• This topic has 23 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated 10 years ago by nbt.
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  • Any BT engineers on here? Long-term HomeHub problem.
  • globalti
    Free Member

    In the almost certain knowledge that someone on here will be able to explain all this to me….

    Ever since we had BT HomeHub installed a few years ago we’ve been plagued with dropouts where the service goes down. We’ve reset the hub, had a new hub, been on the phone to their call centre, had engineers around and tried resetting dozens of times. One engineer suggested that there was an intermittent fault somewhere in one of the telephone line extensions in the house and that the interference from that was enough to mess up the hub.

    Would it make sense to get BT to install a new line from the incoming street cable to a new main socket, to which we could attach the Homehub? I think I’m right is saying that BT’s responsibility goes as far as your first wall socket, right? I guess the house extensions would become redundant but having only one old-style phone wouldn’t bother us.

    Flaperon
    Full Member

    Try it in the test socket (Google it). If it still happens, it’s either a problem with the hub or the line, not your internal wiring. And they’re not engineers.

    daveh
    Free Member

    If BT have been you should by now have an nte5. Plug the router into the master socket behind the faceplate, if the problem disappears then it is your internal wiring and its up to you to sort it out (disconnect it and use wireless phones!). If it doesn’t sort it out then its the line into your house and its BT Wholesale’s responsibility to sort it out.

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    trail_rat
    Free Member

    Happens to mine too- i insisted on a new router after testing it with an old linksys i had Cured it funnily enough.

    globalti
    Free Member

    Thanks for the advice, I will try the test socket.

    wobbliscott
    Free Member

    What is it exactly that’s dropping out? Is it your WiFi, i.e. your wireless signal transmitted from your home hub, or the actual service being piped into your house?

    If the former then try getting a decent spec dual band router and turn off the WiFi element of the home hub. I found that my wireless signal was getting interference form the 10 or so other WiFi networks i’m within range of. Switching to a separate high spec router solved that problem immediately.

    nbt
    Full Member

    How wired, we’ve got this too. Have you got a HomeHub3, the black one? I can connect to the hub itself but the hub’s connection to the internet keeps dropping – it went down about 20 times yesterday and went down half a dozen times this morning, but has now been stable for almost 4 hours. This seems to happen every few weeks, it can be stable for weeks on end then it’ll be up and down like a bride’s nightie.

    Have now moved the HomeHub to be plugged into the socket in the attic workroom, which as far as I can tell is the master – it’s certainly the only socket we found in the house when we moved in 6 years ago. I din’t think it’s a proper BT Master socket though so I’m wondering if the previous occupant has done seomthing funny

    Funnily though we never had any problems like this we we had Sky broadband, it’s only since we moved to BT that we’ve had issues

    spooky_b329
    Full Member

    Check its not REIN, interference basically. My BB drops out at 7am on the dot every day, neighbour has a HAM radio set up and I suspect his aerial booster or whatnot is on a timer.

    Its easy to check, using an AM radio.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    Mines was homehub to the phoneline that kept dropping.

    globalti
    Free Member

    It’s not the wifi that drops, it seems to be the actual internet if that makes any sense.

    ….and yes, it’s a new BT Homehub, black. It also works fine for several weeks then throws a wobbler for a few days.

    cbike
    Free Member

    I had really fast BT internet 7 years ago. As they increased speeds and more folk got connected to the exchange at the end of my street it got less reliable. All testing suggested in theory that the lines were good but in practise it didn’t work. Symptons were the same as yours. OK for a while but then would fail. Various routers were tried and BT updated my internal phone lines.

    Eventually I moved to cable.

    cheez0
    Free Member

    globalti a few things to check..

    Try all this at the NTE test socket first.

    1. using a WIRED phone, listen for noise, crackling or a buzz?
    2. any problems with overhearing other people?
    3. When people call in, do you have any ‘ring tripping’? (rings once or twice then stops but when you pick up someone is there?)
    4. Does the ADSL synch drop when the phone rings?
    If you answer yes to any of these, you have a possible line fault – call your CP and get an engineer to check. remember to describe what you are experiencing to him/ her.

    If all seems clear synch up your router at the NTE test socket.. get onto the admin page and write down what speed you are synched at, plus make a note of any erroring that might be occurring.
    refresh (F5) that page a few times, if the errors are counting up at a vast rate, you may have a line problem that can’t be detected by ear.

    If all seems OK there, now check you internal stuff..
    Is the wiring in your house likely to be affected by damp? Cold walls, wires or sockets by windows etc.

