with all things networking and internet-related. He’s a massive gamer, loves Rocket League, and also plays Sunday League football.