Hub One - 5GHz WiFi issue

[#1]

The router design is nice and sleek, but I don't like the pink bits and the logo makes it look like a first aid box!

[#2]

@byheck @viper777 @Les3 & @MixerFistit - I've pushed an update to your routers. You'll need to power them off/back on from your side to apply it.

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@CW1 wrote:

I called support Friday evening following a day of multiple dropouts and poor WiFi. The technician I spoke to said that my account was showing as having "two sessions". I was instructed to do a factory reset. When I quizzed the technician he said that having the two sessions would have caused problems for the router and would be exacerbating any problems. He was confident that the reset on on my router and from his end would fix my issues.

Not sure exactly what the two sessions thing means or if there is a way to identify this from the router.

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Two active PPP sessions. i.e. two routers connected simultaneously using your broadband account credentials. This only really causes problems where you are assigned a static IP (you are not). You can't have two entities on the Internet at the same time with the same public IP address as it causes havoc with routing advertisements. All this said, I don't see any evidence of duplicate sessions against your account so not sure why the advisor you spoke to believed this to be the case

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@shineyhappy2020 wrote:

This thread shows that you have to complete an essay before Plusnet are willing to try to fix your individual problem.

The intention of asking for the detail is to try and establish patterns/reliable methods of replicating the issue. Whilst we're pretty confident we've done what we need to in order to resolve the issue in a future firmware build, we have still failed to replicate this issue reliably in a lab environment. Replication/understanding the circumstances that lead to this issue would mean we can be entirely certain our fix addresses all cases. This is to the benefit of everybody. It is not an attempt to be obstructive.

I've had .273 firmware since end of December and still see slow or unreliable wifi that was never an issue with my previous ISPs router. It did fix some issues, but it's still not reliable.

This isn't the only bug Ross. There are other isolated issues under investigation concerning throughput/speed etc. It will be interesting to see how things pan out for you once the formal build is deployed as it fixes more than just the issue being discussed in this thread.

If the problem was simply a firmware fix, Plusnet would have done that long ago.

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The intention is still very much to resolve this problem via firmware deployment. It isn't going to increase the capability of the hub beyond it's physical limitations, but I'm hopeful it will stem the majority of issues being cited here. Granted, it's taken far longer than I'd have liked, but has proved very challenging behind the scenes.

@marleythecat wrote:
Are you honestly saying that I just happen to have the same issue at different addresses with different equipment, and it's not your hardware causing it?

Huh? Where in this thread are we saying that the router isn't causing some customers problems? Are you still experiencing issues following the update I pushed to you?

[#3]

@bobpullen I wasn't saying you specifically, but looking at the number of people having this issue both pre and post firmware update, and the fact it's seemingly proving impossible to replicate the issue in the lab, would it not be a better solution to issue customers with new hardware going forward?

I'm not sure if I've had the firmware update pushed to me yet, I don't seem to have been tagged in one of your posts, (unless I have missed it), but if you have pushed it out then unfortunately yes I do seem to still have issues where the connection just randomly freezes.

[#4]

Updated without issue.  many Thanks

[#5]

Hi Bob

Thanks for your help! I see the stability of WiFi has been significantly improved since I received the update.

I'll keep and eye on the reliability of network and report new issues.

I didn't know this thread exists

[#6]

Hi again @bobpullen 

Interesting issue since the FW upgrade. The Hub stays up and running with both 2.4 and 5Ghz. All devices stay connected at all times to both.

However, for the past 2 days, three times (early morning, mid-afternoon and late-night) the hub totally disconnects from the internet (orange/red light on the hub, continuous flashing red/orange icon on the front). Each time it takes approx 5 mins and then reconnects.

Any ideas?

Apols if this feedback is inappropriate for the thread 😄

Cheers

[#7]

Thanks Bob
I have restart the hub and update was successful. Seems to okay at the moment but will monitor how things are over the next few days. Help much appreciated

[#8]

Hi @bobpullen 

We also seem to be suffering with the 5GHz wifi issues - it just stops working.  Disabling and re-enabling works for a short time.  2.4GHz works ok.  Can you push the update down to me please?

The current firmware is

Plusnet Hub One | Software version 4.7.5.1.83.8.263 | Last updated 19/02/19

Thanks

Arcanum

[#9]

Hi @bobpullen , 

Please could you push out the BETA upgrade to my router? 

Many thanks, 

Clare

[#10]

Hi Bob,

Could you also push the update to my router?

Cheers!

[#11]

Hi @bobpullen ,

Just an update since I've resumed work in January. I'm mainly OK, sometimes with low bandwidth but that could easily be my work VPN throttling. My wife has said she had fewer dropouts since the 289 upgrade, but it wasn't perfect either. For diagnostic purpose, we decided that I would be on the 5GHz band whilst she was on the 2.4MHz one; same for our respective work laptops. I thought it was her work VPN "causing trouble/being incompatible with the router", but interestingly, one night at the weekend, her phone and her tablet lost internet connection, whereas my phone and my tablet were OK. I am beginning to wonder if we now have a 2.4GHz problem on this firmware?

Also, we have noticed an increase in issues this week, but I wasn't near the router at the time so I cannot vouch that it is just WiFi. The other info is that we renewed our contract with PN on Monday (anyone please, don't judge us, it was just easier in lockdown and the wired line is actually stable): do you think renewing the contract is related to the recent increase (i.e. were they doing line testing for some reason)?

Re. fw 263 lab test, did you try to get the bands busy, i.e. several devices sharing the same WiFi channel? I seem to remember that when I noticed a lost connection, there was a neighbour's device stalking me. Sorry not to mention this earlier.

Also, I am probably going beyond my remits here but, have you talked to Sagemcom about their router? Did they change something? A software bug which cannot be ironed out can sometimes be traced back to a hardware quirk or an "improvement" from the manufacturer...

[#12]

Hi @bobpullen 

I have exactly the same symptoms as @MagNeto describes. Rare 2.4Ghz issues, bandwidth seems to shrink from time to time (it's noticeable when I watch youtube in 4K) and recently renewed contract.

Thank you!

[#13]

@bobpullen I'm not sure if I've been upgraded or not but all day long today the 5GHz has been freezing intermittently, and my Sky Q box (2.4GHz connection) isn't connecting to Netflix at all, my Ring doorbell is very patchy as well. Is there any other solution I can try in addition to the firmware? When this issue occurs the connection is nigh on unusable.

[#14]

@marleythecat your firmware version number will be on the bottom of the router's Web interface.

@bobpullen I didn't post earlier because I didn't want to clutter the thread, but as I'm responding to someone else I'll take the opportunity to thank you for the upgrade. So far so good. 5GHz throughput is around 71mbs (Netflix was pulling 1.69Mbps at the time of the test too). 2.4GHz was only 30mbps tested at almost the same time on a good 117mbps wifi link. This was lower than expected. It may be normal or it may be a consequence of the update I'm not sure. I don't really care but thought I'd share the observation with you.

[#15]

Hi @bobpullen you're correct we had no choice but to buy a new router - Plusnet could only offer us another Hub One (what a joke given thats whats been causing the problem) and with 2 working from home and 2 kids home schooling we couldn't wait for a fix to be rolled out. 2.4G and 5G were regularly kicking devices off and it became unsustainable. Our new router has solved several other problems we had in the house with wifi connectivity and our connect speeds are faster than ever.

I still have the routers and would like the update on them at some point as a back up but I can't do that at the moment.