Plusnet speedtouch router

A mate of mine had plusnet fibre installed just before Christmas, the fibre itself is okish, I would nto say it is great consideirng he is suppose to get the highest speed and the fastest speed test is about 34Mb/s, even using a computer on a ethernet connection.


Anyway, the point of this thread, Plusnet supplied him with their Speedtouch, or tecnicolor as they are called now 582n. the router seems to be really sensitive and you only have to touch it and it resets, may be a fault I suppose, but the one big problem with it is wi-fi, it is flipping useless.

It is in the living room and even going into the dining room, which is the next room the signal goes to half and in the kitchen, forget about it. upstairs the signal is really weak.

I know my mates house is a old Victorian house and the walls are thicker than modern houses, but his old Netgear, which was not wireless N offered a better signal.

Anyway to try and get a better signal for his laptop, we got a TP-link TL-WN821N USB dongle. It made little difference at all.

I did have a problem getting the dongle to work on his laptop, I mainly because his laptop uses the same manufacturer for the inbuilt wi-fi and lan, but went back yesterday after trying it on my own computers at home and got it working.

Long post i know, but is the plusnet router really that bad?

I got a Tp-link TL-WR1043ND router and I get at least a 95% signal where ever I go in my house.

Later on, i am going to take my router up and connect it to his fibre modem and see if that makes a difference.

There's a number of new 80/20 signups have been put on 40/nn due to a bug in the ordering system Adrian. (The bug has recently been fixed).

34Mbps sounds perfect for a 40Mbps connection, so worth getting PN to check. Takes a few hours for it to be fixed once they agree that's the problem.

Why not connect his old Netgear to the 582? Or disable "n" (with b/g enabled) and see if that fixes it?

Edited by RobertoS (Sat 19-Jan-13 13:27:07)

Don't worry they did the same to me, put me on 40/10 and put me on value fibre, when I ordered plusnet Extra fibre, at the time.

I was going to say, why does plusnet keep putting people on the wrong profile? That sort of basic thing, should not happen, unless PN are trying to cut corners. Seems they do that in the hope that, you won't notice being on slower speeds.

That's the sort of school boy error I would expect from BT but then I have just read what roberto said. They never told me it was a bug in the system but they did notice as soon as I called about it.

Edited by deleted (Sat 19-Jan-13 19:20:38)

Thanks peoples, but I really don't think that is the problem with his speed as he was at some point getting about 55Mb/s. I did a speed tests today when I was there, using different testers and locations and it was down to 20Mb/s.

a link to one of his speedtests i sent the link to my email address.

He only lives across the road from the cabinets.

Anyway, I have proved that the router that plusnet forces people to pay for is rubbish. i put my Tp-link on, after working out why it would not connect at first, but finding out it was something to do with a secondary connection had to be set to dynamic. My broadband don't use PPPoE, so this PPPoE connection using a separate modem is new to me.

Once we got that sorted, we streamed a HD video clip from his laptop, Wi-fi to his Tv which is connected via Ehternet and it played with no problem using my router, with the Plusnet one it struggles. Also the signal to the laptop from my TP-link was almost full on, the Plusnet, lucky to get halfway on the scale.


Plusnet, if you want to force people to take a router, would it not be a good idea to make sure it is a decent one and not a hacked ADLS one with Wi-fi thhat is as good as a bucket with a hole in it.

if i ever went for fibre, I think i would give plusnet a miss.

To make any assessment of what is going on, Adrian, we need the results from the follow-up diagnostics test of a BT Performance Test. A copy and paste of the contents of the two results text boxes would be easiest to give us I expect.

Plusnet don't force anyone to use the router they supply for free, (except for P & P). I don't use either of my PN ones, mainly because of the wireless, but glad to have them as spares.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

... would it not be a good idea to make sure it is a decent one and not a hacked ADLS one with Wi-fi thhat is as good as a bucket with a hole in it.

You mean like the similarly hacked BT Home Hub 3?

Post deleted by seb

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

To make any assessment of what is going on, Adrian, we need the results from the follow-up diagnostics test of a BT Performance Test. A copy and paste of the contents of the two results text boxes would be easiest to give us I expect.

I won't be going down there for a week now, going back to work tomorrow and he is going to be busy in the studio now. i did not think of that to be honest, used to not being able to do that myself due to not being on a Bt based service.

Plusnet don't force anyone to use the router they supply for free, (except for P & P). I don't use either of my PN ones, mainly because of the wireless, but glad to have them as spares.

Not they don't force you to use it, but they force you to spend money to get it, but then it seems like the other larger providers do as well. It is not free if you have to pay for postage and packing.

He have two of them, the first one did not come with a adaptor for the power adaptor, you know the little thing that slides on to convert it to a British plug. So they sent him a new router.

