This topic

5GHz band not working on BT Smart Hub 2

Rylow95 — Wed, 26 Jul 2023 22:07:46 GMT

Hi all,

Currently have BT Fibre 900 but struggling to get more than about 80mbps since moving home. Have had q Qube engineer out to have a look, they have tried 3 different Smart Hub 2's, all with the same issue, so I know its not the hub and even called other engineers who have said they have never come across this issue. I have confirmed that the speed between the ONT and the hub is 1000mbps.

My BT TV will not connect at all, presumably it only works on the 5GHz band.

I have also had Openreach out (I am an Openreach engineer myself), have checked all cabling, light reading at ONT is within parameters and everything is good on our end.

Today I did a speed test and realised that my phone was connected to the 5GHz band, getting about 440mbps, and the only thing I noticed that I did different was that I had the BT TV connected via ethernet (this is not a permanent solution as it means running a cable frlm hallway through rooms).

I jumped onto the hub admin settings and confirmed I was definitely connected to the 5GHz band, I was. I removed the ethernet from the BT TV box and I lost all connectivity on my mobile and TV. After reconnecting the ethernet to the BT TV box, I have been unable to re-connect to the 5GHz band. As stated, I dont know what was different other than the BT TV box being connected via ethernet. I am totally stumped as to why I wouldn't be able to connect to the 5GHz band, my phone is a Samsung S21 Ultra 5G which does support dual-band 5GHz connectivity. The hub is the same as the one in my previous address which didn't have any issues, constant 5GHz connectivity, it seems to have happened after a "lift and shift" from my first house to my new, current one.

Anyone any ideas? I am totally flummoxed. Powerline adapters are not a solution, I am paying for something and I'd like it to work.

Many thanks to anyone who can offer a solution.

Ryan.

Re: 5GHz band not working on BT Smart Hub 2

countrypaul — Wed, 26 Jul 2023 23:17:12 GMT

Long shot - especially at this time of night, but could the BT TV Box be causing problems with the WiFi for all clients? I am not familiar with the BT TV Box, but I know that some equipment if connected by Ethernet will not try and use WiFi (Firestick is one example iirc). Try switching the BTTV off, restart the router and see if your phone works. hen try turning the BTTV on and check again before unplugging the BTTV Ethernet to see if that kills your WiFi.

Network storms due to faulty Ethernet equipment are well known, could you have something similar on WiFi, for example the BTTV constantly trying to connect and preventing anything else using the WiFi?

Re: 5GHz band not working on BT Smart Hub 2

Rylow95 — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 08:37:48 GMT

Does not seem to have worked. Thank you for trying, I might try a 3rd party router to see if its an issue with the BT Hubs themselves. I tried 3 hubs but they were all BT Smart Hub 2s.

Re: 5GHz band not working on BT Smart Hub 2

countrypaul — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 12:18:43 GMT

Have you tried resetting the router rather than just restarting it?

Re: 5GHz band not working on BT Smart Hub 2

Rylow95 — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 12:31:37 GMT

Yes

Re: 5GHz band not working on BT Smart Hub 2

imjolly — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 12:47:22 GMT

have you tried a wifi analyser on your phone to check SH2 5ghz is accessible and also the signal strength?

It is you device that decides whether to connect to 2.4 or 5ghz not the hub - provide both networks are available

Re: 5GHz band not working on BT Smart Hub 2

Rylow95 — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 12:51:22 GMT

I have not tried a WiFi analyser, my device will connect to any other hub outside of my home to the 5GHz band but only the 2.4 on my own. The problem is localised to my home, not even the hub itself as I have tried 3 different BT Smarthubs, all with the same issue. My phone, my work phone which is an iPhone 14, my partners phone which is an iPhone 13XR all cannot connect to the 5GHz band. Wired connections are fine and get the desired speed, but the wireless 5GHz just refuses to work.

Re: 5GHz band not working on BT Smart Hub 2

imjolly — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 12:54:26 GMT

I find it highly unlikely you have 3 SH2 and all have the same problem with wifi connection do you have any other wifi devices to see if they connect to 5ghz wifi.

Re: 5GHz band not working on BT Smart Hub 2

Rylow95 — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 13:03:51 GMT

I had a Qube engineer come round a few days after I reported the speed issue, they carry spare hubs in their van for replacing faulty ones. He tested mine, which had the issue as stated previously, he then tested one from his van; he had the same issue so got ANOTHER one from his van which also had the same issue with my devices and his own connecting to the 5GHz band.

