Which is better - BT Smart Hub 2 or Plusnet Hub 1 ? For the man Baldrick1

[#1]

I hope that Baldrick1 gets to read this as he seems to be the man who knows all 😉

Ok, I have moved from BT to Plusnet and I'm using the Plusnet Hub , I do though still have my BT Hub 2.

I have 2 WD My Cloud NAS drives attached to my Network ( via the router ), one WD is the MC Mirror 2nd Gen'

Something I have noticed since the change over, when I copy over a file from my Laptop or Desktop to the MC Mirror it seems to take an age to copy over where before ( using the BT Hub 2 ) it transferred the data very quickly, example; yesterday I transferred a file which was 2.26Gb it took over 7 minutes, which to me is very slow.

So my question is would I be better using my BT SM Hub 2 ?

Steve

[#2 · Accepted solution]

@steve56  Welcome to the forum.

The Plusnet Hub One is a repurposed BT Home Hub 5A. The Smarthub 2 is currently the latest BT offering. It has better WiFi performance than the older device. The latest Plusnet Hub Two is based on the Smarthub 2.

The Smarthub 2 has one downside, which is that you cannot separate the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. If you were previously having no wireless connection issues with the Smarthub 2 then use it.

As it is already configured for your connected equipment all that you will need to do is remove the DSL cable, change the username to your Plusnet account username@plusdsl.net and enter your  password BEFORE plugging in the DSL cable.

I would also recommend switching off Smart Setup.

[#3]

If you moved recently I'd be calling Plusnet and asking why they didn't send you the Plusnet Hub 2

[#4]

Many thanks Baldrick1, I knew you would be the man .

So I've got this right, unplug Plusnet Hub, connect the BT Hub 2 but not the DSL cable , question on that , will I still be able to see ( connect ) to the router via my computer to change the details ?

I will give it a go this afternoon and see what happens.

Many thanks

Steve

[#5]

I did, I started the process 'before' the Hub 2 was released although I didn't get connected until after it was released .

A little peeved shall we say that they couldn't see it in their heart to send me the newer one !

Hence to Q about going back to the BT Hub 2

Steve

[#6]

@steve56 

That's correct. You only need the DSL cable to connect to the outside world. You can still connect to your router and devices on your network without it.

Once you plug the DSL cable in the hub talks directly to Plusnet's servers. If the DSL cable is already plugged in before you make the changes the hub is already connected to the BT servers. Once you try to change to Plusnet the BT server recognises it as a non BT address and rejects it.

[#7]

Many thanks for that, I'll report back later, keep fingers crossed.

Steve

[#8]

Good news, I am connected with my BT Hub 2, thank you very much Baldrick1 😁

One last question ( I hope ), should I turn on the FTTP mode ?

Thanks again

Steve

[#9]

A bit more news and success 😎

This how much better the BT Hub 2 is V the Plusnet Hub 1

Just did a Data transfer test to my NAS Mirror, now just you all know with the Plusnet it took over 7 minutes to transfer a mire 2.26 Gb, I have just transferred 5.7 Gb in 4 minutes ( using the BT Hub 2 ) - Result 😂

Steve

[#10]

@steve56 

FTTP mode? I must admit that I don’t have a Smarthub 2 to check and I didn’t know it had such a control. Any way the answer I’d no. FTTP does not need to use the modem section, which you need for the Plusnet FTTC service.

[#11]

@steve56 

Are you communicating with your NAS over wireless? On an Ethernet wired connection I would be surprised. My Hub will transfer data to the NAS at about 100MBps, which is about the limit of the NAS disks.

[#12]

I'm connected with both via Ethernet cable direct to Hub.

And thanks for the advice on FTTP

Steve

[#13]

FTTP mode? I must admit that I don’t have a Smarthub 2 to check and I didn’t know it had such a control.

I believe that sets the SmartHub 2 ethernet port 4 as a WAN port (and maybe disables the DSL?). Its normal mode is for all 4 ethernet ports to be LAN ports, unlike the PN Hub2 which ALWAYS uses port 4 as a WAN port

[#14]

@MisterW 

You have to ask why on earth this is not included in the Plusnet Hub 2.

[#15]

When you login to the router via the web, in the settings there is an option to turn FTTP on, hence the question. Its interesting that you mention that the PN Hub 2 ( which I dint have ) doesn't seem to have a separate WAN port as there is one on my PN Hub 1 ( its Red ). Anyway I won't be using FTTP now I've got everything up and running 😉 with my BT Hub 2

Steve