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Frustrated to recieve my hub

nicolajreynolds
Newbie
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎05-01-2016

Frustrated to recieve my hub

Ive moved from BT infinity to Plus net to a) save money and b) get a different hub.
ive tried and tested 5 bt hh5 hubs in the last 4 months and none of them have sufficient wifi capability. now im not talking big house here, im talking a bog standard three bed semi house and I couldn't maintain a decent enough stable wifi connection to do a little online gaming on my laptop. (im talking old school mmorpg not high graphics stuff) now it didn't matter whether I was within 6ft of the hub or about 6meters through walls there we no difference in the hubs ability to maintain wifi. my boyfriend an experienced electronics engineer is determined that its a hardware issue where components inside are badly matched and therefore restricted to allow them to function together. but hey can you imagine my annoyance when my plus net one hub arrived this morning an appears to be identical to the hh5.
can anyone offer me any confidence in the plus net hub or am I doomed to have cables and switches all over my house instead of having a capable wifi router!!!
18 REPLIES 18
Oldjim
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Re: Frustrated to recieve my hub

As it is effectively a HH5a don't get your hopes up
jafreer
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Re: Frustrated to recieve my hub

Actually the HH5A is not a bad device. Don't get me wrong, I know there are lots of far superior units out there, but all told, it is a reasonable piece of kit.
I have the BT version of the HH5A and it has been rock solid and never dropped the connection for months and months. The wi-fi coverage is very good (dual band too). It has gigabit ethernet ports. It can be used with or without an OR modem.
It doesn't have a lot of user configurable features (e.g. it won't respond to pings) but overall, it is a reasonable piece of kit. I have seen quite a few issues on the forums with even some of the higher end, more expensive routers.
I know one thing that does cause issues is not separating out the 2.4GHz and 5GHz SSID's. I think it defaults to 'smart wireless'. Once you disable that and make separate SSID's for each band, it becomes a whole lot more stable.
So don't be too harsh on the Hub One/HH5A, it is a reasonable bit of kit. I wouldn't recommend it if it hadn't been anything other than reliable for me.
mav:quote
Oldjim
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Re: Frustrated to recieve my hub

In the opening post the Home Hub was specifically mentioned as having lousy wireless reception hence my comment
nicolajreynolds
Newbie
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎05-01-2016

Re: Frustrated to recieve my hub

Quote from: jafreer
Quote from: Oldjim
As it is effectively a HH5a don't get your hopes up

Actually the HH5A is not a bad device. Don't get me wrong, I know there are lots of far superior units out there, but all told, it is a reasonable piece of kit.
I have the BT version of the HH5A and it has been rock solid and never dropped the connection for months and months. The wi-fi coverage is very good (dual band too). It has gigabit ethernet ports. It can be used with or without an OR modem.
It doesn't have a lot of user configurable features (e.g. it won't respond to pings) but overall, it is a reasonable piece of kit. I have seen quite a few issues on the forums with even some of the higher end, more expensive routers.
I know one thing that does cause issues is not separating out the 2.4GHz and 5GHz SSID's. I think it defaults to 'smart wireless'. Once you disable that and make separate SSID's for each band, it becomes a whole lot more stable.
So don't be too harsh on the Hub One/HH5A, it is a reasonable bit of kit. I wouldn't recommend it if it hadn't been anything other than reliable for me.

ive tried all manner of stuff from assigning different channels, bridging with various other wireless devices, differentiating the smart wireless as I do have mac's on the network too, tv and consoles are cabled and theres no difference to wifi success rate whether they're on or not when I get the issues. twice over the last week the bthh5 has decided to reboot itself at a key part of a streamed film off Netflix. which is cabled and viewed on my tv. just hoping this one is more stable as im getting fed up of paying companies for a service they can't deliver!!
jafreer
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Re: Frustrated to recieve my hub

