Router?

I am out of contract on Plusnet fibre and thinking of switching to Now. Now provide their own router.

Would my Plusnet router still work with Now, meaning I had a spare?

Alternatively, if I elected to sign for another 18 months with Plusnet, can I squeeze a new router out of it? They used to do it with ADSL for p&p only - especially if you were stuck on an old model that didn't match the latest they were sending out. But I don't know if it's still true with fibre.

I've been concerned for some time that I don't have a backup if the router suddenly fails.

I've never had a problem getting a replacement router when the (suspected) need arose.

If you're still using a Hub One then you really need to get a Hub Two to replace it. Very much a chalk and cheese situation in my experience. My sync uptime used to be measured in hours whereas with my Hub Two I'm currently on "DSL uptime:19 Days 3 Hrs 56 Mins"

If you are renewing the contract they will send you a Hub2 for the p&p which I think is £6.99.
You have to request the new router though it's not automatic so if you order online you won't get it unless you contact support and ask.

Your Plusnet Hub One won't work with Now.
Plusnet will upgrade it for free to a Smart Hub 2 if you ask and recontract.

I know this is tempting fate, but generally speaking I have had no issues with the router (no idea which model it is, although I'm sure the blurb did say somewhere). Not owning a smartphone, my main concern is it's my only means of getting online, even if I only needed to for two minutes to order another router!

And I can't very easily get to the shops either!

Back in the days of ADSL, I typically had one or even two old ones kicking around that could get me back online in an emergency, even if they were a bit rubbish. Also useful to have a swap anyway in case you have a technical problem, and are having to go through the nause of proving to PN that it isn't you!

First thing they ask is always: "Have you tried a different router?"

OK, thanks, I'll have a think about it.

Thanks, having Googled the images, it seems clear I do have the older Hub1, so it would be worth requesting the upgrade.

I was using a Fritz!Box 7530 last summer but it succumbed to the heat in my loft. I got it replaced under AVM's 5 year warranty but in the meantime I had spoken to PlusNet about constant loss of sync with the Hub One when I temporarily put that back into service. They sent me a Hub Two and it worked so well that when my replacement 7530 finally arrived, I didn't bother setting it up.

One of the things that made me decide me to leave the Hub Two in place was that with the Hub One you can't set up a BQM (it does not respond to pings) whereas the user interface of the Hub Two allows you to enable or disable the facility.

Why do you want to change, is it price?
I must admit I was looking at NOW due to price, but they have increased the prices.
I was using the HUB one and to be honest it is not a bad router, based on one of the BT ones, then again the Hub 2 is based on a BT one.
I decided to buy my own router, as I can use it on other networks, not so sure about now as they have a strange handshaking system.

In part price, especially the immediate inflation-busting rise in March and another next March, with an 18-month lock-in.

Also had a bit of a "misunderstanding" with them that led to me feeling a bit forced into the present contract.

They promised me a "special" deal to make up for the kerfuffle, but I believe I'm still paying more than others here, and definitely more than new customers, which hasn't left me feeling that positive about them. But there's still an element of "Better the devil you know..."

Now broadband has the advantage of being a 12-month contract, so I can understand why you want to go for them, one reason I was looking at them, So yes easy enough to get out of the contract before the next jump in prices. I don't like these long contracts to be honest, 18 months is the minimum I would go for, which is another reason why I can't see myself going for FTTP.

You should always have a copy of your contract, if you have done it on the phone then record it, that is what I do these days,

I am paying £24.58 a month for a 36Mb/s connection, I just went online, and they offered it to me a month after my contract ran out, I think it was a quid more than what I was paying before the contract ended, so I went for it.

Still have 5 months so I doubt they will make any good deals yet, no doubt waiting for me to jump to fibre or for me to sign up for another contract before March, not going to happen. The deal they are offering on FTTC is only about £1 less than what I am paying now, then come march and it will jump again.

The 36Mb/s fibre they have increased the price now to the same price they are offering FTTC to me, so less incentive to change to fibre.
they do have a 300Mb/s one for a good price £32.99, that is a penny less than what Zzoomm normal prices are for their 150Mb/s

But there is always a but, it only has 50Mb.s up, and also this, 165Mb minimum guaranteed speed. If I am paying for a service that is supposed to be 300Mb/s I would want pretty close to it, not half the speed.

