Google Nest Wifi With EE: How to Set It Up Properly (and Fix Double NAT)
12 November 2026 · By Ethan Fernandes
Double NAT or devices dropping with Google Nest Wifi and EE broadband? The right setup for this combination, whether to keep the EE Smart Hub, what full fibre needs, and how to protect your home phone.
Quick fix
The EE Smart Hub has no modem mode, and Google Nest Wifi only supports one unit in bridge mode. On full fibre, the best option is to connect the Nest Wifi straight to the Openreach fibre box (PPPoE, standard login), as long as you don't need the EE home phone (Digital Voice). Otherwise keep the Nest Wifi as the router behind the hub, turn off the hub's Wi-Fi and use its DMZ setting.
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Get help todayYou've added Google Nest Wifi to your EE broadband and it isn't quite right: the app warns about double NAT, games report strict or moderate NAT, a work VPN drops, smart devices disappear, or phones hop between the EE Smart Hub's Wi-Fi and the Nest Wifi. The cause is that both are acting as the router. Here's how to set up this exact combination properly.
The short version: The EE Smart Hub has no modem mode, and Google Nest Wifi only supports one unit in bridge mode. On full fibre, the best option is to connect the Nest Wifi straight to the Openreach fibre box (PPPoE, standard login), as long as you don't need the EE home phone (Digital Voice). Otherwise keep the Nest Wifi as the router behind the hub, turn off the hub's Wi-Fi and use its DMZ setting.
Before You Start: Two Questions
- Full fibre or part fibre? On full fibre there's an Openreach fibre box on the wall, and your mesh can connect to it directly. If you're on part-fibre broadband, the EE Smart Hub is also your modem, so it has to stay.
- Do you use the EE home phone (Digital Voice)? If your home phone plugs into the EE Smart Hub, removing the hub stops the phone working, so keep the hub and use Option 2 below.
Option 1 (Full Fibre, No Home Phone Needed): Nest Wifi Direct
This is the best setup for Google Nest Wifi, because it stays in router mode and every Nest Wifi point keeps working.
- Connect the main Nest Wifi router to the network port on the Openreach fibre box.
- In the Google Home app's advanced networking settings, set the WAN connection to PPPoE and enter the login details. EE uses PPPoE with the same standard login as BT: username bthomehub@btbroadband.com and password BT (some routers accept it blank). No VLAN setting is needed on full fibre.
- Restart and check you're online, then unplug the EE Smart Hub.
Option 2 (Keeping the Hub): Nest Wifi as Router, Hub DMZ
Normally you'd use bridge mode, but in bridge mode, Google Nest Wifi and Google Wifi only work as a single unit. Any extra points stop working, which defeats the point of mesh. So instead:
- Connect the main Nest Wifi router to the EE Smart Hub and leave it in router mode.
- Open the hub's settings (the address and admin password are on the hub's sticker or card) and turn off its Wi-Fi.
- Set the hub's DMZ, if it has one, to the Nest Wifi router, to reduce double NAT problems with games and VPNs.
EE's Smart Hub has no bridge or modem mode, so it's either the hub stays as the router, or it's replaced completely on full fibre.
Still Not Right? Quick Checks
- Two Wi-Fi networks? If the EE Smart Hub's Wi-Fi is still on, devices may join it instead of the Nest Wifi. Turn it off, or give it a completely different name.
- Restart in order: the EE Smart Hub first, then the main Nest Wifi unit once the hub is online, then the other units.
- Main unit next to the hub, connected by cable. Other units about halfway to the weak areas, not in them.
- Use cables between units where you can. Wired connections between mesh units give much better speed than wireless.
- Smart plugs and cameras won't connect? Many only use 2.4GHz. See smart device won't connect to Wi-Fi.
How We Handle It
We set up Google Nest Wifi with EE properly: choosing between keeping the hub or connecting straight to the fibre box, protecting your home phone, configuring the mesh, placing the units for full coverage and testing every room, games console and VPN. See our Wi-Fi and home networking service.
Related Reading
Common questions
Yes. Keep the EE Smart Hub as the router and leave the Nest Wifi in router mode with the hub Wi-Fi off, or on full fibre connect the Nest Wifi straight to the Openreach fibre box if you don't need the home phone.
On full fibre, usually yes: connect the Nest Wifi to the Openreach fibre box (PPPoE, standard login). On part-fibre broadband the hub is also your modem, and if your home phone plugs into the hub it needs to stay.
PPPoE with the standard login: username bthomehub@btbroadband.com and password BT, with no VLAN setting.
Yes, if the EE Smart Hub stays connected and the phone plugs into it. If you remove the hub, a home phone that plugs into it stops working.
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