Wifi using Plusnet Hub One - poor signal

[#1]

Prior to upgrading to Fibre, we used our own router and everything was fine. Having upgraded to +NetFibre, we were issued with this Hub One, and it is located in exactly the same place as the previous one.

We live in a very small (but old) house, and if you sit in the bath, the Wifi signal drops out and you end up either loosing connectivity or using mobile data allowance. Is there anything that can be done, to improve the the signal strength? Currently using the 2.4ghz and automatic channel selection.

As a side issue, we live just across from the BT exchange, and can see an SSID of BTWifi, is this usable to us, without charge?

[#2]

@mikcatta 

You could try

1. Using a different wireless channel. Go into the hub advanced wireless settings, switch off auto and select a different channel.

2. Switch off the 5GHz band. Setting on the same page.

3. Use your old hub in place of the Hub One, if suitable, or set it up as a Wireless Access Point, if possible, and use that for wireless instead of your Plusnet hub. If you need advice on this tell us which hub you have.

4.  Get a better hub, many of us use a BT Smarthub bought for little money from an auction site. You will find settings and more info pinned to the top of the router board.

Edit, no you can’t use BT WiFi on the Plusnet service.

[#3]

Moderators Note

This topic has been moved from Fibre to My Router

[#4]

Hey @mikcatta,

I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing issues with the service. Have you had the chance to give any of @Baldrick1's suggestions a go? Please let us know how things go and we'll be happy to help wherever possible should any issues persist.

[#5]

Hi @Baldrick1 

1. Was using a specific channel (1), and switched it back to auto. No joy.

2. Only using 2.4ghz band presently (5ghz is switched off).

3. Old hub has gone to charity I am afraid.

4. Is this a particular variant/model/version of the BT smart hub, preferably with external antennas ?

Rgds

Mike

[#6]

@mikcatta 

Any Smarthub, see this post and its links for more info https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/Using-A-BT-Smarthub-An-Update/m-p/1795292#M24601.

None have external antennae, why would you need them with a properly designed mid range product? Back when I was young the rage was to stick 'go faster' stripes down the side of your car to make it look more powerful. Except for top of the range routers I put external antennae in this category.

[#7]

How is the SmartHUB better, improved SNR, selectivity? The Draytek (old router) had externals antennas and offered no issues with Wifi throughout the house. Just want to make sure I understand, before parting with the pennies. Cheers

[#8 · Accepted solution]

@mikcatta 

See https://www.businessdirect.bt.com/content/uni2/documentation/c6nx/bt_smart_hub_test_report.pdf

I have no idea how it compares with your old Draytek. 

[#9]

Just in case anyone is looking at this forum, the BT hub 6, been trialling tis for a couple of weeks and it hasn't made any real difference to the wifi signal in the house.