Hub One - 5GHz WiFi issue

[#1]

@bobpullen I am experiencing this issue, please share the firmware update with us  

1. Brief description of the problem, and how is masquerades itself. What are the symptoms? How frequently does it happen?
   Resetting the router or toggling 5ghz off and on again causes the 5ghz channel to be accessible again for a short while, after which it is still visible but not accessible.
   
   
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 indicator is normal/blue when the problem occurs, and affects all wireless devices attempting to connect to the 5ghz channel
   
   
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?
   The channels are split, and named differently. The problem only affects the 5GHz channel.
   
   
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 does not affect wired devices, only wireless devices that attempt to connect to the 5GHz channel
   
   
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]
   The issue *will* happen after a short while, but I am not aware of any circumstance that specifically triggers it.
   
   
6. Is the problem always resolved by rebooting the hub?  If so, how long does it take before problems recur?
   Restarting the hub usually fixes it but we try not to restart the hub very often. It will usually recur within the same day as being restarted.
   
   
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.
   Every wireless device that attempts to connect to the 5GHz channel experiences this issue.
   
   
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.
   We currently use powerline adapters, but the problem was present before we installed them. We have a permanently (wired) connected raspberry pi which runs very low-load tasks. Besides, 2 google chromcast with google TV devices, 4 smartphones, 2 laptops, and 1 desktop PC. 

[#2]

@bobpullen  I am experiencing these problems on Plusnet Hub One | Software version 4.7.5.1.83.8.263 | Last updated 15/03/19.

Can you update firmware for me please?

Cheers

Dave

[#3]

@bobpullen  My family have been experiencing these problems on Plusnet Hub One | Software version 4.7.5.1.83.8.263 | Last updated 15/03/19. I have been asked to switch provider as they are fed up with running on only 2GHZ. I would prefer not to switch as it is a lot of hassle, if there is a firmware update that might fix this can we try it ASAP. 

Can you update firmware for me please?

Thanks

Kevin

[#4]

@bobpullen I am experiencing this issue, is there a fix that can be pushed to my router?

1. Brief description of the problem, and how is masquerades itself. What are the symptoms? How frequently does it happen?
   Resetting the router or toggling 5ghz off and on again causes the 5ghz channel to be accessible again for a short while, after which it is still visible but not accessible. Happens almost every night.
   
   
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 indicator is normal/blue when the problem occurs, and affects all wireless devices attempting to connect to the 5ghz channel.
   
   
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?
   The channels are split, and named differently. The problem only affects the 5GHz channel.
   
   
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 does not affect wired devices, only wireless devices that attempt to connect to the 5GHz channel.
   
   
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]
   The issue *will* happen after a short while, but I am not aware of any circumstance that specifically triggers it. I only have a nest hub connected to the 5Ghz channel. Always happens overnight from what I can tell.
   
   
6. Is the problem always resolved by rebooting the hub?  If so, how long does it take before problems recur?
   Restarting the hub usually fixes it but we try not to restart the hub very often. The problem usually occurs again during the night as in the morning my nest hub has no connection.
   
   
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.
   Every wireless device that attempts to connect to the 5GHz channel experiences this issue.
   
   
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.
   The problem occurs during the night and the devices connected at that point are a google nest hub (5Ghz), two smart plugs (2.4Ghz), and two CCWGTV (5Ghz).

[#5]

Thank you @bobpullen for the upgrade.

We can now connect to 5GHz wifi. Unfortunately the 2.4GHz is now useless. We can connect to the boradband but speed is slow.

Any clues? / Anyone experiencing this?

Thank you

[#6]

Hi

Many thanks.  I have been away so have only applied update yesterday.

Today the wireless connections in the house froze and the ethernet wired connection from PC to router would not allow access to router.  Restarted router manually and all reconnected.

Seems that is still not completely stable.

[#7]

@bobpullen 

I am having problems - see this thread.  

I've been advised to ask for the Hub One firmware upgrade.

I'm on:

Software version 4.7.5.1.83.8.263 Last updated Unknown 

Thanks

James

[#8]

Hi Bob,

I recently joined Plusnet and have found the same issues described below. I was slightly put off by the customer service email telling me that if there was no fault found with my equipment I'd be charged £65 by having an engineer come round. I was advised to refresh or manually change the wireless channels, which I seem to have to do every couple of days and it has made working from home a nightmare. Seems fine when plugged in via ethernet, but this isn't feasible for 3 of us working from home...

