HubOne firmware issue with DNS

[#1]

@markhawkin Thanks. Agree for a permanent switch-over to the DrayTek, but in the spirit of giving @bobpullen a fighting chance of finding out what is going on with the HubOne I'm aiming to introduce the minimum of variables. I can't see why it would affect DNS (which seems to be the problem here) but I gather (and may be mistaken) that multiple modem/router changes can lead to speed issues if the kit at the other end interprets this as a fault. May just be VDSL superstition

Speaking of fighting chances... @bobpullen - I've got the fault state now and can afford to go over to locally assigned DNS for the rest of today at least if you're able to get on it. I'll leave it as long as  can and post again here when I have to reset the router.

[#2]

@IanDL

There is another method with the Draytek 2860.

You can use the Ethernet WAN connection in to the Hub One. I ran like that with my original Draytek 2820 for a while.

You can set DNS on the Draytek (for example Open DNS or Google's DNS) and I can't see why it wouldn't all work for you.

The only "trap" is that you need each router to be a slightly different address range. I had the Hub One as 192.168.1.XXX and the Draytek as 192.168.0.XXX It then worked correctly.

The only problem would be if you wanted port forwarding for any reason.

I had Hub One plus Draytek 2820 for a while, then swapped the Hub One for an Openreach modem and eventually upgraded to the Draytek 2860 as a "one box" solution.

[#3]

@markhawkin Good point. Hopefully I'll be picking the DrayTek up today so I might give it a try.

@bobpullen My HubOne is still in the fault state - I'll leave it like that as long as I can today. Update here when I have to reset it.

[#4]

Taking a look now...

Edit: Is the Hub still plugged in/connected? Perhaps related to the problem, but I don't seem to be able to communicate with it

[#5]

@bobpullen: Unless @IanDL has seen and responded already, when the problem first occurred here my external probes couldn't reach my router (a DynDNS type of service, pinging me from outside was reporting my LAN was unreachable...)

Possibly related to the problem?

[#6]

@bobpullen sorry - only just saw your message. Yes, still plugged in + connected. I'm connecting via it now. Still getting no DNS service from the hub + accessing the servers directly.

 Anything more I can do from this end to help?

[#7]

@bobpullen Just FYI I'm disconnecting the HubOne as I want to test my new DrayTek unit. I'm not going to fully migrate yet so I'll go back to the HubOne afterwards and let you know if/when the problem next arises.

[#8]

@markhawkin DrayTek seems to be working after a firmware update (VDSL side and basic LAN at least). Thanks.

@bobpullen I'm back on the HubOne now and it's working normally. You might want to see if you can access it when not in the fault state.

[#9]

Really appreciate the cooperation. Given the access issues, I'm thinking opening up elevated local access might be the better option, and giving you guys some tips on how to extract the necessary info?

[#10]

@bobpullen Happy to give it a try. Can't promise to get it done immediately but with instructions will have a go when I next get the chance.

[#11]

@bobpullen: Happy to try your instructions, but as you know, it's been running OK for me for a while now! Will keep an eye.

[#12]

@bobpullen Not sure whether this is related or not, but I realised I'm also seeing a one-second or so overhead on DNS lookups that go to the hub rather than querying the servers directly (see attached log). I spotted this as I was seeing a lot of web page loads appearing to stall which I have seen in the past, but to be honest hadn't made the connection.

I tried restarting the hub but this didn't cure it. Have to be honest, I'm not sure this is happening all the time but it's certainly happening today. I'll keep an eye on it and see if I can spot any correlation with the other problem. Puzzling, as I'd have thought lookups of frequently-accessed addresses via the hub would be faster (I assume it maintains a DNS cache of some sort).

[#13]

When I had this problem last year, I got about three weeks of operation preceding each of two occurrences.  

After this issue happened a couple of times on the hub one, I also had another router-related issue where the 5Ghz speed would slow down to 30Mbs, and only be fixed by a reboot.

While investigating one or other of these issues I think I came across a post somewhere that said BT schedule reboots of their router every few of weeks to minimise these kind of issues.

I think I have "solved" both issues by putting my router on a timer switch so it reboots every morning at 3.45am. (I have an fttp connection so I don't think the usual advice to not shut down routers every night applies to me.)

[#14]

@bobpullen Any news on instructions for downloading the logs? I've been seeing the same issue on average about once per day for the last week or so but too busy to diagnose further so just reset the router on each occasion. I'm probably going to switch over to the DrayTek unit over the Easter break so won't be using the HubOne after that.

[#15]

I'm impressed with @bobpullen 's efforts to resolve and of course others on this thread.

It's something Plusnet should consider - having a good Tier 3 to pick up when the users' knowledge outstrips the Tier 1, 2 and fobbing people off with turn it off/on, stand on one leg, whistle Rule Britannia type fixes which might temporarily make the problem go away and tick a support metric but ultimately not help the wider community nor indeed, Plusnet themselves.

I switched to using my own routers because I didn't' have @IanDL 's patience but am surprised it's still going on.

Thanks for your efforts.