BT Halo 1 - Smart Hub 2 to Halo 1 link keeps dropping

[NAROBS]

My BT Smart Hub  2 / Halo 1 combination was working fine 18 months ago when I first acquired the Halo unit.

I used to get 2 bars signal strength in blue showing on the Halo 1. These would turn white on connection.

I'm on BT's basic 50mb down 10Mb up VDSL service (FTTC) - road cabinet is about 250 yards away.

Now I find that the link between the Smart Hub 2 and the Halo 1 keeps dropping when the Smart Hub 2 is connected to the internet via the BT VDSL. The VDSL connection is stable, but the Smart Hub 2 to Halo 1 isn't.

I'm seeing a constant blue light on the Halo 1 when a connection has been made. This last about half a minute then  the light flashes blue at intervals before regaining constant blue light and then it cycles again, flashing . . constant . . .flashing . . .constant  in blue, before eventually turning red constant

This occurs  when using  the supplied Cat 5E patch cable between the Smart Hub 2 and Halo 1  or if I substitute another cable (Cat 8).

On comprehensive testing i.e. doing factory resets on both the BT Smart Hub 2 and the BT Halo 1, removing all connections to the Smart Hub  2 (VDSL line & the ethernet to the desktop) and the  Halo 1 (Sim Card and external aerial) and leaving only the Cat 5 E patch cable connecting the two units,  . . .

I find after  doing a staggered start on both units, starting the Smart Hub 2 First (To the point where the flashing purple light is shown on the SH2) and then starting the  Halo unit (To the point where a constant blue light is shown), then, and only then, is the connection blue light maintained i.e. a stable connection.

If I re-connect the VDSL line to the Smart Hub 2, the Smart Hub 2 to Halo 1 link goes unstable and starts cycling flashing blue light . . .constant blue light . until finally turning red.

I've done several "Quiet Line " tests on the telephone line, both whilst the Smart Hub 2 and Halo 1 were turned-off, whilst they were booting and once they had fully-booted and  . .there's no noise at all on the line, at any time.

Very annoying.

Ping on the VDSL line is anything 5ms to 25ms, depending on the server used, tested speed-up is 42-43 Mbps and down 8-10 Mbps. The down line, occasionally shows a temporary drop in speed down to 5Mbps during the early part of the test but always recovers to 8-10Mbps.

Do BT still support Halo 1 ?

They're not blocking it are they to encourage movement to Halo 2 and 3 and the extra revenue that would attract ?

The only other thing I can think of that might lead to a problem is that the Smart Hub 2 received an automatic Firmware update in April 2022 and the Halo might not have . .as it was switched-off earlier in the year.

Is there any way to update the Firmware on a Halo 1 ?

Grateful for any help on this.

[yorkspark]

Are you referring to the bt Hybrid connect when you say halo 1 unit?

Bt Halo's are add on's to your package ie, halo 1, halo 2, halo 3 and halo 3+

Bt halo 3+ is required for the hybrid unit to work

Where did you aquire the hybrid unit as they are supplied free with a halo 3+ subscription, which is of course needed for the hybrid unit to work. If it was bought from ebay then it wont work.

[NAROBS]

Yes I am referring to BT Hybrid Connect (At least that is the name that appears on the device list in the Smart Hub 2 list).

The unit was purchased from E-Bay as a Halo 3.

My BT broadband account, under your services says that it supports Halo 1:-

I thought, at the time I  purchased the unit (Dec 21) that my BT account automatically supported Halo 1 and that the customers were charged on a usuage basis @ 16p a minute. In fact, I seem to recall, that when I first tested the unit, it worked perfectly and I was charged a few quid for first use.

Since Dec 21 BT seem to have changed the conditions and are now charging a rental of £1 a month.