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At my wits end with Plusnet Hub One

fraser1748
Newbie
Posts: 4
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎17-07-2020

At my wits end with Plusnet Hub One

Weak WiFi signal strength, disconnecting devices, useless 5GHz... there are dozens of forum posts about the dreaded Plusnet Hub One. I thought that some of these would be resolved when I moved house to somewhere that had the socket centrally located, thin walls etc. Nope, just as bad. It's also not a speed issue; the speed through my work's VPN on an older laptop is still within 80% of promised. I digress. What I was wondering is why Plusnet are being allow to continue to provide duff kit for over 4 years (going by the forum posts) with the same known issue and so far the only solution is to buy a BT SmartHub 6 FTTC for circa £20 on eBay. How can a company that brags ad nauseam about its customer service on the TV honestly keep sending these out? Has anyone managed to get any sort of traction or resolution via a complaint?
Its clear their equipment is rubbish but honestly, their service staff are great, so I'm reluctant to muddy their name, but I do want to resolve this. However, despite it being a trifling cost, the thought of having to buy replacement equipment from another ISP to get the broadband I pay for to work consistently has left a rough taste on my mouth and I would love to hear if anyone managed to get recompense from Plusnet for the trouble.
11 REPLIES 11
Mads
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 1,873
Fixes: 79
Registered: ‎06-08-2018

Re: At my wits end with Plusnet Hub One

Hey there @fraser1748, thanks for reaching out to us here.

I'm sorry you've had some trouble with the Plusnet hub one router, and I apologise for the inconvenience caused. 

Whilst our router works adequately for the majority of our customers, there are some occasions where you might need to look at sourcing third party equipment such as a router with a stronger signal, power-line adaptors or WiFi booster if other factors are interfering with your signal (ie thickness of walls/ doors/ floor, electrical interference, wireless interference etc).I've checked over your account and provided a more detailed response for you here
 

Thanks. 

Mikerich323
Grafter
Posts: 50
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎25-04-2020

Re: At my wits end with Plusnet Hub One

fraser

 

Sorry to hear you are having problems, but I’m sorry to say that I cannot offer you any hope of a resolution. I personally have had nothing but problems since March and nothing has been resolved. Everything to do with Plusnet is dodgy… Staff, equipment, the service, nothing works as it should. They must be haemorrhaging customers, which are why they are constantly running TV commercials to get new ones.

 

If you read the forum, you’ll see that there are constant problems with the Plusnet system.

 

I wait for the day when I no longer have any involvement with Plusnet!

fraser1748
Newbie
Posts: 4
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎17-07-2020

Re: At my wits end with Plusnet Hub One

I have responded to the Complaint confirming that I have completed all of those troubleshooting queries previously. The reason you don't have previous complaints is because I was in a less than ideal house and just sucked it up. Now that I have a much more ideal building situation (centrally located router, thin walls, less distance from router etc.), it has confirmed that the issue is not with the 2.4/5GHz channels or any of the other concerns, it is simply that the signal strength is sub par and the common solution is to source a replacement router from BT, which is embarrassing. To reiterate, broadband speeds aren't my issue, its the constant disconnections when more than one device is using WiFi. I shouldn't have to have every device on the house wired in - and most devices require third party dingles or hubs for this anyway.
Mads
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 1,873
Fixes: 79
Registered: ‎06-08-2018

Re: At my wits end with Plusnet Hub One

All updated for you @fraser1748, appreciate the quick response. 

 

Thanks. 

bobpullen
Community Gaffer
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Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: At my wits end with Plusnet Hub One

@fraser1748 have you read the thread over here?

It sounds like the issue described there could be contributing to your problems.

I have just pushed an update to your router. You'll need to reboot to apply it, but hopefully it helps.

