Using the BT Smarthub 6 on a Plusnet Account

[#1]

the problem is as soon as I connect the patch lead to it, (with no dsl cable connected) it just keeps opening tabs constantly there must of been 50. They don't load properly as its not connected, but it seems to want to connect to a site and every time it tries I'm taken off the current page I'm on and that's all it does. in-between it opening them I managed to get to the part were you put the Plusnet details in and finished the instructions and then nothing happened it just stayed solid orange. I am going to try again later to see if I missed anything hopefully I won't put my hammer through it 😕

[#2]

Can you not try with out the ethernet cable and use wireless.   

[#3]

It just says im not connected

[#4]

Select the wireless network on your computer to that  shown on the back of the powered up hub  , then enter http://192.168.1.254/ in the address bar

If multiple windows keeps opening up then delete your cache and cookies and restart computer and try again.

[#5]

@Itneverworks 

If you're within the 14 days cancellation window then send it back, buy a model 088315 from an auction site for a Business Smarthub 6 and rejoice that you've recovered the thick end of £100.

I have no idea whether the firmware installed in these ridiculously expensive high street products is any different to allegedly help you automatically connect to BTServices.

[#6]

---

@kaash wrote:
Both companies source hardware from same companies, any issues get feedback to the supplier and they send firmware seperately to both supplier according to what's been told. Both suppliers than push firmware to their routers.

---

Thanks for that, although not entirely clear. Why is it that the BT hub gets firmware updates often (seems to, according to reports here); but the Plusnet router (same hardware apparently) hasn't updated for over a year? And why no 'check for updates' in the menus such as we're used to for computer programs? Do you have a link for the 'supplier' to inform users if an update is due?

[#7]

@mechanic123 

There's no point in over thinking this. I believe that it is Plusnet who are responsible for supporting their Hub One and BT support Smarthubs. I have no idea if Sagecom are involved in firmware maintenance

These updates come as and when. Certainly when there are business Smarthub firmware updates it can be several weeks between the first reports of an update being mentioned on this forum and mine being updated. It's never stopped working for me so I just let it do its own thing and it sorts itself out in the end.

[#8]

BT routers will talk over the Internet to BT servers & get their updates from BT. The frequency of the updates will be driven by BT requirements. Not all changes are positive for Plusnet users, for example the inability to turn off BT WiFi in the latest release.

On a separate subject, does anyone else suffer from the getting the wrong location on Google maps after installing a used Hub? I've installed 2 Hubs over the past few weeks and on both occasions it's taken over a week for Google maps to realise that I'm not at the place I got the router from. This is not a new issue globally and has been reported quite a few times elsewhere, I'm just curious if it happens to others on here.  

[#9]

@cancunia 

I have yet to hear that the inability to switch off BT Wifi is affecting Plusnet customers. Can you advise, for examplr:

Is the router actually transmitting the BT FON/wifi SSID? I have a Business Smarthub which does not have this issue.

Is this resulting in loss of bandwidth? I understand that it's not supposed to use any BTcustomers bandwidth if the customer can use it.

Also as far as I am aware geo location is derived from your IP address, not the router.

 Depending on which geo location database I try my 'hub' is located in 3 different parts of the country and none anywhere near where I live.

[#10]

The inability to switch off BT WiFi is just a niggle so far as I can make out. I mentioned it to illustrate the point that BT Hubs have BT firmware that is designed & intended for running on BT services. Another, maybe better example is that the Home versions use BT DNS & can't be changed. 

Google location services collect WiFi BSSID location info via mobile devices & use that info to aid quick location finding in addition to GPS for Android apps that use location services such as Google Maps & Strava amongst others. The problem is that if a WiFi router is moved, the Google database takes a while to get updated. I did a lot of reading on this a couple of weeks ago when I discovered that my phone insisted that it was on the other side of town, outside the house where I'd got the router. This is not purely a BT Hub feature, but I've only noticed it happening with  BT Hubs. I bought a Billion 7800 router a few weeks ago and never had any problem.

Here's Google telling you how to opt out of location data collection:

https://support.google.com/maps/answer/1725632?hl=en-GB

Here's a general search on the subject:

my router is in the wrong place  

[#11]

@cancunia 

IThere seems to be a couple of issues with BT based routers (the Hub One is a Home Hub 5 A under the garish case) that is undesirable. Both synchronise the 2.4 and 5GHz bands by default and both use fixed DNS servers, I assume that the both use the same servers be they using different IP addresses. The exceptions being the BT Business versions.

