Virgin Superhub 2 as Access Point

T1M · 29 May 2019 at 08:50

Hi all,

I have an issue using my secondary Superhub 2 as an access point.
Essentially I had a couple spare and thought I would just use them to extend my WiFi.
With that in mind, I hooked it up to my PC, reset to factory settings and set the following config:

Same SSID as main routers wifi
Same password
Disabled DSCP and Firewall
Set a Static IP 192.168.0.2
Main Router is 192.168.0.1 (and set to assign IPs from 193.168.0.3-254)

I then ran a network cable from my main router to the secondary router and rebooted all.
Once they network was back up, I was able to use the secondary router to plug my PC, NAS etc in and the WiFi also worked just fine. IE When I went into my office (where the secondary router sits) the Wifi on my phone switched over and all was good.
However, after some time (sometimes a day), the WiFi on the seconday router jsut stopps working, it no longer seems to be broadcasted and my phone wont connect or find it.
The wired deviced still work fine tho.

I thought I messed something up so I set it up again from scratch and the same behavior was observed, ie working initially but then just stopps.
I also got hold of another Superhub 2 which I set up in the same way, thinking maybe the hardware is broken but if does exactly the same thing.

Has anyone got any advice on what the issue could be?
I know I should probably get a proper router but I am not that fussed too get super high speeds, the superhub would work just fine for me and I have 2 of them lying around.

Thanks in advance

T1M · 29 May 2019 at 10:42

I can't actually believe I have not done that, lol!
Will check them out tis afternoon and report back.

Rebooting unfortunately does not actually fix the issue, I have to clear the settings completely and set it up again from scratch.
Will do that and then check the logs once the WiFi goes again - will keep you posted

T1M · 29 May 2019 at 11:20

jpaul said:
I use a SH2, in the same manner, once every several weeks, the 5G wifi will drop off, and not auto-connect, then,
I typically then connect to the 2G instead, and usually forget to subsequently change back, when it's working again.

software V1.01.11 fwiw

nothing in the sh2 Network logs...

I had wondered if the wireless card in the pc is the issue ... your phone ?

I highly doubt its the wifi in my phone as it recognized the main WiFi router without issues as well as any other wifi.
I also lose both, the 3G and the 5G which is odd. I would even be happy with just the 2G as in most cases I would be sitting on the PC anyway.

What fixed IP do you give your 2nd router/AP?
And do you include or exclude this from the IP assignment of the main router? I tried both to be fair with the same outcome.

Not sure what my firmware is but I may as well look at updating that actually.

Thanks

T1M · 29 May 2019 at 12:21

jpaul said:
I gave the SH2 192.168.1.180, after modifying the dynamically allocoated address range on the plusnet router to stop at .180, with the plusnet router at .254

... I had to modify plusnet router in two steps, by initially disabling dhcp .. I don't remember exactly why.

You had to disable DHCP on the Plusnet router, ie the one which is the actual modem?
I only disabled DHCP on the secondary router, ie the SH2 as I thought the main router/model would take care of it for the whole network. Which logially, I still beleive to be correct

T1M · 30 May 2019 at 07:53

jpaul said:
Dhcp is, indeed, only enabled on my plusnet(main-router/modem)

... whilst configuring plusnet to accept the limited dhcp range, and reserve .180 for the sh2,
temporarily, I had to re-assign everything to 192.168.16.x mask, and disable dhcp I thought.

Thanks jpaul

I just set it up again yesterday, including the 2nd routers ip in the range for the DHCP of the main router.
Unfortunately I have not found a way to upgrade the firmware on the router and I many be stuck with whats on there now.

Once it disconnects, I will try a reboot to see if that fixes the issue (I'm sure I tried this and it dodn't work but I'll give it another go).

Otherwise I am really out of ideas and may have to buy a new router to take care if this.... :/

T1M · 30 May 2019 at 09:08

pcfarrar said:
The IP address on the SH2 acting as an AP makes no difference at all. You can set it to anything. It's only used to access the web interface. Best to set it outside the DHCP range or on a completely different subnet.

The best thing to do would be get rid of the SH2 and get a proper AP like the UniFi AP-AC-Lite.

Yes, no doubt it would be.
But I just don't think its worth it what I need it for and as I have 2 SH2s lying around, I'd rather not just send them to landfill.

The SH2 also used to sit outside the DHCP range but I was then not able to access the web interface so I just put it back on yesterday.

It sounds like I am doing all the right things, but I am just not getting the result I want. Which means that I really may just have to upgrade the AP and bin the 2 SH2's...

T1M · 30 May 2019 at 15:36

Gimpymoo said:
I have a SH2 setup as a WAP connected to my PfSense appliance via a switch and works fine.

I initially had some odd behaviour but after a couple of factory resets, it started working as intended so I never touched it again

My version info is:

Software Version "V1.01.33"
Hardware Version 3.11

The SH is on IP: 192.168.1.2

Firewall auto assigns 192.168.1.100+. Anything below .100 is for manual assignment.

Is your main router also a SH2?

It is possible they may be tripping each other up, the Virgin softwares have never been the tightest, things working out of spec etc

I'll check my version later, but yes, my main router is also a SH2. And Ideally I want to connect another one, lol.
With moving home etc. I ended up with 2 and once I had this issue, I got another one from ebay for a £5er as I though it may be a fault, but same issue.
I also had it on a switch initially but tried to eliminate that and go straight from the SH2 to SH2 without luck.

I actually left the Firewall setting on the main router as it was and completely disabled it on the 2ndary, ie the AP.
Most my IPs are static and I assigned them on the main router, which seems to work, even for the ones which are connected to the AP, ie Pi, NAS, main PC etc.

Thanks tho, maybe I'll have to keep factory resetting it until it works

Fingers crossed

T1M · 30 May 2019 at 20:25

So far, the WiFi has actually been stable.

SH2 currently used as AP:
Hardware Version 3.11
Software Version V1.01.31

Main Router:
Hardware Version 1.03
Software Version V2.01.12

Haven't checked the 3rd not to confuse things

Anyone know how to update the Version?

T1M · 31 May 2019 at 08:12

Gimpymoo said:
What is the exact model? Just a Superhub 2?

Yes Just a Virgin SUperhub 2

Ta

T1M · 31 May 2019 at 08:14

jpaul said:
I'd intentionally not updated mine ... aren't they all really the property of virgin media, so updating might cause some kind of authentication check ?

their wireless ac modules have a good reputation though ... which is why i use one.

Yeah, I think they are probably still managed by Virgin.
Maybe I will try to replace my main router with one of the spares and see if I will be able to estabish a connection and if so, whether Virgin will update the Software automatically....

T1M · 31 May 2019 at 08:54

Gimpymoo said:
It will not pair on the network unfortunately. Virgin have to "allow" hardware onto their network.

Would have been too easy, lol

TY

T1M · 3 Jun 2019 at 09:07

Soooo, over the weekend, something strange happened.
My WiFi on the 2nd SH2 (AP) was woking as well as the WiFi of the main router (SH2) but then it suddenly stopped broadcasting agin.
Interestingly, the broadcast stopped on both SHs tho, no just the one I used as an AP....

Wired connections were still working without issues.

I have no idea why this would be happening. But I think what I will try next is to give the AP (2nd SH2) a differnet SSID than the main router.
I don't see why this should be an issues, but I guess its worth a try.

Ta