Vodafone Broadband Hub - Router config changes cause it to fail

[Steve_P]

I want to question the quality of the Vodafone Hub;
From what I can see is that if I try and change any config setting, the router appears to fail. If I restore the config  back to factory settings, it works to work again;

The changes I am talking about involve:

1) Reducing the DHCP size from .200 down to .100 (Thats not a major change)

2) Setting a small number of devices with Static IP addresses (After the .100 IP address range)

3) Enabling the Split Wi-Fi Bands - so i can force specific devices to only work on the 5GHz band.

As you can see none of the above is going remotely extreme. I'm not doing any fancy port mapping or MAC Address filtering which I would ideally like to do.

The point is that if I make the slightest change to the router factory config it behaves unpredictably, by stopping some devices on the network from working. A standard reset makes no difference. It requires a complete Factory restore of the router, to get the devices connected on Wi-Fi to reconnect. How crazy is that?

I am sure some of you will be thinking, well why play with the router config? Leave it alone and just watch NetFlix etc. But whats the point of having all these features if they don't work.

I tried doing a Firmware Update and that fails as well. I read other posts which suggests my router is the latest version, but who designs the GUI of a Hub to report the firmware update has failed if its the latest version?

To summarise, I have to say I am not impressed at all. I expected more from a company like Vodafone.

Very disappointed indeed!!!

Steve P 😫😭😫

[Jayach]

Just out of interest, which hub do you have?

[Steve_P]

The Vodafone Wi-Fi Hub Model No. on the box is  THG3000.

Why do you ask?

[Anonymous]

As you continue to play with the router I'm sure you'll find a host of other things that it won't do well/properly too.  Some of those things are quite bizarre and can only be unintended consequences of trying to "over-simplify" things.

I'm not sure which annoys me most, the routers ability to partially break DLNA or that it won't allow the use of a DNS proxy within the local subnet!

Regards WiFi clients not being able to see the network, increasingly with people buying network cards and devices online, they are getting US spec devices which don't see the same range of channels as our Euro spec routers use.  So in some cases, it's not the router at fault *in that instance*!

[Steve_P]

Hi Keith,

Thank you for your comments. You make a good point about US Spec devices.

I should have made clear on my original post that I was previously with Sky. Their prices were going up so I went through USwitch and found the Vodafone deal.

I haven't bought or changed anything on my home network and it was working perfectly including my Fujitsu IX-1500 scanner which I have been using since November 2019 with the Sky router trouble free. Hence my surprise when I switched to the new Vodafone THG3000 hub. You don't expect things to not work!

In addition to all of this, I am even unable to use Vodafone's own APP! It simply fails to connect. Just sits there with the picture of the WPS button but gets no further.

It is not just disappointing but extremely time consuming and frustrating. 

Regards

Steve

[Jayach]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Regards WiFi clients not being able to see the network, increasingly with people buying network cards and devices online, they are getting US spec devices which don't see the same range of channels as our Euro spec routers use.  So in some cases, it's not the router at fault *in that instance*!

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I've found that myself, but there is usually somewhere in the settings or in the driver to change it.

[Anonymous]

That not all WiFi devices see all channels because of their region settings is something that comes up on these boards occasionally.  It's worth us mentioning it because it is something that few of the mods ever mention.

Personally, the supplied router is so limited that not only do I find it annoying, but when things here don't just work I get it in the neck!

[Jayach]

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@Steve_P wrote:

The Vodafone Wi-Fi Hub Model No. on the box is  THG3000.

Why do you ask?

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I asked as many still seem to have the older HHG2500.

I have also just come from Sky and have the THG3000 but have not needed to make many changes to the base configuration so haven't found any problems unlike yourself.

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@Steve_P wrote:

I am even unable to use Vodafone's own APP! It simply fails to connect. Just sits there with the picture of the WPS button but gets no further.

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Did you press the WPS button on the router at this point? The app is working fine for me. It's the only way to change the WiFi channel.

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[Steve_P]

Hi Jayach,

Thanks for getting back to me.
Yes I have pressed the physical 'WPS button' on the router and I have also tried selecting the 'WPS option' from the router GUI. Neither worked.

I am waiting for Vodafone to send me a replacement router as I cant think of what else it can be.

Thanks for the tip on the App being the only way to change the channel. You would think that would be a feature on the router GUI. I would love to understand the design teams thinking on that one.

Anyway, thanks for your input. I will report back when I have further news.

Regards

Steve

[Jayach]

@Steve_P

I'm pretty sure I connected the app to the router via the QR code on the base.