Anyway, i suggest you think carefully, as you said sometimes better the devil you know, thankfully I still have 5 months before I have decide

For a cheap backup, look for a BT HH6 on eBay or Gumtree for around £10-£20. I replaced my Hub One a couple of yrs ago and found wifi about 20% better. Excellent setup instructions on the Plusnet forum. Like yourself I keep my old Hub One just in case.

In reply to a post by Malwaremike:

For a cheap backup, look for a BT HH6 on eBay or Gumtree for around £10-£20. I replaced my Hub One a couple of yrs ago and found wifi about 20% better. Excellent setup instructions on the Plusnet forum. Like yourself I keep my old Hub One just in case.

The BT hubs are more or less the same as the plus net ones, just a different colour and different firmware. I doubt if there is much difference if any to the internals, cheaper to make the same internals for all of them

I found the Plusnet hub one ok to be honest when I was using it, The Wi-fi was pretty good

Identical hardware, different shell, quite different firmware.

The Plusnet version has the bonus of being able to enable bridge mode, something which can't be done on ANY of if the BT Hubs.
Only the BT Business hubs can do bridge mode and they are completely different hardware.

I've just renewed my contract with Plusnet, as my current contract was about to end with the subsequent increase in charges.

There was an tickbox to get a new Hub 2 for the £6.99 P&P in the renewal options.

The new hub has been in operation for a few days & has, so far, improved my (albeit pathetic, due to a long run of copper from the cabinet) upload speed from averaging 0.3Mb/s to 0.5Mb/s on the TBB speed checker.

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

Identical hardware, different shell, quite different firmware.

That is what I put, well different colour, but the shell itself looks like it is made from the same mould. I say looks like as i have not seen one in person.

The Plusnet version has the bonus of being able to enable bridge mode, something which can't be done on ANY of if the BT Hubs.
Only the BT Business hubs can do bridge mode and they are completely different hardware.

That is good, if that is what people want, I don't know why BT don't have that in their routers. i did last week what I should have done a while ago and got a new router, been iffing and affing about it for months and months. This TP-link router is very good, have not missed a beat since I have had it. Took a bit to get used to the UI. If I go to Fibre I will keep this one in line.

In reply to a post by bluetroll:

I've just renewed my contract with Plusnet, as my current contract was about to end with the subsequent increase in charges.

There was an tickbox to get a new Hub 2 for the £6.99 P&P in the renewal options.

The new hub has been in operation for a few days & has, so far, improved my (albeit pathetic, due to a long run of copper from the cabinet) upload speed from averaging 0.3Mb/s to 0.5Mb/s on the TBB speed checker.

The modem part may be better than the old router, I suppose newer technology. I have put my old Huawei openreach modem back in line since I got a new router and speed tests seems better by a whole Megabit download get 37 instead of 36 now. I can't check stats as the modem is locked, I did try to unlock it, but it didn't work for some reason, so I have given up, not that bothered.
So i have no idea why, considering the modem is a lot older than my Hub1 is.
Still there you go,

I moved from plusnet to Now as it was significantly cheaper than plusnet, and after 18 years of being with plusnet plusnet renewals refused to come anywhere near Nows prices, or even offer any discount to encourage me to stay - no attempt to keep me as a customer was made, i think there best was in the region of £34/month for FTTC. the retentions team just sounded bored and un interested .

The move to Now went without a hitch, the router Now provide is a POS ( rubbish) but im using my own router instead and all is well, speeds are around 60 down and 18 up, landline calls included for £20/month

I thought Now used option 61, so i presume your router supports it. I have heard from some people that any router will work with now these days, but I am not sure if I would want to risk it now I got myself a new router.

I've been watching F1 live on a Now sports pass for several years now. Never had to alter router settings, possibly even when on AAISP with a bog standard Asus.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

I thought Now used option 61, so i presume your router supports it.

Not necessarily.
I've responded to you about this already.

For over 80% of Sky's network (which includes Now Broadband) you do not need a router that supports DHCP Option 61 (what Sky call MER).
You can use any router that supports DHCPv6-PD (prefix delegation) in these areas.

