Bt Homehub 5

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Discussion

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

54 months

Tuesday 24th May 2016
quotequote all
BT Homehub 5

In the past I have commentated about there being much better routers out there. There are they cost more. However after buying one for the pricely sum of a fiver I am gobsmacked. Set iy up correctly and its not just good its bloody good. Its AC Wireless is good over both short and longer range.
Setting it up involves some effort. They (by default) share the same name on both the 5ghx and 2.4ghz bands. Changing them helps. Even better is changing the 5ghz band to channel 36 from auto
I have used one of these as an access point and it is simply excellent

YarisSi

1,537 posts

244 months

Wednesday 25th May 2016
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Isn't there a known issue that they drop the wifi signal i.e. goes to a limited connection and you have to reset them?

Edited by YarisSi on Wednesday 25th May 00:07

LeadFarmer

7,411 posts

131 months

Wednesday 25th May 2016
quotequote all
techiedave said:
BT Homehub 5

In the past I have commentated about there being much better routers out there. There are they cost more. However after buying one for the pricely sum of a fiver I am gobsmacked. Set iy up correctly and its not just good its bloody good. Its AC Wireless is good over both short and longer range.
Setting it up involves some effort. They (by default) share the same name on both the 5ghx and 2.4ghz bands. Changing them helps. Even better is changing the 5ghz band to channel 36 from auto
I have used one of these as an access point and it is simply excellent
How do you change it to channel 36?

I did rename my 5ghz & 2.4ghz bands so I could choose them easily, but can't remember how I did it.

AJB88

12,394 posts

171 months

Wednesday 25th May 2016
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I find mine awful.

jmorgan

36,010 posts

284 months

Wednesday 25th May 2016
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Mine is back in the box.

AJB88

12,394 posts

171 months

Wednesday 25th May 2016
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Wish I had kept my old set up of openreach modem and apple airport extreme now.

BalhamBadger

1,161 posts

173 months

Wednesday 25th May 2016
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Ours is great, changed the names of the 5ghz and 2.4ghz networks and no problems since. Dead easy to do, too. Lost count of how many devices we have attached to it both wired and wireless.

paulrockliffe

15,686 posts

227 months

Wednesday 25th May 2016
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Sounds like you have a newer one? Mine wasn't wireless AC and you couldn't different the SSIDs. It was awful for WiFi as it constantly stopped talking to devices, connected but ignored, so you have to cycle the WiFi on and off and it would massively stuff up my Chromecast control as the CC and controller are both different WiFi devices.

That said, I'd be interested in knowing how to set it up as a WiFi access point only? I have a TP Link AP in the workshop that drops devices even worse and has to be reset constantly, so the HH5 might at least be a step up in that regard.

Zato

324 posts

181 months

Wednesday 25th May 2016
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I had one for 5 minutes before back in the box. No advanced options means a chunk of my home servers/remote access failed.

Probably very good if you are wifi only with no complex kit.

Jimbo965

172 posts

145 months

Wednesday 25th May 2016
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I've got Hub5 but switched off WiFi and just use for DSL.

The setup didn't allow scheduling of WiFi and the coverage in my house was poor e.g. could only get network on Kindle upstairs if arm was held out at certain angle (first world problem I know).

Added a Netgear AC1900 which gives brilliant coverage including security camera on roof.

The HomeHub goes offline (for update?) every now and again and it bugs me that it always seems to happen around 6 PM.









anonymous-user

Original Poster:

54 months

Wednesday 25th May 2016
quotequote all
LeadFarmer said:
techiedave said:
BT Homehub 5

In the past I have commentated about there being much better routers out there. There are they cost more. However after buying one for the pricely sum of a fiver I am gobsmacked. Set iy up correctly and its not just good its bloody good. Its AC Wireless is good over both short and longer range.
Setting it up involves some effort. They (by default) share the same name on both the 5ghx and 2.4ghz bands. Changing them helps. Even better is changing the 5ghz band to channel 36 from auto
I have used one of these as an access point and it is simply excellent
How do you change it to channel 36?

I did rename my 5ghz & 2.4ghz bands so I could choose them easily, but can't remember how I did it.
Advanced settings
Wi Fi select 5GHZ and then change from Auto (default) to channel of choice

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

54 months

Wednesday 25th May 2016
quotequote all
paulrockliffe said:
Sounds like you have a newer one? Mine wasn't wireless AC and you couldn't different the SSIDs. It was awful for WiFi as it constantly stopped talking to devices, connected but ignored, so you have to cycle the WiFi on and off and it would massively stuff up my Chromecast control as the CC and controller are both different WiFi devices.

