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Has my Hub got a fault?

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brush6136
Grafter
Posts: 44
Thanks: 5
Fixes: 2
Registered: ‎24-03-2015

Has my Hub got a fault?

Hi. I've been using fibre & the Hub One for just under a year. During that time I have experienced some intermittent problems with WiFi losing connection between a device & the hub. The most susceptible device being my Humax PVR when running iPlayer. It would seem that iPlayer is not very good at recovering communications issues and in these circumstances issues an error message codified as 2100 which suggests problems with an internet connection (which is rock solid returning figures of around 37Mbps most of the time). I also use Netflix without any problem (except when the DSL or Internet service has actually failed). 

When I originally configured the hub I decided to operate the 2.4 & 5Ghz services together using the same SSID. Generally this worked well except for the above issue & one that I had with a download for reading newspaper articles offline.

I am the only user in my property which is a small bungalow & the WiFi signal is generally fairly good across the property. The locality does have a number of connections locally but it is not what I'd regard as crowded, being a medium sized town (I make a comparison with crowded cities by way of example).

Within the past month I split the WiFi into two, the 2.4 service ending with an SSID in a 1 & the 5 ghz service with a 5. I have noticed an improvement with a reduction in the problems.

All of the devices (Humax PVR, Dell E6230 under Linux, Oneplus 3T phone & a Hudl2) I use regularly are connected via the 5 ghz service. An all-in-one & a printer are connected via Ethernet over powerline adapters.

I recently brought up to date a list of the mac addresses of all my adapters to see if there was any kind of pattern to interruptions on WiFi. I noticed two mac addresses that I then discovered belonged to the WiFi card within the hub.

With no particular pattern (sometimes in the middle of the night, the only device that was on was my phone). The error msg in the hub log being 

10:36:34, 24 Feb. ath10: STA 00:72:82:89:8e:07 IEEE 802.11: WiFi registration failed
10:36:34, 24 Feb. ath00: STA 00:72:82:89:8e:06 IEEE 802.11: WiFi registration failed

 

Question - does this indicate a problem with the hub? Since separating the WiFi this has reduced but when it occurs it's a pain either having to restart a download or provoking a restart of iPlayer (I'm currently playing a 90 minute programme which I'm not watching just waiting to see if it fails). The only thought that occurs to me is maybe I might consider extending the length of the DHCP licence (can't remember if I can do this on the hub) which in turn might reduce further the incidence of these issues.

Any advice gratefully accepted.

Don't use a big word where a diminutive word will suffice.
14 REPLIES 14
snadge
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 183
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Registered: ‎10-12-2016

Re: Has my Hub got a fault?

Fix

your best off getting your own router with VDSL modem, the Home Hub is utter rubbish, its a recycled BT Hub 5A... BT were quick to swap the 5A (Lantiq chipset) to the 5B (Broadcom chipset) a few years ago after reported issues, seems plusnet are using the surplus of leftovers from BT!

 

I have the hub one and anywhere from 4-21 days it repeatedly loses majority of its throughput and I have to reboot the router, admin dont seem to be too bothered about it as they dont reply to me and a few others are having the same problem.

 

The Wi-Fi is poor to, Iam in the room above the router and my PC is directly above where the router is, I get -50db for 2.4Ghz and -60db for 5.0Ghz.. that is extremely poor, on my old netgear in the same location I used to get -30db for 2.4Ghz and -40db for 5Ghz, my PC can pickup my neighbours Talk Talk router with much stronger connection (and it is in the house next door!!)

 

check these out:

https://community.plus.net/t5/Tech-Help-Software-Hardware-etc/Hub-One-Wifi-2-4GHz-speed-drops/td-p/1...

https://community.plus.net/t5/Fibre-Broadband/Awful-awful-wifi-over-Hub-One-help/td-p/1310059

https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/Poor-wireless-with-PN-Hub-1/td-p/1344184

 

ejs
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 5,442
Thanks: 631
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Registered: ‎10-06-2010

Re: Has my Hub got a fault?

-50 dBm is a perfectly good signal level, and -60 dBm is still adequate. There's not really any advantage in having a signal much stronger than -50 dBm. If it's strong enough to achieve the full wireless rate, anything excessively stronger is just wasting power really. Wifi does not work by everything trying to shout over the top of everything else and whatever shouts loudest wins.

delta777
Grafter
Posts: 25
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Registered: ‎18-05-2016

Re: Has my Hub got a fault?

