Hub One - 5GHz WiFi issue

[#1]

Hi @bobpullen - I've also been experiencing these issues & would really appreciate the workaround being applied!

1. Brief description of the problem, and how is masquerades itself. What are the symptoms? How frequently does it happen?
   Roughly once a day, the 5GHz band of the WiFi stops functioning properly, requiring either a switch to the 2.4 band, a restart of the router, or a waiting period for the band to become available again. Occasionally the 2.4 band goes down as well and I have to navigate to the config pages and click the 'Connect' button a few times to get the internet working again, but this may be an additional/unrelated issue.
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?
   This varies on occurence - sometimes the hub light stays blue and indicates no problems, and sometimes the hub light goes orange and I have to re-sign in in the router config pages.
   
   
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?
   I have them split - set this up when we first started having the problem around a year ago. As above, generally only the 5GHz band is affected, but occasionally the 2.4GHz band too.
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?
   The problem generally disappears within around 5-10 minutes. We have no wired connections to the router.
   
   
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]
   I haven't noticed and specific device patterns correlating with the problem, though it seems to happen at a similar time on most occasions (between 2 and 4 pm).
   
   
6. Is the problem always resolved by rebooting the hub?  If so, how long does it take before problems recur?
   Reboot & waiting ~5 minutes has always solved the problem to date - most often it takes 24 hours to recur but has previously happened twice in the space of 4-5 hours.
   
   
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.
   All devices connected to the 5GHz band are generally affected.
   
   
8. Have the devices experiencing problems recently received any patches that might correspond with the time the issue first occurred?
   As the problem has been ongoing for a long time & affecting all devices, it's hard to pinpoint any updates that may have affected it.
   
   
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.
   
   One Plusnet Hub One - all devices connected directly to it through WiFi.
   3x Windows 10 laptops
   1x Macbook Pro
   1x Samsung smart TV
   1x Chromecast
   2x Android phones
   1x PS4
   1x Sonos speaker

[#2]

@pkw @tasherratt @roblj @bing @Whitman77uk @animal40 & @sarahcastel - I've just pushed an update to your respective devices. You'll need to switch the router off/back on at your side to apply it.

Hope it helps.

@AndySug - I have also pushed the update to your device, however you are definitely suffering from an unrelated problem. The hub LED's do not change colour for those subject to this Wi-Fi issue, and neither would you be expected to log into your router to force a re-connection. If you continue to suffer from these problems, then I would suggest creating a separate thread or getting in touch with Support. It could be there's a problem with your underlying Internet connection.

@sarahcastel wrote:
I know you'd think new hubs would come out with the update already on them after a year!!

I've responded to this comment/question a few times throughout the life of this thread. The latest view is here. I'm only too aware that this issue has been around much longer than is desirable. The end goal is still to pro-actively deploy a fix to all devices, both newly shipped/recently activated as well as those 'in the wild'.

[#3]

Thank you @bobpullen !

It seems to have also miraculously improved connection speed for my 2.4Ghz wifi dongle on my old desktop pc😃

[#4]

Hi @bobpullen - I've also been experiencing issues and have this firmware version (4.7.5.1.83.8.263) but unsure if this is the right solution for my symptoms.

1. Brief description of the problem, and how is masquerades itself. What are the symptoms? How frequently does it happen?
   Many times a day (3-4 times an hour) various devices lose connection via wifi for 30 seconds to 2 minutes at a time.  This can be phones, laptops, or Amazon dots.  Support tell me my connection has not dropped, so it's internal devices -> router.  Affects both 2.4 and 5 ghz channels.
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?
   Hub light doesn't change. devices appear to be connected.
   
   
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?
   Merged
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?
   The problem generally disappears within 2 minutes for that device on that occasion.  It happens multiple times per hour.  No devices are wired into the hub - this is a wifi only issue for me.
   
   
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]
   Not able to trigger it / no apparent theme to the issues.
   
   
6. Is the problem always resolved by rebooting the hub?  If so, how long does it take before problems recur?
   Only (very) temporarily.
   
   
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.
   All devices connected to either channel are generally affected.  Wifi connectivity is woeful - never had this problem in this house before this hub arrived with other providers or Plusnet on previous contract with different hub.  Not had this number of devices in the house before though to be fair.
   
   
8. Have the devices experiencing problems recently received any patches that might correspond with the time the issue first occurred?
   As the problem has been ongoing for a long time & affecting all devices, it's hard to pinpoint any updates that may have affected it.
   
   
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.
   