We should try it really to see if the router he is using have a fault or if the wi-fi really is that bad.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

... would it not be a good idea to make sure it is a decent one and not a hacked ADLS one with Wi-fi thhat is as good as a bucket with a hole in it.

You mean like the similarly hacked BT Home Hub 3?

The homehub 3 is a strange one, but at least it got a socket marked infinity and not a bit of tape next to a Ethernet port as a afterthought. also the BT homehub seems t have a ok Wi-fi, i can get my next-door neighbours on my laptop going through two walls at a good signal.

Not sure who manufactures the BTHH 3, it don't look like a Thomson interface.
speedtouch used to be good routers, my 585 lasted for years, but the one plusnet provides is no where near the quality of my 585, in build or stability.

Post deleted by seb

zyborg47

Mind dropping me a DM with a query number or your username so I can run some checks.

I'm sorry by the way to hear about the issues re the router, still having the problems with it resetting?

With regards to wireless I'm wondering if changing channels might help, have you tried using inSSIDer to see if any less busy networks are available that might lead to an improved wireless connection?

In reply to a post by thatadamwalker:

zyborg47

Mind dropping me a DM with a query number or your username so I can run some checks.



I'm sorry by the way to hear about the issues re the router, still having the problems with it resetting?

With regards to wireless I'm wondering if changing channels might help, have you tried using inSSIDer to see if any less busy networks are available that might lead to an improved wireless connection?

It is my mate who is having the problems, not me, when he have some time he will get in touch with Plusnet. he is a little busy this week.

As for the router, i got a app on my phone which tells me what channels are available and i used the same channel when I put my router in place. thomson routers used to be good, i got a old 585 and it still works well.

I think plusnet went for the cheapest router they could get, or thought it was cheap, they must have got a good deal on it.
a good idea is to stop forcing people to pay for it, even if it is only postage and packing and let them choose their own.

This is one reason why I have avoided the large Isps over the last 3 years or so.

Please mind your language.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

The homehub 3 is a strange one, but at least it got a socket marked infinity and not a bit of tape next to a Ethernet port as a afterthought.

Maybe they have changed recently as the one we received last week had a red colour coded port, no tape.

I'd like to comment also that the 582n router really is hopeless even with a 21CN connection. Mine constantly dropped a connection and was utterly useless on wifi with an Android phone.

I went back to the 585 upgraded to v7 and the improvement was obvious from the start. The wifi has never dropped a connection whereas the 582 was seldom connected.

It only cost me £4.99 postage which is not a problem to write off. If PN are doing subsidised routers they would be better charging more for a better quality product. Maybe there was just a bad batch?

It is not worth sending this back as I have a historic collection of routers (!) but this one really is poor. If there is a flash upgrade to the 582 I would be happy to give it a try.

Meldrew

I have found that upgrading the TG582 firmware to v10.2.2.9 made an improvement to my connection. On 20CN it stopped it dropping sync several times a day (although the PPP session stayed up through the brief drop). On 21CN it's managing to hold sync at a higher level and the exchange even had a go at a 3db margin which over a weeks solid connection on the old firmware the errors were to high. (I lost the 3db margin because of multiple power fails when the local electricity sub-station literally blew up)

In reply to a post by gmoorc:

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

The homehub 3 is a strange one, but at least it got a socket marked infinity and not a bit of tape next to a Ethernet port as a afterthought.

Maybe they have changed recently as the one we received last week had a red colour coded port, no tape.

Is that what it is? i admit the router was in a place I could not really get a look at, but it looks like someone have got a bit of tape, cut it into a small rectangle and stuck it on.

The router was made to be a ADSL router, just plusnet stuck some customised firmware on it to turn it into a cable type router. i prefer to have something that is made for the job.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

In reply to a post by gmoorc:

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

The homehub 3 is a strange one, but at least it got a socket marked infinity and not a bit of tape next to a Ethernet port as a afterthought.

Maybe they have changed recently as the one we received last week had a red colour coded port, no tape.

Is that what it is? i admit the router was in a place I could not really get a look at, but it looks like someone have got a bit of tape, cut it into a small rectangle and stuck it on.

The router was made to be a ADSL router, just plusnet stuck some customised firmware on it to turn it into a cable type router. i prefer to have something that is made for the job.

The one I received last week has a red paper sticky strip under ethernet port 4. I've just put it back in its box and replaced it with a decent router.

In reply to a post by meldrew:

I'd like to comment also that the 582n router really is hopeless even with a 21CN connection. Mine constantly dropped a connection and was utterly useless on wifi with an Android phone.

I went back to the 585 upgraded to v7 and the improvement was obvious from the start. The wifi has never dropped a connection whereas the 582 was seldom connected.

It only cost me £4.99 postage which is not a problem to write off. If PN are doing subsidised routers they would be better charging more for a better quality product. Maybe there was just a bad batch?

