BT home hub nightmare

Hi I am new to these groups so forgive any naivete but I am hoping
someone can help.

I am trying to help a friend of mine who has had a BT broadband
account for a couple of years. All worked fine on her connection
while she had a Voyager adsl modem (not sure which model). About 6
weeks ago she ordered a BT home hub, since then she has had no
service!.

She couldn't get the first one to work, so she paid for a BT tech to
come and set it up. He decided the initial unit was faulty and
replaced it with a new home hub. However, he left it not working
saying he couldn't complete setup as her laptop wasn't available to
configure the WLAN (her PC was connected to the ethernet port of the
hub!).

I have looked at it and the key problem is that the internet light on
the hub never goes on (etc for flashing during reboot). I logged into
the hub from the pc as admin. No connection is made to WAN. When you
test the ethernet connection thro config ATM and PPP come up as
failed. I have tried resetting to default, rebooting, changing user/pw
etc. No connection. My diagnosis is either the modem side is faulty
or the line. She has two phone sockets - we unplugged everything
except the hub - which has microfilter attached and redid everything -
no dice.

She has asked for line test 3 times and is always told it is fine
(plus Voyager worked ok but we cant go back to that cos BT tech took
it away with him!).

She spent hours on the phone to BT support and they keep asking her to
redo the stuff above and then passing her on to someone else who goes
thro whole thing again.

I assume this box is a WLAN router and an ADSL modem inside. WLAN
works fine by the way and the ethernet light is the only one which
fails to come on. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.
My friend is not very technical. I expect I would have high blood
pressure if I had to deal with BT. (I have ntl/virgin who have faults
but we manage).

Best wishes

Nick
--
Nick Holmes

"Nick Holmes" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi I am new to these groups so forgive any naivete but I am hoping
> someone can help.
>
> I am trying to help a friend of mine who has had a BT broadband
> account for a couple of years. All worked fine on her connection
> while she had a Voyager adsl modem (not sure which model). About 6
> weeks ago she ordered a BT home hub, since then she has had no
> service!.
>
> She couldn't get the first one to work, so she paid for a BT tech to
> come and set it up. He decided the initial unit was faulty and
> replaced it with a new home hub. However, he left it not working
> saying he couldn't complete setup as her laptop wasn't available to
> configure the WLAN (her PC was connected to the ethernet port of the
> hub!).
>
> I have looked at it and the key problem is that the internet light

Which light?

> on
> the hub never goes on (etc for flashing during reboot). I logged into
> the hub from the pc as admin. No connection is made to WAN. When you
> test the ethernet connection thro config ATM and PPP come up as
> failed. I have tried resetting to default, rebooting, changing user/pw
> etc. No connection. My diagnosis is either the modem side is faulty
> or the line. She has two phone sockets - we unplugged everything
> except the hub - which has microfilter attached and redid everything -
> no dice.
>
> She has asked for line test 3 times and is always told it is fine
> (plus Voyager worked ok but we cant go back to that cos BT tech took
> it away with him!).
>
> She spent hours on the phone to BT support and they keep asking her to
> redo the stuff above and then passing her on to someone else who goes
> thro whole thing again.
>
> I assume this box is a WLAN router and an ADSL modem inside. WLAN
> works fine by the way and the ethernet light

Which light?

> is the only one which
> fails to come on. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.
> My friend is not very technical. I expect I would have high blood
> pressure if I had to deal with BT. (I have ntl/virgin who have faults
> but we manage).

You are not being consistent as to whch light is off!!!

Are you quite sure that the wire from the microfilter is plugged into the
ADSL port on this router? Some BT routers have several RJ11 connectors,
some of which are intended for voice over IP services.

When you connect to the hub can you see that the correct ADSL connection
username and password have been set up?

Is there a screen which shows a log of activity which gives a clue as to why
the ATM and PPP connections fail?

Best of all, try a totally different router - ideally one which you are
totally familiar with so you know how to configure it. Or try another
Voyager ADSL modem - lots of people will have these to give away since they
will have replaced them with routers.