   One Plusnet Hub One - all devices connected directly to it through WiFi.
   No mesh or powerline adaptors or extenders etc.2 echo dots1 fire tv stick1 windows 10 laptop1 windows 7 laptop1 smart tv2 iphones1 macbook pro2 tablets - an ipad and fire tabletsymptoms will happily manifest when the dots and stick are not actively being used and it's just the two windows laptops plus the 2 iphones active.  or just my iphone and windows 7 laptop active in the house.  the two echo dots on 5ghz probably suffer the least, but are not immune by any means.many thanks for any guidance on this.  

[#5]

Hi @bobpullen 

Could you also push the update to me too? We've been experiencing these issues intermittently for a while now. Thanks...

1. Brief description of the problem, and how is masquerades itself. What are the symptoms? How frequently does it happen?
   Usually happens in the mornings, impacts my iPhone 11 and MacBook Air, Microsoft Surface laptop. Drops wifi for about a min or so, then comes back on briefly, then drops again. Does this for a few hours and then comes back on. Recently been getting the password error symptom on my iPhone too. 
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?
   The status indicator is blue. They are all connected to the hub.
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?
   Yes, default settings
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?
   Yes it's persistent for a few hours, then seems ok for a bit, then comes back again. No wired devices 
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]
   Seems random, can't replicate 
6. Is the problem always resolved by rebooting the hub?  If so, how long does it take before problems recur?
   No
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.
   iPhone 11 iOS 14.2
   MacBook Air Catalina 
   Microsoft Surface 
   LG Smart TV
   Sonos Play 3
   Huawai P20 Pro
8. Have the devices experiencing problems recently received any patches that might correspond with the time the issue first occurred?
   No
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.
   No additional switches, adaptors or access points, Plusnet Hub One, all devices connected to wifi: MacBook Air x2, Surface Laptop, iPad, iPhone 11, Google Pixel 4, Huawai P20 Pro, Google Nest Hub Max, Sonos Play 3, LG Smart TV x2, Nintendo Switch
    
   Thanks for your help! 

[#6]

Hi @bobpullen 

Any chance you could push the update to me too? We've been experiencing these same issues for a while now and it seems to be getting worse. Broadband speeds are also down to 3-4 mbps from around 50-60. We have started just turning the wifi off on our iphones and using cellular data as the problem is so persistant.

Any help would be great.

Thank You

Sarah

[#7]

Hi @bobpullen

Just an update - been running v273 which you pushed out to us couple of days ago - all running well. When I had the problem I ran a WiFi monitor and I could see the 5gHz dropping significantly every minute or so on the straight line graph - the line on the graph is now almost straight and the only change is to have moved to v273. My study is upstairs so quite a way from router and my new Dell laptop picks up the signal okay - sometimes it selects the 2.4gHz channel but mainly it regards the 5gHz as strong enough and selects that.  So not sure what is different in v273 but it seems to resolve the problem with drop out and asking for password which it will not then accept even though its right one. I see many people are now having the problem with their router so looks like a national roll out at some stage will be required.

[#8]

Hi @bobpullen

My Hub One has been updated to 273 last summer. Since then, there was no 5 GHz login error and the Wi-Fi connection has been mostly sturdy. So thanks for that.

However, my wife experience a significant amount of drop-out. I am thinking something in the Hub is not agreeing with her work VPN (of vice-versa). I myself do not see the any connection trouble, but I am mainly at home in the evening only whereas she is working form home all the time. Our phones seem mostly OK, but they have a fallback onto 4G, so it's unlikely we notice anything anyway. My thinking is that this is an other problem no necessarily connected to the 273 firmware. So, I have two questions:

- would you have heard of any compatibility problem of the Hub One with some VPNs?

- with the multitude of problems associated with the Hub One, are there any plan to replace it, or to make it easier to troubleshoot (I am thinking for example to allow a setting as Bridge only, so people can plug in a Wi-Fi router easily and check whether it's a Wi-Fi or landline issue). An other solution would be to sell the contract with a modem only (one which works) for cheaper and leave the customer to get their Wi-Fi sorted. I appreciate that this is not for everyone, but most people here would be savvy enough to set-up a router and this would make a lot of customers a lot happier. My contract is finishing soon, and although my landline connection has been good, this Wi-Fi issue with the Hub One is enough to make me think that going with Sky or even Talk Talk would be better (I know! It's that bad!).

Please escalate if anyone above you is still interested in Customer Service.

[#9]

Hi @bobpullen - I've been experiencing this for a while now and have o of just stumbled on this thread.