It is not worth sending this back as I have a historic collection of routers (!) but this one really is poor. If there is a flash upgrade to the 582 I would be happy to give it a try.

Meldrew

I have a load of routers as well including a old 585, version 2 or something like that and not been updated either and yet it is a great router,. i am going to give it to my brother when I get the time to go and sort it out as he is on the post office with just a Ethernet modem, which I don't like as there is no firewall apart from what is on his computer.

My mate got a old Netgear DG834 the big case one, which he was using for ADSl before he went for fibre and the wireless on that was far better than this thing that Plusnet forces people to pay out for even if it is only P&P.

i still can't believe how bad speedtouch stuff have got, but to be honest, they are not the only ones, I also got a Netgear DG834, but a slightly newer one than my mate and it is far better than a Netgear DGN 2200 i got.

i need to do something about all these routers/modems i got

I got the original frog USB ADSl modem that BT supplied. a old Safecom one, which worked ok when I was on a fixed speed, but could not cope with ADSLMAX. My speedtouch 585, which I got to replace the safecom. the Netgear DGN2200, because i thought my speedtouch was having problems.
The Netgear DG834 I got from ebay after because I was told I could change the firmware and that allowed me to change the SNR.

Done a good job as well and I would still be using it if I did not go for the supplier I am with now, i had to get a cable router, so I got a TP-link TL-WR1043ND i great bit of kit, certainly for the price.

All those units apart from the Frog as it is not wireless does a better job with wi-fi than the Plusnet one.

I've ended up with two TG582 routers (a second one was sent to diagnose and issue) one of which has been upgraded to 10.2.2.9.

On both 20CN and 21CN (my exchange recently upgraded) I've found the 10.2.2.9 firmware gives a better connection. On 20CN with the original firmware I was getting a number of sync drops per day (PPP managed to stay up) - they stopped when the firmware was updated. On 21CN I'm getting fewer errors logged with the new firmware and a slightly higher sync speed and noise margin (although I can't rule out that being a marginal hardware difference).

@Jelv and @zyborg47

We're really keen to get those routers back here for testing. Any objections if I were to arrange a courier to pick these up from you so we can get them back here?

@zyborg47

If there's any info you can send me such as a postcode as an identifier for your friends account so I can arrange this and make sure you're friend's router is replaced ASAP.

By the end of February I'll have moved to a new house where it's back to a 20CN exchange

I'm intending to repeat the comparison when I get there.

In reply to a post by thatadamwalker:

@Jelv and @zyborg47

We're really keen to get those routers back here for testing. Any objections if I were to arrange a courier to pick these up from you so we can get them back here?

@zyborg47

If there's any info you can send me such as a postcode as an identifier for your friends account so I can arrange this and make sure you're friend's router is replaced ASAP.

i will have to ask him first, he have got a another one as he was sent another one when he complained about no pin adaptor for the power supply on the first one.

Still problems with my mates service. I went there to day and he was lucky to be getting 10Mb/s, in fact his upload speed was better than his download.

So we done a test using the BT speed tester and even done it direct using the Bt login info, so I presume that bypass Plusnet. Still naff speed, so he have opened a ticket to plusnet and I also took a screen shot of the speed and info that was on the Bt speed test. i presume this is a Bt openworld problem and not plusnet.
We will see what happens now.

It don't give me much faith on this fibre thing to be honest, i think i choose the right technology in wireless and not Bt stuff.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

582n. the router seems to be really sensitive and you only have to touch it and it resets

That's my experience, albeit with SNR at 3.0dB. Now running a 7800n at 3.0dB. I rebooted it yesterday with dreams of my download actually increasing (the sync did, but nothing else), and my upload magically returning to 1 Meg (it did not).

Noted the up time before reboot. 32 days and would have been longer but for wanting to reboot.

My advice to anyone on a line with long line or noise issues is to dump the 582n (keep it as a backup if you like). Fair play to it; on SNR settings of 6.0db to 21.0dB on my line it was fine (I kid you not - God only knows how an automated systems are set to leap from 3.0dB to 21dB without stepping to 6,9,12 etc).

My experience of ADSL2+ has been largely naff. Initially I had 15,000-16,000 sync, with 12-13 Meg speeds. Three to six months of tweaking, and all the big things that happened last year managed to load the system enough to thump my syncs down to 12,000-13,000 (another explanation would be welcome from Plusnet) with speeds of 9.5 to 10.5 Meg. Ok, so it's not exactly 1 Meg speeds, but that little problem doesn't highlight the amount of time one spends analysing how best to proceed; the amount of time on the phone or the amount of time not rebooting the router, if you get my meaning.

I go over the web allowance once in seven years and the domain gets locked in a trice with a pre-worded (apologetic) script that one has to send to Plusnet. Months of no luck with the speeds though.

Customer service? One star until further notice. Oh, and I repeat. Dump the 582n if on anything but a rock-solid line.