Superhub : From Superhub 2 to Hub 5

[starfish]

Hi!

We still have a SH2, 200MB, it seems to work fine but the WiFi is rubbish, once you leave the room where the SH is. We have been offered Hub 5 and are thinking of taking it. I have read the long thread (which seems to have disappeared) started last autumn and that did not fill me with confidence. 6 months on, have most problems been now ironed out or should we stick with the old SH for now? What is the WiFi like?

Thank you for your opinions.

starfish

[daveeb]

Originally Posted by starfish

Hi!

We still have a SH2, 200MB, it seems to work fine but the WiFi is rubbish, once you leave the room where the SH is. We have been offered Hub 5 and are thinking of taking it. I have read the long thread (which seems to have disappeared) started last autumn and that did not fill me with confidence. 6 months on, have most problems been now ironed out or should we stick with the old SH for now? What is the WiFi like?

Thank you for your opinions.

starfish

I have the opposite problem with the not so super hub 2. The wifi coverage is quite good (when it works) but the 2g and / or 5g regularly drop out due (i suspect) to a bug that changes the encryption it uses as discussed on the VM Community forum. I get by with a couple of access points so don't notice the issue any more. But to answer your question if you've been offered the hub 5 I'd probably take it, you'll (like me) have to upgrade at some point and you'll be good to go if you want faster speeds in the future.

[General Maximus]

The shub 2 was a massive improvement over the shub 1 but that being said it is antiquated technology and things have moved on big time in terms of wifi standards. Generally speaking the shubs are pants because they are made as cheap as chips and VM don't want them to have too many features a) because of cost and b) in terms of support. I would recommend taking the shub 5 over the shub 2 but that being said, if there is any aspect of the performance you aren't happy with, the best thing you can do is put it in modem mode and buy your own proper router.

Here is some food for thought in the way of friendly advice. Wifi and wireless devices are becoming less of a novelty and more of an essential. Just on wifi in my house I have got laptops, tablets, mobile phones, Sky boxes, Amazon Echoes and lights. At any one point in time somebody is streaming video, music or doing something else. When you do that you don't want wifi that will "hopefully work" and "may be fast enough". You want to have the technology and network infrastructure in place to facilitate the seamless use of those devices. In the evening when you get home from work you want the lights on, heating, tv, oven to make dinner etc and you don't cross your fingers and hope the power supply in the house holds out; you expect it.

Get the shub 5 and see how it goes and if it doesn't meet your needs have a quick browse at this thread and consider your options and how you would to proceed going forward. To put things in perspective for you, there have been thousands of posts in this forum over the last 15 years with people complaining about wifi coverage in their houses. From day 1 when I got broadband back in 2001 I have had my own router and over the last 21 years I have never had any reason to complain about any aspect of my network performance because I have always had a proper router, proper switches and good quality cabling. The irony is that there have only been two times I have complained about major issues with my internet connection and loss of connectivity and on both occasions it was because VM screwed me over with new shubs that I didn't want and they were both broken.

[starfish]

Thank you both for your input, sorry about the late reply.

I have considered getting a modem in the past. Right now, I really don't want to run another box 24/7 (which it would be) but I think I will probably do it anyway and see how it goes. I think I will give it a bit more time and stick with SH2. We are out of contract and I've been thinking of calling retentions to see if they have anything to offer, maybe a 350MB connection. It's been years since I had called them so I don't know what the current mood is, whether they are willing to offer something or whether they don't care.

[daveeb]

Originally Posted by starfish

Thank you both for your input, sorry about the late reply.

I have considered getting a modem in the past. Right now, I really don't want to run another box 24/7 (which it would be) but I think I will probably do it anyway and see how it goes. I think I will give it a bit more time and stick with SH2. We are out of contract and I've been thinking of calling retentions to see if they have anything to offer, maybe a 350MB connection. It's been years since I had called them so I don't know what the current mood is, whether they are willing to offer something or whether they don't care.

As you're out of contract they'll probably care a bit more than if you were still in contract. It can depend who you get and you don't have to take the first answer you get. You need to ring retentions (thinking of leaving option), from the landline if you have it the automated options are usually 1,1,4,4.

[General Maximus]

Originally Posted by starfish

I have considered getting a modem in the past.

I am not being pedantic dude but modems and routers and two completely different things and I just want to clear that up for you so you don't look like a twit when you speak to anyone on the phone. Have a quick read of this article and you will understand what the difference is:

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/b...dem-vs-router/

To cut a long story short, VM (and NTL etc previously) had a big problem when BB started becoming a big thing. They supplied the modem to allow customers to connect to their network (internet) and also supplied a 3rd party router or the customer bought one. The problem is that many many people were ringing up saying their internet connection was broken when it wasn't and this was due to customers not knowing how to configure the router and/or adjust wifi settings for optimal coverage. It was a nightmare for technical support because they can't possibly know the features and gui options for every router ever made and competently advise customers on what to do.
The shubs came about because VM wanted a combi modem-router (all in one device) so that if there are any problems, tech support (I am not going to get started) are fully trained on the device and can accurately diagnose whether the fault is a router configuration issue or an actual internet connection issue. The problem with this is that the shubs are provided free of charge and are thus as cheap as chips to make. They lack the features and performance of a third party router e.g. Asus where you are spending money and investing in quality.
I won't get into now but although the shubs have come along way since their first iteration they are still sorely lacking compared to paid-for routers. Fortunately there is a feature in the shubs called "modem mode" and when you enable this feature it disables router functionality and allows the shub to function solely as a modem and allows you to use your own router. This is highly advantageous. I can't tell you how many hundreds of posts I have seen in this forum over the years where users have complained of numerous issues with the shubs which have resulted in their internet connection being unusable until VM come up with a fix. Those of us with "proper" routers (using a third party router with the shub in modem mode) were sat here scratching our heads and wondering what is going on because we were immune to those problems and completely unaware of them as we weren't using the shub as a router. I could write a massive long list of examples but suffice to say that when you buy a router it is tried and tested (and shubs aren't) and it sounds stupid saying it, but it actually works. Plus there are the added benefits of extra features (or ones which haven't been stripped out) and performance gains.

I won't go on anymore. You can read the article above so you understand the basics in terms of what equipment does what. All I will say is that if you aren't comfortable with it and it is too much for you then I suggest you let VM give you a shub5 first to see if it cures your wifi problem (or at least improves it) before you delve into the routing world.