BT Home Hub 2.0 and Hub phone 2.1

Reese_2

Hi, can someone please tell me if the BT Home Hub 2.0 can be set up if BT is not the broadband provider? Also, can the Hub phone 2.1 be used for making 'normal' calls?
I've tried looking this up on various sites on the internet but as I'm not very 'Techie' it's just confused me!
Thanks a lot.

macman

The Home Hub 2.0 is firmware locked to BT.
It may be flashable, but it's not a simple procedure for most people (and you said you are 'not techy'), so I suggest you Google it and visit a specialist forum if you want to go down that route. You may well end up with a bricked router.
I believe that the 1.0 and 1.5 versions are more easily flashed.

dug123

Hi, If you are with BT then the hubphone can be used as a either a normal phone or as a VOIP phone and the settings are within the hub.
I am with SKY but I used to be with BT and found that the Wireless (n) BT homehub was far superior to the SKY one with a better range. So I use my SKY router to connect to broadband and I have disabled wireless, I have an ethernet cable which runs from my SKY router to my BT (2.0) homehub. In my Homehub settings I have renamed it "Downstairs" and have disabled the firewall (It uses the SKY firewall) and Set the DHCP Server on BT to 'No'. I then have the BT Homehub connected to one of the old BT powerline adaptors which I got free from BT for BT Vision with another ethernet cable. My other Powerline adaptor is upstairs and I bought another BT homehub (2.0) from ebay for 99p which is attached upstairs by ethernet cable again to my other Powerline adaptor. I set the BT homehub upstairs with the same settings as downstairs but named it "Upstairs".
I get about 8MBPS download speed from SKY and I have about 5MBPS speed on wireless anywhere in the house thanks to the excellent BT homehubs.
There are no fancy settings (I am not a techie) and no rom flashes involved (whatever they are). It took me less than an hour to set up and has worked for months with no problem.
If I attach a Homehub phone to the back of the BT homehub boxes (they have a normal phone jack) then they just act as extensions on the house phone.

macman

But your Home Hub is not connecting to your broadband, your Sky modem is doing that. If I understand correctly, you are just using your Hub as a standalone router.
The OP's question was whether the HH2 can be set up to work with another ISP, which it can't directly.

dug123

macman wrote: »

But your Home Hub is not connecting to your broadband, your Sky modem is doing that. If I understand correctly, you are just using your Hub as a standalone router.
The OP's question was whether the HH2 can be set up to work with another ISP, which it can't directly.

NO, I agree it cannot be used as a stand alone router, but the reason you may want to use it is because (in my opinion) it is an excellent router and far superior to many which you receive for free from other broadband suppliers. I was therefore just explaining how I made use of it even though my broadband connection is through my SKY router.
My post merely shows that by using your potentially redundant BT gear you can have (in my opinion) a far superior wireless zone at home.
Also the access controls on the BT homehub still work, which is a great bonus with 2 kids wanting to be on their xboxs etc all night!
So as you say the homehub 2.0 cannot be used as a modem for other broadband suppliers, but as my post shows, you can still make good use of it.

Honkey_McCracka

dug123 wrote: »

Hi, If you are with BT then the hubphone can be used as a either a normal phone or as a VOIP phone and the settings are within the hub.
I am with SKY but I used to be with BT and found that the Wireless (n) BT homehub was far superior to the SKY one with a better range. So I use my SKY router to connect to broadband and I have disabled wireless, I have an ethernet cable which runs from my SKY router to my BT (2.0) homehub. In my Homehub settings I have renamed it "Downstairs" and have disabled the firewall (It uses the SKY firewall) and Set the DHCP Server on BT to 'No'. I then have the BT Homehub connected to one of the old BT powerline adaptors which I got free from BT for BT Vision with another ethernet cable. My other Powerline adaptor is upstairs and I bought another BT homehub (2.0) from ebay for 99p which is attached upstairs by ethernet cable again to my other Powerline adaptor. I set the BT homehub upstairs with the same settings as downstairs but named it "Upstairs".
I get about 8MBPS download speed from SKY and I have about 5MBPS speed on wireless anywhere in the house thanks to the excellent BT homehubs.
There are no fancy settings (I am not a techie) and no rom flashes involved (whatever they are). It took me less than an hour to set up and has worked for months with no problem.
If I attach a Homehub phone to the back of the BT homehub boxes (they have a normal phone jack) then they just act as extensions on the house phone.

Hi. I saw this method a couple of time of the internet. But as far as I know the hub phone doesn't have phone cable coming out from the back (may be I am wrong because i haven's seen a hub phone before and planning to get one). So how do you attach the hub phone to the back of teh home hub? Thanks

robmar0se

I believe it can be hacked, although I haven't tried it.

http://www.psidoc.com/

scousemartin

you can find full instructions on how to reflash the firmware of the home hub 2 here (www)joesphn.net/bt_home_hub/unlocking_bt_home_hub_v2a sorry i cant give a direct link but as a new user i am not allowed to post links. After following the instructions you will be able to use the hub with any ISP. E.g. Virgin,Orange,talk talk Sky (their router will need to be hacked to obtain username and password though) etc etc