topic Re: Bt smart hub and disc on plusnet in My Router

Re: Bt smart hub and disc on plusnet

Seanbont — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 18:50:24 GMT

Thanks John I unplugged the cable before I entered the username/password. I then clicked save and a page came up that seemed to suggest I plugged the cable back in and then click yes. Which is what I did.
The hub then restarted. Went green but then went orange and after ten minutes nothing.
Sorry if I'm being a bit thick but everyone else seems to fly through this process but I'm getting stuck at this stage.

Re: Bt smart hub and disc on plusnet

jab1 — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 18:55:11 GMT

@Seanbont Sorry, your original post seemed to suggest otherwise. As I have never used the BT Hub, only going on information which I assume you also did, I'm going to tag @Baldrick1 , who is the expert on this. Hopefully, he can guide you.

Re: Bt smart hub and disc on plusnet

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 19:20:12 GMT

@Seanbont

To clarify, the process for configuring a BT SH2 to work on Plusnet is, (as I recall from doing it myself a couple of years ago):

1.) Disconnect the SH2 from the phone line.

2.) Log in to the hub and change the Username and Password. (NB: ensure you are changing the Broadband Username + Password, not the Hub's Admin ones).

3.) Save the new settings.

4.) At this point I re-powered the hub, and when it had completely restarted I logged back in to confirm that the new User and Password were set. (This should not be necessary, but is a useful confirmation).

5.) Only now reconnect the SH2 to the telephone line and wait for the lights to change colour.

Re: Bt smart hub and disc on plusnet

Baldrick1 — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 20:36:30 GMT

@Seanbont

The important thing is that there must be no connection to the Internet whilst you enter the Plusnet credentials so make sure by removing the DSL lead from the BT master socket whilst you enter and save them. You should be able to switch off the mains once they are saved and for them to be retained when you switch it back on. You should then be able to reconnect the DSL lead and get on line.

Moderator’s Note

This topic has been moved from Broadband to My Router

Re: Bt smart hub and disc on plusnet

Seanbont — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 21:00:28 GMT

Thanks Baldrick

I unplugged the dsl cable that runs from the modem. Reset the bt smart hub. It went green then purple.
I went into advanced settings. Changed the user name to my plusnet username with @plusdsl.net after it and the password to the same password I use to access my plusnet account. Clicked save.
A screen came up about 4th port cables. Clicked yes and it said restarting hub.
I waited for it to cycle through to flashing purple and I plugged the dsl cable in.
It then went orange and when I checked settings it was pointing towards bt again.
Sorry to spell out this in such detail but I'm obviously missing something critical and I can't think what that might be. If you can see my mistake please tell me.

Thanks
Sean

Re: Bt smart hub and disc on plusnet

Baldrick1 — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 21:07:35 GMT

@Seanbont

Modem? If you still have an Openreach modem in circuit then remove it, it’s no longer needed. The Smarthub DSL input should be connected directly to the BT master socket.

Also I assume that you are adding @plusdsl.net to your username?

Re: Bt smart hub and disc on plusnet

Baldrick1 — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 22:39:08 GMT

@Seanbont

To add to my last post, if you left a modem in circuit whilst you set up the Smarthub then that will be your problem. The Smarthub has a built in modem, hence this is not needed.

When setting up a Smarthub to work on the Plusnet service it is necessary to drop the DSL connection. Leaving a modem in circuit would keep it live.

Re: Bt smart hub and disc on plusnet

Seanbont — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 22:57:10 GMT

Apologies my last post was probably unhelpful.
The service is fttp. The cable to the hub runs from port 1 on the open reach box. It's tagged as modem/router
The cable runs to the port on the back of the hub marked wan.
This is what I unplugged.
I can try again and turn off the power to the open reach box if you think that would work.

Re: Bt smart hub and disc on plusnet

Seanbont — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 23:27:45 GMT

Yes I have been adding plusdsl.net to my name, copying exactly what is listed in the letter I received from plus net.

I put a picture of the open reach box in a public gallery if that helps explain it better than I can.

https://community.plus.net/t5/media/gallerypage/user-id/123668/album-id/40630/image-id/43748iBA898B191242F39D/tab/albums

Re: Bt smart hub and disc on plusnet

MisterW — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 06:56:02 GMT

@Baldrick1 do we have any experience of anyone with a BT SMart Hub working on Plusnet FTTP ?

I dont see why it SHOULDNT work as long as (as you say) the cable is unplugged whilst changing the login details, so that there is no internet connection possible.

Re: Bt smart hub and disc on plusnet

Baldrick1 — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 07:07:27 GMT

@Seanbont

I understand now, this box is called the ONT (Optical Network Terminator). This is the first time that I have come across using this set up so please advise how you get on.

