HUB 6 keeps disconnecting

Hi, my neighbours, a few streets away from me, received a new HUB 6 from BT about 3 months ago and since then the hub seems to disconnect/looses internet connection and then come back again after a while this did not happen with the previous hub (sorry do not know which one they had before) they are on ADSL at the Droitwich exchange.
I'm going to their house later to test the phone line for any noise as a first diagnostic.
How can I extract the line stats from the Hub 6 if at all possible?
They have a wireless printer which seems to have been affected by the constant loss of communication with the laptop.
Any other diagnostics that I should be able to carry out to see what is causing the hub to disconnect periodically?

Stats available via http://192.168.1.254 in the browser ...

You�ll need the admin password from the same card as the wifi details ...

Advanced settings tab

Technical log tab

Should give you the usual stuff, attenuation, SNR, etc.

The event log may have some useful detail ??


After this it�s start with the usual, is it all plugged in correctly, no unfiltered devices, no noise on the line

Thanks Zarjaz, will look at the stats and event log next time I visit.
Things seem to have gone very bad since connecting the new Hub 6 and connecting the laptop and printer via WI-FI. I have now connected the Hub 6 to Ethernet rather than wireless to see if it disconnects. The disconnections seems to have affected the Epson ET-2600 printer which was connected via WI-FI and now has some issues that did not have before with the older Hub but has with the new Hub 6, it just prints a few lines of characters that don't make any sense, instead of the document it is supposed to print such as a Word document! It will print a never ending number of pages, the more I put in the more it will print, even though there are none in the queue and the printer has been powered off and on again and when I try to scan a document it displays a message to wait till the scanner has finished although there are no scans in progress!
I have uninstalled the printer and all printer software that comes on the installation disk and reinstalled the printer and software and connect it via a USB cable again rather than WI-FI, but it has not solved the issues.
And Gmail can send but not receive! It may all be coincidence?
I have raised a ticket with Epson for the printer issues and I'm waiting for a response.

Could it be that the router isn�t dropping the connection coming in, but rather that some interference to the wifi coming from the new router is the issue ?

I use a Hub 6 at home and find it rock solid.

Some devices may be flapping between the 2.4GHz and 5 GHz band...

Solution there is to name the two frequencies with different SSID and then teach a device to only connect to one

If a device is in range for the 5GHz that is the best one to use as less prone to interference from neighbouring networks

As above have split channels on home hub 6 and plusnet hubs to resolve Wi-Fi dropping

Yeah we did that also which helps organize wireless devices, like if a device only supports 2.4GHz it will use that and if it also supports 5GHz we set it up to use 5GHz.

That way its all balanced.

Paul

Thanks all for your input.
The first thing I did was test the line for noise, both on the master socket test socket and at the extension upstairs where the Hub is connected and both tests passed with no noise.
The issues in this thread are from an elderly couple (I do not have a BT account or a Hub 6) who although they can surf the net and use the laptop when it comes to something more complicated such as this, they are not that savvy and for that matter neither am I. What worried me was a thread in the BT Community where the poster did not have much joy with the same issue even when a replacement Hub 6 did not resolve his disconnections.
The Hub 6, the laptop and the printer, which are the only devices which they use are less than 4 feet apart on an �L� shaped worktop, which is why I told them that connecting the devices with Ethernet is a better proposition than wireless. They don�t need wireless other than when their children and grandchildren are visiting, I suppose.
Anyway, on my next visit I will access the HUB 6 stats, logs and rename the 5GHz SSID as others have advised to make sure this issue does not happen in the future.
As for the printer issue I will have to wait a couple of working days to see what Epson advises and will post back next week when I have further info.
Thanks all for your input, it is much appreciated.

Edited by deleted (Fri 15-Feb-19 12:54:06)

I have been back to my elderly neighbours today and since I connected the Hub to the laptop with Ethernet the connection is solid. I am now wondering if their disconnection issues was the printer disconnecting as they changed the previous Hub with the new one and that changed the settings on the printer!
I have changed the SSID for the 5GHz band but as it happens their laptop WLAN adaptor is not capable to receive 5GHz frequency.
Reason for the change of Hub was that they received a call from BT but I am unclear about what the conversation was about but it looks that BT have upgraded their package. The couple tell me that they were on a basic BB package and Anytime calls I'm no expert but don't these stats show that they are on FTTC?
Their stats are;
Product name: BT Hub 6A
Serial number: +084316+NQ71224804
Firmware updated: 22-Dec-2018
Board version: 1.0
Gui version: 1.64.0
DSL uptime 1 Days, 1 Hours 6 Minutes 12 Seconds
Data rate: 4.33 Mbps / 29.43 Mbps
Maximum data rate: 4333 / 29000
Noise margin: 6 dB / 2.9 dB
Line attenuation: 25.6 dB
Signal attenuation:
VPI / VCI: 0/38
Modulation: G_993_2_ANNEX_B
Latency type: Fast Path
Data sent / received: 8235 MB Uploaded / 8743 MB Downloaded
Broadband username: [email protected]
BT Wi-fi: Active
2.4 GHz wireless network name: BTHub6-xxxx
2.4 GHz wireless channel: Channel 11
5 GHz wireless network name: xxxxxx-5
5 GHz wireless channel: Channel 40
Wireless security: WPA2 (Recommended)
Wireless mode: Mode 1
Firewall: On
MAC address: A0:8E:xxxxxx
Software variant:
Boot loader: 7.33.1