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

The entire 5GHz channel stops connecting to the internet. Some devices (Amazon Firestick 4K) are still able to connect to the network but have no internet connection. The problem is persistent once it happens and router and network resets have no effect.

- 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?

The hub light remains blue and phones are unable to connect to the 5GHz band but some others can, with no internet.

- 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?

The channels are split with different names. Only the 5GHz is affected.

- 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?

The problem is persistent and router/ channel resets don't fix it. I have a TV, PC, and Hive home hub connected by ethernet which are unaffected.

- 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]

No.

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

I'm unable to resolve the problem.

- 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.

Affects all devices connecting to 5GHz.

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

No.

- 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.

* Plusnet Hub
* PC (Ethernet)
* TV (Ethernet)
* Hive home hub (Ethernet)
* 2 x Samsung phones
* Nintendo Switch

[#10]

I would like to try the pushed 'fix' to the hub if possible please. I have been following this issue hoping a universal fix would be applied but as it is taking a while (understandably it seems complicated) anything that might help is now worth a try from my perspective.

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

5GHz seemingly spontaneously stops working. Initially, 5GHz would stop working and devices would remain connected to the 5GHz network with no internet access but no new devices could connect to the 5GHz network. More recently, internet access is lost but devices can still connect. Only way to restore internet access is restart Hub 1.

2.4GHz is unaffected and continues to provide internet access as normal when 5GHz goes down.

Frequency is utterly random, sometimes weeks can go by with no issue but other times it can happen every few days or rarely twice in the same day.

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?

Hub status indicator is normal; no obvious association between devices and hub.

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?

Split - only the 5GHz band is affected, 2.4GHz seems unaffected.

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?

Once the problem occurs internet access on 5Ghz is permanently lost; it remains this way until Hub is restated by disconnection from mains.

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]

No. There is no way to trigger the issue.

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

Rebooting the hub always resolves the issue so far; problems reoccur randomly in intervals of weeks, days or rarely more than once in a day. No pattern is discernible.

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.

All devices connected to the 5GHz band are affected and once it occurs new devices which connect have no internet access on that band.

The devices I connected on 5Ghz permanently are an Amazon Echo 1 and Amazon Dot (first generation); iPhone 6S occasionally connects to 5Ghz. The problem can occur when these devices are actively being used OR when they are not.

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

No. The problem has been ongoing since I got the Hub 1 about 18 months ago or so ago and first tried to use the 5Ghz band.

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.

1 x Amazon Echo (gen 1) on 2.4 ghz.

1 x Amazon Echo (gen 1) on 5Ghz.

1 x Echo Dot (gen 1) on 5Ghz.

1 x Amazon Firestick (gen 2) via ethernet.

1 x Iphone 6S on 2.4/5Ghz.

1 x windows 10 laptop 2.4ghz

I have one powerline adaptor to a ethernet connected PC – but this is not the issue as the problem occurs even if I disconnect this.

[#11]

This problems has been unresolved for over one year.  Customers likely to leave at the end of contract.  Would it not be cheaper just to send a new (different) router to its customers?

[#12]

Hi @Gordon2308 There will be many out there that do not have the problem (if it isn't broken why try to fix it), also there of course are others who do not have that router, they have bought another type. I presume therefore you can see the difficult situation of finding who has the router in question that they are experiencing problems with and pushing the upgrade to. Comparing this to the cost of issuing new routers to all PN customers even if it is not required. The problem has been resolved to those so far who have reported it and I think under the circumsatnces @bobpullen is doing an excellent job with issuing the fix.

[#13]

Hi,  I have read the post that Bob Pullen put up and tried all the suggestions.  In the end the only "fix" that stopped some of my devices from losing their connection was to switch of the 5GHz channel.  I do not consider my problems resolved.  I can either run 5GHz and put up with the hassle of having to reset my hub at frequent intervals or switch off 5GHz and run all my devices at 2.4MHz. 

Is there any other solution?

[#14]

Hi @Gordon2308 So you are saying you have the correct updated software and still have the same problems that being the case suggest you report the problem, if you have not got the update suggest you request it.

[#15]

This problem has been around for at least the whole of 2020 for me. Until I read your message I was not even aware of it. I am not a technical man and wouldn't dream of attempting any of your well meant instructions. I am unable to contact Plusnet by Chat or Phone so in a limbo as to what to do. I just keep switching the router off/on.

Can I just buy another router and replace the Plusnet One and what do you recommended please?

When are Plusnet going to fix this issue once and for all? I've been loyal  customer since 2006 if this makes any difference