bt home hub HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

magicdamo1984

Hi i purchased a home hub off ebay thinking i could use it on my aol broadband without any issues which is evidently wrong.after a lot of research i have found that this can be done but dont seem to be a able to see how.also my computer wont even acknowledge that the router is plugged in i have tried everything that i can think of can anyone please advise what i can do to try and get this working as i really want wireless and i have already bought this so dont want to buy another router.
PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!

BritBrat

Try using Google, I think I seen something on that the other day, but it did look quite complicated.

What you are asking could be illegal so I am not going into any details.

Welliesorter

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the BT Hub is only meant to be used on BT Broadband. Apart from being locked to prevent it being used with any other ISP, it's designed to be used with a number of BT-specific services. Didn't the eBay seller make it clear that the hub is only suitable for BT?

That said, people have claimed to be able to get them to work with other ISPs. Your best starting point is a very useful information page here. This page contains a link to an old thread at The Scream that discusses unlocking the hub.

It looks a tremendous faff to me. If I were you I'd sell it and look for another router. Very few are hard coded to work with only one ISP. I believe Orange do a similar (but not similar looking) router that you'd need to avoid for the same reason!

How long have you been with AOL? Lots of ISPs offer a free wireless router for new customers. You could either change provider, or threaten AOL to see if they'll give you one if you don't move.

magicdamo1984

have been with aol bout 2 years am waiting for sky max to hit my area and will be moving over to that which is why i didnt want to spend a lot on a router.i have read the posts regarding configuring the router to work but i cant even get the computer to notice that the router has been plugged in.iif i connected the home hub via my existing router shouldnt this at least guve me a wireless signal or is this still a no no

Welliesorter

magicdamo1984 wrote: »

if i connected the home hub via my existing router shouldnt this at least guve me a wireless signal or is this still a no no

Not sure. What kind of router do you have for AOL? Does it connect to your PC via Ethernet? I believe you can use a BT Hub as a repeater for another one so it may be possible to do the same thing with a wired router. I hope I'm not setting you up for a disappointment as I'm really not sure about this!

I have a BT Hub because I'm now on BT Broadband. I think it sends out a wireless signal before it gets an internet connection. You could try connecting the hub to your PC (via Ethernet) and going to http://bthomehub.home on your web browser. That would at least let you browse around its settings and see if it's actually functioning.

It might be worth browsing through past posts (or posting a new one) here
or even braving the official BT forum here.