I stream Netflix via wifi to a Sony TV and found that the connection would often fail when using the 5GHz service. If I use the 2.4GHz service instead the connection is fine and I can't recall having any connection failures mid program. The TV and Hub One router are in the same room about 10 feet apart. I can't detect any interference problems from neighbours WiFi so I no longer use te 5GHz service at all as it seems to be unreliable. Also this morning I found that the 2.4GHz service was giving very slow WiFi connection throughout my house, again with no detected interference from neighbours. Powering down the router hasn't helped. This has happened before so I will simply leave the router alone and it will probably sort itself out. I'm not impressed with the Pusnet Hub One router and am considereing what else to get.

 

I've had the Pusnet Hub One since May 2016 and it still has: Software version 4.7.5.1.83.8.217.1.

 

 

newagetraveller
Pro
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Registered: ‎03-08-2012

Re: Has my Hub got a fault?

I also ditched my Hub One and purchased my own VDSL modem/router because of unreliable wifi. No problems whatsoever since.

I tried separating the 2.4 an 5GHz services which made no difference when conneted to either one or the other. Also tried the usual advised "fixes" by changing channels etc., al to no avail, it was still rubbish even with a device sat next to it! .

brush6136
Grafter
Posts: 44
Thanks: 5
Fixes: 2
Registered: ‎24-03-2015

Re: Has my Hub got a fault?

Ok thanks to all who replied. As per snadge's suggestion and newagetraveller's experience, I think I'll look for a VDSL hub with modem. Bit ironic when I had ADSL had my own D-Link ac hub which never gave problems. Gave it to my son when I moved to VDSL I did look for 3rd parties but there didn't seem to be that much choice. Will revisit this.
Don't use a big word where a diminutive word will suffice.
SpendLessTime
Hero
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Registered: ‎21-09-2009

Re: Has my Hub got a fault?

@brush6136

An excellent starting point for VDSL2 modem/routers is at Kitz website http://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,14436.0.html  where this thread is updated reguarly by people with a lot of telecomms experience (no link to the site - Kitz is Plusnet subscriber)

Ex - Plusnet Customer (2009 - 2023) now with BT
adrianscotter
Pro
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Registered: ‎28-10-2016

Re: Has my Hub got a fault?

I know they're expensive but I'm a great fan of the Draytek's.  I've never had an issue with any of them and I use them commercially for customers as well as personally for me.

Live long and prosper!
Gregg
Grafter
Posts: 78
Thanks: 4
Registered: ‎01-07-2016

Re: Has my Hub got a fault?

Remember not to buy any Netgear that were affected by remote compromise bug listed on this KB and if you do own one then update the firmware.

http://kb.netgear.com/29960/NETGEAR-Product-Vulnerability-Advisory-Potential-security-issue-associat...

jafreer
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 858
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Registered: ‎13-10-2012

Re: Has my Hub got a fault?

It is interesting how user experiences of the same hardware vary so greatly. I have the PN Hub One and find the wi-fi coverage to be very good and the reliability rock solid. Before that, I had a HH5A and also had no issues with that. Separating out the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz is a must (switch off Smart wi-fi) as has already been stated, but after that was done, I found both to be decent and reliable routers.

ejs
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 5,442
Thanks: 631
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎10-06-2010

Re: Has my Hub got a fault?

I think ISP-supplied routers are shipped in such large numbers that there are always going to be a few people who find they don't work well for them. A few years ago, there were plenty of people complaining about the 582n's wireless performance, back when that was the Plusnet supplied router. You can probably find a few people complaining about the new BT Smart Hub 6.

Gregg
Grafter
Posts: 78
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Registered: ‎01-07-2016

Re: Has my Hub got a fault?

I find wireless performance can vary depending on too many external factors like walls and doors and things like that.

If you put your laptop right next to the router and do tests does it still perform poorly?

I ended up buying a 15 meter cat 7 cable from amazon and now run that along the skirting boards to my desktop pc. My tablet and mobile and tv and the rest use wireless. If i didn't rent I would wire certain rooms with cat 7 wall sockets. Might as well buy cat 7 now as it is pretty much same price.

 

When I had problems with the line stability I tried the plusnet hub one router and the wireless performance was no better on that than my current system. I think line instability will manifest as problems with the wireless if you don't know IT and how to check if it is a problem or not. But if you are checking that the line remains synced and is working over a cable then it has to be external factors affecting the wireless. I guess it could be possible that a faulty wireless component is shipped out in 1 in every X devices. I have seen wireless cards die in laptops before.

