I'm getting a new PlusNet account. Can I continue using my existing Hub 1.

[#1]

Hi

I've had to set up a new PlusNet account (billing problem) so I'm in process of going through the transfer process, as if I were joining PlusNet. I will have a new account name.

I understand that I will receive a new Hub 1, and ISTR this comes configured with my username@plusdsl.net.

Simple question: is there any reason I cannot just change the 'broadband username' in the current router, saving myself a lot of work (fixed IPs etc). I don't want to try it - yet!

Current router:

Plusnet Hub One | Software version 4.7.5.1.83.8.263 | Last updated 19/02/19 (which is a remarkably long time ago!)

[#2]

@DavRo 

If you drop the connection by switching the hub off and leave it a minute then it should automatically pick up the new account when you switch back on.

[#3]

A router doesn't come configured with user details but picks them up from the plusnet router management platform when connected. I think you would have to update your old router manually to your new account details as its serial number will be linked to your old account. I am not certain but this may mean it will not receive firmware updates, not that they happen often.

The Hub 1 has serious wi-fi problems on the 5Ghz network that are not fixed after a year or so. I never use ISP supplied routers as they are budget devices and I need more complex configuration options. Many Plusnet users have ditched the Hub 1 and bought BT HomeHub 6 modem routers which are a later version and work well. (Hub1 is a rehash of the BT HH5A) 

[#4]

I obviouslr had a mental block. I was thinking that the username and password would be unchanged, which is obviously impossible 

[#5]

Thank you both for your responses.

I wrote in my OP that 'ISTR [the new router] comes configured with my username...' because I don't remember having ever having entered it - though it was many years ago. Even as I wrote it I thought it was a tricky thing: flash each router before dispatch?

But linking the s/n of the new router to the new account, that would be easier: just scan the box. Is that what happens? In which case I ought to use the new one because the old one will be 'orphaned'. I've experienced my router becoming 'inactivated' before : see this thread.

Off topic, but the reason I'm using the PlusNet router is because my more capable, configurable, powerful, (and I suspect more secure) Netgear router won't work reliably with BT's IPTV: see this thread. The wifi is quite adequate in this small and flimsy house. What worries me about the Hub 1 is the lack of firmware updates for two years. The Netgear has had a couple of updates in the same period - and I don't believe that's because the Hub 1 f/w is bug-free! If somebody gave me a free BT HH 6 I'd be happy to try it!

[#6]

@DavRo 

A Smarthub 6 can be picked up  very cheaply on auction sites if you bide your time.  If it doesn’t suit you then you can always sell it on. You might even make a profit!

[#7]

But linking the s/n of the new router to the new account, that would be easier: just scan the box. Is that what happens?

@DavRo that's EXACTLY what happens. The routers are sent out with a preconfigured username, setup@plusdsl.net . The router initially connects and authenticates with this id, then the router management system (TR069) checks the serial number and reconfigures it with the linked account credentials. Any factory reset of the router would revert back to setup@plusdsl.net and repeat the process.

So you should either manually configure the old router with your new account credentials OR use the new router

[#8]

@MisterW Thanks for the confirmation. Now I understand the process, I can make an informed decision.

I go with the new router.

I'll also watch to see if it updates its firmware!

[#9]

I've not tried this but I wonder if a configuration can be saved in some way from Router A and uploaded to Router B.

[#10]

@DavRo - fairly trivial for us to associate your old router with the new account. In fact, I'm surprised that this isn't the process that's being followed to be honest. It's a complete waste sending you another router of exactly the same model

If you drop me a private message containing the router serial number/old and new account username, then I'll sort it out.

If you simply reconfigure the old router with the new account username details, then you may find that they are overwritten/reset to defaults when the old account is closed. It's definitely prone to problems.

[#11]

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED (so far...)

At 7.30pm last Friday evening I picked up my tablet and noticed an email: "Your fibre broadband's ready to go! Plugin your router." But I hadn't yet received the new router. I also noticed that the internet was down. The Hub 1 still had it's normal blue light but was obviously no longer connected. I turned it off.

Looking though the emails from Plusnet I realised I didn't have one that actually said I'd get a new router. So I thought maybe the guy at the call centre thought I would, and told me so, but in fact I wouldn't.

I turned the router on again. The username had changed from old-account@plusdsl.net to setup@... (This is what bobpullen said would happen when the old account is closed.) So I entered my new account name and password and it connected. Hooray!

The next day, Saturday, I got the welcome letter and a text to say my new router was on it's way. Today, Tuesday, I got an email to say the router had been "picked and packed and is winging its way to you as we speak. It's the first step on your journey to Plusnet broadband!"

So technically it's all fine, but the normal new customer procedure got out of sync because it didn't have to wait for the old ISP to hand over the line.

@bobpullen Thanks. I'll send you a PM so you can associate the old router to the new account.

@markhawkin I don't think there is a facility to save the configuration. My Netgear routers always had that - but then they had a lot more configuration to save!

[#12]

I don't think there is a facility to save the configuration.

@DavRo there is , it's under Advanced settings->System->Backup/Restore

[#13]

@MisterW So there is. I should have checked properly.

And it appears to be a binary file - and bigger than seems necessary to save my settings. I couldn't find my account name in it - perhaps it's encrypted too, or obfuscated.

Netgear routers used to have text configuration files, which was useful - you could see what you'd set and change it. In my current one (the one I'm not using because it's not reliable on BT IPTV) it also uses a binary config file.

[#14 · Accepted solution]

Final installment - I hope.

Bob Pullen associated the old Hub 1 with my new Plusnet account using its serial number. However, he told me "your router has since been removed from the hardware management platform. to re-instate it (against your new account), you'd need to factory reset it". Why was it removed? I don't know. Probably because the old account with which it was associated was deleted.

I considered saving and restoring the configuration, as discussed in the last few posts, but rejected that because I didn't know whether that would restore the old account number and try to connect with it. (Why is that conf file so big? It's five times as big as the equivalent Netgear conf file and much bigger than is necessary to hold a few settings. I'm pretty sure it's encrypted, possibly encoded afterwards.)

Bob confirmed that the router is now recognised, and he pushed a f/w update. It's now version 4.7.5.1.83.8.273 (was ...263). Why hadn't I already had that f/w update? I don't know. Perhaps it's a minor update, never rolled out.

So all good now, I hope. And the new router arrived - 6 days after the account change. Perhaps a Covid delay.

So, my advice to anybody having to switch to a new PlusNet account is to wait for the new router, which would probably obviate much of what Bob had to do for me. Use the old one in the interim. If that's a long delay, perhaps check that it's associated and recognised by the hardware management platform when you finally connect it,

One other thing I discovered, which may be well known but I didn't know it. I have an ethernet connected Raspberry Pi with a fixed IP address. It runs an internal webserver. If I give that the name 'pi' on the home network page (pi is not its hostname) the router will resolve it. So I can type http://pi into a browser (on an unrooted Android - so I can't change the host files.) I discovered that when that URL stopped working after the reset - and I had to work out why it had ever worked!

Thanks to all who responded.

[#15]

---

@DavRo wrote:

Bob confirmed that the router is now recognised, and he pushed a f/w update. It's now version 4.7.5.1.83.8.273 (was ...263). Why hadn't I already had that f/w update? I don't know. Perhaps it's a minor update, never rolled out.

---

273 is an engineering/test build that's being used to mitigate some known problems that some customers are experiencing with the 5GHz Wi-Fi network. There are no plans to deploy it to the masses (we're looking to push a more recent build instead).