Hub One losing wifi connection - another

[#1]

Noticed that there others that have the same or very similar issues:

This one is very similar to my issue:

https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/Hub-one-losing-wifi-connection/td-p/1587602

I have been with PlusNet since February this year. On receiving the Hub One I split the 5 and 2.4GHz bands and renamed the SSID for both.

Everything has been fine until yesterday. When my wife and I got home from work our phones (both Motorola G6 Plus's) would not connect to the Wi-Fi. I rebooted the router using the button on the top. When it came back up my phone would connect but showed no internet access. I accessed the router through my PC connected via ethernet. It showed the phones connected and an IP address allocated. Then the phone showed internet was available.

Thought it might just have been a blip, and our other Wi-Fi devices were connected okay, so didn't think anything more.

This morning comes and my Google Home fails to wake me up. She reports that she is not connected to a Wi-Fi network. Our other 3 Google Homes are also not connected nor both our phones. I reboot the router and Wi-Fi connection is restored to the phones and all the Google Homes. I did not have time to check other devices.

I have now got back home from work and nothing Wi-Fi is connected. I'm connected to the router from my PC and the router home page tells nothing is connected to either Wi-Fi band. Looking now the "Home Network - Devices" page on the router no 2.4GHz devices connected back on, and what did connect on 5GHz earlier now shows as not connected. 

I did try a channel refresh on the router and my phone then connected to the Wi-Fi but showed no internet access. It has now disconnected from the Wi-Fi and looks like it is trying to reconnect but reports an "Authentication problem". 

I will reboot the router again and I'm assuming that everything will reconnect again for a period of time.

There is no problem with any ethernet connected devices.

On other posts there has been talk of Kindle devices causing the issue. We do have one Kindle, an early 2012 model, but it only gets connected to the Wi-Fi when my wife purchases a book. That was quite some time ago - it has not connected in a month or so.

Currently active Wi-Fi devices in our house and associated to the routers 5GHz band:

3x Google Homes

1x Goole Home Mini

2x Motorola G6 Plus

Currently active Wi-Fi devices in our house and associated to the routers 2.4GHz band:

1x Motorola IP Camera

We have other Wi-Fi devices but they are only powered on when needed. I can list these if needed. None have been used since yesterday when the issue started.

The Firmware of the router reads as:

Software version 4.7.5.1.83.8.263 Last updated 08/02/19

Any help with my issue would be appreciated. 

Many thanks.

[#2]

Thought I would add that the event log is full of events like this for all the Wi-Fi devices trying to connect:

17:26:41, 18 Apr.	(34908.270000) Device disconnected: Hostname: android-​MAC: oooooooo
17:26:38, 18 Apr.	ath10: STA oooooooo IEEE 802.11: Client disassociated
17:26:28, 18 Apr.	ath10: STA oooooooo IEEE 802.11: Client associated

MAC address removed for security - example above is the same device.

[#3]

Hi @Starmax,

Thank you for getting in touch, I'm sorry that you've started experiencing problems with your Wi-Fi connection. As you're on our latest firmware version, the Kindle won't be the cause of this. Thank you for running through the various wireless troubleshooting checks - I'm sorry to hear that these haven't resolved the problem.

If you've not done so already, I'd recommend that you try a factory reset of your router. This can be done by pushing something into the reset pinhole on the back for at least 15 seconds - though please be aware this will get rid of any custom settings that you've put on the router.

[#4]

Have a read through this first before trying any of it. If you think you may have a similar issue then it might be worth a go. It's only a suggestion. Only try this after carrying out a factory reset of the router and if you still have wifi issues.

On receiving the Hub One I split the 5 and 2.4GHz bands and renamed the SSID for both.

Did you also change the wireless passkey for each?

If you didn't then I would have been sure that being on the latest router software version could well be playing a part here too.

Based on my own detailed testing, running on router s/w ending 263, my devices would show as joining my other wifi SSID - ie if I was connecting to 'DS 2.4GHz' some of my other devices would state they have saved 'DS 5GHz' when this was impossible as they'd never joined the 5GHz on my (then) router.

Everything has been fine until yesterday

I've written 'would have been sure' if the problems you now face occurred on roughly 11/02/19 (or three days after the router was up and running). As you've only just witnessed this, then there's a chance the router software isn't affecting you.

When it came back up my phone would connect but showed no internet access.

That's how mine were showing, but again the issues with the 263 software would, based on my testing, have shown themselves sooner to you.

It has now disconnected from the Wi-Fi and looks like it is trying to reconnect but reports an "Authentication problem". 

But this too appears to be related to the software. Sorry for confusing you, but you are almost seeing what I've previously reported to plusnet.

Any help with my issue would be appreciated.

