This topic

BT Hub 6

mm2 — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 12:58:36 GMT

Hi all, I have a BT Hub 6 that connects my 3 computers, phone and smart TV to wifi successfully all the time, no complaints there whatsoever

I have a non-smart TV in my spare room with a Humax Freeview recorder and bought a third party wifi adapter to connect the Humax box, it only receives iPlayer but that's ok with me

The adapter installed ok, worked a few times and then wasn't used for some weeks, last week it refused to connect

To cut a long story short I've wasted a lot of time following suggestions from the supplier and from Humax that didn't work, starting with 'the Humax portal is down' (no it wasn't) and running through various resets, the only effect of which was to corrupt the connection with my Panasonic smart TV, fortunately Panasonic were able to fix that on chat in 30 seconds and all other devices continue to connect ok

The latest advice is that the router is 'using a channel the adapter can't see'

As every other device works fine how come they can see this invisible router channel? It's suggested I 'change the wireless channel of the router' which I am reluctant to do in case it mucks up all my other wifi connections

Any ideas, please? I have pictures of the TV screen error messages if that's any use

Mary

Re: BT Hub 6

licquorice — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 13:19:01 GMT

First make sure Smart Setup is disabled on the hub. You could then try splitting the WiFi bands. This will involve changing the network name of any devices you have that currently connect to the 5Ghz band.

Changing the WiFi channel won't cause problems with devices, they will just use the different channel with no intervention needed.

http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/56419/~/how-do-i-split-my-bt-hubs-ssid-%28wireless-network-name%29%3F

http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/44328/~/what-is-smart-setup-on-the-bt-hub%3F-how-can-i-turn-it-on-and-off%3F

Re: BT Hub 6

mm2 — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 15:28:21 GMT

thanks but I'd rather throw the adapter in the bin than mess around like that, I thought the whole point of a smart hub was to choose the bandwidth with the least traffic to speed things up so why would I want to disable it?

everything else is working fine without needing to split anything so I conclude the adapter is too primitive to benefit, it appears to only work on the 2.4Ghz band

thank you for trying to help but messing about with things I don't understand and having to reset so many different connections as described in the link is a recipe for disaster!

Mary

Re: BT Hub 6

licquorice — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 15:39:43 GMT

Your choice.

You are thinking of smart wireless, Smart setup is not the same as smart wireless and is a useless piece of junk software that is best disabled.

Smart wireless isn't all that smart either, but that's a different story.

Re: BT Hub 6

mm2 — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 15:56:41 GMT

ah, sorry, that just demonstrates my ignorance

I took one look at the smart-whatever linked page and it terrified me

I don't understand why this adapter did work on installation then has stopped working when nothing has changed

or at least nothing has been changed by me - can't say whether my smart hub has changed anything without consulting me ...

and if the smart hub has changed something, why does everything else still work?

sorry if this is all very obvious to you, I'm just an accountant, as my brother says 'she does sums'

Mary

Re: BT Hub 6

licquorice — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 16:07:46 GMT

Can you be more specific about the make and model of the wifi device?

If the Humax has an Ethernet port, you might be better using a pair of powerline adapters and connect via Ethernet rather than wifi.

Something like these https://shop.bt.com/products/bt-broadband-extender-600-kit-084284-BVFL.html

Re: BT Hub 6

mm2 — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 16:38:30 GMT

It does indeed have an ethernet socket, I understand that but only ever used a wired connection

so does this gadget plug one into the Hub and one into the Humax and transmit a wireless connection between?

Mary

Re: BT Hub 6

Hildener — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 16:56:47 GMT

The Hub 6 seems to like some wi fi extenders better than others. I had a similar experience some years ago. I then bought a netgear extender which is in the summer house quite some distance from the hub has been connected and rock solid for several years now. Maybe Netgear is the way to go.But yes do switch off smart setup and split the two bands.

Re: BT Hub 6

licquorice — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 17:00:09 GMT

@mm2 wrote:

It does indeed have an ethernet socket, I understand that but only ever used a wired connection

so does this gadget plug one into the Hub and one into the Humax and transmit a wireless connection between?

Mary

No, it uses your mains wiring as an Ethernet connection.

Re: BT Hub 6

mm2 — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 18:33:23 GMT

now that does interest me, I have tried and thrown out wireless music because the sound quality was so poor compared to my wired hifi, so a wired solution will give me confidence, thank you so much!

