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Router problem

Andrew2002
Newbie
Posts: 4
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎30-05-2020

Router problem

I found a post from 2018 which prompted me to create this post.  The person seemed to have a similar problem to me and ended up writing to the CEO at Plusnet to get his problem resolved.  The fix for him was a different model Plusnet router.

 

I moved from BT to Plusnet a few months ago. With the move, I was provided with a new Plusnet router. It is a Plusnet Hub One. My Broadband is fibre to the cabinet and I have a download speed of around 30. Some of my items are wired, the rest are wireless. One item, wired, is a WD Home Hub NAS drive.

 

A few weeks ago, I started to have trouble connecting to web pages. All I got each time was a spinning wheel. I also got other errors coming through such as 'unable to verify server address' with my emails. I contacted Plusnet and was taken through a process to change my Wi-Fi channel. It made no difference.

 

I then checked my house wiring and all was OK. I decided to plug the router directly into my master socket. Not convenient but needed to check everything. No difference. My zoom conferences had problems, the connection drops sometimes. During all of these problem times, I checked my broadband speed and it was as normal, 30. But spinning wheels all the time I tried to go onto websites.

 

Then one day, I tried turning off the router, let it cool down and then back on again. Everything was superfast and normal. Great I thought. But within a few hours, it was back to not connecting to websites. Each time I turn it off it fixes the speed, but not for long.

 

I borrowed a friends BT router that he was not using just now.  It was a BT Home Hub 6.  I put in my Plusnet details and it works perfectly.  So for a week I kept swapping between my Plusnet router and the BT router.  Within a short period of time using the Plusnet one, I get slow connections.  But everything is fine each time I switch to the BT router.

 

I called Plusnet and they said that I must have a duff router, 2 months old, and sent me a replacement. I thought that would fix things. I plugged the replacement Plusnet router in.  All seemed fine for a day or two and then this second router started to do just the same as the first, slow website connections and the same error messages with email.

 

I swapped back to the BT hub 6 and all works OK again.

 

Now to the question.  Should I get back onto Plusnet and ask for yet another router to replace No 2? Could this be another duff router?  Or is there something on my network that makes the Plusnet Hub One not work?

8 REPLIES 8
idonno
Champion
Posts: 1,564
Thanks: 506
Fixes: 6
Registered: ‎22-10-2015

Re: Router problem

Just a thought, are you swapping out the connection cable when you do the change over? Think you'd have to be pretty unlucky to get 2 duff routers but not impossible. If it cures your problem, is said friend willing to let you buy the Hub 6. 😀

 

One thing that isn't a good idea is to keep on dropping the connection (swapping routers etc). DLM can reduce your speed etc. DLM is a 24/7 tool used by Openreach.

Ever helpful. Grin Sure, I’d love to help you out. Now which way did you come in?
Andrew2002
Newbie
Posts: 4
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎30-05-2020

Re: Router problem

When I do/did the hub swap, the only thing I swapped was the router. All the cables, including the power supply/cable, I kept and just swapped from router 1 (Plusnet) to router 2 (BT Hub 6). And when I swapped to the replacement Plusnet hub, I used the same cables.

I have not talked to my friend about selling his BT Hub, I would sooner get a Plusnet hub to work if I can.

I have changed my supplier over time and this is the first time I have had this dropout, connection problem.

Now that the new Plusnet router is making things run slow, I have swapped to the BT hub and plan to keep this until I have worked out a solution.

Baldrick1
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 11,615
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Registered: ‎30-06-2016

Re: Router problem

@Andrew2002 

Are you aware that many of us use a BT Smarthub 6, generally bought from an auction site, instead of a Plusnet hub?

For information under the hood the Plusnet Hub One is an old BT Home Hub 5a with flaky tweeked firmware so you are flogging a dead horse if you expect Smarthub 6 performance.

Such is the price of moving to a budget ISP.

Moderator and Customer
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tinytaco
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 457
Fixes: 29
Registered: ‎30-03-2020

Re: Router problem

Hi @Andrew2002,

I'm sorry to hear that you've experienced these issues.

 

The guide below will show you how to log into the router and change the wireless channel as it's usually another router in the area on the same or similar channel that will be causing issues for both wireless frequencies. Before picking a channel I'd suggest downloading a free app called wifi analyzer which will scan your area for all the routers and show what channels they are on between 1-13. Although the above app isn't essential it helps you pick where your router would be best in terms of channels and saves a lot of time doing it via trial and error.

