BT Broadband HH5 wireless keeps dropping out - **SOLVED by CAG**

[alchamist]

Ah the joys of BT Script monkeys ... Unfortunately they use this as a line of defence all the time.

Don't worry, you're not alone in your frustration.

 

 

My next door neighbour works for BT in the customer services department and has just as much trouble with them

to the point that she just comes to me now when she has issues with her internet!

 

At the risk of seeming like a script monkey myself (I can assure you I'm not!),

 

 

can I ask exactly what you mean by the "connection will just drop".

 

 

Is this your wireless connection to the hub, or the internet connection itself (as in the light goes orange on the homehub)?

 

 

Is it just on your laptop or on other devices as well,

and as daft as this might sound,

what make is your laptop?

 

 

From what you have said I assume it still dropped when you were plugged in via ethernet?

 

Just need a slightly clearer picture so as to be able to give you some pointers.

[alchamist]

Thanks for that. We needed to rule out some things as some laptops can have issues with BT homehubs.

 

When this happens, are you able to see what the status lights on the hub are doing?

 

Also, can you confirm if any of the devices are connected by ethernet cable or is it all wireless?

 

One last question for the moment - roughly how often does this happen, and how long are the outages?

[alchamist]

That's great info, thanks.

 

There are a couple of things this may be, however my first instinct would be that you are suffering from the 2G/5G issue that the HH5's can suffer.

 

If you are feeling brave enough, can you try the following steps? (Reproduced from the 'net as I can't post links)

 

 

For some devices you can solve this problem by having different network names (SSIDs) for the 2.4GHz and the 5GHz bands. To set this up, follow these steps:

 

• Open your web browser on a device connected to the Hub and go to bthomehub.home. This will open the Hub Manager
  
• Click on Advanced Settings and enter your Hub admin password when prompted. Unless you've changed it, you'll find the default Hub password on the Hub settings card
  
• Click on Continue to Advanced Settings
  
• Click on Wireless
  
• Click on 5GHz
  
• Change 'Sync with 2.4 Ghz' to No
  
• Change the 'Wireless SSID' to a new name (we recommend just adding '5GHz' to the end of the existing SSID name so you'll know which one is which)
  
• Click Apply to save the changes
  

 

After a few minutes you should see two BT Home Hub SSIDs in the list of networks on your device. All of your devices will still automatically connect to the original SSID name, which will be the 2.4GHz.

 

Of course, this may not be the cause of the issues, but I have had multiple people complain about wireless issues in the past with the HH5, and this has cured the problem a good percentage of the time.

 

Let me know how you get on

Edited April 30, 2015 by alchamist

[alchamist]

Hi,

 

This should be different to the process that BT gave you, as we are changing the network IDs to split them rather than just changing the channel it uses (which is all they tend to tell you to avoid "interference")

 

If you have successfully split the channels then yes you will currently be on the 2.4Ghz network , which is slower. Don't panic, we can deal with that - just join the new 5Ghz wireless network you created with the same password as is on the card.

 

What we need to know now is if by splitting the two networks your devices are no longer trying to flick between the two, which I suspect was the cause of the issues you were having. Let it run a while and let me know how you get on

[alchamist]

No need to apologise at all - You're not thick at all - it's why the IT business is a multi-billion pound industry. If it was easy I'd be out of a job!

 

Let me try and explain. Imagine there was a radio station in the area that broadcast on two frequencies. You have a radio in the house that automatically tries to tune to the strongest of the two frequencies. Every so often someone with one of those little ipod transmitters drives past and causes interference on one of the frequencies. To the radio. the signal is strong but the resultant sound to your ears is awful.

 

Now imagine the same with the laptop. It tries to go to the strongest signal. That signal may not always give intelligible data, but to the radio it's still the strongest signal. This can cause the disconnects you were experiencing. By splitting the networks we are effectively locking the radio to one of the two and stopping it from constantly swapping and getting itself confused.

 

(Before anyone shoots down my analogy, I know it's not perfect, but trying to put it in a real life context )

 

If you search for wireless networks on your laptop, you should find another wireless network with the name you gave it in the process I posted earlier. You should be able to join this wireless network using the same password as you have on the little card insert in the Home Hub with the network details and administrator password on it.

 

Either way - it's not urgent that you join the network at the moment, but it would be ideal if you could verify that you can see the new name show up in the list of wireless networks just to show we've split the two systems. If it has, play on t'internet for a while and see if you still get the disconnections you were experiencing.

[alchamist]

To alchamist......its just dropped, this is the first time since I changed the channel.....so its lasted 2 hours

 

Ok, well let's run with it for a while longer and see if we have improved the time between disconnections. If we have then we know we are on the right track, and see if we can then further track down the issue.

