Repeated Hub 5 Failures

[Ijlane]

My 3rd replacement Hub 5 in less than 6 months has now failed in exactly the same way as the previous 2. Basically no usable WiFi or Ethernet using auto DHCP & auto DNS access. Hub connects to Internet at full speed (~1 Gbps), but this isn’t accessible. 
If I set static IP addresses via a DHCP rule for each device, the devices all connect to the hub but can’t connect to the Internet. I found that if I manually configure the DNS server addresses then the devices that allow me to manually configure their net access (static IP & manual DNS) can then access the Internet. So, it appears that the common fault across all 3 hubs is something to do with the DHCP & DNS functionality. I’m disabled & rely on 35 WiFi connected switches & plugs, security cameras, Amazon Echo devices in every room & a Ring doorbell with 2 chimes. Without these my life is very difficult as I have to crawl around to access the various plugs & sockets etc. Virgin are sending me another replacement hub but this will mean a lot of crawling around to reconfigure the WiFi access on each of the 35 devices, a tedious & painful process. So, does anyone have any ideas on how to sort this issue out without changing the hub? Btw, each hub has been used with all default settings as I found that even changing the password screwed them up! One expensive option I’m seriously considering is to use a 3rd party mesh WiFi system and just using the hub in modem mode,  but I’m on a limited income so this will be somewhat difficult. Any ideas on how to fix this forever?

[Client62 · Accepted solution]

The Hub 5 in Router mode has very frail Wi-Fi & DHCP especially if the default SSID are changed.

General consensus is the Hub 5 is decent if used in Modem mode with a 3rd Party Wireless Router.
More cost & complexity, but this is the route we shall take should a Hub 5 be issued to us.

[carl_pearce]

Unfortunately, I think you've answered your own question.

Are you just using the HUB 5 currently, with no pods?

Something like this would retain full speed in modem mode, as well as WiFi-6:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-802-11ax-Lifetime-Accelerator-Forwarding/dp/B0B3NCPLY2

[Ijlane]

Having Googled on the topic it seems that the only sensible way forward is to use the Hub5 in modem mode with a 3rd party mesh system. So, I’ve ordered a TP-Link Deco 7 system that received pretty good reviews and was affordable. It arrives later today, so I’ll be looking forward to reliable WiFi! Thanks both for your help. 

[Ijlane]

Forget to mention that I am currently using 2 pods but they are just as useless & fail to connect regularly. Their optimisation algorithm is wonky as well, puts devices on the most distant pod for some strange reason. Can’t wait to get my new mesh system up & running!

[jbrennand]

See this re connecting up the Deco's

see Tudor’s message 2 in here….
https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Networking-and-WiFi/Hub3-in-Modem-mode/td-p/5206738

[Tom_W1]

Hi @Ijlane thanks for your post here although we're sorry to hear of the concerns you've raised here.

We can see that you've managed to contact us via other means since your post, but if you do still require further help following the help we've given you or after you've tried your mesh network system, please don't hesitate to let us know.

Many thanks

[Comedance2me]

The way I have got round it is by setting up a guest WI-FI & everything seems to work fine, pain in the ass but does work.

[Adduxi]

But AFAIK the Guest WIFI has no access to other network resources? So no printer, NAS etc.