What bothers me more is this geolocation thing.

I accept that nosy data collection agencies such as Google will use mobile phone masts and other tricks to track a mobile device. Indeed I accept that some people are happy to have their privacy compromised in this way. I also understand getting location from an IP address, in theory at least. What I simply can't get my head around at the moment is that Google can locate where I live by presumably picking up the wireless SSID from my router. The only other route that I can see is if there is a leak back through a mobile device that is connected both to mobile data and the router.

I have had a quick look at your links and remain sceptical, but am always willing to learn

[#12]

After missing out on a couple of BT Business Hubs I have had a few more signal drop outs over the last few days, so I called Plusnet this afternoon and expressed my dissatisfaction with the device and service. One of their techies asked me to reset the router and told me he was going to do something from their end and hopefully things will improve. If not I will look at the BT Business Hub 6, but I’d rather not shell out any money unless as I have to as I’d heard there was a possibility FTTP maybe on the horizon.  

Thanks for the advice so far and I will keep you posted

[#13]

IMHO, pricewise, a used HH6 is probably the best value device you can get. There are a couple of niggles such as BT WiFi & DNS (on the home version), but neither really affect performance & in the case of the DNS, that can be worked around if desired.

I live in the sticks with a long ADSL line. When I moved from Sky to Plusnet last Sept, I got the basic Plusnet router which did not really perform. I replaced that with an old TalkTalk  router that I had spare which was better but would drop the ADSL every day. I bought a couple of other routers earlier this year, an old BT 2701 HGV & a Billion 7800N, both performed quite well with good ADSL stability and fair WiFi, the Billion 7800N also has the added attraction that the SNR Margin can be tweaked.

A few weeks ago, I installed a HH6 next door as their old HH4 was really not up to the job, it worked very well so when I got the chance to pick up another HH6 locally last week I installed that for myself to see how it compared. IMHO, it's just about as good as any of the others. The only problem that I had with both was that my Android phones decided that I'd temporarily moved house to the same place as each of the HH6's , then moved back after a week or so.

As I understand it from a bit of reading, Google, Apple, Mozilla & Skyhook (and probably others) collect Wifi BSSID location info via apps on phones, this is correlated with GPS info to provide quick & accurate location data. The WiFi BSSID is like a Mac address, it's a unique fixed length Hex string, so the data is mostly anonymous, but could be associated with a particular device so there's an opt out capability with Google, Mozilla and maybe with the others too. Microsoft have something called WiFi sense that does a similar thing. The simple fact is that if you have a mobile device, it's possible for someone to track your device movements.

https://location.services.mozilla.com/

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/wifi-sense-my-ssid-includes-optout-why-do-wind...

https://www.skyhook.com/

https://www.skyhook.com/opt-out-of-skyhook-products

[#14]

@cancunia 

I think that. I'm getting my head around this.

I am aware that a mobile phone can be approximately located by triangulating from mobile phone masts. I also understand that Microsoft set out to try to log public open WiFi hotspots location with the aim of automatically connecting users once in range. I understand that this has now been abandoned.

To try to locate private users router location from their WiFi is a totally different issue. To do so would be a grave invasion of privacy. Add in the technical issues due to the relatively short range of WiFi and I just can't imagine that it happens. This is why I don't understand why your phone would locate you in the same place as your router.

How do you know where your router is located? The only way that I know is from an IP address geolocation database and as previously discussed these can be wildly inaccurate. 

Is this all just a coincidence?

[#15]

---

@Baldrick1 wrote:

@cancunia 

I think that. I'm getting my head around this.

...

To try to locate private users router location from their WiFi is a totally different issue. To do so would be a grave invasion of privacy. Add in the technical issues due to the relatively short range of WiFi and I just can't imagine that it happens. This is why I don't understand why your phone would locate you in the same place as your router.

---

Your phone, assuming you gave it permission to shares location data with App / Company x. App /Company X knows which wi-fi you are connected to. So it knows when connected to that wifi you are in a specific location.

Also App / Company x has other users around you that use their own wifi and share location. apps can also see which other wifi networks are around you and can get a location from triangulating that as well.

Companies also use bluetooth to be able to locate you.