A temporary 'solution' is to:

Click this link -  http://192.168.1.254/index.cgi?active_page=9105

(you'll need to type in your routers admin password)

On the wireless network enable, instead of the default of yes, select no and click apply

(ignore the warning messages, it's normal)

This will turn off the 5GHz and put a red wifi light on the router. But then see if the devices connect to your 2.4GHz SSID without dropping.

This is not a correct solution, but it may help. Also any devices that have only ever connected to the 5GHz SSID will need to be set to your 2.4GHz SSID.

(In my case multiple factory resets of the router did not fix my new wifi issues)

[#5]

Thank you for the prompt reply, @EmilyD 

I managed to factory reset the router on Sunday morning, then set my custom SSID and password.

Everything was fine until lunchtime today. My wife was at home and experienced our Wi-Fi devices losing their connection to the router. When I returned home my phone would not connect to the Wi-Fi. I rebooted the router and things are working again.

Anything else to try?

Many thanks.

[#6]

@DS 

Thank you for the detailed reply.

I did neglect to mention in my original post that as well as changing the SSID I did also change the passkey, and use the same one for both bands.

It is going to take some time to change all my 5GHz connected devices to 2.4GHz as you suggest as a temporary solution. I'll see what PlusNet come back with solution wise and take it from there.

Thanks again for your sharing your experience.

[#7]

A possible workaround is the actually rename the 2.4GHz SSID the same as the 5GHz SSID and the same for the passkey, then your devices wouldn't really know which one it was connect to, then turn off 5GHz on the router - it might work and saves you have to switch this on each device

(just a thought;))

[#8]

I have been having this same issue since joining plusnet but was told i was the only one and it not a issue. Roll on the end of my contract so I can get broadband that works.

[#9]

Any update from PlusNet Support regarding my issue? I'm still having to reboot my router every few days to restore Wi-Fi connectivity for my devices.

Thanks.

[#10]

Hello @Starmax,

I am sorry to hear that the issue is still ongoing and we would need to confirm the following information below in order for our products team to investigate further;

1. Exactly how does the problem masquerade itself, what are the symptoms?
 

2. When did the problem start?
 

3. What firmware version is customer running and when was it last updated?
 

4. What devices does the customer have on their network and how are they connected, eg. wired or wireless?
 

5. How is your network configured i.e. any Powerline adapters, additional switches, attached storage or or wi-fi access points in use?
 

6. Are the 2.4GHz/5GHz radios separated or merged (they're merged by default). If separated, which radio is affected (or is it both)?
 

7. Would you be willing to downgrade firmware if we need to in order to help diagnose the issue. Bear in mind this will wipe all of the settings back to factory defaults, and we may need to upgrade/downgrade a second time to further prove that it's the firmware that's the cause of the issue.

9. Would you also be willing to facilitate a home visit so that hardware engineers can carry out further diagnosis of the problem? (note that any visit would be to capture further wi-fi diagnostics, and not to necessarily 'fix' anything).

[#11]

Hi @SammyM 

Thanks for your reply. In answer to your request for information regarding the issue then you are more than welcome to pass on my initial post to your products team.

To further add to my original post - after you replied to me my Wi-Fi troubles then did not reoccur for a further 10 days. Nothing had changed from my Wi-Fi device usage. After those 10 days then the same issue occurred once or twice a day.

I got fed up and bought a Google Wi-Fi router unit. I dug out my Open Reach HG612-3B modem that I got when I upgraded to Sky Fibre in 2012. Out went the Plusnet Hub One and in went Google Wi-Fi connected to the OR modem.

That was a week ago and I've since enjoyed uninterrupted Wi-Fi connection with all my devices.

As the same Wi-Fi devices functioned without issue on the Sky Q Hub that I had before joining Plusnet and those same devices are working fine with Google Wi-Fi then the issue must be with the Plusnet One Hub.

As a further thought, I wonder if the Wi-Fi issues with the Plusnet One Hub are caused by the proximity of other Wi-Fi access points (or devices) in my neighbourhood? There are about 8 APs (including another Plusnet one going on the SSID name) that I can pick up in the same room as my AP.

I'm quite liking the Google Wi-Fi experience. Some further factors that made me realise this was a good opportunity to move to a different solution was the ability to choose my own DNS servers and by keeping my Wi-Fi set-up mine then when I move to a different ISP the changeover hassle will be minimal.

Anyway, I hope Plusnet manage to resolve the issues for the sake of other users with the same problem @DS 

Cheers!

[#12]

Hi @Starmax, thanks for getting back to us.

We're pleased to hear that you're now enjoying uninterrupted service.

It's certainly possible that other services are causing you disruption  - the best way to check this would be to download one of the many WiFi analyser apps to see whether or not the Hub One is set to a congested channel.

Please let us know if you need any further assistance at all.