Connect app won't see the Hub 5

[kitsune-minnie]

The new hub 5 is working in Hub mode on all my computers and devices but the Connect app says "You have no access to home broadband". I have tried everything, rebooting the hub, removing the app and reinstalling, speaking to Virgin Media agents. I have tried logging into the hub using 192.168.0.1. A panel comes up in French asking for my password. When I type the one given on the bottom of the hub it tells me it is wrong. I was careful to use the hub password NOT the WiFi one.

I also use Eero mesh system and wanted to put the Bub into modem mode but it will not accept that and I have ascertained from the last agent I spoke to that when I disconnected my old VM Hub 3 it must have reverted to Hub mode automatically. I had hoped that by connecting to the hub I would be able to make it see the app. Also the Eero mesh system I have prefers modem mode. The agent was unable to help. She did not seem keen for me to try a factory reset since I have broadband and wiFi working through the hub on computers, phones and iPads. It just leaves two issues:

1 The VM Connect app sees remote WiFi hotspots okay but no access to home broadband,

2  I am unable to access the hub or change to modem mode because the 192.168.0.1 link says the password is wrong even though it is the one printed on the bottom of the hub.

Should I do a hub reset next, is the hub faulty even though new on Saturday last, or something else? Help please.

[Adduxi]

Very common problem.  It might connect later today, or it might connect tomorrow.  It's flakey at best, just read the many reports on this Forum.

Just check the phone is connected to the VM Wifi and you are not using a VPN

As for the Hub password, try a 60 second factory pinhole reset as below;
Remove any ethernet cables from the Hub and hold the pinhole reset switch for 60 seconds. Do NOT reboot the Hub, just let it do it's thing. Note you will need the passwords from the bottom of the Hub afterwards, so make sure they are legible. NOTE this will remove any custom settings you may have set in the Hub, and they will all have to be setup again.

[kitsune-minnie]

Thanks for your quick help. In the meantime I had decided against the advice of the VM agent to do a reset and it solved the second part of my problem. Using an Eero mesh recommends moving to modem mode but it still seems to work with the VM hub mode still active. Is there any advantage in that?

[Adduxi]

The VM Hub's in modem mode are IMHO far more reliable as they are not doing much "work", and the Eero will be doing all the networking "stuff".

It will work either way, Hub as Router and Eero as access points.  Or, Hub as modem and Eero as Router and WiFi provider.

I would suggest you let the Eero do all the work and just relegate the Hub to a dumb modem.

[Ashleigh_C]

Hi there @kitsune-minnie 

Thank you so much for your post and welcome to the community forums, it's great to have you here. 

I am so sorry to hear that you have been facing issues with the connect app and logging into the settings page. 

Can I just clarify did the reboot allow you to log into the setting page now? Has the app been working since your last post? 

[kitsune-minnie]

Hi Ash_C

I finally managed to resolve ithe logging in partly by doing a 60 second reset so it allowed the logging back in to the Hub 5's url. When I set the change to modem mode it said it would take five minutes but actually the spinning star went on for much longer.  This time I left it and went to bed so when I got up next morning I found it had completed and showed the login page. The only thing was it had reverted to Hub mode with the white light not Modem mode as I had set it to move to. Maybe this might be because this time I had left the Eero out of the loop and connected the Ethernet directly into my desktop M1? Last time I tried I with the Eero connected the green light had come on even though the login page did not complete its cycle even after more that 20 minutes.

Anyway, this time as it seemed successful I decided to leave it in Hub mode and put the Eero into Bridge mode instead.  

But I am getting nowhere with the Connect app. One thing I thought might make the VM Connect app see the Hub if I tried to connect to my network wirelessly. When I tried this I got no internet. I didn't spend a lot of time on this such as rebooting the hub and/or my computer but the upshot is that the Connect app still don't work (telling me I have no access to home broadband. I have tried installing through my VM account and now with my phone since I have the new O2 simcard, but neither works.

[kitsune-minnie · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the advice but you will see from my answer to Ash_C I have at the moment managed to get the Hub working with Eero in Bridge mode. Maybe worth having another go and leaving the screen to finish over night,

[kitsune-minnie]

I did the 60 sec reset and got into the hub menu. Thanks for that advice. Still no joy with Connect app though.

[Adduxi]

Search the Forums for complaints around the Connect app.  It seems to be very flakey at best.  Sometimes it works after a few hours and sometimes it takes days.  Just make sure you are connected to the VM wifi and there are no VPN's running.

TBH, there is not much you can do with the app, that you can't do in the Hub's admin pages.

Glad you got the Eero up and running 🙂

[kitsune-minnie]

I have just found on my iPhone that the wifi "Hidden Network" setting is not recommended by Apple so I am looking how to turn it off in the router. There are four pages from Apple "Recommended settings for Wi-Fi Routers and access points" which I will have to absorb and and put into operation. Then I'll see if that does any good. I'll also see if it it worth trying to switch roles for Eero and the Hub as the modem as you recommend making the Eero carry the Wi-Fi work.