HH3 - Infinity - Local WiFi Channel 'fade'?

[gelf]

I've had exactly the same problem with our HH3 that only started recently too. Changing the wireless channel always fixes it back to 35Mbps+ which is pretty much the standard we've had since the start but by the next morning the speed is back down again to 2Mbps again. Wired is always fine.

[gspowart77]

Same issue here also. Perhaps we should start a weekly support group 😉

Has anyone has any luck in resolving this?

[AndyJWS]

Same here... seems that it's happening to a fair number of users and starting at the same time - hardware age or something that has changed in BT's backend? (not a pun or euphemism 🙂 )

If it's something BT are unable to fix other than the restarts, is there a way to schedule a daily restart of the hub so it can be configured to a time of least impact?

[ChrispyB]

Please can someone help me.  I spent an hour and a half on the phone to India last night.  I could hardly understand what the guy was saying, he admitted that I probably knew more than him technically(!) but we just ended up going round and round in circles because his "Computer Said No".

I've got Infinity 2, with a Home Hub 3.  FOr the last 2 or 3 years everything has been great.  I get wired download speeds in excess of 60 Mbps and upload speed of 25 Mbps.  Wifi has always been at least 40 Mbps / 20 Mbps or more.  I have always run a speed check every week or so.

Recently I've been finding that the wifi speed gradually drops over a 6 to 8 hour period to less than 3 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload.  As soon as I connect a cable I get back up to 60 Mbps / 25 Mbps but when I pull the cable out, the wifi is right down again.

Nothing has changed in my house, I am using the same wireless equipment, no furniture has been moved and I have confimed with the neighbours either side that they haven't got any new equipment that could interfere.

As soon as I press the reset button on the HomeHub 3, I am back to 40 Mbps upload, 20 Mbps download, until it reduces again over the next few hours.

There is clearly nothing wrong with my line because I get a great speed on a wired connection.  BT also ran a line check last night.

I have tried the following:

Unplugged both the HomeHub 3 and modem and left them unplugged for 24 hours.

Disabled BT Fon on the HomeHub.

Unplugged all network cables.

Changed the channels between automatic and all the recommended bands.

Disabled all my wifi equipment.

Plugged the kit into the the direct BT test socket.

Unplugged the phone.

Restored the HomeHub to factory settings.

But as soon as I turn on the hub and leave it for a few hours, even with all wifi equipment disconnected, the speed has dropped right down.  I've tried connecting with iPad and a modern Dell laptop separately and always get the same result.

I am convinced that the problem has to be a fault with the HomeHub itself, I can't think of anything else that could be causing the problem, but because I am still getting a strong wired connection and because Wifi still works, albeit at a ridiculously slow speed, the BT guy in India tells me there is nothing he can do because his computer says that the HomeHub is working.

It's a case of "Computer Says No".

I've read a load of articles from people who had similar problems with the HomeHub 3 back in 2012, but it turned out to be a firmware issue, which BT resolved.  My router is running the latest firmware.

Please someone, tell me that I am correct in saying that the fault must be with the HomeHub, or if not, please suggest what else I can do. 

I've had bad support from large companies in the past but BT really are in a league of their own. I'm tearing my hair out and frankly can't face another night on the phone to India.  PLEASE HELP ME!!!

Thanks all

Chris

[ChrispyB]

Keith, thanks for moving my recent post here.  I hadn't found this thread and it's comforting to see that I'm not alone!

Has anyone had any luck in solving this yet?  Unless there has been a firmware update recently, which does not appear to be the case, it really doesn't make much sense why we are all having these problems.

Does anyone have access to a HH4 or HH5 to see if it solves the problem?  BT offered to upgrade me last night but it would have been chargeable and I don't really see why I should pay for something which appears to be a problem at their end!

[doug2015]

I share your frustrations. I went through the call centre and BT tech experts. They agreed to send a new hub out but with it occurring to so many people I'm not sure it will address it.