Re: BT Hub 6

licquorice — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 18:45:22 GMT

If you need Ethernet at more than one location, you can get a multi pack of a master that connects to the hub and multiple slaves at various locations.

Re: BT Hub 6

mm2 — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 20:42:08 GMT

Many thanks but as everything else works fine via wifi I haven't used Ethernet for years. My phone, tablet, laptop and desktop PC plus the Panasonic smart TV have no connectivity issues which is why I believe it is some limitation in this TV adaptor that has stopped it working.

In my days selling computer systems we always stressed the importance of buying a complete system from one vendor because any problems with a mixed-source system, each of the vendors would blame the others.

If I'd paid 3 times the price for a Humax adaptor instead of being a skinflint and buying a third-party device, Humax would have had to own the problem and sort it out

The Humax box is a bedroom telly and I just thought during lockdown on dark evenings it might be nice to watch catch-up TV in bed, that's all!

You get what you pay for, lesson learned! BT isn't the cheapest service provider but I have had no problems so worth sticking with them for the track record and not least, the help I get from this forum with problems way over my head

Re: BT Hub 6

Hildener — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 01:20:30 GMT

I should have said in my previous post that the Netgear Wi Fi Extender works Perfectly with My Humax Sat Recorder. At one time there were 3 Humax Sat receivers connected to the Extender all worked flawlessly.Two of them have since been Replaced by Lg Smart tv and they also work without any Problem.

Re: BT Hub 6

mm2 — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 06:08:01 GMT

thanks, I only have the one non-smart device, everything else (3 computers, phone, smart tv) and at one time Sonos wireless hifi extender) has its own integrated wifi connector and works fine

but if I ever need more additions then I agree a wifi extender is the way to go

and with the evenings getting lighter and hopes of lockdown release, the chances of wanting watch telly in bed are receding fast!

I just can't understand why this plug-in adapter worked fine at first then stopped working, is all and I am disappointed it was sold as specifically compatible with my Humax box and with all routers

on the product packaging it does say 2.4Ghz, I guess my smart hub is changing to 5Ghz to speed up my network then the adapter can't see it, as the suppliers said, I am chucking it in the bin

Re: BT Hub 6

licquorice — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 08:14:07 GMT

For some reason I have yet to fathom, although there are a couple of theories, some single band devices do appear to have problems when both bands have the same SSID despite not being able to 'see' the 5Ghz signal. Hence splitting the bands can resolve this. I appreciate you are reluctant to do this, but it does often resolve WiFi problems.

Re: BT Hub 6

Hildener — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 10:38:30 GMT

Yes but the Netgear wi fi Extender has an integrated Ethernet Port.Place the Extender near to the Humax Device and connect to it with an ethernet cable and you are good to go.

Re: BT Hub 6

licquorice — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 11:07:34 GMT

@Hildener Can you please point out where the OP has said they have a Netgear extender.

Re: BT Hub 6

Hildener — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 11:45:26 GMT

I made no suggestion that the op had a netgear extender. I am putting forward the idea that the Netgear Extender maybe a solution for the Problem. it's for the op to decide if it is suitable or not.

Re: BT Hub 6

mm2 — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 12:18:37 GMT

Hi all, I understood both suggestions that if I wanted a wifi extender I would have to buy either the BT or Netgear equipment from scratch and I did like the using the mains as a wifi conductor idea because my simple mind can understand that

I'm really sorry to have made so much work for you both, I am very much hardware technically-challenged and if I decide I can't live without iPlayer in my bedroom I'll just go and buy another Panasonic smart tv to have an easy life

Please don't put any more energy into this, I feel so guilty! If the seller had not made it out to be a straight plug & play with any router, I wouldn't have even considered buying it

The seller is now saying I need to change the wireless channel, not split the band

You do a fantastic job on this forum and no doubt most of your questions come from brighter people than me, I should stick to doing sums and thank you both for trying

Re: BT Hub 6

Hildener — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 13:00:15 GMT

Don't worry about it . Wi fi can be a very difficult thing at times. I only suggested the Extender because the Mains solution would not work at this location due to Extender being in an outbuilding far from the House. I should also say that the Extender is only a single band 2.4 ghz device as the distance from router to it's location is too far for the 5 ghz band. It works perfectly and I am reasonably confident that it will solve the problem if you plug the humax into it's ethernet Port also the single band extender is not very expensive from Amazon. Anyway good luck with it and if you can do switch off smart setup and split the Bands.