Technicolor 582N - Unable to change SSID or Password

[#1]

Hi,

I'm helping a family member on Plusnet ADSL (21CN).  Their normal router is the Hub Zero (2704), and I'm donating my Technicolour ex-Plusnet router for them to keep as a spare. For convenience I wanted to change the SSID and password on the Technicolour to match their normal router, so there's no end-user difference if they run on the spare router.  However it seems impossible to change, from the web page on which you can edit the settings when you press "apply" (or is it "save", I can't remember now), the page just hangs indefinitely.   Going back into the UI the settings are unchanged.

The odd thing is that I was using this router at home on a non-Plusnet service and I had everything customised so I know that it was possible to set custom SSID and password when I was using it.   So although it sounds far-fetched, is it possible that when the router is connected to a Plusnet ADSL service the router is in some way locked?

Thanks, Tony S

[#2]

Hey @aesmith,

It's not likely its locked, but the first thing I would suggest is to give it a factory reset with a pin in the back to see if that helps?

You're also not trying to change settings while on a tablet or a phone are you? Sometimes form data doesn't go through properly on devices like Ipads for example causing the page to hang. It could even just be the wifi signal.

It might be worth seeing if you can change the settings via a wired connection to a laptop.

Failing that, It could just be the router showing its age and might have reached the end of its life. If its a technicolor, I'm assuming you've had it at least 5 years? 

[#3]

Thanks.   I'm pretty sure I was using my laptop over Ethernet but wouldn't like to swear on that.   As I think I mentioned the router was already customised for own home network, ready to swap in place or our normal router on a non-Plusnet DSL.  What I did at the family house was to reset the router to factory default, from the web interface.  That defaulted to PPPoE so I changed to PPPoA and added the hostname and password.  Stupid thing with that router was it woudn't save those either unless connected to the phone line at the time, so I connected it and confirmed the link was coming up with a sensible speed etc.   That was the point I tried to change the SSID and password, unsuccessfully.

Next time I'm down I'll have another look, maybe it needs to be offline to change the wireless parameters.

Edit - not sure of the age.  It was originally supplied for an FTTC service, to go with an OR modem but in fact never put into service as we had more suitable gear.

[#4]

@aesmith it seems odd that it wouldn't accept any PPP changes without being connected to the line. Never heard of that before if i'm honest. 

Although you mention you never really used it, i'm beginning to suspect that it may be a problem with the router. I know you reset via the interface, but try giving it a hard reset with a pin in the back.

[#5]

it seems odd that it wouldn't accept any PPP changes without being connected to the line. Never heard of that before if i'm honest. 

That seems to be a deliberate design decision in the UI, when the credentials are edited and you hit Save it tests them by trying to connect, and if unsuccessful it reverts to the previous settings (or in this case back to default of tr069@plusdsl.net if I remember correctly).

Although not in service for long at any one time, the router didn't misbehave on my non-Plusnet service, I had it configured to match my normal router so password, IP and DHCP, SSID and security settings were all customised and stayed configured.  In fact it all seems perfectly OK apart from being a low function and poorly performing router.

I'll try the pin reset next time I'm down.

[#6]

@aesmith - thanks for getting back to us.  

it seems odd that it wouldn't accept any PPP changes without being connected to the line. Never heard of that before if i'm honest. 

That seems to be a deliberate design decision in the UI,

I'll have a chat about this with a few people. 

I'll try the pin reset next time I'm down.

Hopefully it won't come to that, but let us know if it helps. 

Kind Regards, 

MoR

[#7]

@aesmith 

I don't know if it's the same for a Hub Zero but when configuring the user name and password on a Smarthub 6 for use on Plusne then the trick is to disconnect the DSL cable, set the new username and password and save. It will then come up with a 'connecting' message. Whilst this is showing you plug in the DSL cable and it all locks in nicely. This is a one off operation after a factory reset only.

You probably need to do this on your family members internet connection. It's worth a try.