Thanks for your suggestions - any word on whether new routers will be made available soon or am I best to try and get out of the contract as it's not really possible to carry on like this!

1. Brief description of the problem, and how is masquerades itself. What are the symptoms? How frequently does it happen?
   - Every day or two some or all devices in the house will either slow to a halt or say no internet available. Can only be fixed by plugging directly into ethernet.
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 indicator light is still blue, though I notice on several nights around midnight it will go orange for a while
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?
   - default setting
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?
   - it seems super hard to find a channel either manually or using the smart channel refresh to get it working again. I might spend anywhere from 10 mins to an hour getting things working again.
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]
   - No - appears to be completely random and can strike at any time.
6. Is the problem always resolved by rebooting the hub?  If so, how long does it take before problems recur?
   - I've been trying to mainly refresh the wifi channels rather than turning the hub on and off again each time.
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.
   - 1x Macbook Pros (2020 16" model), 2x MacBook Airs, 2x iphones, 1x Google Pixel
8. Have the devices experiencing problems recently received any patches that might correspond with the time the issue first occurred?
   - No - they work fine everywhere else except at home on our Plusnet router.
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.

- Wired in directly to the hub - Bose Soundbar 700, PS5, LG TV (I did have an WD wireless MyCloud Home drive but I have disconnected that for now as that seemed to make it worse as well)
- Wireless - 3x MacBooks, 2x iphones, 1x Google Pixel.

[#9]

@rowleyway I thought it was just the channel around me that was just getting increasingly congested but I have found since the update that the 2.4 GHz connected devices are now much slower.

Most are low data smart devices that don’t support 5Ghz but before I finally managed to move my printer over that was painfully slow on 2.4Ghz.

Coincidence maybe?

[#10]

I am also suffering the issue described in [1]. Basically I have to reset the router every day as all devices end up saying No internet, but are connected to the wifi and can load the router admin page. It seems to only occur on days that I connect to my work VPN. As far as I can tell the best option is to get the firmware described in [1]. Could you please schedule this for me? Thanks in advance!

Matthew.

[1] https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/DNS-Issues/td-p/1745510

[#11]

@bobpullen 

Please can you push the firmware update to my router. I have been experiencing the issue with 5Ghz dropping internet for a couple of years but it is now happening multiple times on a daily basis and is driving me up the wall lol.

Plusnet Hub One | Software version 4.7.5.1.83.8.263 | Last updated Unknown

Would really appreciate getting this fixed as there is so much congestion on the 2.4ghz band in my area it is useless but 5Ghz works great when it doesn't keep dropping out and I have to restart the router.

Many Thanks!

[#12]

I return to this thread from time to time to see what progress is being made.

Do we still not have any idea when the definitive fix will be released to all the routers?

Bob Pullen must be tearing his hair out at the delays - and at the extra work involved in pushing out an intermediate fix one by one to people who request it.

I've seen reports of problems from BT customers with their BT routers. These problems get acknowledged and BT says it will address the problems as a matter of urgency. Why is Plusnet management not treating this issue with similar urgency? 18 months on, Plusnet still appears to be shipping Hub One routers with the problematic .263 firmware to new customers, which shows that - apart from Bob - nobody's taking the problem seriously.

[#13]

Evening. Same problem (surprisingly) Only effects devices on 5G. Utterly random as to when it happens. Have disabled the 5g and everything is now on the 2.4 and crawling along, so really isn't a solution. If the firmware change away from the .263 which I'm running is likely to allow me to use 5G again that would be most appreciated, please push out. 

Thank you kindly @bobpullen 

[#14]

Absolutely mental that this thread has been going for so long and that Plusnet are still sending out dodgy routers with no fix. Having joined 3 months ago I’m greatly resenting the next 21months of my contract.

Speaking to customer service on Tuesday, the lady recommended my 2 flatmates and I just plug in all of our devices (including iPhones) via Ethernet. What a workaround!

Help us @bobpullen. You’re our only hope.

[#15]

Hi @bobpullen,

I've been suffering with this issue as well, thinking that my router is dying! (I've had it a while, 4 years I think).

I'm on the .263 firmware and have basically moved everything into the 2.4ghz band to work around the issue (I've had split bands for a long time). 

The hopefully you get a nice break and when you get back the queue of requests isn't too big!

Thanks Matt