1) To connect to your Hub One, you will need to open a browser and go to 192.168.1.254 If you have any issues doing this via Wireless, we recommend trying to do it via Ethernet cable instead.

 2) You should come to a page with information about your connection, click 'Advanced Settings' at the top and it will ask you to sign in with a Password. This is located on the back of your router under 'Admin Password'

 3) Select the option for 'Wireless' followed by '5 GHz Wireless'. What we want to do to begin with is turn 'Sync with 2.4 GHz Wireless' to 'Off' and update the SSID to be different. The easiest way would be to add '-5G' to the end so it is identified as its own connection. Once this is changed, we will need to keep an eye on it for a day or 2 to see if the issue continues. If it does, the next step would be to change the wireless channel. Keeping in mind the original 2.4Ghz unchanged name network connection would be the best to connect your devices  to for a stronger signal.  
(When deciding which device goes on what frequency keep in mind that the 5GHz is designed for close range stationary devices and standard 2.4GHz the one which gets the wireless around your property further.)

4) Following the above guide to get to your 'Advanced Settings' page, you will need to change the settings within the 2.4 GHz Wireless tab and the 5 GHz Wireless tab.

5) Under the correct heading, you will need to find 'Channel Selection' on the list and change this from 'Automatic' to any one of the other channels, This can also need doing under '5 GHz Wireless' to cover both signals. Give it 3-4 hours of testing to see if the issue still persists and try to change the channel again if you see little or no improvement.

 Noor
 Plusnet Help Team
Andrew2002
Newbie
Posts: 4
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎30-05-2020

Re: Router problem

Hello..

Thank you for this information. Unfortunately, this is not the problem at all. It was the same advice that someone from Plusnet technical gave me when the problem started with router No 1. I went through exactly this process (changing channels) with the Plusnet technical person on the line. I was told to wait a few days for the speed to get up. I did this. The exact same problem was there after this.

I then talked to Plusnet again. They checked my network and could see that my PCs and TV were both connected to the router with cables. They concluded the problem was the router and sent me a replacement. Now that I am on the second router and I have exactly the same problem, I am asking the question 'do I have two duff routers now or perhaps do they not work on my system'

 

 

tihlr
Hooked
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎08-06-2020

Re: Router problem

It's possible that your problem is related to the one described at https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/Hub-One-5GHz-WiFi-issue/m-p/1696363#M15510 which is, as has been explained there, due to an unexplained bug in the Hub One use of 5 GHz wifi.

Even if it isn't what is causing your problem you should be aware of this problem because it has a very similar outcome.

The solution seems to be switch off 5 GHz or, better still, use an alternative router because the Hub One does not appear to be fit for purpose. It’s clear from the discussion in that thread that Plusnet have known about this problem since before December 2019, so why it is still being rolled out I really don't know.

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Andrew2002
Newbie
Posts: 4
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎30-05-2020

Re: Router problem

Thanks for the info. I could give this a try. I have my doubts it will improve the situation as most of my items are connected with wire and not using wireless. These wired items are running slow, or to be correct, taking ages to connect to the respective websites.  I am planning to ask Plusnet to send me another router, and as many as it takes until they get it working as it should. In the meantime, I am using a borrowed BT Hub 6, which works perfectly.

MisterW
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 14,572
Thanks: 5,408
Fixes: 385
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Router problem

A few weeks ago, I started to have trouble connecting to web pages. All I got each time was a spinning wheel. I also got other errors coming through such as 'unable to verify server address' with my emails.

These wired items are running slow, or to be correct, taking ages to connect to the respective websites.

@Andrew2002  that sounds like a DNS lookup problem to me. By default, the router will supply its own address (via DHCP) as the DNS server. When serving DNS requests, the router will then either use its internal DNS cache or pass on the request to the PlusNet DNS servers.

Sounds like something is going wrong in the router DNS forwarding. Do any of your wired devices have the ability to change the DNS servers ? If they're windows devices then they will. See here for windows 10 https://www.windowscentral.com/how-change-your-pcs-dns-settings-windows-10.

What I would suggest, is that when the problem occurs, try changing the DNS servers on the device to, first the PlusNet ones 212.159.6.9 & 212.159.6.10 and see if that fixes the problem. This effectively bypasses the router and sends DNS requests directly to the PN servers. If that has no effect then try setting the DNS servers to the google ones , 8.8.8.8 & 8.8.4.4.

If changing to the PlusNet ones fixes the problem then we know its the router causing the problem. If only changing to the google ones fixes it, then the finger points at the PlusNet DNS servers.

If neither fixes it, then I'm barking up the wrong tree completely.😞

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