PLusnet FTTP installed today - speeds slower than before!

Openreach installed FTTP at my house today Previously FTTC getting about 40mb/12mb.. I opted for Plusnet 145mb/30mb which the Openreach workers said was a 160mb line. It came with Plusnet Hub 2 router. Speeds have however been extremely erratic, varying from 1.5mb (no kidding) to 80mb, but generally around 30mb download. Oddly, upload is nearly always around 22 to 29mb, These are through Wifi. Connection with an ethernet cable get me the expected 150mb/30mb. I can stand right next to the router and get these low speeds. My Sky Q box cannot see the network SSI so can't connect. Seems to me like a bad router - but is there some settling in period? I haven't called Plusnet yet, just wanted to see if any words of wisdom here and what others have found with new FTTP installs.

Sounds as if the Plusnet router isn’t very good, or there is a lot of interference. Ethernet cables are the way to get speed, and if the Q box can’t see the WiFi SSID then complain to Plusnet their router is rubbish.

There is no ‘training’ or ‘setting in’ on FTTP the speeds are constant, it works or it doesn’t, no rate adaptive as on copper.

I think it's faulty, the Plusnet Hub 2 is the same as the BT Smart Hub 2. There's lots of complaints I could make about it but the Wi-Fi performance was never one of them.

Anyone around who might have a different device that you can test the wifi on ?

That it’s good via ethernet shows the connection is good.

Have you got a older Plusnet router to try?

Wi-Fi is moving goal posts, especially on these types of consumer routers that do it all automatically. It may have picked different channels than your previous router and now has more interference, or trying to use more bandwidth to get more speed means it is more likely to suffer interference. Have your devices connected to the 2.4GHz or 5GHz radio on the router, 5GHz generally faster.

5GHz can take at least 15 minutes or more to start working on a new device just plugged in (due to checking for radar) so it is possible your devices have gone to the 2.4GHz radio and stayed sat there.

Give it a few days and things may sort themselves out.

Otherwise if you can give the 2.5GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi different names (SSID) and force your devices to connect to the 5GHz radio and see if they perform better. (Not sure if this is possible on these Hubs though).

Edited by E300 (Thu 09-Feb-23 08:23:19)

Unfortunately the Hub 2 doesn't allow the different bands to have different names.

Having checked, that surprised me . But just as a test you could do what I do normally and switch the 2.4GHz channel off.

Have you tried resetting the router? As long as you know your username and password you can set it back up.
Could be a faulty router, it does happen. Try Ethernet and see if that works.

That's helpful, thanks, and I will give it a few days. With the Plusnet Hub 2 you can't give 2.4ghz and 5ghz bands different names, and I notice that my laptop tends to pick the 2.4 band, which is baffling as the 5ghz works better but your answer is maybe a pointer. Previous I had a BT hub 5 which you could rename the bands and that worked well.