Broken Hub One

[#1]

After just 20 months my Hub One has broken - according to Plusnet live chat tech help. That is a very short shelf life. Am I better off getting a different router? It was never glitch free. Not happy with suggestion to just get new contract. Ta for input, T

[#2]

@TOMBOX

A good list and discussion of FTTC combined modem/routers is available at http://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,14436.0.html with the first post being updated with new models.

A lot of forum regulars recommend buying a BT Smart Hub (homehub6) for £30 at a well known auction site. There are setup instructions in the My Router board.

[#3]

Out of interest, what has been the experience of plusnet community member's using hub one? How long have they lasted? 20 months is a shockingly short time for modern tech. Or am I too old? T

[#4]

The biggest complaint is about the 5GHz band being noisy, there’s few complaints about reliability. The.hardware is a Home Hub 5A with Plusnet firmware so there will have probably been hundreds of thousands made over the years.

If you are currently out of contract you could probably get a new router and a cheaper deal if you negotiate a new contract.

[#5]

Also there seems to be issues with the Hub One and Apple devices(iOS 12).

Additionally the latest Hub One firmware has caused issues with the latest Amazon Kindle Fires too.

Not too many total failures but as Baldrick1 said, noise complaints from the 5GHz is the most complained about "feature".

[#6]

Contract is up in a few months. May have to see what they have to say. My previous experience was that my long term custom ( I go back to Freeonline) hasn't made any difference to getting anything other than the standard deal.

[#7]

---

@TOMBOX wrote:
My previous experience was that my long term custom hasn't made any difference to getting anything other than the standard deal.

---

Then you need to take a different approach. First find the lowest competitors price for an equivalent service from a price comparison website. Then ring customer services and select the ‘I’m thinking of leaving’ option. When you get through quote the competitors price and ask if it can be matched. There will probably be a poor deal initially offered. Reject this and see if something better is forthcoming. If it’s not good enough then leave it up in the air. You can always try again. 

It’s a hassle but in my view worth the trouble.

One final thought, don’t buy a replacement Hub from Plusnet. Go onto Ebay and spend £20-30 on a Smarthub 6. They are better devices and easy to set up on your Plusnet account.

[#8]

Hi @TOMBOX,

I'm sorry that your router has developed a fault and for any inconvenience that this is causing you.

As you're close to the end of the contract, our customer options team would be able to send you a new router if you were to renew on a new contract deal. Although they may not have been able to offer you anything suitable in the past, our offers for existing customers change regularly and I'd definitely recommend discussing this with them to see what they can offer. Their direct number is 0800 013 2632 and they are open between the following hours:

Monday - Friday: 08:00 - 20:00
Saturday: 09:00 - 19:00
Sunday: 09:00 - 18:00

Alternatively, a 3rd party router can be purchased on your side and we can send the relevant details you'd need to set it up with our connection. As you're on fibre broadband, this'll need to be a VDSL compatible router.