Forum Discussion

goosoo6's avatar
goosoo6
On our wavelength
2 months ago
Solved

Some devices don't see the WiFi network and so can't connect, others see it and connect fine.

As described in the title.

What isn't the problem:

  • I have not made any changes to configuration in months.
  • SSID is being broadcast, network is not hidden.
  • Both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies are on.
  • Devices that now can't see the network on the list could see and use it just fine yesterday

The devices that can't connect are a smartphone and a laptop. They just don't see the WiFi network on the list, they see other WiFi networks just fine. They are not old and they worked perfectly fine just yesterday.

We have another laptop and smartphone that DO see the network on their lists, and can connect and work just fine.

Things I tried:

  • restarting the hub
  • resetting the hub to factory settings
  • bringing the devices closer to the hub
  • restarting the devices

Please can someone assist me in troubleshooting this further, thank you

  • goosoo6's avatar
    goosoo6
    25 days ago

    I contacted Virgin Media via their live chat, two weeks ago.

    I explained the problem, mentioned what we tried here on the forums, went through the steps they told me to do, and asked if I could get any replacement hub, as mine seems to be faulty.

    I was told that because they don't see anything wrong on their end, they won't replace my hub, but they'll fix the problem (how?)

    The hub worked fine for 2 weeks until today, the SSID is being broadcast - the 2.4GHz devices see the 2.4GHz network, but can't connect.

    All in all, half of our devices can't get onto the internet, and this has been a complete waste of time.

23 Replies

    • goosoo6's avatar
      goosoo6
      On our wavelength
      2 months ago

      Hi Carl, thanks for the suggestion

      I disabled the 5GHz band, also restarted the hub, and waited until it boots and everything settles

      It's been 20 minutes, and now nothing can see the hub on its WiFi networks list

      I'm standing 3 feet away from the hub with both the smartphones (one could connect and the one that couldn't see the network) in my hand and they both just can't see the network. The SSID hasn't changed (always been the default)

      • carl_pearce's avatar
        carl_pearce
        Superstar
        2 months ago

        Try splitting the two bands into different SSIDs and see if all devices can see at least one of them.

  • legacy1's avatar
    legacy1
    Alessandro Volta
    2 months ago

    VM useless WiFi with bad hardware ask for another which they might say no because they tests show your hub is good or use hub in modem mode get your own wifi router with 1Gb ports.  

    • goosoo6's avatar
      goosoo6
      On our wavelength
      2 months ago

      I'll set up a separate 2.4GHz access point for now and get in touch with VM, see if they can get me a replacement hub.

      Worked mostly fine for years, but maybe the 2.4GHz radio has had enough.

      Thanks for the suggestion and heads up about the possible rejection.

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    2 months ago

    Make sure the 5GHz band is on Channel 36 or 44 so the VM Hub starts to broadcast immediately.    Use of DFS channels causes the 5GHz Wi-Fi to delay starting by a few minutes.


    Make sure the VM Hub is using Channel 1 or 6 or 11 on the 2.4GHz band.

    For our VM Hub when the Auto Channel process picked Channel #13 we found some of the 2.4GHz only Wi-Fi kit failed to detect that.

    • goosoo6's avatar
      goosoo6
      On our wavelength
      2 months ago

      Hi, thanks for the suggestion - they were both said to Auto (and it had selected ch1 for 2.4GHz, ch44 for 5Ghz) so I set them to manual, tried channels 1, 6 and 11 for 2.4Ghz and let it settle, but still got nothing.

  • jpeg1's avatar
    jpeg1
    Alessandro Volta
    2 months ago

    That's a good point from @Client62. Some WiFi devices have their 2GHz band set for the US market, where ch.13 is not available. 

    Also ch.13 WiFi can be affected in some areas by much higher power equipment operating in the immediately adjacent frequency band. 

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    2 months ago

    Have you tried a 60 second press on RESET & then leave the Hub powered on to revert to the factory settings & passwords ?   If this fails to revive the WI-Fi , requesting a replacement Hub is next.

    • goosoo6's avatar
      goosoo6
      On our wavelength
      2 months ago

      I did the Admin>Reload and Reboot>Restore to factory defaults twice by now, made no difference.

      However, I just tried the physical reset pinhole on the back of the hub as you recommended, and it seems to have fixed it, the 2.4GHz band is working again.

      I was certain these two things did the same thing, but apparently not. Many thanks, I can get rid of the temporary 2.4GHz access point now

      Problem solved.

  • goosoo6's avatar
    goosoo6
    On our wavelength
    2 months ago

    The problem has come back, another reset has helped, but it has come back again, and the reset didn't fix it this time. Will be contacting VM to see what they can do.

    • legacy1's avatar
      legacy1
      Alessandro Volta
      2 months ago

      They can try another model hub for you if your speed is not 1Gb but VM seem to think if Docsis is fine everything is fine they don't seem to get that router mode can add problems they don't even support a PC to the hub by wire in case its a problem way to sell the internet as a ISP!.

      So you can leave VM or get your own router and use hub in modem mode

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    2 months ago

    I have seen our Hub 3 unexpectedly change its 2.4GHz band to Channel 13, 
    my Samsung mobile does not detect a Channel 13 Wi-Fi signal.

    • goosoo6's avatar
      goosoo6
      On our wavelength
      2 months ago

      Thank you for the suggestion, our 2.4GHz band has currently auto-selected channel 6, and it's still not working. Manually selecting any other channel makes no difference, either.

      • Client62's avatar
        Client62
        Alessandro Volta
        2 months ago

        Is this still the just the same two devices that are not working on the 2.4GHz band,
        the one smartphone and a laptop ?

        Have you tried ... 

        Hub 3 - Disable MAC filtering to re-enable Paused devices

        Login to the Hub's menus at http://192.168.0.1

        1) Advanced settings >>> Wireless >>> Security

           1.1) then set Wireless MAC Filtering to Disabled

           1.2) "Apply changes"
         
        2) Advanced settings >>> Security >>> MAC Filtering

            2.1) then delete all entries in the MAC filter list

            2.2) Enable Always on

           2.3) "Apply changes"





  • goosoo6's avatar
    goosoo6
    On our wavelength
    25 days ago

    I contacted Virgin Media via their live chat, two weeks ago.

    I explained the problem, mentioned what we tried here on the forums, went through the steps they told me to do, and asked if I could get any replacement hub, as mine seems to be faulty.

    I was told that because they don't see anything wrong on their end, they won't replace my hub, but they'll fix the problem (how?)

    The hub worked fine for 2 weeks until today, the SSID is being broadcast - the 2.4GHz devices see the 2.4GHz network, but can't connect.

    All in all, half of our devices can't get onto the internet, and this has been a complete waste of time.

    • legacy1's avatar
      legacy1
      Alessandro Volta
      25 days ago

      Yup their tests even in router mode are useless if part of hardware that connects your devices is faulty.