Bob Pullen
Plusnet Product Team
If I've been helpful then please give thanks ⤵

fraser1748
Newbie
Posts: 4
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎17-07-2020

Re: At my wits end with Plusnet Hub One

Appreciate the attempt to help but the 5Ghz frequency is only part of the issue. Even if I disable it and use 2.4 and sit close enough to the router to spit on it I get disconnected intermittently when more than one member of my household is doing anything more than answering an email. While I really appreciate the continued troubleshooting, I have already bought a HH6 on ebay and received a response to my complaint. To be blunt, why patch up a leaky ship when I can get one that many have proven doesn't leak, if you'll excuse the metaphor.
Mads
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 1,873
Fixes: 79
Registered: ‎06-08-2018

Re: At my wits end with Plusnet Hub One

All updated @fraser1748

 

Let us know if you need further assistance. 

Ta. 

bobpullen
Community Gaffer
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Re: At my wits end with Plusnet Hub One

@fraser1748 fair enough. If you do decide to keep the Hub One in situ, then let me know because I'd like the opportunity to look into that further. It's definitely not expected and is somewhat at odds with the majority of other reports round these parts Huh

Bob Pullen
Plusnet Product Team
If I've been helpful then please give thanks ⤵

fraser1748
Newbie
Posts: 4
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎17-07-2020

Re: At my wits end with Plusnet Hub One

More out of lack of free time than want, the Hub is still in place. New issues over the last couple of days. Flawless, fast speed via powerline adapter, sub 1 Mbps WiFi (on either 2.4 or 5Ghz). Dropped webex calls at work, my fiancee and I can't stream netflix properly and her sister who is living with us can't do her studies. At a complete loss.

P.S. the BT router is still sat in its box next to my Plusnet one. This is likely just going to force me to change over (not that I wasn't already after buying the new one)
s12erm
Hooked
Posts: 9
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Registered: ‎04-10-2020

Re: At my wits end with Plusnet Hub One

As you have discovered, a wired connection is almost invariably going to be more reliable and faster than WiFi, whatever router you are using (with the possible but still unlikely exception of IEEE 802.11ax - aka Wifi-X or WiFi 6).

 

  • Are you getting the slow speeds on all the wireless devices you connect to the router? You probably already know this but you can download the Speedtest app on your phone and compare results to your laptop. You should try a few different devices to be sure that it's the router and not the client.
  • Is the slow speed related to distance from the router? 5GHz, although faster at close range, will drop off with distance more quickly. This is even more of a problem in old houses with thick concrete walls. You won't get around this without significant investment.
  • You could download a Wifi analyser app to see if you have a lot of wifi network congestion in your building - you may be able to adjust the channel, although I don't think this is recommended (https://www.bt.com/help/broadband/how-do-i-change-the-wi-fi-channel-on-my-bt-hub)
  • Presumably you have tried hard resetting your PlusNet Hub One? (There should be a reset switch at the back)

Although consumer grade routers can be of variable quality, I wouldn't jump to conclusions that the HubOne is substandard - always be 100% sure you are right before blaming your equipment Smiley I've learnt this from bitter experience!

There are, at least, many hundreds of thousands of people using the HubOne and the very similar BT HomeHub 5 without significant issues. Having said that, consider whether it is worth upgrading your router. Especially for larger buildings, I can personally recommend Unifi equipment (but you will pay for it) and you may need to pay someone to install it if you have limited experience. I can confirm that the Unifi routers do work with PlusNet.

 

bobpullen
Community Gaffer
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Re: At my wits end with Plusnet Hub One


@fraser1748 wrote:
More out of lack of free time than want, the Hub is still in place. New issues over the last couple of days. Flawless, fast speed via powerline adapter, sub 1 Mbps WiFi (on either 2.4 or 5Ghz). Dropped webex calls at work, my fiancee and I can't stream netflix properly and her sister who is living with us can't do her studies. At a complete loss.

A further update has been pushed to your Hub that will rule out any of the known bugs/issues that are waiting to be deployed in the next firmware. You will need to reboot the hub at your side to apply it.

Apologies if I've asked this before - but do you only have a single Wi-Fi access point on your network? i.e. you're not using Wi-Fi extenders/additional access points are you? 

Bob Pullen
Plusnet Product Team
If I've been helpful then please give thanks ⤵