Hub One - 5GHz WiFi issue

[#1]

Have to agree this has been going on long enough, a long time ago I made the move to ditch the Hub 1 and replace it with the Archer VR600 or TP Link AC1600.

Since I have installed this I have no problems with the 5 GHz band, although internet has often been slow.

Up until the 5 GHz problem started I have been very pleased with the Plusnet service and renewed for a further 18 months after my contract was up for renewal.

I think at my next renewal I will go elsewhere

[#2]

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@bobpullen wrote:

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For those who were moved to a testing environment, I'll also see if we can do something for your devices.

@senorben @Hotspur @RRams @melanie99- @longroad64 @bconnor & @DanSian - I've just taken your devices out of the test envinroment and pushed an update to them. Thank you all for your patience. Hopefully you should find things are much better now. Your routers will have rebooted so I'm sorry if that caused you any disruption.

[#3]

@Geoffers3040 @Nevparker @mrshift @Dunner31 @porlf @markc67 @ninjatunez @roadsidetree @bernardli & @RoissyAngel - your devices have also been updated to the test build. Again - you'll have seen a reboot during the last couple of hours. Do shout if the problems with the 5GHz network continue.

[#4]

@Vkilleuz @tezzab @Beefyj @al3 @Hambonz @blandyp & @SCam - yours will also have rebooted, however you're all now running the updated firmware that should mitigate most of the problems you've been experiencing.

@aomslater for some reason, your router has dropped off the remote management paltform. This means I've been unable to push an update. If you can factory reset, by inserting something into the pinhole at the rear of the device until the status light flashes green, then that should bring it back and I can give things another go?

[#5]

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@mpatterson wrote:

Just want to add that i have had a few weeks of no issues also then today 5Ghz was out again.

Possbily 21 days and lease expired but difficult to be sure.

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@mpatterson, whilst you're using an engineering firmware I applied, it's a version still affected by the problem. I can move you to a 'good' build but it will factory reset the device. Let me know if you'd like me to do this.

@Chris123 wrote:

@bobpullen - After reboot and the router detecting there was a 5GHz issue and bringing up a page in Chrome, things were working for a while. Now it is so poor that my VPN connection to work is dropping constantly, and the BT speed test has measured a new record low download speed of 0.00 Mbps. The upload is 3.19 and the ping is in the 20s.

Can you shed any light on this? I will try switching back to 2.4 to see if that is okay for work. This sounds more than just contention due to the start of the school holiday.

Sorry to hear. Might be an idea to align the 2.4GHz and 5GHz SSID's so the client can decide which band it's better to use?

@CymonP wrote:

It may not be my place to say this, but:

(1) I had the firmware update a while ago and it doesn't seem to cure the problem, at least not fully.

What's still broken?

@Sheddyian wrote:

I'm running the beta firmware, so posting this here

"Plusnet Hub One | Software version 4.7.5.1.83.8.273 | Last updated 26/03/19"

This morning I discovered that my Hub one had hung.  Phone had been left playing podcasts from local NAS - this had stopped overnight.  Phone had no internet.  PC (which is cabled not wifi) had no internet either...

Thanks for the feedback Ian. Keep an eye on things and shout if anything similar happens again. Feedback's been largely positive so far.

@markangeltruema wrote:

Another update from me, 5ghz drop out again today even with the .273 firmware. Restart of router fixed it.

If you're still experiencing a complete failure of the 5GHz radio then we need the opportunity to investigate your case in more detail. Are you able to leave it in a failed state so we can take a look from our side. Probably best to message me directly if you're willing to help out.

@mrshift wrote:

Is the official plan to resolve this with a software update, and if so what are the timescales to have it pushed out to all users? Can the firmware be updated by affected end users themselves if made available for download?

Alternatively, is this a hardware-specific issue that can be solved only with new routers, in which case when are these likely to be dispatched?

It's a software issue, and I don't have timescales for a global fix, but yes - it will require a software update. There are reasons (I'd rather not go into) that prevent us from pushing the test build to the masses. The problem is being actively worked on as a priority, but is proving very difficult to get to the bottom of.

