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Bell Giga Hub 2.0 modem with Wi-Fi 7

583 views 12 replies 6 participants last post by  wmjfoley85  
#1 ·
Bell launches Giga Hub 2.0 with Wi-Fi 7, the world's best and latest Wi-Fi technology, powered by Bell Pure Fibre - Canada's fastest Internet .

Bell announced the launch of its new Giga Hub 2.0 modem, bringing Wi-Fi 7 to Canadian homes for the first time on its Pure Fibre network. Customers in major areas of Ontario – including Toronto and the GTA, Ottawa, London, Windsor, Kitchener, Guelph, Barrie, Collingwood and Bradford – as well as Québec City and surrounding areas can now experience next-generation Wi-Fi performance built for today's connected lifestyles.

Paired with Bell Pure Fibre – delivering symmetrical download and upload speeds, proven reliability, and an end-to-end low-latency fibre-to-the-home network (FTTH) – customers gain next-generation performance and future-proof technology that keeps pace with their growing digital needs.

Designed with customers in mind, the Giga Hub 2.0 also includes a high-resolution OLED display that makes it easy to run speed tests and share Wi-Fi passwords directly from the screen. Its accessible design features 80% recycled plastics, backlit buttons, raised symbols and colour-coded ports. For those who need even more enhanced connectivity, this modem offers 1x 10Gb, 2x 2.5Gb, and 2x 1Gb Ethernet ports for maximum wired performance.

The Giga Hub 2.0 modem with Wi-Fi 7 is available now on all Bell Pure Fibre Internet plans for new and existing customers with an eligible address. To check availability, visit Bell.ca, call Bell or visit a local Bell store.
 
#3 · (Edited)
For most consumers, Wi-Fi 7 is overhyped. The main advantage is faster speeds at short distances on the 6GHz band. It can also increase speeds for repeaters and mesh devices by using a Wi-Fi 7 6GHz backhaul. The reality is that most devices currently owned or being made do not support Wi-Fi 7 and may not work at all with Wi-Fi 7. The result is the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands may need to be left on Wi-Fi 6 or have some Wi-Fi 7 features disabled. I've even seen issues with WiFi 7 devices on the 6GHz band due to incomplete implementation. Unless there is a lot of congestion on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, the 6GHz band and Wi-Fi 7 may provide little or no benefit unless a very recent Wi-Fi 7 device is used. Those being mostly this year's flagship phones. In some cases it may require some sleuthing to keep legacy 2.4GHz band devices working.

Another issue is that Wi-Fi 7 routers often have reduced capabilities in other areas in order to reduce costs. That can reduce performance on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. Some omit 6GHz band support which, for practical purposes, makes them little more than an overprice Wi-Fi 6 router. Unless a flagship $500+ tri-band router is purchased, there is little or no advantage to an upgrade from a Wi-Fi 6 router.
 
#4 ·
For me I got WiFi 7 not because I needed it but because I needed a router with multiple 2.5 Gigabit ports and it happened to come with WiFi 7. I could not find a router that's WiFi 6 that has multiple 2.5 Gigabit hard wired ports.
 
#8 · (Edited)
The fibre plugs directly into the Giga Hub, so you don't need LAN and WAN.
What about when they put it underneath a bunch of wifi blocking obstacles (ducts, wiring, etc.) in the basement. That's the situation here. The wifi signal barely reaches the first floor. Bell offers mesh nodes but they are very slow and expensive. network upgrades are not strictly necessary. All that is required is a CAT5e or CAT6 cable to an access point with a 2.5Gb or faster port and 2.5Gb switches if necessary.

Anyone on a package with Multi Gigabit speeds would have to upgrade their Home networks to get the full value of the service and that upgrade can be pricey.
As stated elsewhere, a 1Gb+ internet service can be useful with a 1Gb LAN. That's because the incoming router's wifi is in addition to the 1Gb available on one ethernet port. In addition, the incoming router may have more than one LAN port and may deliver 1Gb+ speeds by using 2 or more ports.

It doesn't need to be expensive. 2.5Gb switches are getting more affordable every year and CAT5e wiring is sufficient. Many PCs now have 2.5Gb ports and 2.5Gb NICs are affordable. The 10Gb equipment is still fairly expensive though. I already upgraded the LAN here to 2.5Gb and started a thread on it.
 
#10 ·
Back in the late 90s, I worked in the IBM Canada HQ, on Steeles Ave. in Markham. They had a 45 Mb DS3 connection and there were about 5000 employees in the building, IIRC.
 
#11 ·
Internet content was typically a fraction of a percentage point of today's size and employees used it corresponding less then as well. Gone are the days when emails and web sites were pure text and measured in KB. These days, just checking the weather forecast can take several MB. That's why internet connections need to be multiple Gbps or Mbps instead of Mbps or Kbps. My internet connection speed in 1999 was 64kbps and the company connection not much more. One time the geniuses in corporate IT changed the interoffice network topography and emails backed up for days.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Not quite sure yet I haven't inquired as I'm still a really new Bell Aliant customer and I
have the 1.0 and just have my Cell services connected to Bell not long ago. I do plan on looking into it in the future. It's still very new and I'm paying Bell connection fees right now. I try to be a one issue at a time type guy lol.
I kept my ipad tablet with Telus too it's just not worth breaking the contract.
With Bell I'm on a BYOD so the monthly fee is $88
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