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

[racy tracy]

Thank you

[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?

[racy tracy]

Hello alchamist, il do what you suggested now and get back to you

[racy tracy]

i presume im checking the Wireless Interface Type on 5ghz?

[alchamist]

No, on the 2.4Ghz please?

[racy tracy]

ok, the one it is on is:- 802.11 b/g/n (up to 144 Mb/s)

[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.

[racy tracy]

ok, do i still leave it on the channel I switched it to yesterday?

[alchamist]

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

[racy tracy]

ok. ive done that......please could I ask, what is it that ive actually done......just getting a bit confused now

[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?

[racy tracy]

yea that helps.....unfortunately when speaking to me about techno things, it has to be explained in baby talk ........I have noticed that it is a lot slower, and last night when my son was on the laptop playing one of his games, it dropped out a lot, which he found very annoying because he had to keep logging back in again on the game...............ive had a text message from BT saying that they are going to send me a new ethernet cable in case the one i already have isn't working correctly, feel like telling them to go away in short jerky movements

[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.

[racy tracy]

yes definately, I agree......im going to try and play a few games, and see how that affects it, because normally when doing that it would either run really really slow or drop altogether......im also going to watch a video on YouTube regarding installing laminate flooring, so let's see how it copes with all that

[alchamist]

Ok - let me know how you get on!

[racy tracy]

Hello...well so far so good ......ive been out from 3.15 until 5.45 and all that time my son has been on the laptop playing one of his games (Euro Truck Simulator), and he says it hasn't dropped once!!!!!.........before as soon as he would log on to play that game, the connection would drop, and so far it hasn't

[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

[racy tracy]

i will...but what should i tell BT when they get in touch with me again.............also why couldn't they do what you have

[racy tracy]

p.s......ive been on since about 7.00pm and it hasn't dropped once..YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!............

[racy tracy]

p.p.s.............should i keep it on the channel that i set it too, or change it back to its original channel, the one it was on before

[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.

[racy tracy]

il do that....so if they ask me what this 'it person' has done what do I tell them?............also the speed has come back now, it is so much faster, and I would go as far to say, that its even faster than it originally was, when it wasn't dropping...................when I used to switch my laptop on and my desktop eventually would come up, I used to get a pop up at the bottom of the screen basically showing how long it had took for everything to spring to life, it was called 'Avira System Speedup'.........it also said that if i clicked on it, it could speed up how long it would take for my computer to spring to life..........BUT since ive done what you have told me, this hasn't popped up anymore, so there's another plus point ..............also i dont always check for updates, some people say I should and do them every time, and other people say I shouldn't, if my computer is working fine, just leave it......what is your opinion on this?......I also got messages saying I can upgrade to Windows 8.1 for free, should I do this?.........and if i do, will it change or lose anything on my laptop. I have a lot of photos and other things from my late husband, so obviously I dont want to lose these, again some people say I should 'back these up' but I dont know what that means or how to do it.

[honeybee13]

Hi Tracy. Another way of putting 'back up' could be to store the information somewhere else. I have photos on CDs and on a separate hard drive that plugs into the computer.

 

Do you know how to copy things?

 

HB

[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

[dx100uk]

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alchamist great thread

well done

 

 

35yrs in the trade this way too.

 

 

not met the HH5 yet