The BT Smart Hub 3 is the router BT now bundles free with most new broadband packages, from entry-level Fibre 1 up to 900Mbps Full Fibre deals, replacing the WiFi 5 Smart Hub 2. It's a solid, no-nonsense upgrade: WiFi 6 across dual bands, a 2.5Gbps WAN port ready for BT's fastest full-fibre tiers, four Gigabit LAN ports, and BT's Complete Wi-Fi Plus mesh system if you need more coverage. It won't beat a dedicated mesh system or a WiFi 7 router for a large house or a smart-home-heavy setup with dozens of devices, but for most UK homes on a standard BT contract it's a genuine improvement over what came before and there's no reason to swap it out on day one. The main caveat: it's WiFi 6, not WiFi 6E or WiFi 7, so it doesn't get the extra, less-congested 6GHz band those newer standards use.
What are the BT Smart Hub 3's specs?
The Smart Hub 3 runs WiFi 6 with a dual-band 2.4GHz (3x3 MIMO) and 5GHz (4x4 MIMO) antenna configuration, giving theoretical maximum link speeds of up to 1148Mbps on 2.4GHz and 2400Mbps on 5GHz, according to BT's own device specifications. For wired connections it has four standard Gigabit Ethernet ports plus a single 2.5 Gigabit WAN port for connecting to Openreach's full-fibre equipment, a USB port, and an RJ-11 phone port for Digital Voice landline service on Full Fibre lines. The casing is built from 100% recycled plastic, and BT ships it in plastic-free packaging.
| Spec | BT Smart Hub 3 |
|---|---|
| WiFi standard | WiFi 6 (dual-band) |
| 2.4GHz speed / MIMO | Up to 1148Mbps, 3x3 |
| 5GHz speed / MIMO | Up to 2400Mbps, 4x4 |
| LAN ports | 4x Gigabit |
| WAN port | 1x 2.5 Gigabit |
| Other ports | 1x USB, 1x RJ-11 (Digital Voice) |
| Mesh support | Complete Wi-Fi Plus (extenders/discs, sold separately) |
| Security | WPA3, Hub Threat Protect, parental controls via My BT app |
| Price | Free with most BT broadband packages; standalone units typically cost £60–£80 second-hand |
Is the BT Smart Hub 3's WiFi actually fast enough?
Yes, for typical home use — real-world 5GHz throughput lands at around 700Mbps in BT's own testing conditions, well above what most UK full-fibre packages currently deliver even at the top end. That headroom matters more than the headline theoretical figures: WiFi 6 also improves how the router handles many devices talking at once (a feature called OFDMA), which is the bigger day-to-day win for a smart home with a dozen-plus WiFi-connected sensors, plugs and cameras rather than raw top speed. If you're on a gigabit-plus full-fibre tier and want to push closer to that ceiling over WiFi rather than Ethernet, a WiFi 6E or WiFi 7 router with a wider, less congested band will get you further, but the Smart Hub 3 is not the bottleneck for most households.
Does the BT Smart Hub 3 cover a whole house?
On its own, coverage is adequate for a typical semi-detached or terraced UK home, but it can struggle through multiple internal walls or in larger detached properties — the same limitation as most single-unit routers. BT's answer is Complete Wi-Fi Plus, its mesh add-on using small satellite discs that extend the same network with one SSID, sold separately or bundled into higher-tier broadband plans. If you already have a lot of smart home kit on a mesh system such as an alternative mesh WiFi setup, it's worth checking whether the Smart Hub 3 can be switched to modem-only or bridge mode so your existing mesh nodes keep handling WiFi, rather than running two overlapping networks.
Should you keep the BT Smart Hub 3 or replace it?
Keep it if: you're on a standard BT contract, have a small-to-medium home, and don't need advanced features like VLANs or a built-in VPN server. It's a capable, free, low-maintenance router with decent security defaults (WPA3, automatic firmware updates, Hub Threat Protect).
Replace it if: you're running a serious smart home setup that benefits from network segmentation — see our home network security guide for why isolating IoT devices on their own VLAN matters — or you want mesh coverage without paying for BT's own extenders, or you specifically want WiFi 6E/7 for the extra 6GHz band. In those cases, pairing the Smart Hub 3 in modem/bridge mode with a dedicated router from our best routers for smart homes guide, or a full third-party mesh system, gives you more control while keeping BT's line termination hardware in place.
How does it compare to the old Smart Hub 2?
The Smart Hub 3 is a clear step up. The outgoing Smart Hub 2 uses WiFi 5, which lacks WiFi 6's efficiency gains for busy multi-device networks and tops out at lower theoretical speeds, and it doesn't have a 2.5Gbps WAN port — a limitation on BT's fastest full-fibre tiers where a Gigabit-only WAN port becomes the bottleneck. If you're still on a Smart Hub 2 and eligible for an upgrade, BT will typically send a Smart Hub 3 free on request even if you're not migrating to a new package, though new Full Fibre sign-ups get it automatically.