Could I ask if those having problems also have an apple device? I have an ipad which got an update 8.1.3 on 27th Jan. Close to when my problems started. To see if it's just a coincidence I've just turned it off and rebooted the hub. My wifi should drop by tomorrow morning if it's not related.

I just noticed in the event log some funny events between the ipad and the hub. It may be nothing.

[jhp168]

Amazing! I've had exactly the same issue since around Xmas time. Whenever I start using my wifi after an extended period, say after getting up in the morning or coming home from work, wifi speeds are down to 2mbps or less. The only fix is a restart, and all of a sudden the they are back up to normal. Nothing has changed in my set up or my environment, and there is no new kit or equipment anyway in the house that could be generating a new or different electrical interference,

I'm convinced it's a hardware issue - what else could it be? BT refused to acknowledge it and have just palmed me off with vague references to interference, and effectively suggest a daily reboot. Which is what I am doing anyway.

It's not a fundamental issue, I suppose, I can get the speeds I pay for, eventually. The annoyance factor is, however, beginning to rise.

Has anyone found a solution to this?

[Agent]

Hi

I'm getting the same issue as described by others. In short:

• Wifi has been fine since owning the HH3
• Within the last month(ish) I've got very bad wifi speed. My Android phone (Nexus 4) will see the wireless network drop. In some cases it will then reconnect to the BT FON wireless network. This will then usually drop and the cycle will continue. I suspect the OS sees the connection is poor / unstable and drops it internally.
• My laptop (Intel wireless) sees and can maintain a connection for longer, but the speed is terrible. Sometimes around a 1Mbps, but often less. Upload seems to vary greatly.
• All wired devices (3 PCs, PS3, PS4) have no problems at all. Speed / ping is always great. Online gaming is fine and there is no interruption in service.
• If I reboot the HH3, the speed on wireless is 'restored' for a while, before 'fading' down to an unusable speed.
• If I change the wireless channel, again the speed is 'restored' only for it to fade again.
• I have tried all channels, including 13. I have chosen the least congested channels through manually checking what other signals are in my area. I have tried with smart wireless both on and off.
• It looks like there has been no new firmware pushed to the device for a while.

There are only a few things I can put it down to at this stage:

• There is a new wireless device in the area which is causing major interference. Maybe another ISP has pushed a firmware update to their routers which has caused an issue with ours.
• The HH3 is faulty through age. Bad capacitors or something along those lines. Maybe I’ll crack it open and check them at some point.
• BT has pushed a silent update which has broken things.

I have not tried a full factory restore yet, but I’ll do that tonight.

The other, strange thing is that my office colleague also has Infinity.  We live about a mile apart, so local, but outside of each other’s wireless range. We both had infinity installed at around the same time, and he is also having the same issues as me and others. He also has the HH3.

We’re going to do some trouble shooting together (we’re both programmers with some network experience) when we have some spare time, but currently it looks like a hardware / firmware issue. Excluding being able to repair the hardware, there is very little we can do if firmware. If it turns out to be external interference, again, very little we can do.

I'll keep you posted if we find anything useful.

[ChrispyB]

There is a very clear trend developing here, which would seem  to rule out local interference / signal conditions as the cause of the problem.

BT have now agreed to send me a replacement HomeHub.  I am assuming it will still be a HH3, because they wanted to charge me for a HH4 or 5 upgrade!  The new box should arrive within the next 5 or 6 working days and I'll report back as soon as I have received and tested it.

And to answer Doug2015's earlier question, I too am running Apple (iPhone 5 and IPAD 2) with the latest IOS, together with a modern Dell laptop, but my problems definitely started before the IOS upgrade, so I don't think that is likely to be the issue.

Chris

[doug2015]

I switched my ipad off and the wfi still dropped so the iOS update was just coincedence.

BT have sent me a replacement hub.  Thankfully it is a HH4.  Hopefully this will keep me going!