The first thing to try, as intimated earlier:

1. Disconnect the hub from the ONT

2. Enter your Plusnet credentials

3. Save

4. Switch off the hub and leave it for say half a minute.

5. Switch it back on

6. Check that your Plusnet credentials are still saved.

If settings have reverted to BT ones then you re doing something wrong with the settings.

Having got that far you need to drop the DSL connection. Now I am working beyond my experience.Things that I would try:

Plug in the working hub, presumably a Plusnet Hub 2? Navigate to the Advanced Settings/Broadband page. select 'Disconnect' at the top of the page and wait for it to disconnect, the will hopefully change to 'Connect'. Once disconnected, leaving it in that state swap to the Smarthub. Once it has booted navigate back to the same Advanced Settings/Broadbandpage and select 'Connect'.

If that fails try switching off the power to the ONT before plugging in the Smarthub.

Do help others by reporting back.

Re: Bt smart hub and disc on plusnet

Baldrick1 — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 07:06:07 GMT

@MisterW

No never. Our posts have crossed.

Re: Bt smart hub and disc on plusnet

MisterW — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 08:41:45 GMT

@bobpullen before we beat our heads against a brick wall here, are you aware of any reason why the FTTP variant of the BT Smart Hub 2 will not accept a PN username ?

Re: Bt smart hub and disc on plusne

Baldrick1 — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 09:07:55 GMT

@MisterW

I don’t know about the Smarthub 2 but the FTTP versions of the original Smarthub work fine on FTTC. I have used both an original ‘Ultrafast’ one and a business FTTP Smarthub without issues.

I am unfamiliar with the Smarthub 2 but I think that I have read, but could be wrong, that the Smarthub 2 firmware allows a port to be configured as either the WAN input or LAN 4. Whether the current firmware shuts down the ability to reconfigure for Plusnet?

It will be interesting to hear from @Seanbont

Re: Bt smart hub and disc on plusne

Dan_the_Van — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 09:37:07 GMT

@MisterW

Maybe an extract from the event log would be helpful here, it should be possible to export the complete log as a CSV file.

Re: Bt smart hub and disc on plusne

MisterW — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 09:38:21 GMT

Good idea

Re: Bt smart hub and disc on plusne

Seanbont — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 11:15:22 GMT

Thanks all

I'm clearly doing something wrong.

The bt hub is completely unplugged apart for power.
I reset it until it flashed purple.
I accessed the advanced settings.
Entered the broadband user name as
Sean______@plusdsl.net
Password as per plusnet account.
Save
Then I get a screen asking me to unplug any ethernet from port 4. There is nothing other than power plugged in so I click yes.
It then restarts.
When it restarts it has reverted to bthomehub@btbroadband.com
I tried a different password taking out special characters and it still did the same.
I've searched on line and this clearly is down to me but there must a setting that I am missing that is directing it back. Appreciate everyone's patience with me but I'm at a loss with this. Its not a new smart hub. I've had it since Jan 2019 so I can't see why it's doing anything different to anyone else.

Thanks
Sean

Re: Bt smart hub and disc on plusnet

bobpullen — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 11:59:13 GMT

@MisterW wrote:

@bobpullen before we beat our heads against a brick wall here, are you aware of any reason why the FTTP variant of the BT Smart Hub 2 will not accept a PN username ?

Should be fine.

I would ignore any prompts to fiddle with port 4 cables/reconfigure/restart the hub.

The BT firmware will support operation in FTTP and non-FTTP mode. It will need to be configured in FTTP mode as per screengrab below.

When it is switched between modes, it may reset the PPP credentials when the changes are written to memory. Perhaps that is the issue here i.e. the port 4 prompt/restart is reverting the change that has been made to the username?

Re: Bt smart hub and disc on plusnet

MisterW — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 12:19:17 GMT

@bobpullen its certainly an idea , thanks Bob

@Seanbont as an experiment , maybe try turning FTTP mode off, then see if it will save the PN username. Then try turning FTTP mode back on and check the username, then finally connect to port 4.

Re: Bt smart hub and disc on plusne

Baldrick1 — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 13:05:47 GMT

@Seanbont wrote:
........Then I get a screen asking me to unplug any ethernet from port 4. There is nothing other than power plugged in so I click yes.
It then restarts.
When it restarts it has reverted to bthomehub@btbroadband.com

This is obviously the problem, the 'restart' must be factory resetting it.

As well as the other suggestions:

Are you using port 4 to connect your computer to the Hub? If it's in FTTP mode I believe that this is the WAN port so could be the problem. In FTTP mode only use a LAN socket, Not the WAN. Alternatively, try connecting to it when in FTTP mode wirelessly rather than using an Ethernet connection.

Please don't lose heart, it's not you doing anything wrong, we are breaking new ground here.