As far as the Event log is concerned the only disconnection I can see and there are too many to post on here, the log itself is over 9500 lines long;
19:13:12 28 Dec. eth2:An Ethernet port is now connected (3/100/FULL)
19:13:09 28 Dec. eth2:A device has been disconnected from an Ethernet port (3)
08:59:36 30 Dec. eth2:An Ethernet port is now connected (3/1000/FULL)
08:59:33 30 Dec. eth2:A device has been disconnected from an Ethernet port (3)
08:28:31 30 Dec. eth2:An Ethernet port is now connected (3/100/FULL)
08:28:28 30 Dec. eth2:A device has been disconnected from an Ethernet port (3)
12:23:21 30 Dec. wl1.1:Device <08:C5:E1:64:CB:C8> was disconnected on SSID (Device/WiFi/SSIDs/SSID[WL_REDSIDE_O1_2G])
12:23:21 30 Dec. wl1.1:A WiFi device <08:C5:E1:64:CB:C8> has successfully connected to SSID (Device/WiFi/SSIDs/SSID[WL_REDSIDE_O1_2G])
including today but I did notice any disconnections!

Edited by deleted (Fri 15-Feb-19 22:53:48)

Yes they are on FTTC

Thank you MrSaffron, I don't think they realise that the call from BT was to upgrade them to FTTC, I was suspicious as to why BT had send them a new Hub just like that! I think they don't know they have been upgraded to FTTC. I will have to tell them as I asked them if they ever check their MyBT and they said never!!!

Those connections and disconnections are indeed local devices connecting to and from the hub. You will see the ethernet one. Also 'device' may refer to items like mobile phones in the area using BT Wifi (used to be BT FON) which use your hub on a shared basis. These are totally normal and happen all the time and have absolutely nothing to do with the broadband itself disconnecting - you will see that has been up for over a day. Do they power the hub off at night, you would obviously get a disconnect when that happened..

OK, so now we know they are on FTTC, time to check how everything is connected to the line etc ..... a bridge tap can cause loss of speed and random disconnects.

I get the feeling this could be a case of the wifi disconnecting, not the FTTC.

I could well be wrong in this instance, but a great many people don't know the difference, even now, and it's getting worse as most (written) adverts I see go on about wifi capability and how many devices can be handled simultaneously.

Like I stated in a post earlier, when they mentioned that they had received a call from BT and that they had sent a new Hub bells started to ring as to why BT would send a new Hub just like that! So unknowingly the conversation between them and BT was about selling/upgrading them to FTTC.
I have been to them two days running for about three hours at a time and whilst I have been there, there were no disconnections, all being that the laptop is now connected with Ethernet and the printer with a USB cable. Looking at the log the disconnections I posted above were also shown at the time I was there but I did not experience any internet disconnections so, those disconnections can not be the Hub disconnecting or as deseargant and RobertoS point out it could have been the WI-FI disconnecting and not the FTTC.
The couple do not use WI-FI now that I have connect the laptop with Ethernet and the printer with USB cable the only way we shall know if there are disconnections is when there children or grandchildren visit and connect their devices with WI-FI.
Just as a curiosity, a few years back while gardening in their front garden they accidentally cut the phone drop wire with a spade, the drop wire was just laying near the surface and BT had to re-route the drop wire to their next door neighbour and then to their front porch!
I don't know if there are any other diagnostics that I can carry out on the FTTC if that would help.
I still have to go back when Epson replies with advice on how to solve the printer issue which was connected with WI-FI and has gone berserk since the change of Hub and even connecting it with USB it has made no difference.

Edited by deleted (Sat 16-Feb-19 13:27:35)

In reply to a post by scopio:

So unknowingly the conversation between them and BT was about selling/upgrading them to FTTC.

= Upselling! I should check their bills.

That is correct. I asked my neighbours today if they realised that they were now on FTTC and they said no. They were told that they would pay the same as they are now for 18 months and they would get higher speeds and a new Hub. These are an elderly couple who are not familiar with broadband packages and have been taken for a ride IMHO.

In reply to a post by scopio:

they would get higher speeds

But can they make use of them, particularly if they are only using a PC & printer on it, just doing the usual browsing, emailing, shopping, banking (maybe), printing ... ?

Their downstream is not much faster than the best ADSL2+ (they are about 1 km from the cab). Not that they are likely to be on that but what does the BTw Availability Checker say about their WBC ADSL 2+ for their phone no?

Edited by XRaySpeX (Tue 19-Feb-19 01:16:21)

As you rightly point out they only use the internet to access their Gmail and practically nothing else other than perhaps a bit of surfing that's all.
This kind of upgrading tactic by ISPs should be regarded as misselling.
This is BTw Availability Checker for this particular phone number.