[alchamist]

So if you search for wireless networks, do you see another name similar to the one on the card? There should be one with the name you set up under the "wireless SSID" step in the instructions I posted.

[alchamist]

Clicking as you have gives a list of wireless networks as you have seen. If you can't see the name you set up in the steps I gave, can you just go through them again and let me know what you rename the SSID to?

 

I know this might seem a little pedantic, but it is something we need to get nailed down for you. Sadly I can't do my usual of offering to take remote control and assist you with this as I don't want to go against the forum rules (and rightly they are there to keep things safe and open).

 

If you get stuck, don't be afraid to shout up though!

[alchamist]

Yup no problem at all. I have to go settle my 1 month old anyway!

 

You've done the right thing with the networks there. We'll go through a couple of more things tomorrow.

 

Schlafen Gut!

[alchamist]

One for when you are awake.

 

Can you go to your homehub again, to advanced settings and then to wireless, and tell me what the "Wireless Interface Type" dropdown is set to please?

[alchamist]

No, on the 2.4Ghz please?

[alchamist]

Ok - assuming you are still getting the disconnections, can you try changing that to 802.11 b/g 54Mb/s please and see how you get on for a while.

[alchamist]

Yes, that's fine - one thing at a time

[alchamist]

We are using a more stable, but slower protocol to connect to the HH5 in case there is a slight incompatibility with the WiFi device in your laptop.

 

So using the radio analogy we started:

 

Yesterday we took the radio off "auto" into "manual" tuning and locked it to one frequency for the station.

Today we are slowing down the transmission speed so as to make sure that the voices don't sound like the chipmunks on acid.

 

Any help?

[alchamist]

Let them send what they want!

 

The problem is really that BT have tried to have a device that is a jack of all trades in the HH5. Sadly it falls short sometimes (well, ok - quite often!) but there are ways to make it work. In terms of it being "a lot slower", this may be down to the number of times you've had to restart your HH recently. BT see this as a line fault and so will renegotiate your maximum line speed to try and make it stable. It should come back up again, but let's get the basics sorted first of being able to stay connected via wireless to the router.

[alchamist]

Ok - let me know how you get on!

[alchamist]

Excellent news! Hopefully it will stay trouble free for you now but please shout if it doesn't and let me know how you get on anyway

[alchamist]

I would leave everything as is now. It's working and stable

 

If BT call just tell them you've had an IT person out who has sorted the issue and ask where you can send the bill

 

As for why they couldn't tell you how to fix it, I'll leave that to your imagination, other than to say that you would not have spoken to anyone with any real IT training in your dealings. We have to spend about an hour on the phone each time we need them to do anything remotely complex as we have to get passed up the chain until we get someone who has even half a clue.

[alchamist]

Glad it's getting better for you! BT won't ask who - if they do just tell them someone you found in yellow pages.

 

If you are happy with the way Windows 8 (*shudder*) then stick with it. The Microsoft updates are essential to keeping your PC safe from the constantly evolving threat landscape that exists. They find security flaws, Microsoft fix them, they find more flaws, Microsoft fix them - it's a never ending circle I'm afraid. What I wouldn't do is upgrade any device drivers unless something isn't working. These don't normally come up in the general "updates" so just do those.

 

If you do upgrade to Windows 8.1 you generally won't lose data - however your statement is not unique and is a widespread concern. Excuse me while I get on my soapbox for a moment (and this is a general rant to everyone, not directed at you in any way )

 

 

but data storage these days is cheap, and in such there is no reason at all to have backups of your photos and important documents.

 

 

here are plenty of free online storage providers (e.g. Dropbox), though personally I would get a cheap external hard drive

and back up the information to there.

 

 

I have lost count of the times I've had to tell people that their precious data that they had on their laptop or PC has irrevocably

been lost due to a hardware failure or a software update gone wrong.

 

To answer your question about not knowing how to back up your files, it's not as scary as it sounds and you can be talked through it. If you can open up the file explorer and find your pictures etc, you can manage a backup. Indeed services like Dropbox will automatically back up your documents (providing you have enough on line space)

 

I hope you're not paying for that "System Speedup" program ... most of the time they do exactly the opposite.

Anyway, again, shout if I can help.

Edited May 2, 2015 by alchamist

[alchamist]

Hi once more,

 

Thanks for your PM to let me know that the connection is still behaving itself. At the moment I don't have enough posts to reply.

 

Hopefully the information here will help anyone else suffering the same problem with the HH5.

[alchamist]

Thanks DX