Splitting 2.4 and 5GHz SSIDs on Plusnet Hub Two

[#1]

Not being able to split the 2.4 and 5GHz bands on the Plusnet Hub Two seems, frankly, stupid.

I've seen posts from people such as @Baldrick1 saying that it is unlikely to be fixed, and giving various workarounds, but it seems like such a backwards step that I'm going to describe my problem here:

My Hub Two is excellent.  The WiFi signal reaches all around the house.  The 'stupid' part I mentioned before is: Why should I be forced to buy another WiFi device, to sit consuming power, costing me money in the first place, and eventually becoming more e-waste?

I have a NAS.  The NAS has a 1Gbps connection to my router.  As things are, mine or my partners laptops can connect on either 2.4 or 5GHz bands.  I've set them both to 'prefer' 5GHz, but sometimes they connect to 2.4GHz despite being in the next room.  I expect it's a stronger signal so I don't blame them, but with my old SSE/Origin router I never had any problems with using the 5GHz band everywhere the laptops go.

I also need to have 2.4GHz.  I have some smart plugs/devices that use it.  No, I'm not going to replace them just because someone at Plusnet thinks they're being clever by not giving me the option to do something they could enable by ticking a box.  I know the functionality is already there.

I also WANT 2.4GHz for some devices.  It reaches further than the 5GHz signal, so I connect our phones and some other devices to it, things that don't need to access the network drive.  2.4GHz is faster than our broadband anyway.

I can't set the laptops to 5GHz only.  There are plenty of places that only have 2.4GHz, or where the 2.4GHz signal is stronger.  I volunteer for a charity that was donated a load of excellent 2.4GHz APs to cover a large site.  They work really well, and won't be replaced any time soon.

So there you go.  LOADS of reasons to want to split the SSIDs, many of which will apply to 'normal' (non-geeky) people. 

So what's the deal Plusnet?  Why are you scared of lettting people do what they want?

I'd really like to hear:

1. If I'm missing something and there's a fix for my problem that doesn't involve forking out a load of cash?

2. If you're planning to upgrade the Hub Two to include this functionality in the future?

[#2]

This morning one laptop is connected at 866/866 (Mbps) on the 5GHz band, the other is connected at 76/76 (Mbps) on 2.4GHz.

76Mbps is just above the speed of our ADSL connection, but for Plusnet customers on full fibre this must sometimes make people very confused 😕 - imagine how simple it would be to tell people just to tick the 'split SSID' box and then connect their laptop to the 5GHz band... 😁

[#3]

@jcswright welcome to the forum.

The Hub two features "Smart connect" which should negate the need to split 2.4 and 5 GHz wireless signals, so it is working as designed. 

I do agree that sometimes smart connect does not always work as hoped.

[#4]

Thank you @Dan_the_Van, that is very kind of you to answer, but you've given no reason to not include the option.

Unfortunately 'working as designed' is no good if the design is wrong; there's a bit too much 'should' and 'sometimes' and 'hope' in your reply, yet splitting the SSIDs would make all those words go away 🙂

I'm clearly not the only person who needs this, and of course all the people who don't care about their slow connections can/will just never see the tick-box anyway.  It's a win-win 😁

[#5]

The Plusnet Hub Two is very closely based on the BT Smart Hub 2/EE Smart Router. Both of the latter have accompanying mesh access points which beneift from the simplicity of the 2.4 and 5GHz SSIDs being aligned. Granted, the Hub Two does not currently have a mesh solution, but there are development efficiencies in keeping things common between firmwares.

[#6]

I have a Hub Two,  I have a mixture of 2.4 and 5 GHz devices, including 2.4Ghz only Tapo smart plugs, Ring camera, WIZ led lights, they connect without issues.

I care very much about the performance of my network, but for me I have never had any issues with the way the Hub performs wirelessly, but I am not a gamer, if I was I'd pay for a better router with QOS settings as currently I am a FTTC customer.