I suppose I was comparing it to the TG582n so I may not be comparing it to the creme de la creme Wink
Certainly I find the wireless pretty good, but you may be right regarding comparing it to some other routers.
I did read a lot of reviews before buying it (I just wanted a cheap alternative to the TG582n that would improve my wi-fi coverage) and a lot of reviews actually praise it for its wireless range.
It sounds like the OP was complaining about the stability of the wi-fi signal rather than low speeds specifically. I would say that if you are within 6ft of the hub (as the OP stated) and you can't maintain a wi-fi signal, then something else is going on here. I don't think this is an issue simply concerning poor wi-fi performance of the hub.
It could be a faulty hub. Turn off the 'smart wireless' feature and see if the connection is stable. Use a program like inSSIDer to check for congestion. Try connecting on the 5GHz SSID (once you have separated them and if you have a device that works with 5GHz wi-fi).
If none of that helps, I think there is a good chance you have a faulty unit.
Oldjim
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Re: Frustrated to recieve my hub

all 5 of them
nicolajreynolds
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Re: Frustrated to recieve my hub

times that by 4 then, as ive had 4 new hubs in 4 months(bt)(5 including the original) and engineers checking the line too and same issue with all of them.
I should add the laptops have been serviced and used elsewhere to rule them out of the issue.
at the moment im 6ft line of sight from my bthh5 and it takes a anything up to 30 seconds for these pages to load wirelessly, the tv is currently streaming  netflix kids film for my brood and that's cabled up to the hub. the only wireless traffic in the house at present is this laptop.
my bf is certain theres a design flaw for the repeated hubs to have the same issue. hes designed electronics etc in the past. I trust his diagnosis bt unfortunately hes not in a position to rip it apart and start redesigning from scratch as much as hed like to.
jafreer
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Re: Frustrated to recieve my hub

Missed that bit - thanks OldJim.
I still think something else is going on. Quite what I am not sure, but if you have had 5 units and the wi-fi is unstable 6 feet from the hub on all of them, then either the design of that hub can't maintain a signal at 6 feet, or something else is going on.
I think if the design of the hub didn't provide stable wi-fi at 6 feet, we would see far more reports of this.
nicolajreynolds
Newbie
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎05-01-2016

Re: Frustrated to recieve my hub

I think it depends on what you use the internet as to whether you notice it or not.
I use mmorpg dungeons and dragons, its not heavy duty on the internet at all, the lag can be hideous. even the hubs log is detailing the massive volume of lost packets of data.
also Skype can be a huge issue, ive given up trying to cam with friends and family. though admittedly Skype is often the main issue.
it will be interesting to see if the switch will change anything as bt have checked the line several times over and im curious if my actual issue is the distance from the exchange affecting my overall connection.
Andrue
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Re: Frustrated to recieve my hub

Quote from: nicolajreynolds
Ive moved from BT infinity to Plus net to a) save money and b) get a different hub.
Why not just buy your own router? There's no requirement to use the router supplied by Plusnet. Buy your own and you get to specify exactly what you want.
nicolajreynolds
Newbie
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎05-01-2016

Re: Frustrated to recieve my hub

Andrue in my eyes the point of paying for the service which includes a hub means when you need technical support its provided. im technically competent but there are limits to my comfort zone. if I brought my own hub (which as a single parent isn't easy to afford - the initial move saves me quiet a bit on my monthly outgoings) then plusnet are not then committed providing technical support which is part of the service im paying for - if there was an option to buy my own hub and forgo the cost of the 'support' element of the monthly fee then id be all for it!! but theres not, so if im buying into a supported service then I expect the support to be there if its needed and a hub which is sufficient to meet the needs of the bog standard three bed two storey bog standard semi detatched house.
which at the moment leaves me with either keeping cables running round my house and set in a permanent manner or getting wifi boosters!! yawn
southerner
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Re: Frustrated to recieve my hub

I've been using a Hub One for a few weeks now. I have to say I'm happier with it over my previous Openreach/Technicolor setup.
My synch went up to max 80/20 (I'm able to see my synch speed now whenever I want unlike with the locked down Openreach ECI modem) when I put it in and has stayed there solid. The only line drops were over the 1st couple of days where I guess it was testing out putting my synch up to max. It made 2 increments over 2 days. Apart from that no line drops.
The 5Ghz wireless is awesome giving me full use of my bandwidth equal to what I get from a cabled connection.
libbyf
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Re: Frustrated to recieve my hub

Quote from: nicolajreynolds
which at the moment leaves me with either keeping cables running round my house and set in a permanent manner or getting wifi boosters!! yawn

Or just buy another router/modem that works better for what you need it for. There's nothing forcing you to use the HubOne.
dannyboy75
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Re: Frustrated to recieve my hub

Quote from: libbyf
Or just buy another router/modem that works better for what you need it for. There's nothing forcing you to use the HubOne.

Exactly. I've never bothered with any ISP-supplied router as they're all crippled/noddy/fisher price anyway.