Plusnet Hub one router to BT Business Hub 6

[#1]

I've been using a plusnet hub one router, and decided to try improving the wireless range.

I obtained a plusnet hub 2 router which performed well for a day or so, then kept dropping the wireless connections as well as the powerline connection. The light had always remained blue, just viewing webpages was slow or mostly impossible. Because I got the router off eBay, there was already a username displayed in the settings page, it was easily changed but assume it's sent out this way from Plusnet?

I then changed over to a Bt Business hub which has improved the wireless range greatly, but this too is suffering from the same problems after a few days. I've included screenshots where the router appears to reset, changing the date and time. There are quite a few SSID log entries where devices seem to disconnect and then reconnect.

Failing that, I'll have to go back to using the Hub one, but if anyone can spot anything obvious that would be great.

[#2]

@susanbennett2 To be honest, tiny snippets from a routers log tell us nothing, and in any case, those two are totally unrelated to your perceived problem.

I assume the BTBH6 has the ability to export the whole log in .csv format, which may give us some kind of clue.

[#3]

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@susanbennett2 wrote:

Failing that, I'll have to go back to using the Hub one, but if anyone can spot anything obvious that would be great.

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You have two problems 🙄

1.  you are on a slow ADSL connection.
2.  you want to improve the wireless range.

First you need to ensure that your broadband is working as reliably as possible.

On your type of broadband, and using what you've got, your Plusnet Hub1 is the best of the three devices.

For best wireless range, and configurability (such as separated 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands) the BT Business Hub 6 is probably your best choice.

If I only had those three devices, what I'd do is -

• Use the Plusnet "Hub1" to provide your internet connection.
• Reconfigure the "BT Business Hub 6" to act as a WiFi access point, then connect it to the Hub1 with an ethernet cable.
• Put the Plusnet Hub2 in a cupboard, and save it as a spare or if Plusnet need it connected to do remote diagnostics.

You should be able to follow these instructions for how to make a WiFi access point from the BT Business Hub 6.

If you wanted to be more adventurous, you could also convert the less capable Plusnet Hub2 to be a WiFi access point,  and potentially have three devices all providing WiFi,  which if located in different corners of your home (via ethernet cables or powerline adaptors),  could provide significantly improved WiFI coverage.

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[#4]

Thanks for your help, it's quite a large log over a period of days. I'm wondering if it's because of the switching around of all three routers has caused these problems. I noticed the Hub 2 takes my username and password, but reverts to the previous owner if reset. 

[#5]

@susanbennett2 Thanks for that. Unfortunately, it is not the kind of information I am used to seeing in an event log, I'm not a network expert, but can usually read an event log.

I'll tag @Dan_the_Van , who may have a better idea, but may not appear on here until tomorrow.

[#6]

@susanbennett2 

1)  Have you investigated whether it is possible to upgrade your broadband connection to anything else (such as full fibre) ?

2)  Do you still use a landline home telephone ?

3)  Are you aware that your ADSL broadband is likely to be withdrawn sometime during 2026 ?.

Using my instructions above, in the short term you should be able to achieve better internet connection via WiFi.

However the long term solution, beyond this time next year, you'll need to find an alternative type of broadband connection, and with that you are likely to receive a new ISP provided router, which in turn is probably going to have better WiFi - solving both of your issues in one go.

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[#7]

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@susanbennett2 wrote:

... I noticed the Hub 2 takes my username and password, but reverts to the previous owner if reset. 

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It will, it’s a designed to work this way. The hub serial number is associated with the account to which it was originally allocated. 

Why not ring Plusnet and ask for a new Hub 2? Have you checked that the Hub 1 is not exhibiting the same faults?

[#8]

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@Baldrick1 wrote:

Why not ring Plusnet and ask for a new Hub 2?

@Baldrick1 

Given that in the first screenshot of the first post, the upload connection speed is shown as 828Kbps, the Plusnet Hub2 model has always had problems with such a limited bandwidth and has never had the firmware fixed to cope with those speeds, however sometime in the past the Plusnet Hub1 got a firmware update which allowed it to cope with those low bandwidths.

That is the reason I suggested using the Hub1 as the internet facing router, as it is the only one she has which will work reliably.

Therefore I DON'T recommend that @susanbennett2  asks Plusnet for a new Hub2, as it will never work as good as the Hub1.

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@Baldrick1 wrote:

Have you checked that the Hub 1 is not exhibiting the same faults?

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The Hub1 was previously being used and working, but was swapped out in an attempt to use an alternative device with greater WiFi coverage (with the Hub1 being the worst of the three routers for WiFi range).

Conclusion, use the Hub1 as the internet facing router, then use either the BT Hub 6 or Plusnet Hub2 as a WiFi access point,

that way @susanbennett2 gets the best broadband connection, and the best WiFi, as none of her devices are good at doing both.

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[#9]

@susanbennett2 

What is your current status, are you using the Hub One or something else?

I did have a quick glance at the BT Hub log.

 I've included screenshots where the router appears to reset, changing the date and time. There are quite a few SSID log entries where devices seem to disconnect and then reconnect.

So many FIREWALL entries made it time consuming to look through, maybe the log is running in some sort of debug mode or it's normal operation for a BT Business grade router?

In answer to the above, did you reset or power off/on the BT Hub for any reason, if you did not the BT hub is faulty as the time should not go back to 01 Jan unless a reset or power cycle occurred

It also appeared the wifi devices keep dropping connection.

For the Hub One it is possible to split the SSID name sync and give the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands their own name, you rename 5GHz. This was you can select the stronger signal for the location you are using the device.

[#10]

@outcast 

Thanks for your advice, I think I will ask Plusnet for a new Hub 1 if possible, the one I have does make an annoying whine noise and the upload speed is terrible (the other two routers improve that), but at least it's useable. 

I've attached a screenshot of the speedtest when the issues happen with the BT hub and the Hub 2, the blue lights remains on for both routers but the speeds come to a complete stop. This will happen for around 5 minutes before becoming stable again.

We live in a remote area and I don't think fibre is an option yet. Funnily enough, if chosing to renew my contract with Plusnet, they offer the Hub zero, so not sure if that's a mistake!

[#11]

@Dan_the_Van 

Thanks for taking a look.

I've had the Hub 1 for many years, and because of the remote area we don't have access to fibre yet. I changed to the Bt hub as it does improve wireless range around the house, and it seems to upload files much quicker (photo's etc) which the Hub 1 seemed to struggle with. 

The issue with both the BT hub and Hub 2 is that the speeds will drop to 0, but there's nothing recorded in the logs and the light remains blue. This is for both wireless and wired.