Hub One losing internet connection on 5Ghz WiFi only

[#1]

Hi @NigeBoy 

Sorry for the delayed response.

I can see your support ticket 190145571 closed automatically after 28 days because I returned the ticket to you on the 17th May as I was under the impression you were discussing this with Bob via private message.

While I've re-opened the ticket now I'm not confident I can add anything of value at this stage to be honest.

I can however assure you having spoken with Bob earlier today that we are still investigating this issue.

I'll be sure to update you as soon as I know more.

In the meantime if you want to make use of the 5GHz wireless frequency you may need to purchase your own router.

Apologies for the inconvenience caused.

[#2]

@Gandalf Thanks for the quick response.

So to summarise, a formal complaint needs to be unresolved for 8 weeks for me to escalate it to the ombudsman but Plusnet close tickets after 4 weeks if they haven't actually done anything to fix the problem. Even the 8 weeks only gives me the chance to complain to an ombudsman who is funded by you to cover your failings! I really don't have high hopes but if that is the path I need to follow... I seem to have done nothing but waste my time here.

You also seem to suggest I stop using 5Ghz Wifi which is 1/3 of the access methods you offer me. Perhaps you should reduce my bill by 1/3 which could be supported by all Plusnet staff taking a 33% pay cut, or maybe 1/3 of you lose your jobs.

Losing a 1/3 of what you had clearly doesn't matter to you but it does to me!

I offered to help Plusnet out by taking a test firmware but you still can't even be bothered to communicate with me whilst I pay full whack for a poor service. Just a bit of respect for that would be nice.

After over two months apologies just don't cut it anymore.

Disgraceful attitude!

[#3]

Sorry to hear that.

As advised we're still investigating and I'll update you as soon as I know more. The ticket I've re-opened will continue your complaint on from where it left off taking into account the time between when it closed and today.

[edit]

With regards to the subscription charges you pay us I'm afraid this isn't for a router as the routers we provide are free of charge however this doesn't mean that we're not investigating.

[#4]

Thanks @Gandalf .

I just want to get this fixed.

Bob knows I am willing to help if I can, but not getting any reply at all since I advised him of the failure of the test firmware on Monday does not make me feel like my contribution is valued.

[#5]

I paid a delivery charge for the router didn't I? Faulty goods? Or perhaps my property you updated without my consent?

[#6]

While you may have paid a postage fee for your router, from what I can see your router is almost 3 years old so it's not under its 12 month warranty anymore unfortunately. With regards to Bob replying back to you as you're likely aware he's on this community forum largely in his own free time and as such he's not always available to help out here.

[#7]

@Gandalf 

I don't want to argue about things here.

My dealings with Bob about the test firmware have been via PM and that is where I am expecting a reply from.

You now seem to be suggesting that his attempts to fix the firmware are just 'helping out here'?

No wonder we are not making any progress.

Let's just leave it for now. Hopefully Bob will get back to me and we can make some progress.

At least in the meantime, other affected customers can see that you aren't actually making any progress and just continue to make excuses without giving us any meaningful updates.

Thank you for reopening my formal complaint ticket.

Regards,

Nige.

[#8]

Hi Nige
Sorry for any confusion, I was just advising that while he is on these forums largely in his own time, that doesn’t mean we’re not doing anything behind the scenes.
Hopefully we make some progress we can share next week.

[#9]

I'm quite surprised no-one has mentioned the 5GHz channel in use when the connection is lost.

The 5GHz band is rather different from the 2.4GHz band in that it allows the use of DFS channels and not every client will support them.

A perfect example is my 2016 model LG TV, if the router auto changes to channel 100 for example, my TV can't see it whereas it will work quite happily on a lower channel such as 36.

[#10]

Just another quick update.

The test firmware failed again today with exactly the same issues. That is just 8 days after the first failure. I have again reported this to Bob via PM but am still awaiting a response to my PM from last week.

My experience of the .263 firmware was that the time between failures reduced after the first one so I wouldn't be surprised to see that pattern again.

