Compatibility of BT (Black Disc) Range Extenders with Plusnet Hub2

[#1]

Left BT last week and signed up with Plusnet ....but have since found that I cannot get my BT supplied Black Disc range extenders to work..........Phoned Plusnet technical help and the chap I spoke to said he wasn't sure if they would work or not ....He went off to speak to someone else about it and was then told that they 'should work' as Bt and Plusnet are basically the same company .

Was then told that I should try and use the old BT Hub that I had disconnected in favour of the new Plusnet Hub2 that came in the post ....Sounded bizarre to me ! especially as BT had asked me to send back their Hub in a plastic bag and that if I didn't I would be charged £50.

I just cannot get my head around all this! .My contract ends with BT who then want to increase my monthly charges to around £50 a month when Plusnet advertise basically the same service for around £30  which as I keep being told are one and the same company .

I can't seem to get any positive answer which to me seems pretty straightforward .........Will my BT Disc range extenders work with Plusnet full Fibre? 

Any advice gratefully accepted ! 

[#2]

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@Rocketman99 wrote:

I can't seem to get any positive answer which to me seems pretty straightforward .........Will my BT Disc range extenders work with Plusnet full Fibre? 

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No, they won't.

They rely on the mesh functionality in the hub being enabled, which it isn't on the Plusnet Hub Two. Even if it was, there would be other barriers because the identifiers used for pairing such devices differs when comparing BT/Plusnet hubs.

It is possible to reconfigure the BT hub to work on Plusnet (plenty of threads on this forum about doing that), but as you've stated, BT will charge you if you fail to return the equipment to them. To be honest, I would have thought the same applied to the Complete Wi-Fi discs too, not just the BT hub.

[#3]

Ah thanks Bob for the quick response!

So my next question ....... .Is there a range extender that will work with my new Plusnet hub ?....Do Plusnet supply them ?

Have just done an Ookla speed test on my PC and I'm getting 13mg download speed ! .On the first day with Plusnet I was getting 140Mg download speed via my iPad .but even that now is down to 80Mg which is fine really but 13Mg isn't so good !

Thanks

[#4]

@Rocketman99 

If BT don't want their black discs back you could always look to see if there's a BT Samrt Hub2 available on eBay.

Brian

[#5]

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@Rocketman99 wrote:
Is there a range extender that will work with my new Plusnet hub ?....Do Plusnet supply them ?

Plusnet don't supply a solution, so you'd need to do some homework. There are a number of options, e.g (in no particular order): -

• Suggested by @bmc - source a BT Smart Hub 2 to use with your existing Complete Wi-Fi discs and configure the hub to work on your Plusnet line.
• Repurpose/reconfigure an old router and cable it to the Hub Two as an additional access point. The Wi-Fi performance when connected to the second router will depend on it's capability and you'd need to run the cable some distance from the hub to a sensible place in your home where getting a good signal is a challenge. 
• Purchase Wi-Fi extenders/plugs (Powerline optional). Wouldn't personally recommend this as Powerline can be flaky/introduce latency, and anything that is actually a true 'extender' (rather than an access point) is only ever going to take an already diminished Wi-Fi signal and try pushing it further into your house.
• Purchase an off the shelf mesh solution like BT Whole Home Wi-Fi that is designed to be used with another router. Subsequent disabling of Wi-Fi on the Plusnet Hub is recommended.
• Purchase an off the shelf mesh solution like Eero, Deco, Asus AiMesh, Orbi, Google Wi-Fi etc. that can be configured to connect directly to your Openreach ONT. You can do away with the Plusnet hub entirely should you go down this route.
  
  

Have just done an Ookla speed test on my PC and I'm getting 13mg download speed ! .On the first day with Plusnet I was getting 140Mg download speed via my iPad .but even that now is down to 80Mg which is fine really but 13Mg isn't so good !

Perhaps worth checking the network map in the Hub Manager to see which 'band' the devices are connecting to. Anything on the 2.4GHz network is likely going to bottle neck your Full Fibre speeds significantly. A moderate to good connection on 5GHz is what you need really. 2.4GHz is slow/subject to interference but reaches further. 5GHz is fast but doesn't reach as far. Some older devices and IoT kit won't support 5GHz at all.