Using the BT Smarthub 6 on a Plusnet Account

[#1]

@nmart 

Permitted BT passwords a few years back had to be between 6 and 32 characters containing upper case letters plus lower case letters plus numbers with no special characters.

[#2]

The password problem was due the firmware not being updated prior to connection.

May I suggest a Hard reset by placing a pin in the back of the BT Router. Ensure you press hard enough and long enough.

Also do a reset in the hubs interface. 

Only connect the dsl cable after you have entered your username@plusdsl.net and your password and just before you press the connect tab.

Also make sure that "Smart set up"  is switched off in the BT interface after both of the resets.

[#3]

Thank you so much for this guide!

I bought an ASUS DSL-N55U router which was a mistake because I later found out it wont function due to not supporting VDSL connections. After confirming this I scoped out some TP-Link routers on a certain auction site, but then after some research I found some posts recommending the BTB Hub as a fantastic replacement for the Plusnet Hub. I managed to purchase a brand new open box BTB Hub 6 (old logo) from an IT reseller for £21 inc shipping! After a week waiting it arrived today, and after following this guide to the letter (skipping the reset portion, since the hub is new) everything is working perfectly!!! Even using Cloudfare DNS.

Thank you so much for this guide! Will see if I have less issues (dropouts) with this router compared with Plusnet Hub. 

Also my upload went up by 2mb

Such a shame that Plusnet does these price hikes which makes their service £4 more expensive than the same speed service I can get elsewhere, now I really do not wanna switch next month because I will have to go through issues again but honestly I feel like Plusnet could charge a bit less for their Fibre.

[#4]

@CamoGeko 

If you are in the last month of your contract then ring the Customer Options Team on 0800 013 2632 and explain that you are thinking of leaving, quoting the cheaper price. You never know!

[#5]

Why are there still problems with getting the BT router to connect? I thought the latest PlusNet router was a great improvement so no need to look elsewhere for a replacement?

[#6]

@mechanic123 

I don't know to whom you are addressing your question. If it's me then I have no idea. In my experience a failure to connect is either a failure to follow the instructions, that's both the original and the update, or a duff device.

The latest Plusnet Hub 2 is as you thought, a great improvement over the earlier Plusnet hubs and is a derivitive of the BT residential Smarthub 2.

The earlier BT Business Smarthub has the same wireless performance plus the added feature of being able to split the 2.4 and 5GHz bands. The downside is that whilst it may be nicely wrapped and unused it will be a few years old and probably has no guarantee. In addition it will not auto configure when connected to a Plusnet service, the Plusnet hubs will.

[#7]

Good suggestion, and honestly I would do it but I rarely speak to people on the phone as I suffer from high levels of anxiety. 

So the only way I can really speak with them is via email or chat. Is this possible? @Baldrick1 

Thanks for the suggestion though.

[#8]

I still have mine in a cupboard (BT Business Smart Hub 6). Now use 4G broadband having relocated to the Scottish Highlands (without even a fibre connection - great job with the digital connectivity initiatives Scottish Government!). If you search my other posts I suppose you will find the exact model, but I used to use it with Plusnet and it was certainly superior to the factory default Plusnet router.

How much do these things sell for now? Would anyone like to buy mine?

[#9]

@lynxthecat They dont go for much, I got mine brand new (open box) for £21. I've seen a couple go lower than that at auction.

I'm curious, what kinds of speeds do you get with 4G?

[#10]

It ranges between 25 Mbit/s and 80 Mbit/s download and a tighter 25 to 35 Mbit/s upload. Amusingly this is superior to what I experienced with Plusnet fibre in Bakewell (around 20 MBit/s download or so and weaker upload).

I have since moved over to OpenWrt and have been working on an SQM bandwidth adaptation script. The bandwidth fluctuation presents a challenge in terms of maintaining effective SQM and low latency.

You can test your bufferbloat-related latency spike on connection saturation here:

https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat

See here:

https://forum.openwrt.org/t/cake-w-adaptive-bandwidth/108848/

https://github.com/lynxthecat/CAKE-autorate

[#11]

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@lynxthecat wrote:

...but I used to use it with Plusnet and it was certainly superior to the factory default Plusnet router.

---

Things move on. The 'default' ADSL hub has been upgraded to the Plusnet Hub One, previously only issued to fibre customers. Fibre customers now get the new Hub Two.

[#12]

Just some info re Firrware   my  BT Bussiness Smart Hub 6 - Type A  updated its firmware on 2 March 2022 

i only noticed a few minutres ago,  i rarely look at my router nowadays,  as all good 

Firmware version:  SG4B1B009311

[#13]

That's only new fibre customers, correct?

[#14]

@Ben1 

To whom are you addressing your post? If you start your post by typing @ a drop down list will appear, from which you can select the addressee.

[#15]

@Ben1 

Hi, I just renewed rather than being new and it was agreed that they would send a hub two

@Baldrick1 

Hi. Sorry for the dumbness of this question. I had problems with the PlusNet Hub One and bought a BT Hub 6 which improved things. PlusNet are now sending me the Hub Two, and from a quick search this seems to be better again (?) but I don’t really know what the implications are regarding 2.4GHz/5GHz. Can you help a poor old pensioner ?!