It's only on less than 20% of Sky's network (that figure is falling) that you need to use DHCP Option 61.
This is due to a limitation within the Openreach OLT working with Sky's unique setup.

Most routers support DHCPv6-PD. Most routers don't support DHCP Option 61.

Edited by j0hn83 (Fri 24-Feb-23 12:06:11)

That is the Now TV service, the thread is about the Now Broadband service?

I suppose you are right. I'll get back in my corner.

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

Not necessarily.
I've responded to you about this already.

For over 80% of Sky's network (which includes Now Broadband) you do not need a router that supports DHCP Option 61 (what Sky call MER).
You can use any router that supports DHCPv6-PD (prefix delegation) in these areas.

It's only on less than 20% of Sky's network (that figure is falling) that you need to use DHCP Option 61.
This is due to a limitation within the Openreach OLT working with Sky's unique setup.

Most routers support DHCPv6-PD. Most routers don't support DHCP Option 61.

The Not necessarily is a problem for me, and the majority of people including me have no idea what DHCPv6-PD is.
I don't want to get with Now broadband and then find out my router will not work with it.

In reply to a post by pluralist:

I've been watching F1 live on a Now sports pass for several years now. Never had to alter router settings, possibly even when on AAISP with a bog standard Asus.

But that is not using now broadband, which is what we are on about

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

The Not necessarily is a problem for me, and the majority of people including me have no idea what DHCPv6-PD is.
I don't want to get with Now broadband and then find out my router will not work with it.

The majority of people will simply use the providers hub and most users who use their own router will know how to configure it.

My post was simply pointing out that DHCP Option 61 isn't required on all Sky/Now connections like you said.

ian72 beat you to it . See my reply to him.

Im using a TP link router, to configure it for Now it was justa cse of selecting Sky (MER)_VDSL from the options list and entering a generic username and password
username : abcdefgh@nowtv
password 1234567890abcdef

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

The majority of people will simply use the providers hub and most users who use their own router will know how to configure it.

My post was simply pointing out that DHCP Option 61 isn't required on all Sky/Now connections like you said.

You still don't get it, I don't want to use the provider's hub, that is why I spent money ion a new router, for one reason is because it has a mesh system that I can use if need be.
If I go for Now broadband it doesn't work with my router than I have a new router stuck doing nothing, as i said before I have no idea what DHCPv6-PD is or how to set it up and looking on the net seems to come up with very little.
I will have a look around again in the next couple of months and also see if Plusnet will give me a good deal as i get closer to the end of my contract.,

In reply to a post by Rich_T:

Im using a TP link router, to configure it for Now it was justa cse of selecting Sky (MER)_VDSL from the options list and entering a generic username and password
username : abcdefgh@nowtv
password 1234567890abcdef

What TP-link router do you have?
The only options on mine is PPPoE, static IP, dynamic IP, L2TP and PPTP

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

The majority of people will simply use the providers hub and most users who use their own router will know how to configure it.

My post was simply pointing out that DHCP Option 61 isn't required on all Sky/Now connections like you said.

You still don't get it, I

I do get it, you don't.

You're not the only 1 to use these forums. I'm correcting your inaccurate post for the benefit of others, not for you switching to Now.
I don't particularly care about your situation and what you want to use.

Sky/Now Broadband does not require DHCP Option 61 like you keep repeating. I'll keep correcting that for the benefit of others.

Edited by j0hn83 (Tue 28-Feb-23 10:06:33)

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

I do get it, you don't.

You're not the only 1 to use these forums. I'm correcting your inaccurate post for the benefit of others, not for you switching to Now.
I don't particularly care about your situation and what you want to use.

Sky/Now Broadband does not require DHCP Option 61 like you keep repeating. I'll keep correcting that for the benefit of others.

if it is the case as you say that DHC{P option 61 is not required, then why on other forums are people saying they can't use their own router on Sky ?

you said DHCP Option 61 isn't required on all Sky/Now, notice the ALL, so it may still be required on some.

i have no idea why they used it anyway, typical Sky I suppose, wanted to make sure people use their routers. Remind me of the old days when you could only use BT approved phones on BT lines. In my option, people should buy their own routers anyway, too many routers being chucked away as providers are giving them away like they are sweets sometimes.