That said, I'd be interested in knowing how to set it up as a WiFi access point only? I have a TP Link AP in the workshop that drops devices even worse and has to be reset constantly, so the HH5 might at least be a step up in that regard.
Are you sure you didn't have a homehub 4 ? They look identical

To use as wi fi access point I have only done so by having it connected via an Ethernet cable back to my main router I don't think there is a way to get it to act as repeater or stuff like that unfortunately it needs a physical connection back to the main router that physical connection could be via a homeplug I suppose anyway I connected mine via this method

1 Decide if you want it to transmit the same wifi name as your existing one and have same wifi password
2. If yes to above log into existing router and make note of existing wifi name passwords and type of encryption used look at existing routers DHCP "table" and make note of the "pool lets assume existing router has a DHCP 2pool" of 192.168.1.100 to 149 Think of a high figure within that pool and write it down lets say you choose 192.168.1.145 as a high one
3.Reset homehub to defaults by pressing in the reset button with a pin or small pen head allow to reboot make anote of the admin password printed on the bottom of homehub
4 Connect a PC/ laptop up to homehub via Ethernet cable to one of the 4 lan ports at rear of homehub you would do well to make this the only Ethernet or wifi connection on pc or laptop you may have to reboot laptop so it "gets" an ip address from the homehub as the homehubs DHCP range may be different to your existing routers
5. Log into homehub via its default ip address of 192.168.1.254, at this point you may get a nice flashy thing pop up saying its trying to connect and cannot see the internet but you should then be able to get into the settings you will be prompted to enter the admin password re point 3 above
6. Click onto advanced settings then continue to advanced settings
7.click on the firewall type then click on the configuration tab underneath it and click disabled
8.Click on the wireless tab and then click the 2.4ghz tab and set the wireless ssid/ interface type/channel selectiuon/ security type/ wireless key etc to what you want remembering to duplicate the settings of the existing main wifi if so needed
9.Always click APPLY when changing ANY setting
10.Click on Home Network tab then click on smart set up tab below it and make sure enable smart set up is UNTICKED - its a pain otherwise - you can google it later
11.Under Home Network click IP addresses and then under the hub ip gateway address insert the ip address you wrote down from point 2 above ie 192.168.1.148 - whatever YOUR WRITTEN ONE IS DO NOT CLICK APPLY at this point
12 Alongside the DHCP server line make sure NO is ticked then apply you will then see it start to do stuff then it will either seem to stall or vanish
13. Disconnect that Lan cable from your laptop / PC and then insert the end that was in the laptop into a spare lan port on your existing router
14. Reboot laptoip/ PC and then log into the homehub via 192.168.1.148 as per point 2
You should then be able to enter the admin password and be able to navigate round it much as before
Assuming you want the name to be homehubrcrap and the password to be gimmeadraytek

Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 26th May 08:17

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

54 months

Wednesday 25th May 2016
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Another bt-fon hotspot, brilliant.

Blown2CV

28,798 posts

203 months

Saturday 28th May 2016
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achingly crap. I have an apple airport extreme now.

HairyMaclary

3,665 posts

195 months

Saturday 28th May 2016
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Cant fault my HH5. Its currently connected at 102MBs down 37MBs up. Havent touched it since it was installed before Christmas and it sees some use. It's connected to 13 wired connections and more wireless.

Rdp, remote CCTV and home automation stuff has been fine during this time.

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

54 months

Saturday 28th May 2016
quotequote all
Odd isn't it ?
Mine works great as an access point and hasn't faltered once.
Ive read somewhere about some early ones having issues and software updates fixing them

DKS

1,675 posts

184 months

Sunday 29th May 2016
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HairyMaclary said:
Cant fault my HH5. Its currently connected at 102MBs down 37MBs up. Havent touched it since it was installed before Christmas and it sees some use. It's connected to 13 wired connections and more wireless.

Rdp, remote CCTV and home automation stuff has been fine during this time.
Same here. Upgraded to Infinity (40Mbs through a GPO box is fine with me) and I've needed to reset it twice I think in a year, which I think was just the service dropping out.
I would like the option to turn wifi off overnight so we're not constantly baked by wigglys, but couldn't find option.
It's actually warm to the touch but doesn't seem to draw that much current.

AJB88

12,394 posts

171 months

Sunday 29th May 2016
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BT have sent me a replacement for my 1 month old one to see if it resolves my issues.

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

54 months

Sunday 29th May 2016
quotequote all
AJB88 said:
BT have sent me a replacement for my 1 month old one to see if it resolves my issues.
Stick the old one on e bay they go for around £20 to £25 quid.

Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 29th May 19:47

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

54 months

Sunday 29th May 2016
quotequote all
MY HH5 appears to work well. No issues and it is simple enough for me to set up port forwarding etc, for media sharing etc. Wifi range is good and I have only had to reset it once in almost 18 months to fix a connection issue (although I have reset it a few times for other reasons).

Although it doesn't appear to allow you to schedule wifi times on-mass, it does allow you to limit the connection time of devices, so my kids' phones and xbox are time limited to stop them messing around at night etc.