[#7 · Accepted solution]

@jcswright 

If you want to split the bands then have a look on auction sites for a business version of the original BT Smarthub a.k.a Smarthub 6. This has similar WiFi performance and you can split the bands. They are getting long in the tooth now but …

Setting instructions are pinned to the top of this board.

[#8]

Thank you @bobpullen - a useful reply, but again not giving any reason to not allow this feature!

If it's being used with mesh access points, disable the ability to split the SSIDs.  I bet a large number of the people who decide they're getting a poor signal are actually connecting to the 2.4GHz band and seeing slow speeds on their fibre service.  I wonder if Plusnet considered that...?

I can see that the only way around this is going to be to buy a separate AP.

[#9]

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@Dan_the_Van wrote:

I have a Hub Two,  I have a mixture of 2.4 and 5 GHz devices, including 2.4Ghz only Tapo smart plugs, Ring camera, WIZ led lights, they connect without issues.

I care very much about the performance of my network, but for me I have never had any issues with the way the Hub performs wirelessly, but I am not a gamer, if I was I'd pay for a better router with QOS settings as currently I am a FTTC customer.

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Thank you @Dan_the_Van, but I don't see how this relates to my post.

All my smart devices connect without issues, and I'm not a gamer either.

[#10]

@jcswright - yes, all of the use cases you've listed will have been considered. Client devices these days do a fairly decent job of connecting to the most performant of the two radios, although I recognise there will always be exceptions.

[#11]

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@Baldrick1 wrote:

If you want to split the bands then have a look on auction sites for a business version of the original BT Smarthub a.k.a Smarthub 6. This has similar WiFi performance and you can split the bands. They are getting long in the tooth now but …

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Thank you @Baldrick1, I think yours is the only answer.  If even non-Plusnet employees are so desperate to defend this poor design choice then I'm banging my head against a brick wall...

I'm going to keep a lookout on eBay for something like a TP-Link EAP225 access point - then if I do need to extend the network in the future I can do the job properly.

I hope people can see the irony in the actual best solution being to purchase additional hardware from a different company, BT or otherwise 🤣

[#12]

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@bobpullen wrote:

@jcswright - yes, all of the use cases you've listed will have been considered. Client devices these days do a fairly decent job of connecting to the most performant of the two radios, although I recognise there will always be exceptions.

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It seems 'most performant' can also mean the one with the strongest signal.  Yours is another reply with unhelpful words like 'fairly decent' and 'exceptions'.

I'm confused about why everyone is leaping to the defence of a clearly poor decision, but I guess when people feel invested in something they want to stick up for it no matter what.

I think I've got my answer now, as ironic as it turned out to be...

[#13]

@jcswright 

I just making the point that the Hub Two works as intended, as already been suggested if you see the need to split the SSID you'd need to look elsewhere as I very much doubt the changes you're look for will happen. I leave you to find out yourself.

If even non-Plusnet employees are so desperate to defend this poor design choice then I'm banging my head against a brick wall...

I am not defending the Hub all I am saying it works for me, may be not you, not sure why you need to adopt such an attitude.

[#14]

Yeah - sorry @Dan_the_Van, I had the attitude because I felt yours and other replies weren't helpful.

I can't think of a great example, but it's freezing cold here so perhaps it's like I said 'I live in a cold place and my heating isn't working very well, can anyone help' and you replied 'I live in a hot place so I don't need heating'.

I apologise.

Also, I am so stupid 🤣 - I just realised @Baldrick1 has a variety of pinned posts about re-purposing various hubs, including how to split the SSIDs, that have combined views of over 1/4 million.  So it's not just me - turns out I was right all along, but I didn't see what was under my nose 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[#15]

@jcswright 

Remember that Plusnet is the budget arm of BT where (I suspect) the majority of users just want something that you simply 'plug and play' without the need to delve into the router's settings. For these and many others the HUB2 just works for their needs.