Connecting Openreach modem to Smart Hub 2

[stoneyneal]

I have fibre connected to the house. BT have just sent me a Smart Hub 2 in preparation for the change to digital voice.  I have tried to set up the hub but cannot get past the continuous Orange light. None of the advice given helps, so I have had to switch back to the standard BT smart hub. The chat service is not available, and the phone lines are busy, so I wonder if anyone in the community can help.  The fault finder says there is no connection between the modem (in the garage) and the hub (upstairs in the house). There is no cable connection at present (its too far), so we are using powerline connectors. These are absolutely fine for the standard smart hub. Should they also work  for the Smart Hub 2?  If not, I could move the hub downstairs and drill a large diam hole through the house wall into the garage - it needs to be a big hole to allow the connector to pass through. I've been reluctant to do this up to now, but if needs must...

I am also unsure if the colour of the cables is relevant. Currently the cable from the modem to the powerline connector in the garage is white, and the cable from the indoor powerline connector to the hub is also white. The hub instructions seem to suggest that I have to use red cables for the smart hub 2. Is this the case?

Thanks

Neal

[Keith_Beddoe]

@stoneyneal 

I think you have to change the settings on the smart hub 2, to FTTP mode, and use one of the Ethernet ports. Another forum member may give you more info.

[licquorice]

The colour of the cables is irrelevant.

Have you configured the SH2 for FTTP operation?  Advanced settings > Broadband > Full Fibre (FTTP) mode > On

[stoneyneal]

Many Thanks for your advice. There is nothing in the setup instructions about this. I'll let you know if it solves the problem

[stoneyneal]

After multiple previous attempts to get the Smart Hub 2 to start, I plugged it in today and hey presto, a blue light. My PC connected OK, but after a few minutes the hub light went orange. I went to Hub Settings as advised, and found that FTTP mode had been set correctly all along, so that was not the problem.  Meanwhile the hub came on again, and after a further brief drop out it now seems to be OK.

So, my supplementary question is, will it now settle down or can I expect to get further random drop-outs?  I did get the odd drop out with the original Smart Hub, but vary rarely.

[licquorice]

Sorry, crystal ball is out of action.

The hub should just work first time and have no problems, anything else is a fault.

[TimCurtis · Accepted solution]

@stoneyneal 

When you first get an internet connection with the SH2 it will start an update so you'll have connection for a few minutes & then it'll update & reboot and then reconnect. Confused me when that happened.

Any new SH2 should have ethernet port 4 set and marked as the FTTP port & that's port you plug the cable connecting to the ONT. I think it's only with the later software that you can change this port back to straight ethernet.

[licquorice]

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@TimCurtis wrote:

Any new SH2 should have ethernet port 4 set and marked as the FTTP port & that's port you plug the cable connecting to the ONT. I think it's only with the later software that you can change this port back to straight ethernet.

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Previously there were two versions of SH2, one with 3 LAN ports (coloured yellow) and 1 WAN port (coloured red) and the other with 4 LAN ports (coloured yellow), these were not configurable. BT now only have one version of SH2 that has 4 yellow  ports  but has a configurable port 4 that can be either LAN or WAN. I'm not sure if BT's systems are clever enough to send an appropriately configured SH2 or if they are always sent with 4 LAN ports as default.

[stoneyneal]

Thanks for your replies. My hub has 3 yellow ports and one red one marked WAN - its the red one thats used.  Updating and rebooting seems a logical explanation for the drop-outs.  2 PCs and 2 mobiles now connected and no issues so far, but I will delay sending the old hub back to BT for a few days as an insurance.