--
Graham J

In message <f1f9pb$f0l$1$(E-Mail Removed)>
"Graham" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>
> "Nick Holmes" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Hi I am new to these groups so forgive any naivete but I am hoping
>> someone can help.
>>
>> I am trying to help a friend of mine who has had a BT broadband
>> account for a couple of years. All worked fine on her connection
>> while she had a Voyager adsl modem (not sure which model). About 6
>> weeks ago she ordered a BT home hub, since then she has had no
>> service!.
>>
>> She couldn't get the first one to work, so she paid for a BT tech to
>> come and set it up. He decided the initial unit was faulty and
>> replaced it with a new home hub. However, he left it not working
>> saying he couldn't complete setup as her laptop wasn't available to
>> configure the WLAN (her PC was connected to the ethernet port of the
>> hub!).
>>
>> I have looked at it and the key problem is that the internet light
>
> Which light?
>
>> on
>> the hub never goes on (etc for flashing during reboot). I logged into
>> the hub from the pc as admin. No connection is made to WAN. When you
>> test the ethernet connection thro config ATM and PPP come up as
>> failed. I have tried resetting to default, rebooting, changing user/pw
>> etc. No connection. My diagnosis is either the modem side is faulty
>> or the line. She has two phone sockets - we unplugged everything
>> except the hub - which has microfilter attached and redid everything -
>> no dice.
>>
>> She has asked for line test 3 times and is always told it is fine
>> (plus Voyager worked ok but we cant go back to that cos BT tech took
>> it away with him!).
>>
>> She spent hours on the phone to BT support and they keep asking her to
>> redo the stuff above and then passing her on to someone else who goes
>> thro whole thing again.
>>
>> I assume this box is a WLAN router and an ADSL modem inside. WLAN
>> works fine by the way and the ethernet light
>
> Which light?

Sorry that should be <internet>. Apart from the power indicator there
are 3 lights on front <wireless>, <broadband> and <internet>. The
first two show green, <internet> is unlit (tho it flashes briefly on
powerup).

>
>> is the only one which
>> fails to come on. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.
>> My friend is not very technical. I expect I would have high blood
>> pressure if I had to deal with BT. (I have ntl/virgin who have faults
>> but we manage).
>
> You are not being consistent as to whch light is off!!!

sorry, typo.
>
> Are you quite sure that the wire from the microfilter is plugged into the
> ADSL port on this router? Some BT routers have several RJ11 connectors,
> some of which are intended for voice over IP services.

Yes. The ADSL socket on the microfilter is connected to the RJ11 (?)
socket labelled <broadband> on the home hub, as directed by
manufacturer's instructions. You can see a picture of the connectors
at http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/homehub.html

>
> When you connect to the hub can you see that the correct ADSL connection
> username and password have been set up?

Yes. The default is (E-Mail Removed) with no password. It
says in the instructions that this is correct (apparently the phone
number is used for id). I also tried her BTinternet username and PW.
>
> Is there a screen which shows a log of activity which gives a clue as to why
> the ATM and PPP connections fail?

From memory a visual display which was not showing any activity.
>
> Best of all, try a totally different router - ideally one which you are
> totally familiar with so you know how to configure it. Or try another
> Voyager ADSL modem - lots of people will have these to give away since they
> will have replaced them with routers.

Yes, that is what I would like to do. Unfortunately I and all my
other friends are on cable. I will try a local ng.

Best wishes

Nick
--
Nick Holmes Division of Immunology, Dept of Pathology
Cambridge University, Cambridge CB2 1QP, UK
Tel:+44 1223 333871 Fax:+44 1223 333346
private.php?do=newpm&u= http://www-immuno.path.cam.ac.uk/~nh106/

