Running OpenWRT on the Plusnet Hub One (& BT Home Hub 5a)

[#1]

The behaviour of the LEDs is determined by what is defined in LuCI -> System -> LED Configuration for the LED name: bthomehubv5a:blue:broadband.   

I don't think 44.x.x.x range is a IPv4 address range for 'private' networks.  There may lie the problem if OpenWRT adheres to IETF convention, but don't quote me.

Update:  As a brief test, I configured a spare HH5a as a DHCP-client and set the LAN IP to unconvventional 44.1.1.1 in OpenWRT, and wired the red WAN port into my main LAN.  I could access internet, but I'd probably not be able to access any legitimate websites who own IP addresses that begin 44.x.x.x.

[#2]

I have now got my hands on a PN Hub One with original firmware. Just changing the basics of BB username & password, leaving the IP's alone, it connects to my ADSL. Swap over to VDSL is delayed for the moment, according to PN.

The HO seemed to decide for itself, whether it was connected to ADSL or VDSL.

I then attempted to change the HO to my 44 range of IP's and the HO refused to allow it directly to my chosen IP's. It was possible to do it in stages, changing one set of the four numbers at a time, with a save in between, so four saves to make a complete IP change.

I then reset the BT HH5A back to factory, set just the BB username & password, plugged in and it came up with a solid blue b LED lit (and the wifi light too). Logging in to the HH5, it indicated there was no WAN connected. I then set it for ADSL as before, once plugged in the b failed to light up and again there was no WAN showing once logged in. Aside from the b not lit, the wifi enabled LED failed to light too, but I was able to connect to the wifi despite the light. I have yet to try to tackle downloading the config file. 

[#3]

hmm, sounds like you may have omitted a step in setting up PPPoA if it worked earlier to get an WAN IP connection from Plusnet. Did you remember to delete the ATM bridge?. Hub must be restarted after making any ADSL parameter changes.

fwiw, there is another way of downloading the config file.  LuCI -> Backup/Flash firmware -> Generate Archive.

If you use MS Windows, you can use WinRAR to open the archive file and navigate to and extract the /etc/config/network file.

(Other extractor utils can open tar.gz files other than WinRAR)

Section 9.5 - PPPoE on ADSL should also work in theory, but I've not seen anyone verify these instructions actually work.

Wifi is not enabled by default in LEDE/OpenWRT following a factory reset.

What version of LEDE/OpenWRT is on this hub?

Have you looked in LuCI -> Status -> System Log when you had problems?

Private IPv4 address ranges 10.x.x.x, 172.16.x.x and 192.168.x.x should only be used behind a router. Anything else is considered non-compliant.

[#4]

The HH5A was offered with LEDE 17.01.4 which was suggested to be the latest. I pointed out to them it was not the very latest and they offered the 18.06.0. I seem to remember I did delete the ATM bridge. 

[#5]

PPPoA is known to work with 17.01.4 on BT, Plusnet, Sky and TalkTalk, and you had it connecting to Plusnet earlier. I can only suggest you download the very latest version of the install guide and recheck the steps, and report back on /etc/config/network file,  'LuCI->Status->Overview->DSL status', and System log if you still have issues.

[#6]

Thanks guys, within the last hour I have managed to get it to work on on my PN ADSL. What finally fixed it I am not at all sure, I had reached the stage of trying absolutely everything. This morning began with a long session of printing out a full copy of Bob's manual, all 160 odd pages, binding it and adding a lot of quick referencing. It has proven to be THE most complex and difficult router I have ever attempted to set up. 

[#7]

It's been enough to put me off

[#8]

Shouldn’t have needed all that, honestly. All you get in the end is a working network config file (that you should now back up in case something breaks - although usually it doesn’t). And this topic has quite a few of working config files scattered across the pages. Too bad the first page of the topic can’t be edited any longer, otherwise they could gather all the useful links there.
What you can do now is find yourself a working network config for when you finally are switched to fibre
And you can play with LED configuration, make it any colour you want

[#9]

It was in part my own fault. I'm just out of hospital, not yet firing on all cylinders and the main router connecting to the WAN is located in the loft space. So it was a matter of up and down to the loft for every config adjustment and every test. I was beginning to think the router was faulty. Yes, I have backed up my working configuration up thanks.

In my Netgear, which is now replaced with the OpenWRT HH5, it has a USB socket. Into that socket I can plug a USB stick or a HDD, which appears on my LAN as a 'Readyshare'. Plugging the same USB stick into the HH5, it doesn't seem to show up at all - have I missed a setting please? 

[#10]

A quick Google reveals that FAT32 is the preferred format. If it is a large stick it might be ExFAT or NTFS

[#11]

I have just checked and it is a 32Gb formated FAT32.

[#12]

It needed some software packages installed, which I did. Putty also now works, it didn't connect before and I did this (below). Which seems to confirm my 32Gb stick is there - but what next please.

How do I go about accessing the stick, via the LAN, from a Windows system?

root@OpenWrt:~# dmesg | grep sd
[    9.646930] random: ubusd: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[    9.654413] random: ubusd: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[    9.660024] random: ubusd: uninitialized urandom read (4 bytes read)
[   39.268993] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] 61644800 512-byte logical blocks: (31.6 GB/29.4 GiB)
[   39.277636] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write Protect is off
[   39.281004] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Mode Sense: 23 00 00 00
[   39.293806] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write cache: disabled, read cache: disabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[   39.317228]  sda: sda1
[   39.325279] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI removable disk
root@OpenWrt:~#

[#13]

I can’t help but notice that you expect things to work out of the box - WAN connection, lights, USB sharing. Not with Linux - and OpenWRT is Linux-based. I’m surprised they even included the web interface - in other distros, you would be expected to - not even install the package - build it from source yourself, reading lots of manuals beforehand to figure out the required dependencies that’s how it is with Linux, most of the time
To answer your question, you need Samba: http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/recipes/usb-storage-samba-webinterface
P.S. I was surprised to read that you needed to climb to your loft every time you needed to change a setting on your HH5A. It should be possible to remotely connect to it, even if you’re using a repeater. Just use different IP address range for HH5A and repeater, I use 192.168.1.x on HH5A (it’s default anyway) and 192.168.2.x on the repeater’s network, and I can access HH5A on 192.168.1.1 no matter where I am in the house.

[#14]

It was a matter of unplugging my Netgear up in the loft from the line, to plug the HH5 in to test. I did expect it not being so troublesome to configure. I ended up with 2x laptops on my desk in the loft, one with Bob's manual open on it, the other in use to configure the HH5.

Thanks for the link to Samba..

[#15]

Pleased to read you finally got the HH5A working on ADSL.  

hmm, using the USB drive wired to the HH5A wouldn't be my first choice if you want a 'stable' router when you eventually upgrade to faster fibre speeds.  See how you get on as I could be wrong.

If you do encounter problems, have you considered whether it is possible to reconfigure your Netgear's stock firmware so you can use it to share your USB drive on your network ?   

May be just changing the Netgear's LAN IP address and turning off its DHCP server is all you need to do.  Then wire a LAN socket from Netgear to a LAN socket on HH5a. The clock on the Netgear will likely to be wrong btw.  Food for thought.

I personally use an old broadcom based router running Tomato firmware with USB flash drive attached.  Tomato has excellent (ie. almost idiot-proof to set up)  USB support for Samba, print server and FTP server.   

ps. the HH5a install guide was written by 'bill', not 'bob' 😉