What Router am I getting again? Scrub That, it's a Hub One.

[#1]

I've just added the phone package to my existing fttc and I was told it comes with a free router with integrated modem but I can't remember what model.  Can anyone tell me what I'll be getting?

EDIT: It's a plusnet Hub One.  Should've searched the forum before posting, duh!

[#2 · Accepted solution]

it'll be the PN Hub One which is a rebadged HH5

[#3]

Hub One is just a HomeHub5? Really? I have a HH3 - I heard that the hub 5 doesn't need the fibre box, it connects direct to the master line socket... does the hub one do that too?

[#4]

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Casey wrote:
does the hub one do that too?

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Yes

[#5]

Cool... What do I do with the big fat white fibre box? Leave it on the wall (it's in a corner, not noticeable) and ignore it? Or will BT/Openreach want it back?

[#6]

You can leave it or take it down.

I'd keep it as a spare, just in case.

OR won't want it back

[#7]

Thanks, guys... this forums is NICE (compared to the $$%%^^& on the BT forum!)

[#8]

OK, router has arrived in a very slim box that fit through the letterbox while I was out.  Which was nice.

I've not wired it in yet, just plugged it into a laptop to get things configured.  A couple of things I'm not sure about though.

Firstly I have a TP-Link Archer C2 router at present which allowed me to pre-populate the DHCP server with address reservations, as I have a current list of 28 devices and it was very handy to keep certain devices in certain ranges (VMs in the 60s, Media devices in the 80s, etc), but the Hub One only lets you define the address for a device when it's already picked one up.  So I'm going to have to go in and change each one to the one I previously use.  Annoying, but I have several apps that already expect certain devices to be on certain IPs.  For example we have 3 Raspberry PI's running Kodi that are controlled by Yatse on our mobiles.

Secondly, and this may be a deal breaker, the Archer has the ability to bind a MAC address to an IP. This allows me to set up a port forward rule for UDP port 9 to that IP so I can send a WOL packet to wake up a specific PC on the other side of the router.  Very handy for getting a foot in the door when I'm away from home and then being able to WOL any other device on the LAN.  Unfortunately the Hub One has no option for MAC binding that I can see, so WOL probably won't work through it.

I'll still set it up at the weekend though and see how it behaves.  If I get any significant improvements on wired or wireless speed then I might forgo WOL capability.  At the end of the day it's a spare router (my 4th!) and a backup fibre modem is always a good thing.

Incidentally my other two Netgear routers are doing sterling service about the house as 2.4Ghz Wireless Access Points giving us approximately 40Mbps from any room.

[#9]

Just out of interest - why not use the Archer on Pnet? One thing that worked fo me on another system - it MIGHT work for you. If both routers allow for a settings cfg file to be saved - set up two (not one, you need two so you know the delimiter between devices) of the devices on the new router then save the settings Then I manually edited the cfg file and added the half dozen other devices I used to the cfg file, saved it. Then went back to the router and imported that new cfg file - and it worked! (I was amazed too) I;m not sayign this will work - it;s possible that the router checks for some CRC value on the cfg file.

[#10]

if you're happy with your archer stick with that, you'll find the hub one pretty locked down.

[#11]

Cheers Casey. I might try that.  Although from your comments about using my old router with PN, I get the impression you think I'm a new customer.  I'm not, I've been with PN since 2005 (and on FTTC since 2013).  I just decided to move the phone over to PN from BT, and they sent me a free router as a present!

[#12]

Gotcha - and you're thinking of using the freebie.. I can't guarantee the cfg thing will work - I doubt it'll FUBAR the thing, they tend to ignore or refuse anything not understood. Bear in mind this - the routers supplied by the companies, ALL the companies, are a basic, low-user-intervention model that does the job properly for MOST customers. They are also less configurable and "locked" for the benefit of the companies not having to engage in user help or a wrong setting changed. For those with "odd" requirements, the provided devices might not be enough. There's where your Archer steps in.