"Nick Holmes" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> In message <f1f9pb$f0l$1$(E-Mail Removed)>
> "Graham" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>
>> "Nick Holmes" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> Hi I am new to these groups so forgive any naivete but I am hoping
>>> someone can help.
>>>
>>> I am trying to help a friend of mine who has had a BT broadband
>>> account for a couple of years. All worked fine on her connection
>>> while she had a Voyager adsl modem (not sure which model). About 6
>>> weeks ago she ordered a BT home hub, since then she has had no
>>> service!.
>>>
>>> She couldn't get the first one to work, so she paid for a BT tech to
>>> come and set it up. He decided the initial unit was faulty and
>>> replaced it with a new home hub. However, he left it not working
>>> saying he couldn't complete setup as her laptop wasn't available to
>>> configure the WLAN (her PC was connected to the ethernet port of the
>>> hub!).
>>>
>>> I have looked at it and the key problem is that the internet light
>>
>> Which light?
>>
>>> on
>>> the hub never goes on (etc for flashing during reboot). I logged into
>>> the hub from the pc as admin. No connection is made to WAN. When you
>>> test the ethernet connection thro config ATM and PPP come up as
>>> failed. I have tried resetting to default, rebooting, changing user/pw
>>> etc. No connection. My diagnosis is either the modem side is faulty
>>> or the line. She has two phone sockets - we unplugged everything
>>> except the hub - which has microfilter attached and redid everything -
>>> no dice.
>>>
>>> She has asked for line test 3 times and is always told it is fine
>>> (plus Voyager worked ok but we cant go back to that cos BT tech took
>>> it away with him!).
>>>
>>> She spent hours on the phone to BT support and they keep asking her to
>>> redo the stuff above and then passing her on to someone else who goes
>>> thro whole thing again.
>>>
>>> I assume this box is a WLAN router and an ADSL modem inside. WLAN
>>> works fine by the way and the ethernet light
>>
>> Which light?
>
> Sorry that should be <internet>. Apart from the power indicator there
> are 3 lights on front <wireless>, <broadband> and <internet>. The
> first two show green, <internet> is unlit (tho it flashes briefly on
> powerup).
>
>>
>>> is the only one which
>>> fails to come on. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.
>>> My friend is not very technical. I expect I would have high blood
>>> pressure if I had to deal with BT. (I have ntl/virgin who have faults
>>> but we manage).
>>
>> You are not being consistent as to whch light is off!!!
>
> sorry, typo.
>>
>> Are you quite sure that the wire from the microfilter is plugged into the
>> ADSL port on this router? Some BT routers have several RJ11 connectors,
>> some of which are intended for voice over IP services.
>
> Yes. The ADSL socket on the microfilter is connected to the RJ11 (?)
> socket labelled <broadband> on the home hub, as directed by
> manufacturer's instructions. You can see a picture of the connectors
> at http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/homehub.html
>
>>
>> When you connect to the hub can you see that the correct ADSL connection
>> username and password have been set up?
>
> Yes. The default is (E-Mail Removed) with no password. It
> says in the instructions that this is correct (apparently the phone
> number is used for id). I also tried her BTinternet username and PW.
>>
>> Is there a screen which shows a log of activity which gives a clue as to
>> why
>> the ATM and PPP connections fail?
>
> From memory a visual display which was not showing any activity.
>>
>> Best of all, try a totally different router - ideally one which you are
>> totally familiar with so you know how to configure it. Or try another
>> Voyager ADSL modem - lots of people will have these to give away since
>> they
>> will have replaced them with routers.
>
> Yes, that is what I would like to do. Unfortunately I and all my
> other friends are on cable. I will try a local ng.

The router should show a status page that shows the condition of the ADSL
service.

Find that page, and disconnect the ADSL wire. The page should show
"initialisation". Now connect the wire. After a while it should show
several different states, possibly including the the words "ready" and
"analysing", finally stabilising on "G.DMT" or "Showtime". If it doesn't do
this, then there is something wrong with the connection to the phone line
and you're not going to get any further until you fix that.

I have known the ADSL cable to fail - have you another you could try?

--
Graham J

(E-Mail Removed) declared for all the world to hear...
> I have tried resetting to default, rebooting, changing user/pw
> etc.

The password and username is pre-set by BT, there is no need to change
it.

> No connection. My diagnosis is either the modem side is faulty
> or the line. She has two phone sockets - we unplugged everything
> except the hub - which has microfilter attached and redid everything -
> no dice.

Pulled the front off the BT master socket and connected to the test
point? Tried with the Voyager ADSL modem again?

> She has asked for line test 3 times and is always told it is fine
> (plus Voyager worked ok but we cant go back to that cos BT tech took
> it away with him!).

Ok!

> She spent hours on the phone to BT support and they keep asking her to
> redo the stuff above and then passing her on to someone else who goes
> thro whole thing again.
>
> I assume this box is a WLAN router and an ADSL modem inside.

You assume correctly.

> WLAN works fine by the way and the ethernet light is the only one which
> fails to come on.

Internet, surely?
--
Regards
Jon