BT HOME HUB 5 TYPE B: Motoring Computer Related forum

Computer Related > BT HOME HUB 5 TYPE B	Miscellaneous
Thread Author: smokie	Replies: 10

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Sat 13 Jan 18 09:42

BT HOME HUB 5 TYPE B - smokie

Anyone know if I can just attach this as a wireless hub, not using the ADSL input? I imagine I can.

But more importantly I would want to reconfigure the network name and maybe other parameters etc, is this possible? Looks like maybe not, from what I see on t'internet...

Alternatively, has anyone got any recommendations for a dual band 1 gigabit wireless router, at a reasonable price? Could be 2nd user...

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Sat 13 Jan 18 12:15

BT HOME HUB 5 TYPE B - Zero

Yes you can, using mine(now on virgin) upstairs as a WiFi range extender, instruction on the web

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Sat 13 Jan 18 15:01

BT HOME HUB 5 TYPE B - smokie

Thanks. Exactly what I'm thinking. They are quite reasonable 2nd hand on eBay, esp for dual band and higher spec WiFi.

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Tue 13 Feb 18 16:15

BT HOME HUB 5 TYPE B - smokie

Only just got back to this. I just found a 2nd hand BT Hub 6 Type A for about the same as a 5 so I ordered it. I think it has more antennae (better signal maybe).

I have loads of equipment for extending wireless, including one of those new double power sockets. Nothing seems rock solid though, with occasional non-availability of wireless, and sometimes lags/drops on wired. It's much much better than it used to be, but I'm starting to think it could be something environmental (too many electrical or magnetic fields in a small area maybe).

I recently checked the cable which this is going to go on to is Cat 5E, and load-tested it. It all seemed OK but I'll borrow my mates crimping tool and re-do the ends while I'm at it.

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Sun 18 Feb 18 10:21

BT HOME HUB 5 TYPE B - smokie

Oh well that didn't work out.

I got the Home Hub 6 working fairly quickly, and devices attached, but couldn't reach the internet. Turned out this is because you cannot configure the default gateway to be anything else than 192.168.1.1, and my LAN is on a 192.168.0 subnet, so nothing would ever reach the gateway (including DNS probes). I proved this by putting a USB WiFi adapter on my PC and giving it a static IP address which enabled me to specify the default gateway, but I can't be doing this for all and any devices which I may want to use.

I am going to put it to one side for now, as most new devices I get seem to assume 192.168.1 so maybe sometime I should change the network - but due to the amount of devices I have on it, it's not something I want to rush in to.

But, out of interest, does the BT Home Hub 5 allow you to specify the default gateway? Maybe I should just cough up for a decent wireless access point.

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Sun 18 Feb 18 11:28

BT HOME HUB 5 TYPE B - rtj70

Why can't you change the existing network to be 192.168.1 presumably with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0? Am I missing something about your setup?

And if you are using DHCP on one of the routers to dish out IP addresses, you just need to refresh client IP addresses.

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Sun 18 Feb 18 12:24

BT HOME HUB 5 TYPE B - smokie

As I said - sometime I should change the network - but due to the amount of devices I have on it, it's not something I want to rush in to. I have some static-addressed devices and also some irregularly seen and some old devices so I just want to think it through before diving in. I'm OK with the how-to.

The situation I am trying to improve is not that critical that I'm going to rush into it without a "risk assessment".

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Thu 22 Feb 18 00:15

BT HOME HUB 5 TYPE B - smokie

So today was network change day. After some hours of faffing I find I can't do it. In the same way that the BT hub is internally assigned to 192.168.1 subnet, the Virgin one is assigned to 192.168., and cannot be changed.

I did find a way of patching it, but as that would most likely require re-doing on any software update I am not even thinking about it.

I did discover quite a bit though, including that if I turned on the Guest network on my VM hub it uses on the 192.168.1 subnet. So I stuck the BT device on at .254 and in theory I thought it might work.

I was able to get an IP address on my phone in the right subnet by joining my Guest network, but couldn't see (ping) the BT device from my phone, even though it was hard-wired to the VM hub and in the same subnet. But that defeats the object.

If I connected my phone to the BT wireless then it didn't get an address, as I had to turn off DHCP as that's required on the 192.168.0 subnet.

It was fun trying. Anyone want to buy a used Home Hub 6? :-)

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Thu 22 Feb 18 00:37

BT HOME HUB 5 TYPE B - rtj70

This is why Project Managers should not be let loose on IT :-)

It can be made to work for sure. For example set a client to static IP with a subnet mask of 255.55.0.0 and it will see everything.

Surely the BT home hub can be changed to use a different IP range and subnet. My HH3 could do this - I think. It's not been plugged in for a few years because it has an issue with the Sky+ app so I swapped it out.

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Thu 22 Feb 18 00:38

BT HOME HUB 5 TYPE B - rtj70

>> It was fun trying. Anyone want to buy a used Home Hub 6? :-)

Is that the Smart Hub as they call it? So about Â£70 new?

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Thu 22 Feb 18 08:23

BT HOME HUB 5 TYPE B - smokie

To assist with your perception, I was once a programmer for a living then moved into support, becoming 3rd level support for operating systems - included writing assembler, manual disk recovery, core memory dump analysis - and databases, and 2nd level comms) but then moved to project management when the hardware range I worked on died (around Y2K). :-)

I think you may have mistyped your subnet, but feel free to have a scout round the internet yourself and post up the link for how to change the IP address, if you can find it!! :-)

I don't really want to "make" it happen, it had to be fairly natural and low maintenance. That's the direction I'm taking these days. So I've canned it as a project now and already I'm onto something else.

Like others would tinker with a car or an allotment something, I like tinkering with technology. it's all relatively pointless but I enjoy it. I often do stuff more or less just for the sake of it, to see if I can make it work.

E.g. I got one of the Pi's going as VPN server the other week, which was also on my task list, immediately before that it was a video camera before that (sd card images saved in case I ever want to use them in anger). Since Christmas I've also installed some lighting capable of being voice controlled remotely (using LIFX lights and Google Home), and I've installed photocell lighting at the front of the house for dawn to dusk lighting to augment the PIR.

I keep thinking I'll run out of ideas but there is always something else just around the corner. :-)

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