Other people on other forums are wrong, and the more people keep repeating that you need DHCP Option 61 / MER to use Sky the more people are going to have the wrong impression.

https://dilbert.com/strip/2023-02-26

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

if it is the case as you say that DHC{P option 61 is not required, then why on other forums are people saying they can't use their own router on Sky ?

you said DHCP Option 61 isn't required on all Sky/Now, notice the ALL, so it may still be required on some.

I went in to that in detail above.

The majority of Sky/Now connections can use DHCPv6-PD to authenticate, which most routers support.
There is a small percentage (that's falling) of Sky lines that need DHCP Option 61 because their DHCPV6-PD implementation doesn't work through some Openreach kit.

It's not as black and white as my router doesn't have Option 61 so I can't switch to Sky. It will likely work with DHCPV6-PD and failing that there's a chance Option 61 can be added to the router.

There are quite a few routers out there that don't support DHCP Option 61 out of the box with the default firmware but it is possible to enable with config changes or 3rd party firmware.
Every single Asus device for example has no Option 61 in the stock firmware but it can be enabled with the popular Merlin firmware.
There are many more router brands that can have open-wrt or dd-wrt installed and both of those support DHCP Option 61.
It can be done on many Zyxels by editing the config file with the Option 61 hex values.

Not every user has your circumstances and not all responses are aimed at your situation.
I was simply trying to be helpful for anyone who may read this thread in the future.

It was assumed for years that DHCP Option 61 was required which is why you keep reading that on other forums.
I'm not aware of any other UK provider who authenticate like Sky and can give the IPV4 WAN address over IPV6 (via DHCPV6-PD) which is probably why nobody ever tried it until a Sky rep posted it on their forums a few years ago.

"my router"

Router or modem/router?

I have an isp supplied modem/router and the wifi is switched off on that and I use a TP Link router connected via ethernet, as the wifi is far superior.

I can see you've got to the splitting hairs phase.

But how would you use this DHCPv6-PD? I have looked online and come up with very little that makes sense, maybe it is just me getting older.
IU found something on a site that shows how to use Pfsense on Sky. So Sky uses IPv6?
I don't think I will risk it, I have a TPlinkp and a old Openreach FTTC modem.

In reply to a post by dect:

I can see you've got to the splitting hairs phase.

I am just trying to understand something, I have no idea what this DHCPv6-PD this is. and how you find it.

In reply to a post by broadband66:

"my router"

Router or modem/router?

I have an isp supplied modem/router and the wifi is switched off on that and I use a TP Link router connected via ethernet, as the wifi is far superior.

Ah I see,.

I have a old Huawei openreach modem and connect the router to that, I could, I suppose use the modem part of the Zyxel, but to be honest I get a slightly faster connection with the Openreach modem for some reason, only by a couple of Megabits, but still

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

So Sky uses IPv6?

Sky has had dual stack IPv4/IPv6 for about seven years now.

In reply to a post by Oliver341:

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

So Sky uses IPv6?

Sky has had dual stack IPv4/IPv6 for about seven years now.

I did not know that, but then I don't use Sky. Oh well i still have 4 months more or less to make up my mind what I am doing.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

But how would you use this DHCPv6-PD? I have looked online and come up with very little that makes sense, maybe it is just me getting older.

With my Asus router I simply enable IPV6.

When I enable IPV6 it shows a bunch of additional options and the top option is "enable/disable DHCP-PD" which is already enabled by default.

Yes, I can't imagine there are any routers that know what IPv6 is but don't support prefix delegation.

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

With my Asus router I simply enable IPV6.

When I enable IPV6 it shows a bunch of additional options and the top option is "enable/disable DHCP-PD" which is already enabled by default.

Cheers, with not having anything to do with IPv6 as I have never used it I would not have a clue. I have just had a look at my router settings and on the IPv6 and found Dynamic IP(SLAAC/DHCPv6), so i presume that is it.

Cheers, it gives me another option when my contract comes up for renewal, depending on how much Now broadband charges compared to what I can get with Plusnet, but sometimes it is better the devil you know