New VM user - comments about the Hub3

We've just had VM M200 for about a month, replacing BT Halo FTTC.

BT gave me 70Mb down and around 17Mb up. Hence I chose M200 to get better speeds for both.

The Hub 3 seems to have an endemic problem where it will sometimes claim you are logged in as admin, even when you're not. You have to reboot or (worst case) factory reset the hub. Not good when 4 people are on video calls, and you need to make a change.

The Wifi on it is considerably worse than BT, even pre-halo, it now doesn't reach the furthest bedrooms at any decent sped. Halo (not even using the wifi discs) was fine. Our house has cardboard walls (not joking) so there isn't much of a barrier to wifi.

So, is it possible to use your own modem/router for VM?
Ages ago, I used a Netgear device with BT.
We do have Virgin TV and phone, so I'm guessing not.

Otherwise, I guess it's turn off Wifi and use my own device (just wifi).

I have Cat5 cabling around most of the house, but this doesn't help the Apple fans that are too cheap to buy an ethernet adapter for the Apple <wotsit> or the phone users

In reply to a post by litton4:

So, is it possible to use your own modem/router for VM?

Yes. You need a router without DSL modem, or a modem/router that has an Ethernet WAN port. You then go into the hub3 admin pages and turn on "modem mode", attach your router to the ethernet 1 port of the Hub 3, and disconnect all other ethernet cables.

I have an Asus RT-AX88U connected to my Hub 3 which is in modem mode for various reasons, one is the Virgin coax limits where the Hub 3 can be positioned, and it is easier to run Ethernet, and second the AX88U is an expensive WiFi 6 premium router with a lot of geeky features

DO i need modem mode, or can I just disable Wifi and use my own Wifi box, connected to the router over ethernet?

I don't really want to replace the firewall (eg with somethign running PFSense) and DHCP stuff that the VM router does (Although the BT hub did give me a lot more info and was more flexible, it's not really an issue)

Make sure you 'logout' of the GUI before you close the window.

You can also get Plume wifi extenders from Virgin - I went from patchy signal in my room to 200Meg over wifi.

In reply to a post by litton4:

Do i need modem mode, or can I just disable Wifi and use my own Wifi box, connected to the router over ethernet?

You can easily do that, but it depends what WiFi box you might buy, many have full routers/DHCP etc built in.

Yep, found that one out.

Thanks for the advice - looks like I'll be looking for a decent WiFi router (or the ones from Virgin, suggested above)

In reply to a post by litton4:

The Hub 3 seems to have an endemic problem where it will sometimes claim you are logged in as admin, even when you're not. You have to reboot or (worst case) factory reset the hub.

I've experienced the same behaviour in both modem and router mode. Very annoying.

I'm currently experimenting with the Hub3 in router mode and my router doing double NAT, but in a DMZ so external access is still possible. I don't think there is much improvement to the evening peak slowdown - I wasn't expecting it, but thought it was worth a try.

You are best to try and get these from Virginmedia.

If the signal is unreliable, it’s most likely due to size / structure / insulation etc of property. Setting up a mesh would assist quite nicely.

https://www.virginmedia.com/shop/broadband/intellige...