Recent experience with Plusnet Hub One WiFi and broadband speed

[#1]

Having recently updated my PC, as it is connected via WiFi I set about trying to get the best speed. I found that the supplied PlusNet Hub One couldn't provide a strong enough signal for my PC to stay on the 5 GHz band and if I separated the bands it kept dropping the connection. I also tried a more expensive WiFi dongle with its own aerial and support for USB3, again to no benefit. And yes, I also tried different channels and a new router from Plusnet all to no avail.

I should state that Plusnet were very responsive with their help, including providing that new router to try and I have no complaints about the service they provided. 

Finally, I purchased a TP-LINK AC1600 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit VDSL/ADSL Modem Router. I now seem (so far) to be able to maintain a 5GHz band connection on all my devices. But the thing that has surprised me is that my broadband speed has also increased. I am on a fibre connection with a maximum download speed of 20 Mbps. I was rarely getting much more than about 15 Mbps with the Plusnet Hub One, often less and now my tests show in excess of 19 Mbps. Maybe one of you more enlightened individuals can explain why this might happen but whatever the reason my experience suggests that a better modem/router than the one supplied by Plusnet both improves WiFi connectivity and broadband speeds. The downside is the cost - I bought mine on Amazon for around £80.

Hope this post is helpful to some.

[#2]

Glad to hear you found a solution in the end!

[#3]

Hi the reason for your better sync could be due to the chipset that the TP-Link is using compared to the Plusnet Hub, The TP-link uses a Broadcom chipset which can be better suited to some lines especially longer ones compared to the Plusnet Hub which uses a Lantiq (ECI) based chipset.

the WI-FI side of things could be down to the TP-Link using three external aerials compared to the one built-in option that the Plusnet-Hub uses and such can have a better range.

[#4]

Had similar 5Ghz issues with the PlusNet hub one where the strength was fine but it was artificially limiting my downstream data rate to around 40Mb when it’s capable of 75Mb. Resetting the hub would temporarily resolve the issue.

I too solved this problem by using a 3rd party DSL modem router. It’s a pity that Plusnet are;

1. Still providing what is essentially a [-Censored-] product which has not had firmware or software updates to address this issue and...
2. That they clearly don’t give much of a damn about it either.

In some ways I am glad that I have my own Netgear modem router now as, just like you, it seems to perform a bit better generally than the HubOne, aside from not having what I feel is quite significant flaw in it. I suppose in some ways it might be a consequence of PN being the “budget” arm of BT, but I don’t know. I’m surprised that nothing at all has been done about it.