 

adrianscotter
Pro
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Registered: ‎28-10-2016

Re: Has my Hub got a fault?

Speaking now as an ex radio propagation engineer in the private mobile radio industry, yes, any wireless signals can be degraded by any number of things.  I've seen my laptop and my (known good) test router 4" apart on either side of an old lath and plaster wall with zero reception, by the same token, using the same equipment, I've had a working connection out to over 2000 feet with a 4dB omni-directional antenna!  Things to check are:  latest drivers for your device, make sure your router is not being swamped by another radio source such as DECT or mobile phone, CB radio, wireless alarm system, washing machine (yes, these can all affect radio service), old fridge or freezer running etc.  If you know how to do this, log into your router, change your wireless channel to 6 or 7 (most ISP routers are set to channels 1 and 11 for some reason so those channels tend to be swamped) on wireless g not n and turn off all other wireless for now such as 5g service.  Try again when you're about 5 feet away from the router, in line of sight and see if that makes a difference.  If you could post back what happened, we may be able to do something from there Smiley

Live long and prosper!
brush6136
Grafter
Posts: 44
Thanks: 5
Fixes: 2
Registered: ‎24-03-2015

Re: Has my Hub got a fault?

Many thanks to adrianscotter and Gregg. I don't have any issue with general usage of WiFi only this irritating & intermittent issue with WiFi registration.

As a result of your emails I undertook a bit more investigation and downloaded a thing called WiFi Radar (which I'm impressed with, BTW I mainly use Linux Mint 17.3 almost giving up on Windoze 10 having worked with it for the past 30+ years). I've also checked inasfar as I can, whether the latest drivers are in play on the two devices experiencing most of the issues (mobile & PVR).

Radar tells me what I suspected. The 2.4 ghz band is well represented but with the exception of my next door neighbour who is on channel 1 (I'm on 6) the load is fairly light in my locality. I should explain that where I live is exclusively oldies - I'm one of the youngest at 71! As a result of this demographic the concentration of hubs connecting to an internet service is light. As I don't have any regular devices on the 2.4 ghz band, it does not cause me any issues.

The 5 ghz band too is fairly lightly loaded (using channel 48 ) and those I can see either have almost no signal or only enough to make the SSID visible. Although not expert in wireless I did spend most of my working life in IT (it was called Data Processing when I started) and for part of that time worked for a company who were leaders in combat communications for UK & Foreign armed forces. Chatting to the engineers of that time led me to think of wireless & aerial technology as a"black art" and a convenient technology for computers but still prefer wired connections!

Anyway, I have checked that my DECT phone is as far away from the hub as possible (don't use it very much as I'm out & about a lot & people contact me by mobile in the main). For the purposes of elimination I've tried switching my mobile off at night doesn't seem to make any difference.

Washing machine & microwave are at the back of the property & fairly new & I couldn't re-site them & I've never noticed any issues when they've been in use.

What has happened since I switched my most regularly used devices to connect to the 5 ghz band, is that throughput overall has improved and my PVR has not misbehaved since. Let me explain that last bit. When running the PVR on 2.4Ghz there were times when overall boot times were not good & connectivity to the internet either did not happen properly or caused the PVR to behave erratically. Since switching to 5 Ghz this has greatly improved. The issue with iPlayer under 2.4 was sometimes so bad I had to reboot the PVR to correct things. Since switching to 5 Ghz I've not had to do that. The problem with iPlayer still exists but it's corrected temporarily by pressing the play button again. So no doubt in my mind that 5 ghz is best.

Writing this I'm about 2 feet from the hub. The PVR is about 1.5 metres line of sight from the hub (I've switched off wireless on the TV to avoid any interference). My mobile is usually somewhere in this room which is about 3 X 4 metres so not massive & few things to get in the way - I suppose I'm the only object to affect the wireless signal & I know that's a strong possibility.

So before I lash out on a new hub I'll spend a bit more time on trying to see if there is a fault & checking further what local conditions might affect things.

Many thanks for your help & time & if I get any breakthroughs will post to this thread again.

 

 

Don't use a big word where a diminutive word will suffice.
adrianscotter
Pro
Posts: 240
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Registered: ‎28-10-2016

Re: Has my Hub got a fault?

That all seems to point to a grumpy router, I don't suppose you have another one lying around do you?  You don't have to plug it in to the telephone socket, just turn it on a test it with the Wi-Fi thingy and see if it has stronger signal strength when compared to your existing one Smiley

Live long and prosper!