Daily resets to fix DNS failures, unreliable Port Forwarding, random connection problems.

[#1]

Hi Everyone,

As a plusnet customer I realise that I should be used to the fact that their hubs are.....shall we say...... not the best.

Currently I have "Plusnet Hub One | Software version 4.7.5.1.83.8.289.1.1 | Last updated 07/07/21"

Since the day it arrived I have ever increasing problems with it:

For the last 2 years I have had problems retaining forwarding settings - most of the time they are not saved and 90% of the successful changes are only achieved if I cold reset the hub after making changes.

For the past month I've had to restart daily to resolve the frequent DNS failures. I use 8.8.8.8 for DNS on most of my computers but phones are more problematic (and I shouldn't have to use 8.8.8.8 anyway!) - and why the hell does it take 5 minutes to reboot a router...... Even WINDOWS isn't that slow!

Now some devices can't even connect to the hub without restarting it.

I was considering resetting to factory settings - but am concerned that

a) I might lose some pluset configuration settings that I will regret deleting, and 

b) I will have to set up a load of port forwarding rules using the horribly laborious GUI this hub has.

Can anyone suggest whether it is 'safe' to do a factory reset without knowing what logon details the hub is using to Plusnet?

Also, are repeated DNS failures a hub problem or (as I suspect) a Plusnet infrastructure problem?

I'm planning on 'throwing in the towel' in the next few months and changing ISP - but I wonder whether the DNS infrastructure is ISP specific - or is provided by Openreach? If so, then going from one ISP to another would be pointless if they are all using Openreach, apart from Virgin.

Apologies for a garbled combination of questions and whinges - please feel free to chip in any answers - or join in any whinges

mbd

[#2]

If you are doing stuff with port forwarding -- you need a better router. Hub One isn't realy up to it.
There are many to choose from but they do cost a lot more. Start at £100 and work up to £500.

[#3]

Moderators Note

This topic has been moved from Fibre to My Router

[#4]

Each ISP has their own DNS and as you not Google and others provide it too.

You could pick up a BT Business smarthub for a reasonable price (sub £30) which handles simple port forwarding fine and also allows you to set DNS in the router so you can choose what you want.

But it sounds like a faulty hub one and could be replaced by PN.

[#5]

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@Bogbody wrote:
If you are doing stuff with port forwarding -- you need a better router. Hub One isn't realy up to it.
There are many to choose from but they do cost a lot more. Start at £100 and work up to £500.

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Completely disagree. The Hub One is perfectly capable of port forwarding and there are no acknowledged problems with it.

I have a fairly complex set-up at home, involving numerous forwarding rules, and I've never encountered an issue with the Hub One in this regard.

@mbdmbd - older firmware's suffered from a DNS resolution failure issue in certain unique scenarios, however this was fixed in the software version you're currently running. There is no problem with Plusnet DNS performance out on the network.

I have just pushed an incremental update to your router firmware to rule out one other issue I'm aware of, that could describe the symptoms you're reporting.

My suggestion now would be for you to...

1. Restart the router to apply the update (should take you to a version ending 1.3)
2. Factory reset the router using the pinhole at the rear of the device. Insert something into it until the status light flashes green

Your broadband credentials should be automatically restored following reset, however leave it ten minutes or so for the reprovision to take place. Needless to say, you'll lose your port forwarding rules and need to reconfigure them afterwards.

If your issues prevail after this, then share some detail and I'll see if there's anything else I can do to help.

I'm also interested to know whether or not you noticed any change in behaviour early July, as that's when the firmware was last updated on your device.