    For internal wiring..
    Re-attach the NTE frontplate (i.e connect your extensions)
    Leave the router unplugged for the time being.

    1.Do the same checks as above from each of the sockets., is there any noise now that the internal wiring is connected back up on the NTE?
    2. try and synch up your router, (with no other phones plugged in anywhere) do the same admin page checks as before.. any difference?
    3. Try synching up with different filters, you have several right? Any difference?

    Post here your results please.

    ps. Flaperon, how do you describe an engineer please?

    daveh
    Free Member

    Our router has been up for 695 hours, which I think takes it back to when we returned from our hols!

    sm
    Free Member

    We had the same issues, I had x3 HH3 and they all had the same drop outs.

    As a last ditch effort I brought a netgear router to replace the HH3 and its been great since.

    Drac
    Full Member

    For what it’s worth I have HH 4 and it’s a fantastic router pisses all over the Netgear’s I’ve had.

    Kuco
    Full Member

    I had a lot of problems when I first had a BT hub went on for about 3 months, new hub, engineers out. Came close to telling BT where to shove it then when on the phone once again to India got put through to a woman who asked if she could take remote control of my computer to update the settings on the hub. A few minutes later and everything sorted and haven’t had a problem since.

    Why no other person I spoke to offered to do this at the start is beyond me.

    globalti
    Free Member

    cheez0 and others – thanks, we will try those tests tomorrow.

    bruneep
    Full Member

    Numerous visits from BTO so far they have:

    told me it was my router, so I bought another
    told me it was my filter, so I bought another

    then they fitted a new master socket
    then renewed the connections outside my house
    then they renewed the connections in the BT manhole in the street.
    then they came looked at it and said it was my router, see above.
    then they came scratched his asre and said he wasn’t sure.
    then they came and put me on a new line, so far this seems to have worked.

    roach
    Full Member

    It’s not just BT, Sky here and same problem. Every few weeks just seems to start dropping out.

    nbt
    Full Member

    I got a new hub sent out free of charge. Plugged it in last night.

    Logged on today, checked the uptime figures on the hub – currently at 3 hours and a few minutes, which tells me the hub wasn’t the issue.

    Apparently the line tests show the line is *fine*. Might get an engineer out to look, anyone know how much I might get charged if they decide it’s not *their* equipment at fault? The “master” socket in my house isn’t a proper BT master socket, looks like the previous owner ran his own extension but I cannot find the original master, it must have been removed and plastered over or something

    cheez0
    Free Member

    Nbt.. how does the phone line get into your house? Via a pole? Small connection box or cover low down on external wall.. maybe on the road or pavement side of the house?

    Master socket may be the one closest to that.

    If the internal wiring is not undisturbed or tatty or damp/ corroded, that could be the problem. Undo the socket screws and have a careful look at the metal bits.

    nbt
    Full Member

    There’s a box on the wall at the front of the house but I think that’s the Virgin cable.
    There’s a pole on the road just down from the house, the wire goes into the soffits – I think. The previous owner of the house ran an IT business from the office in the attic, so we’ve a Cat5 network through the house and the *only* socket we could find working when we moved in was a double socket at the end of some Cat5 cabling in the attic workroom. Not seen a “proper” BT master socket at all. In fact thinking about it, they had *two* BT lines to the house as in the first instance BT activated the “other” line and we couldn’t find that socket at all, it was only when we complained that our line wasn’t working they said “oh you have two lines, plug it in the other socket” that we worked out what that issue was. I know his wife had her own business too, they must have had a BT line each for business and then cable for home phone and telly

    cheez0
    Free Member

    nbt, have you tried the tests I described in my earlier post?

    any noise, etc?

    sounds like you wiring is in a shit state due to the bodger previous owner, but cat5 is pretty good if its connected to the back of sockets etc properly and the bloke used ‘pairs’ of wires within the cat5 to plumb the phone line around the house.

    When I say pairs in cat5, I mean a twisted pair, there are four sets in cat5, example the ‘white and blue’ wire with the ‘blue and white’ are one pair.

    if the connected wires are mismatched, you could get router erroring and slow speeds

    nbt
    Full Member

    His wiring doesn’t confirm to normal Cat5 standards, I’ve had to rewire the ones I’m using. Problem is I can’t rewqire that phone socket as I don’;t know where the other end is 🙁

    and there’s a slight crackling / buzzing when using a wired phone, same as when using a cordless phone, but none of the other symtpoms. It’s always been like that though, even when the internet connection was fine

    Currently at 19h35 uptime.

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