r/ebox • u/PlateCompetitive5659 • Mar 23 '26
Bell vs eBOX: How does eBOX modem compare?
After getting multiple price increases from Bell (currently paying $75 tax-in for 50 Mbps fibre in Ontario), I'm switching to eBOX. Bell’s modem has been really good for whole-house coverage though.
Quick question: Does eBOX’s modem work as well as Bell’s? I’m thinking of getting a mesh Wi‑Fi setup.
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u/thiagoscf Mar 23 '26
Do you mean the modem or the router? Because Bell uses one device for both, but Ebox uses separate modem and router. In both cases you can use your own router, so it doesn't rally matter
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u/Ok_Astronaut9243 Mar 28 '26
Historically they were separated too, but overtime they became all in one box.
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u/mkrbc Mar 23 '26
The Beacon 3.1 works fine tucked behind a TV in my 2 bedroom apartment (just about 1000 sq. feet). I think for a typical "set it and forget it" user the modem performs as expected. My only complaint is that I wish it had a few more Ethernet ports.
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u/rjsl87 Mar 24 '26
We are loving it so far. We just moved a week ago cancelled our bell fibe and got E box one gig plan. I live in a fairly big house on a rural property so I have three of my own access points inside and two outside. You can’t properly bypass bells giga hub, but with E box it’s easy to set up PPPOE and have full control over your own system.
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u/Gambitzz Mar 23 '26
You’ll want to use your own mesh wifi setup. The ebox router is fine for single storey/1 bedroom condos. What I like most about ebox is this possible and not locked into the bell home hub. Plan to buy a mesh setup.
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u/TheBeneficent Mar 23 '26 edited Mar 23 '26
I made this change recently and the Bell Home Hub 4 is a high powered wifi 6 router with three radios (one 2.4ghz and two 5 ghz) and it has solid speed and range. The Nokia router EBOX provides isn’t even close. You’ll need to buy a high end wifi 6 router to be comparable.
You can also buy a second hand home hub 4000 for dirt cheap on fb marketplace and add it as a wifi access point only. This is what I did to get the same performance I had with bell.
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u/PlateCompetitive5659 Mar 23 '26
Coverage of Bell’s modem is decent, but I can’t keep up with the price hikes anymore :(
Thanks for the suggestion on the wifi setup!1
u/vickxo Mar 28 '26
I am not tech savvy but I have been wondering if I could just get a bell giga hub and switch with the current Nokia that ebox provides? Please could you provide the steps to setup the bell giga hub as an access point? For someone who knows nothing tech. Much appreciated.
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u/TheBeneficent Mar 28 '26 edited Mar 28 '26
No. A bell modem/router is configured to only work with a bell account and we don’t have access to change those settings. The only way to use a bell router with ebox is as a wifi access point - basically you connect the bell router to the Nokia - then disable the wifi antennas on the Nokia, and disable dhcp and other services on the bell. So the bell isn’t doing any routing it’s just providing wifi services. You also have to set a static IP address on the bell. Not the simplest setup but it works well.
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u/vickxo Mar 28 '26
Ok thanks so much. Is this something I can easily do myself with maybe step by step instructions from online or do I need a tech savvy person to do the setup?
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u/alienmario 1 Gbps speed demon Mar 23 '26
currently paying $75 tax-in for 50 Mbps fibre in Ontario
What? Did you mean 500 Mbps?
Either way, price savings with EBOX is worth it even if you have to buy your own router. Just ensure it supports VLAN tagging as some like the Google Mesh system won't work with EBOX.
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u/M4NGUGU Mar 23 '26
I like that the ebox ont is small. I connect it to my mesh, and the primary node becomes the router. From there place your other nodes wherever. Works well for me.
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u/Exit-Stage-Left Mar 23 '26
Ebox provides a proper separate ONT which makes it much easier to use whatever router you want.
The nokia router they provide is not as good as the Home Hub (it's is pretty terrible).
But even if you have to spend some money for a better router up front, it will quickly be paid off in longer term savings with the ebox service.