Do Not Wish To Use BT's Home Hub 4 After Infinity ...

Question

Hi
I am due to have BT Infinity 2 installed next Thursday 1st August and want to prepare as fully as I can in readiness for the visit.
Right now I am with Sky Unlimited Broadband getting 13.5 down and 0.7 up.  I am promised at least 58 down and 17 up - we will see   My Sky Router currently operates in "Modem only mode" and feeds my own router, a Netgear WNR3500 which serves my house well for both ethernet and wifi. 
What I require from the Engineer's visit is for him to do whatever he has to with the "Master Socket", and swap the BT Modem for the Sky one and continue to utilise the WNR3500.  i.e. I'd rather not use the Home Hub 4 router if at all possible.  The Home Hub only has 1 gigabit ethernet outlet whereas my Netgear router has all 4 sockets enabled for gigabit lan.  Indeed I have a further 4-port gigabit switch linked into the Netgear for other device useage.
So can a simple swap of the modems suffice?
Will the engineer need to tinker with the Netgear's settings - if so what will he need to do please?
I don't want the Netgear router's settings disturbed if it can be helped as they have been set up with many devices (ethernet and wifi) in mind and I seriously do not want to have to mess with them post Infinity 2.
Can anyone shed some light please on whether this will be possible (I believe it can) with some details as to the settings that need to be made to the Netgear router for it to operate alongside the Infinity 2 modem please.
Many thanks in anticipation of advice
roz

Answer 1

Hi all - thanks for your replies.
Yes I am fully aware that it is a 2-box installation and that the BT Engineer will fetch an Openreach modem with him this Thursday to swap with the Sky one.
I am just concerned that with 2 x media players, 1 TV, 2 Blu ray players, a PS3, 2 x servers, 3 x mobile phones as well as 2 x desktops, 1 x Sky box and 4 laptops in our household, all networked either by ethernet or wireless, that any tinkering with my existing router  or network settings, could knock one or some of these devices out. 
I agree that maybe it could be best for the engineer to install the HH4 in the first instance - indeed I would like to see if the wireless coverage is better than my Netgear Router's.  To be fair to the HH4, the only thing making me want to stick with the Netgear is that the HH4, like most modems supplied by internet providers, is not fully equipped with 4 x Gigabit Ethernet ports.  My Netgear provides Gigabit Ethernet to 3 separate rooms, all Cat-6 cabled and when Streaming High Definition - lets say a Blu ray image 3D with DTS HD Master Audio it is imperitive that I have Gigabit Lan ports.  There is a debate as to whether T/100 ports will suffice - the maximum bandwidth I have noticed playing anything is around 85mbps, which in theory, should work with T/100 ports but I think I will feel easier with Gigabit ones.
It will be cool to try out the HH4 though as I have heard good things regarding it's wireless coverage.  Our house is large and in one upstairs room wifi is "hit and miss" - if for example you get a connection that is good but it can easily disconnect - extremly frustrating when watching catchup TV!  I have tried with a "Wireless Extender" but this cuts down the speed.  That said with a possible 58mbps on tap with Infinity, the Extender's ovehead will still leave a sizable speed.
So in summary as long as the Engineer doesn't tinker with my PC's settings - but I believe BT state I must make my PC available (what for?) - then I am cool with the initial installation of the HH4.
Problem is I cannot make the visit this Thursday as I am working, so my daughter needs to be taught a few things so she can understand the Engineer and relay back to me.  I have to tidy things up too lol!  The floor of my study where everything will be, including the existing and new master socket, is a right mess so I will start tidying up later.
So finally please assure me that my network will not be affected in any way and when I disconnect the HH4 and substitute the Netgear Router, all I need to do is amend my router's Basic Settings to provide a Username/password login as mentioned above and to switch to "OTHER" (Internet Type), which will place the Netgear in a position to accept a PPPoE signal from the modem.
If I have missed anything please let me know.
Thanks again for taking the time and interest in reading this thread.
roz