Buying a second-hand BT Smart Hub 6 ?

[#1]

Is it safe to buy a second-hand BT Smart Hub 6 to use as an ADSL router for Plusnet? They are available for around £10 on ebay, but £30 new.

Are there any risks in doing so, e.g. could they be locked to BT Broadband? Or to a specific user account? Or otherwise hacked? Or something else that would render a used model inoperable?

What are the most likely things that may have "gone wrong" with an old device? Could they have been "over-clocked" and therefore over-heated?  

[#2]

Hi @Bacalhau, while I can't really comment on what people may or may not have done to second hand routers or whether they will work (I have seen people sell our Hub Zero router on eBay, listed as a Hub One though, so I'd be careful to make sure you're actually getting what you expect), these threads may help if you do choose to go ahead with a BT Hub 6 (Or other BT Hubs):

https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/Using-the-BT-Smarthub-6-on-a-Plusnet-Account/td-p/1587673

https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/Use-a-BT-Hub-2-3-4-or-5-on-a-Plusnet-connection/td-p/1192234

[#3]

@Bacalhau

There's no risk of them being overclocked. Providing the instructions in @HarryB's link is followed withou taking short cuts such as pluvgging cables in before being instructed is followed then the BT default setup will be over ridden. Many of us use then quite successfully.  The 'new' ones are probably 'refurbished' though I have no idea what this involves apart from doing a factory reset, which is covered in the installation instructions.