BT Home Hub 6 (Smart Hub) on PlusNet

[#1]

You turn off the smart setup so that the router doesn’t try to connect to BT as this is the smart default. I did this. Much better and more reliable now that I’ve dropped the Plusnet router.

[#2]

Did you turn “smart setup” off. I have a 6 and it took about 20 mins to set up from disconnecting plus net router to running the BT 6. Far superior unit. After over a year of problems! I now have none.

[#3]

Yes keep Smart set up off

[#4]

The setup worked but with one wrinkle and maybe this might be useful for others. It looks like something might have been added to the BT Smart Hub Manager UI which makes entering a different DSL username a bit tricky.

I have the Home Hub 6 reporting firmware version SG4B1000B540 updated 3rd Sept 2018. I did NOT do a full factory reset as I wanted to reuse my existing setup so I only needed to change the broadband username and password.

In the BT Smart Hub Manager web screen, under Advanced-->Broadband, when entering the Broadband Username, the text entry box would prevent me typing in my entire Plusnet DSL username, which is like this: BobXSmith123@plusdsl.net. I could type characters up to 'plusdsl' and then the text box would not accept any additional characters.

I had to do the following to type my Plusnet DSL username in:

1. Click Reset Username (changes it to the default BT Broadband name - I don't recall what it actually was but something like btbroadbanduser@bthomehub.net)
2. Leaving that text in place, click to put the cursor at the start of the existing name.
3. Start typing your Plusnet name until the text box stops accepting characters, so you have something like, "BobXSbtbroadbanduser@bthomehub.net", showing)
4. Press DELETE once and enter the next single character of your Plusnet DSL username.
5. Repeat until you have entered all of your Plusnet DSL username (so you have, "BobXSmith123@plusnet.dslhomehub.net") - you can only enter one character at a time!
6. Delete the extra characters left of the old BT username at the end to leave just the correct Plusnet DSL username
7. Enter your Plusnet password as normal
8. Plug in the broadband line to the BT Homehub socket and click Connect to connect the broadband

I do not know whether this is a common problem, or if it is specific to the latest firmware, or if it was a result of not doing a factory reset. I also do not know what would happen if your Plusnet DSL username was longer than the default BT username.

[#5]

---

@rjd185 wrote:
I did NOT do a full factory reset as I wanted to reuse my existing setup so I only needed to change the broadband username and password.
.......
I do not know whether this is a common problem, or if it is specific to the latest firmware, or if it was a result of not doing a factory reset. I also do not know what would happen if your Plusnet DSL username was longer than the default BT username.

---

@It is because you did not do a Factory Reset. The last one I set up just point blank refused to take the Username. As soon as I got to the @plus stage it simply put up a message 'This is not a BT account'. After a reset it accept the address and password without any problem.

How a Factory Reset would affect your existing setup is a bit of a mystery to me.

[#6]

---

@Baldrick1 wrote:

How a Factory Reset would affect your existing setup is a bit of a mystery to me.

---

The reason for working around the username entry problem without a factory reset to connect the HomeHub 6 with PlusNet was to preserve a fairly detailed home network setup.

A factory reset would delete the configuration I have (which is modified SSIDs, modified passwords, device catalog for a dozen devices, WiFi channel settings, security including admin logon, etc). Using the workaround I described for entering the PlusNet DSL username simply meant avoiding all that work and checking after.

I'd assumed the 'problem with username entry' would be something BT used to direct the setup to BT accounts - I didn't get any message box popping up; just no longer able to enter characters.

If anyone knows that a sequence of export settings, factory reset, setup for PlusNet DSL username/passowrd, re-import settings sequence would preserve the new username/password and not put it back to the BT logon, that would be a better route (the data export is encrypted or obfuscated so I can't easily tell if the broadband username/password is included). This was my backup plan but I just found the workaround for direct entry quickly so I didn't need to risk it, and I didn't find a reference to that technique on this thread.

YMMV. There are good reasons to do a factory reset specifically to get a clean sheet after years of use as well.

As a side note, I also do not know whether a factory reset would affect the firmware which was another background reason not to leap for the factory reset button too quickly as my hub has recent firmware. (I've not looked in to the firmware update too carefully - when I do I will probably be buying something to run DD-WRT anyway.

[#7]

I'm sorry but I'm still completely confused. When I set these hubs up I simply connect an Ethernet cable between a computer and the hub in a totally stand alone mode. There is no connection to the network until after completing the factory reset and configuration. I connect to the network only when ready to connect the DSL cable. That way there's no way the reset can affect the network surely?

The other thing to note is that the firmware will automatically update whether you want it updating or not.

[#8]

---

@Baldrick1 wrote:

I'm sorry but I'm still completely confused. When I set these hubs up I simply connect an Ethernet cable between a computer and the hub in a totally stand alone mode. There is no connection to the network until after completing the factory reset and configuration. I connect to the network only when ready to connect the DSL cable. That way there's no way the reset can affect the network surely?

---

Probably an example helps - I've eight WiFi connected devices, plus friends and family appear from time to time so there are about twenty devices that know how to connect to our HomeHub. The SSIDs for 2.4GHz and 5GHz configured on the HomeHub are not the default and neither are the passwords. A factory reset deletes all that configuration on the HomeHub so the SSID goes back to BTHub6-1XY2 shared on 2.4GHz and 5GHz with the obscure password, which means I would then have to manually redefine the SSIDs and passwords so all those twenty devices continue to connect as before.

Same goes for all the other HomeHub setting modifications like the naming/designation of all the devices so the HomeHub admin UI shows which MACs relate to which phones and other devices; or the modified IP subnet and DHCP ranges for which I have several computers and network devices assigned static IP; etc.

The physical network, cables and the devices connected (phones, televisions, NAS, home server, laptops, EoP, extra WiFi access point, network hub, etc) do all remain completely unchanged. But they all continue to work because I don't do the factory reset (and I get to avoid having to reconfigure them or the hub and then check they do all continue to work).

[#9]

OK this is my last response as my head is beginning to hurt. My assumption was that you were trying to replace whatever modem/router you use at the moment (Home Hub?) with a Smarthub 6. Maybe I've got this wrong. I'm also talking about resetting the new Smarthub 6 to it's factory settings, not your existing device.

Ah, I've just had a lighbulb moment. Have you just transferred from BT and kept your Smarthub 6 and are just re-configuting it to work on Plusnet?

[#10]

---

@Baldrick1 wrote:

Ah, I've just had a lighbulb moment. Have you just transferred from BT and kept your Smarthub 6 and are just re-configuting it to work on Plusnet?

---

Bingo!

[#11]

I currently have my Ultrafast HH6 setup and working fine with my Plusnet broadband with a DSL connection.

I have FTTP from when I had BT and I'm wondering if I were to use the FTTP would it work or do I need to stick with the DSL?

[#12]

I assume that this relates to your previous poat(143). You need to stick with your current arrangement for your Plusnet VDSL service. Currently Plusnet do not offer a FTTP service. 

[#13]

I know they offer an FTTP trial service so I could sign up to that and then connect it?

[#14]

@davybhoy1983

Sorry but the FTTP trial was closed to new entrants on the 31st July 2018.

See here https://community.plus.net/t5/Fibre-To-The-Premises-trial/FTTP-Trial-Closure/m-p/1553705#M14946

[#15]

@SpendLessTime Thanks for that mate, I wasn't aware. Hopefully they roll it out soon.