Hub One 5GHz dropout

[#1]

@Moz 

I think the last post just confirms my views on this.

Plusnet would happily charge you £106 for a new router which will immediately update to the same firmware and become equally useless.

They really are not listening.

[#2]

@EmilyD I am very surprised to learn I'm out of contract, when did that happen? I've been with Plusnet now for 15 years and as far as I know I've always been in contract. You say you can waive the £40 if I re-contract, I'm afraid you've lost me there, what £40? Are you telling me I would need to pay £40 just to stop with Plusnet? Am I about to be disenfranchised? I feel as though I'm being stitched up to pay more. Am I supposed to be looking for a new provider if I don't re-contract, whatever that means? 

I have my broadband, landline and mobile with Plusnet and I find this all very worrying. I didn't think trying to fix a router problem would lead me to lose my broadband provider as well.

I've a lot of unravelling to do if I'm forced to change my broadband provider. Looks like I'd better start looking around. 

I the mean time I have a broken router and I've just been abandoned, unless I can stump up £145.99, that doesn't sound like a very good deal, I'm surprised you keep any customers at all. 

[#3]

@Moz 

You're possibly on a monthly contract and paying through the nose for the privilege. !f you ring Plusnet you can negotiate a say 18 month contract which should work out cheaper and Plusnet will include a new router for the P&P charge, about £7.

Whatever you do don't buy a router off Plusnet. Go onto Ebay and spend around £20 for a BT Smarthub 6. These can easily be configured to work on your Plusnet account and are a far better device. Many of us use them.

[#4]

@Baldrick1 Thanks for that. All this has made me consider my options so I'm looking elsewhere now. If I'm paying more as a result of going out of contract, which I was not aware that I had, and I'm annoyed that I wasn't informed that I had, then perhaps it's time to move on.  

[#5]

I'm afraid that telecoms companies are the same as insurance, gas, electricity etc companies and penalise loyal customers who don't keep contracts under review. To be fair Plusnet have recently started advising customers when their contract is ending.

My advice is for you to do your shopping around and note the best price. With this information ring Plusnet and select the 'I'm thinking of leaving' option.  Quote the competitors package and price to the agent and ask for it to be matched. Don't accept the first offer if it's not good enough.

If you do decide to leave then whatever you do don't cancel your Plusnet service as this will lead to considerable hassle. Instead, if you just sign up with a new provider they will do the changeover and cancellation for you.

Whether you decide to risk jumping out of a frying pan into potentially another fire is your choice!

[#6]

Hi @Moz,

I'm very sorry for any confusion caused by my last message. I did make an error when I said that we could waive the £40, I meant to say £99 which is the cost of the router. So if you were to enter into a new contract with us the £99 router cost would be waived and it would just be the £6.99 router p&p that you're charged.

In terms of your contract, you're currently on a rolling monthly contract which means that you don't receive any discounts on your package cost but that you are free to leave at any time with 30 days notice. Previously, customers were told when their contract would end at the beginning of the contract but were not contacted once the contract ended. This was something that we received feedback on and we have put in place changes that mean that all customers that take a new package or renew their contract with us from August 2018 onwards will be notified once their contract is getting close to the end.

I'd recommend that you discuss this with our customer options team as they have access to our offers for existing customers and can let you know what we would be able to offer if you were to recontract and take a new router. 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

[#7]

@Baldrick1 I have been contacted in the past by Plusnet to renew my contract, that's why I was surprised to learn I was out of contract. When I went out of contract, whenever that was, nothing changed for me price wise. I take your point about penalising loyal customers it's a pain to effectively having ring up to beg for the latest discounts or anything you can barter. And yes it is sometimes better the devil you know. 

Anyway this thread has gone off topic somewhat but I do appreciate your input.   

[#8]

@Moz 

If your price hasn't changed maybe you are still in a contract? Have you checked in the member centre? The problem may be that Plusnet only guarantee their routers for 12 months. So if your freebie router fails after 13 months into say an 18 month contract then you are on your own with respect to router replacement.

Anyway, sorry for taking the topic off course but glad that you found it useful. To cure the poor performance of the 5GHz band I stand by my Smarthub 6 recommendation made back here https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/Hub-One-5GHz-dropout/m-p/1659871#M13368

[#9]

@NigeBoy I think you're right and now I'm not sure if getting a new router is going to solve the problem especially if it comes with the software that appears to be the problem. Clearly there are Hub One's out there that are running with the software update without any problems. If it is a software issue, and I've no reason to believe it isn't, then it should be relatively straightforward to identify why the 5 Ghz frequency just suddenly stops.

I do have a TP-LINK modem/router dual band router TD-W9980 that should work, it was the router I used prior to getting the Hub One but it's not been used for a couple of years at least and I'm not sure if the are any vulnerabilities that have appeared with this router in that intervening period. That used to work fine and would still have my personal settings still installed. I don't see why I should have to go to all this trouble though when the problem is not of my making.       

[#10]

@Baldrick1 Yes I'm sorry I meant to mention about the BY Smarthub 6. I did look on Ebay there was a seller selling a new one? for about £27.50. I do have a TP Link router/modem that I could try, it worked OK before, so I'm looking at that at the moment. 

I've checked on the Member Centre and I'm definitely out of contract but when that was passed me by. 

[#11]

@EmilyD @Baldrick1 @NigeBoy Since I last wrote, another computer I have in the house, which is connected to my network with a power line adapter, failed to obtain an IP address after a Windows 10 update on the 8th August. No matter what I tried it would continue to fail. In desperation I changed the power line adapter port from Lan port 3 to Lan port 2 and everything burst back into life Since then I've had no dropouts of the 5 Ghz wireless connection. Whether this event connected to this sudden stability, I don't see how, but apart from having a seemingly dicky port things seem to be working OK. I hope I haven't put a jinx on it by writing this! 

[#12]

Hi @Moz,

Thanks for letting us know. Sometimes it can the small things that end up resolving these types of issues so fingers crossed it's not been jinxed

Of course, if there's any problems or if you have any queries then please don't hesitate to reach out to us and we'll be more than happy to pick this back up for further review.

[#13]

I am having EXACTLY this problem. Last month I was given a new router because I had tried everything else, and this new router does exactly the same thing. 5Ghz connected devices drop out, while 2.4Ghz devices remain okay. 

Guys, if Plusnet are unwilling or unable to fix this issue, am I able to leave penalty-free? I don't want to BTW, I just want what I'm paying for!

[#14]

@Foxmeak @TheMightyAJ Well up until this morning I thought the problem was resolved however, the 5 Ghz has dropped and nothing can connect and the items that connect to 5 Ghz would normally default to 2.4 Ghz but that hasn't happened this time. One of the items is an Amazon Fire Stick. I watched a couple of programmes last night on Amazon Prime. However, I've done that on other days before last night with no issues. I'm clutching at straws trying to find a link between my own activity and these dropouts but nothing is consistent. You can't help but feel the problem lies with the router. I was advised to obtain a new router but the experience of Foxmeak has blown that option out of the water.  

[#15]

@TheMightyAJ If you can't deliver what you are supposed to, will Plusnet let me leave while I'm in contract?