To rule out a faulty BT TV box (which can't connect, see OP) He tried a new, unboxed BT TV box pro, which still couldn't connect unless it was wired. I can go to my anybody elses house and connect to the hub and use the 5GHz band with no issues. The 2.4GHz works as expected, if I disable the 2.4GHz band and leave just the 5GHz active, the WiFi doesn't even show on the list of available networks to connect to, any devices that are currently connected will also lose WiFi connection.

The QUBE engineer had never seen the issue, I understand their knowledge only goes so far, he called his colleagues who had also never seen the issue. His solutions was to escalate the problem to Openreach (who I work for) but there is nothing wrong on our end. Everything up to the hub is working fine, speed between ONT and router is the expected 1000mbps, but the 5GHz band just refuses to co-operate.

Re: 5GHz band not working on BT Smart Hub 2

countrypaul — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 15:44:21 GMT

It almost suggests that there is a problem with something interfering with the 5GHz spectrum. Can you set your phone as a hotspot and connect to that using the 5Gz range - purely to confirm that the 5Gz range does not have major interference?

Re: 5GHz band not working on BT Smart Hub 2

Rylow95 — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 16:55:46 GMT

Just did a quick test to confirm - my work phone will connect to my personal phones hotspot with no issues, hotspot is set to 5GHz. Tested this right next to my hub,

Re: 5GHz band not working on BT Smart Hub 2

countrypaul — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 19:41:29 GMT

Having reread this thread I have to come to the conclusion that the SH2 is the problem, but why it also happened with the other 2 SH2s is bewildering. The fact you had your SH2 working fine previously at you previous abode, and on one occasion where you currently are suggests to me that something has changed and is confusing the SH2 - bt I have no idea what. Did you have the BT box previously?

If you do a factory reset of your SH2 (whilst BT Box turned off) and then try a WiFI scanner (I use WiFi Analyzer by Matt Hafner - matthafner dot com wifi-analyzer on my PC but it is also supposed to work on Tablets and Phones) does the 5GHz signal show up at all?

Re: 5GHz band not working on BT Smart Hub 2

Les-Gibson — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 20:12:04 GMT

@Rylow95wrote:
Just did a quick test to confirm - my work phone will connect to my personal phones hotspot with no issues, hotspot is set to 5GHz. Tested this right next to my hub,

That suggests to me that you need to try a different 5GHz channel (on the SH2), channel 36 is known to be a problem especially if there are any Sky Q networks within range.

Presumably your phone hotspot was not using 36 which could explain why that works and your hub doesn't.

Re: 5GHz band not working on BT Smart Hub 2

Rylow95 — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 23:14:35 GMT

So I did a reset of the SH2 with the BT TV box turned off, used a WiFi analyser (albeit a different one than the one suggested) and the 5GHz band is not showing up at all. There is a neighbour using 5GHz but it is on Virgin. I did notice that on the analyser that there are no BT 5GHz bands showing up - on mine or neighbours; granted I could be out of range of their 5GHz bands.

Re: 5GHz band not working on BT Smart Hub 2

Rylow95 — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 23:15:21 GMT

I have tried all available channels on the SH2 for the 5GHz band with no joy.

Re: 5GHz band not working on BT Smart Hub 2

Les-Gibson — Sat, 29 Jul 2023 07:37:44 GMT

Can you go into your hubs Advanced Settings and post a screen shot from Wireless, obscure your SSID and password before posting, it's safe to leave everything else as is

Re: 5GHz band not working on BT Smart Hub 2

countrypaul — Sat, 29 Jul 2023 07:55:55 GMT

Will be interesting to see the Wireless shot as @Les-Gibson suggests.

At this point it does look like the SH2 is faulty (unless the screen shot highlights something else), we should not rule out the possibility of 2 (or more) faults, but 3 faulty SH2s does seem very unlikely.

Re: 5GHz band not working on BT Smart Hub 2

Rylow95 — Sat, 29 Jul 2023 08:38:32 GMT

photo of advanced wireless, I have tried multiple channels and multiple modes.

Re: 5GHz band not working on BT Smart Hub 2

countrypaul — Sat, 29 Jul 2023 12:30:06 GMT

I presume you have tried turning the 5GHz off and on with no change.

I would report the SH2 as faulty not working on 5GHz WiFi at all, based on nothing will connect to it, been reset multiple times and WiFi scanners show not signal from it at all.

See whether a replacement works, even though you tried 2 from the engineers van, having exactly this fault with multiple SH2s would really be a big surprise!

Re: 5GHz band not working on BT Smart Hub 2

Les-Gibson — Sat, 29 Jul 2023 13:46:01 GMT

@countrypaul could well be right but there's just one thing bothering me.

You say you have tried at least three SH2s' all with the same result, presumably each one was fitted in the same place (?) which to my mind suggests that either you have been unbelievably unlucky with three hubs or you have one unsuitable location, have you tried moving it?