Stupid routers :)

My Plusnet hub have decided it doesn't want to play any more, watching something on Disney plus and lost connection, noticed that no light was on the router. Changed socket, but no go. I am not having much luck with routers. so at the moment I have put the fixed Zyxel back in play, after a bit of time trying to get the Wi-fi working correctly.
so maybe time to get another router, maybe just a router not a VDSL one as it can be used if I do happen to go FTTP.
so what do people recommend, but not in the stupid expensive bracket, I will go to the ton if I have to. Not bothered about Wi-fi 6 as I don't have any devices that use it and I can't see myself getting any soon.

oh yeah i have a openreach FTTC modem just in case you wonder how I will connect a router only.

Cgheers peeps

"go to the ton" ?? Do you mean £100 ??

If so that is not very much for a router, you are better off calling Plusnet and asking them to replace the failed unit.

Quickest solution is to find a BT HH6 on gumtree or ebay, about £10 to £30, go and collect if you can find one near you rather than rely on our chaotic postal 'service'. I've had excellent service from HH6 over past year or two, far better than PN Hub One and easy to set up.

You could ring PN who may send you one for £7 p&p. A few years back I tried an £80 Billion, could not see much if any improvement in performance, wifi card burned out just out of its two-year warranty, common complaint according to forums. That's me finished with fancy routers.

In reply to a post by Malwaremike:

You could ring PN who may send you one for £7 p&p.

Would they really charge postage for a replacement if your existing one failed?

Maybe, maybe not. I'm going by the PN forum which often mentions a functioning Hub One being replaced by Hub Two for the cost of the postage. Regardless, rather than be stuck one poster found a HH6 close at hand so at least he has BB over the current holiday, there must be scores of routers stuck in the post.

The problem that I know of manifested itself when the router was switched off for a while and then switched back on. This happened to me when I came back from holiday. I complained, politely, to Billion and they sent me a new one, complete with the manufacturing update so that it wouldn't happen again. Billion support and service was exemplary. I'm not sure that they're still in the home router business, the market for routers seems to have shrunk, maybe most people are just using what they're given.

Agreed, I'm often impressed by the folk who demand all sorts of functions from their router and good luck to them, but I suspect the vast majority of users like myself just want a reliable connection device for BB and streaming -- even though it may be simple and primitive by enthusiast standards.

In reply to a post by JHo1:

maybe most people are just using what they're given.

This appears to be the case, and for those that want/need better WIFi the add-on market of access points and mesh options appears to be healthy.

Replacing the ISP provided router won't be possible once the phone service runs through the router, unless you have already moved to a third party VoIP provider.

In reply to a post by Malwaremike:

Agreed, I'm often impressed by the folk who demand all sorts of functions from their router and good luck to them, but I suspect the vast majority of users like myself just want a reliable connection device for BB and streaming -- even though it may be simple and primitive by enthusiast standards.

i reply to this, but I will also try to address some of the other posts.

I just want a simple router, I don't need anything special as long as it works, I am not even bothered about Wi-fi 6 as I doubt I will ever use it. I did think after i posted the original post that maybe built in VoIP would be nice since I could then take the old Linksys Pap2 adaptor out, but the few routers that do have VoIP seems to be very expensive.

The Zyxel I am using at the moment have VoiP sockets, but Plusnet have put their own firmware on it and disabled them

The Zyxel is at the moment working fine, I combined the wi-fi, something I did not know I could do on it as by default the 2.4 and 5Ghz is separate, and I think that what was causing some of the devices to lose connection when I last used it.


To answer other posts.

i could get a new router from plusnet, but they would want me to renew the contract and I don't want to do that at the moment, the main reason why is that my contract ends in June, 2 months after the price rise in March, so if I recontract now I will end up paying a higher price for another 18 months.

Bt router, thanks but no thanks, I don't like the BT router,


The Zyxel I am using now was one supplied by plusnet to replace the hub one since the hub one would not work on my broadband connection at the time due to a fault that Openreach could not solve, now it is solved and anything works. The Zyxel had a problem where it went pop and a mate fixed it. The problem with the zyxel is the UI is really slow.

I already use a third party Voip system I use sipgate, anyway Plusnet don't offer digital voice

I realise now that £100 is not a lot for routers these days, I just had a look at the price of my TP link wr1043ND in 2012 and it was £32, I suppose router tech have moved on since then.
I may get another TP link, at the moment the Zyxel seems to be working, but maybe it is time to get something a bit better, maybe look at a TP link or an Asus. What I want is something that will last a few years even if I update to Fibre.

cheers peeps

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

, I suppose router tech have moved on since then.

A little bit, back in 2012 most people had G wifi, and lots of the country was on "upto 8 Mbps" ADSL2+ services!! Lot of change in 10 years.

Amazon will sell you a TPLink suitable for low end use for £35... it may be complete rubbish!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Wireless-Support-UK...

Utterly amazing you can get a WiFi 6 router from TPLink for £70 which would need an external FTTC/VDSL modem.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Wireless-Support-UK...