Hub 4 Slow and Poor Range - My Solution It works

[AlanGilby]

The Hub 4 My Story

Having had the opportunity to upgrade to an hub 4 from an hub 2 and having then had a multitude of issues I have written this article in an hope it will help some people with similar issues , I will make it has brief as I can  so you can pick out what might work for you.

Symptoms:

• Wifi calls dropping out
• Speeds dropping  to as low as 2mb on a 200 mb line
• Range very poor dropping to 2mb  anything from next to the router to 5m max distance
• The speed was 200mb on my iMac via ethernet  next to the router and I was achieving 200 on my iPhone next to the router

Actions (Summarised):

• TAKE A SCREEN SHOT OF YOUR ROUTER SETTINGS (to go back to if you loose your way)
• Turn off the Smart wifi (leave off permanently)
• Rename each frequency with -5ghz   & -2.4ghz on the end (keep the same password)
• I went through every channel width & wireless modes and every channel configueration  on the 2.4 GHZ setting all made little difference however naming  the frequency allows you to identify the frequency you are locked into on your wifi device
• On the assumption that your issues are any of the above  its likely your problems will be on 2.4ghz, but you can now speed test  both by selecting your chosen wifi band,
• By now you will have identified the band width that is the problem  (5ghz is high speed shorter range , 2.4ghz is longer range but slower speed), my problems where 2.4ghz with both speed and range
• I had the router replaced but is was no better, this issue turned out to be rare, others had seen and although I had tried 2 devices for speed test most of us use a mobile so we can walk round to check range, I found an article where some folks where getting down to 2mb on 2.4ghz sat next to the router and I was as well , on further investigation it seems that iPhone 13s (used to test) can have slow speed issues  as Bluetooth can interfere with 2.4ghz band as they share some frequency’s (largely unkown), I turned off blue tooth on the iPhone and the speed increased dramatically on 2.4ghz (this part is a rare issue on iPhone 13s (but could be anything bluetooth) I deleted and reinstalled all blue tooth devices one at a time with the most important devices  like car kit first and it cured the issue , note this was a phone fault strangling the speed on the phone

Conclusion:

I tried 2 routers every channel , changed modes  etc & Channels (6, 9 & 11 are supposed to be fixed and  more reliable) but nothing made big changes even after the phone issue was discovered & fixed

My final advice is

• Turn off Smart wifi and leave it off permanently
• Add the ghz numbers to each channel (gives control manually over the wifi range)
• Initially choose channels  6,9 or11 on 2.4ghz (I went back to Auto after I sorted and tested everything)
• You should log in wifi via 5ghz on your devices then I found the range hung on longer to the 5ghz faster speed before changing to 2.4ghz
• Bottom line the range is poor on these routers  but  you won’t improve this after doing the above without a mesh network or home plugs, it still drop to 35 mbps  on 2.4 at max distance for me (5 meters from the router)  but its  now stable and fast at short to mid range  if your speeds are slow at your max range you wont fix it with out these, trust me even with a mesh network which can only repeat what the router gives , but getting it stable is an easy fix  if you follow the changes above

Please give feed back  if it works for you  , I spent hours but it should be a quick fix cutting to the chase

Alan

[Andrew-G · Accepted solution]

Excellent detective work!

A few thoughts:

1) No need to screenshot the settings, unless that's how you like to work.  If simply wanting to go back to all default settings, then a pinhole reset of the hub will achieve that.  If you've got multiple settings adjusted for how you like, the hub has a backup to PC and restore settings function under the hub's Admin menu.

2) VM have "previous" for rolling out wifi settings changes that customers didn't ask for, and for hub firmware faults that cause occasional wifi settings changes like renaming the wifi bands.  It's worth knowing that if wifi performance deteriorates suddenly that the settings may have changes, and you'll need to go in and check that for example both wifi bands are on, that they have the names you want, and the intelligent wifi hasn't re-enabled itself.  Ultimately VM have total control of the hub, and that includes your wifi settings.

3) Don't forget that there's always the option of buying your own router or mesh system, and running the hub in modem mode.  That normally provides better wifi than even a fully optimised hub, and VM can't mess up the settings either through unrequested "improvements" or through dodgy firmware.  I haven't looked back since putting the hub in modem mode and connecting a mesh system, but I accept that many people believe that they should not have to buy their own wifi gear. 

[AlanGilby]

Hi Andrew 

Thanks for your input 

The screen shot  in my case allowed me to reset individual settings,  in the event i lost my way with so many changes during my investigation process  but also allowed me to carry on trying different settings with out the need to reset the router and waiting for a restart to then try another channel or mode

The router base setting only takes five minutes to change but the time consumer  is after renaming the two channels is re-entering your passwords into your devices   especially with Amazon Echo's (Alexa home plugs) which can be a pain re entering the passwords / pairing

Incidentally if anyone as issues repairing home plugs  it can be worth changing the 2.4ghz channels  to  6 , 9 or 11 if it struggles to pair i did have this issue where the plugs didn't like the auto channel during pairing

I agree with your ideas with the mesh system  and modem mode  but for me i achieved a tolerable range for my home  and didn't want to spend £100 - £200  when for 10 years I have had good range & speed cover with earlier routers but agree for customers with large property's it is a necessity  not a choice

I hope our joint information helps every one get the best result quickly and economically 

Alan

[jhuk]

If anyone with the newer POD's does that they will not work as they must have Smart WIFI/Auto channel enabled.

TBH I never had any actual speed issues with the HUB4 wired or WIFI outside of Area faults and the fact the hUb is crap overall, but the WIFI was weak in the kitchen as always 1x SuperPod sorted than out.

Getting about 600Mb/s anywhere in the house but not really needed as PC & NV Shield are used wired primary, good to get App updates on my phone as it charges in kitchen at better speeds though.

[Adduxi]

Two minor points.

Channels for 2.4Ghz should only be 1, 6 or 11.  Choosing anything else will overlap channels. 

I would discourage the use of a period “.” In an SSID as it can cause issues with some devices.

Pedantic stickler stuff over 😉

Good article btw.