@Browni  My WiFi networks are set to use fixed channels as they have been all my time with Plusnet. Everything worked fine for 2.5 years until the .263 firmware came along so in my case that definitely is not the issue.

[#11]

Well, I was thinking that my TV was playing up, turns out it's likely to be the PlusNet Hub at fault. I don't know how often this is happening, but on the occasions I want to use iPlayer on my Panasonic TV, it tells me I can't connect due to some unknown reason. I can see the SSID for my 5GHz access point, but the TV won't connect. My 'phone reports 'Authentication Issues' and my Samsung TV that uses the same 5GHz point also refuses to connect to it. As with everyone else, re-starting the PlusNet Hub solves the problems for a period of time (I can't say how long as I use the items on 5GHZ very rarely) but next time I try to use them I get the same frustration before I unplug the Hub and plug it back in again.

As this issue seems to have been going on since March, I think I'll just shell out for a replacement Modem/Router.

For PlusNet:

1. Product name:	Plusnet Hub
2. Serial number:	+081441+NQ55003662
3. Firmware version:	Software version 4.7.5.1.83.8.263 Last updated 28/01/19
4. Board version:	Plusnet Hub One
5. DSL uptime:	23 days, 01:09:00
6. Data rate:	19999 / 79904
7. Maximum data rate:	34338 / 131687
8. Noise margin:	15.3 / 20.7
9. Line attenuation:	7.6 / 7.7
10. Signal attenuation:	7.8 / 7.7
11. Data sent/received:	17.7 GB / 40.0 GB
12. Broadband username:
13. 2.4 GHz Wireless network/SSID:	PNet_Hub_One_WEP
14. 2.4 GHz Wireless connections:	Enabled (802.11 b/g (up to 54 Mb/s))
15. 2.4 GHz Wireless security:	Non-802.1X WEP
16. 2.4 GHz Wireless channel:	10
17. 5 GHz Wireless network/SSID:	PNet_Hub_One_5Ghz
18. 5 GHz Wireless connections:	Enabled (802.11 a/n/ac (up to 1300 Mb/s))
19. 5 GHz Wireless security:	WPA2
20. 5 GHz Wireless channel:	Automatic (Smart Wireless)
21. Firewall:	Default
22. MAC Address:	84:a4:23:0e:07:2a
23. Modulation:	G.993.2 Annex B
24. Software variant:	AA
25. Boot loader:	1.0.0

It looks like just over three weeks since I last tried to use the Panasonic TV...

I should say that connecting using the 2.4GHz WiFi point has no problems, it is just the 5GHz. I have some music servers running 24/7 that are old and can only use the 2.4GHz channels so I try to leave those clear and use the 5GHz for everything else.

[#12]

Apologies for the delayed response @mkstevo 

I appreciate you're trying to keep the 2.4Ghz frequencies clear for your music servers, however have you tried moving things over to it bit by bit to see if this has any detrimental effect on the music servers at all?

[#13]

My hub is only 2 weeks old and I'm having exactly the same problem. Also, my Echo won't connect and my Netgear WiFi extender will connect to the hub but not to the Internet. Pure junk. Disappointing from plusnet

[#14]

Totally agree, landfisher. I've been through ups and downs with Plusnet over the years, but their failure to even admit to this serious issue, and come clean with those who report the problem by acknowledging it is a known fault, let one raise its priority and issue an apology, is disappointing in the extreme. I am seriously considering going elsewhere. It makes me sad as well as angry, and I can't understand their seeming failure to really engage with the issue and those of us affected (which is probably everyone with a hub 1, if they only knew it) is perplexing as well as disappointing.

[#15]

Hi @Iandfisher 

Thanks for reaching out. I'm sorry to see you're experiencing wireless issues.

Unless I'm missing something, if your Netgear extender is connecting to the router but not the internet, this seems to suggests the issue is the extender? Regardless have you tried changing the wireless channels and splitting the 5Hz frequency away from the 2.4GHz frequency letting us know how you get on?