@winteraj wrote:

I think PlusNet need to be more public with the problem. Unfortuantely i havent' lots of spare time to help a tech provider i'm paying reasonable sums to (and loyally so for many years) to fix a problem, appreciate it's tricky to puzzle out the problem. 

Didn't the firmware I pushed to your device at the end of March help?

[#6]

@bobpullen would be good if there is a more successful build.

Thanks very much!

[#7]

On a final note for tonight, and I really hope it won't be taken the wrong way...

Can I politely ask that conjecture is kept to a minimum in this thread please? We're using the discussion to try and establish facts/further our investigation; so posting misguided opinion, regurgitating discussion from private messages/support contact, discussing BT's/Plusnet's motives, advising that 'router X doesn't exhibit the problem' etc. isn't really helping - Despite what I'm sure are good intentions

I know folks are frustrated (and I'll be the first to apologise for the hassle), but it would really help to keep this thread as it was intended.

Thanks

... it would be helpful if you can reply to this post answering the questions below (and providing any other detail you might think is useful!)

1. Brief description of the problem, and how is masquerades itself. What are the symptoms? How frequently does it happen?

2. Do the devices having problems appear to be connected or associated with the hub?  Is the hub status indicator normal/blue when the problem occurs?

3. Do you have the 2.4GHz and 5GHz channels merged (default setting) or split (different wireless network names)? If the networks are named differently, does the problem only affect the 5GHz network?

4. Once the problem occurs is it persistent?  Do you have any devices wired to the router and does the problem affect them at the same time?

5. Are you able to reproduce the problem reliably? Do you think you have a way of triggering it? [for example waking a specific device from power save mode]

6. Is the problem always resolved by rebooting the hub?  If so, how long does it take before problems recur?

7. If specific devices are always impacted when problems occur, please provide details of which devices are impacted and which aren't i.e. manufacturer, model, variant and operating system version.

8. Have the devices experiencing problems recently received any patches that might correspond with the time the issue first occurred?

9. Please provide a description of your home network setup and all devices in use including whether or not you're using any additional switches, Powerline adapters or wireless access points.

[#8]

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@mpatterson wrote:

@bobpullen would be good if there is a more successful build.

Thanks very much!

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Done

[#9]

@bobpullen As per a previous update, the 5GHz band wi-fi 'fell over' again (after being fine for 3 weeks or so), with low throughput causing video streaming problems. I disabled it again and have since been running on 2.4GHz only.

[#10]

@CymonP, thanks. Was it just low throughput? i.e. could you still connect/browse using the 5GHz channels, or were you completely unable to connect at all?

[#11]

Many thanks for updating my router @bobpullen. Yep, I noticed the restart, and the 5GHz band is holding so far.

Thanks also for replying separately to my query about pushing out the update to all users. Much appreciated.

All the best,

  Andy.

[#12]

@bobpullen Re. The 5GHz wi-fi speed: When I checked it, it was down to something like 15-20Mbps, while 2.4GHz was running at 37Mbps. Which should be plenty fast enough for video streaming but I was getting long freezes so maybe it was stopping altogether at times (it usually indicates 37Mbps as well). The PC being used is in a fixed place, had good strength indicated on both bands and had been working fine on 5GHz for the 3 weeks or so it lasted after the firmware update. (Since these problems started I've had the bands separated with different passwords so I can easily see which is which if there are issues).

I thought the 5GHz would probably fail altogether sooner or later so I just disabled it again to avoid further problems. Generally speaking we don't experience difficulties running just on 2.4GHz with just the 2 of us in the house -- I've also set the 2.4GHz wi-fi to b/g/n only which then says up to 300Mb/s.

Thanks for pursuing this, must be frustrating though!

[#13]

Thanks for the update @bobpullen !

All eligible devices transferred to 5ghz and working!  Noticed the downtime last night and hoped that was it coming through

[#14]

@CymonP, thanks - we have a second investigation underway about deteriorating throughput on the 5GHz radio. This fortunately, is one that we can replicate in lab conditions.

[#15]

Hi @bobpullen thanks for that. I noticed the reboot last night and have now enabled 5GHz to see what happens.

However I'm still seeing this on my router panel;

Plusnet Hub One | Software version 4.7.5.1.83.8.273 | Last updated 19/03/19

Should I be seeing an updated firmware here?