Forum Discussion

Manj75's avatar
Manj75
Dialled in
28 days ago
Solved

Issues with my Hub 4

FAO Virgin Media Support Team,

I have been experiencing significant WiFi drop outs across all my devices no matter the distance from the Hub 4, but this has only been brought to my attention recently as I signed up to a new 24 month contract which included a WiFi Pod (Booster).

My Hub 4 configuration:

  1. WiFi 2.4 GHz enabled and 5 GHz disabled
  2. Smart WiFi disabled as this is known to result in bad connection stability

With my WiFi Pod the requirement is to enable Smart WiFi and at this point I thought to enable 5 GHz and discovered a fault in my Hub 4.  Enabling the settings for 5 GHz does not stick after clicking on 'Apply' buttons even though I receive a success prompt for the settings change.

After navigating away and back to the Wireless > Wireless Signal page I see that 5 GHz is disabled and the section fields are greyed out.  The configured SSID for 5 GHz on the Wireless > Security page is shown but is certainly not being broadcast confirming that it is not enabled.

I have tried various combinations of disabling 2.4 GHz and only enabling 5 GHz and enabling and disabling Smart WiFi with no success.

I have search on ChatGPT for a solution and tried out given options even a reboot of the Hub 4 and still no success.  I am out of all options as I have tried every possible combination to try to get 5 GHz enablement to stick.

There seems to be a firmware fault in my Hub 4!  Not sure if this is a known bug.

End of the day I have likely had problems with constant WiFi drop outs due to potential issues with my Hub, most noticeable recently when I installed my WiFi door Ring device which is close to the router but constantly observe drop-outs, which is not acceptable.

The objective with getting the WiFi Pod was to get coverage in poor coverage area in my home but I need resolution of the underlying Hub 4 issue first as I want to enable both bands.

I suspect that my Hub 4 is faulty and I understand that VM is upgrading all customers to the new Hub 5.  As a customer just signed into a new contract I would kindly request that I be sent a Hub 5 as a replacement to resolve my issues as this is the best course of action which will in turn improve my WiFi stability with WiFi 6 coverage.

Thanks in advance,

Manjit

Faulty Hub 4, Unconfigurable 5 GHz, WiFi Dropouts
  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    28 days ago

    Try a 60 second press on RESET & then leave the Hub 4
    powered on to revert to the shipping condition, this may restart the 5GHz band.

    VM Pods require Smart Wi-Fi to be Enabled.

    As you are heavily focused on the 2.4GHz WI-Fi devices, do be aware the Hub 5 with Wi-Fi on both bands is often not recognised by 2.4GHz Wi-Fi 4 only IoT / Printers / older laptops.

6 Replies

  • Tudor's avatar
    Tudor
    Very Insightful Person
    28 days ago

    The primary place to report faults or for service requests is Customer Services on 0345 454 1111/150 if you have a VM landline or wait two or three days for a VM staff member to get to your post. This board is not a fault reporting system.

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    28 days ago

    Try a 60 second press on RESET & then leave the Hub 4
    powered on to revert to the shipping condition, this may restart the 5GHz band.

    VM Pods require Smart Wi-Fi to be Enabled.

    As you are heavily focused on the 2.4GHz WI-Fi devices, do be aware the Hub 5 with Wi-Fi on both bands is often not recognised by 2.4GHz Wi-Fi 4 only IoT / Printers / older laptops.

    • newapollo's avatar
      newapollo
      Very Insightful Person
      28 days ago

      After performing the 60 second reset (with all ethernet cables removed)  you need to allow the hub time to actually configure and save the changes you make, which you will see via the page interface (screenshot below) before leaving the page.


      Click on Disable Channel Optimization  and then on Apply Changes, allowing time for the page to reload before clicking on Enable 5GHz and  Apply changes.  Once again give the page time to reload prior to clicking  on Enable  Channel Optimization and then on Apply changes. (This also works upon leaving the page and then returning after allowing the page to complete saving the "Applied changes" before leaving the page)


      You need smart wifi to be turned on for the VM wifi pods to work.  Also the 2.4 and 5ghz channels should not be separated.
      The Hub must be in 'Router Mode' and not have been changed to 'Modem Mode'
      Channel Optimisation must be enabled.
      The SSIDs must be the same on both bands and broadcast enabled
      The SSID's must be password protected with the same password
      The VM Hub's DHCP is enabled
      As long as all of the above points are all met then the Pods will automatically connect to your Hub's WiFi and begin broadcasting. The wireless details from the Pods will be the same as the Hub's details, so no additional steps are required to connect up the devices in the home.

       

  • Manj75's avatar
    Manj75
    Dialled in
    27 days ago

    I appreciate all the helpful responses and will attempt the 60 sec reset as detailed with all ethernet cables disconnected from the router.

    The configuration has been as per listed from @newapollo so all requirements had been met apart from the enablement of the 5 GHz band.

    I'll shortly report back the outcome.

    @Client62 your response 'As you are heavily focused on the 2.4GHz WI-Fi devices, do be aware the Hub 5 with Wi-Fi on both bands is often not recognised by 2.4GHz Wi-Fi 4 only IoT / Printers / older laptops.' is interesting statement; does this mean that anyone with non-complaint WiFi 6 devices will not work on the Hub 5 and if so why would VM be pushing an upgrade for all customers with Hub 3/4 to Hub 5, which believe is already underway in 2025 and will continue into the new year.

  • Adduxi's avatar
    Adduxi
    Very Insightful Person
    27 days ago

    I agree with the comments as to the 60 sec. pinhole reset.  VM's "intelligent" Wifi will only work with out of the box settings apart from the SSID name, which can be changed.  Everything else needs to stay.  As for the Hub 5 ax protocol, (wifi 6) there are some older IoT devices that will not connect to this.  It's not the fault of the Hub, more to do with the older tech in the IoT devices.  There is a "legacy" wifi setting on the Hub 5, but it's not guaranteed to work in all cases.  Technology moves on at a pace, and unfortunately some devices are destined for the recycling department. 

    • Manj75's avatar
      Manj75
      Dialled in
      14 days ago

      I have today reset my Hub 4 using the recommended 60 seconds pin reset which restored factory settings and can report back that it successfully has both 2.4 and 5 GHz default signals enabled, so a massive thanks goes out to @Client62, @newapollo and @Aduxxi.  Just by doing this I can see my general 2.4 GHz reliability has improved and adding the VM Pod has done away with one of my dead spots in the house.

      Thank you to all :-)