Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[sevenlayermuddle]

Last week, I finally got around to calling at the home of an elderly relative, to assist in reposition the router to a quiet and unnoticeable spot - currently it's in a rather ugly place, on floor in hall, he wanted it moved into the cloaks cupboard where the master socket happens to be.  Off I went with phone cable & sockets and wiring, screws, wallplugs and tools.   I also hoped to see a speed improvement, by disconnecting the bell wire and connecting to master socker.

Before starting, I wanted to check the router stats so I could ensure that my modifications led to the expected improvement or at least, no detriment.   The Home Hub has a neat little plastic tab, on which is written SSID, and machine-genetated WAP key and admin password etc.   So far so good?

No.   The router wouldn't let me past the welcome screen unless I changed the admin password.   I could have changed it and obviously would have done so if it were mine, but the non-techie home owner wouldn't understand what an admin password was, and almost certainly wouldn't be able to remember, or where he'd written it down, it if I were to change it.  So Bang went that plan.    If it is so important to BT that it is changed, why was it not done during the initial install?

Then the problem of moving it.   Also a dead end.  I'm sure there are others, but it is the only router I personally have tackled that isn't wall mountable. It'll need a shelf, and I'll need to make the shelf.

So, after a welcome tea and biscuits, I left.  Will return again in a few week with the electrical hardware and also the bits to errect a small shelf, and try again.   Might even pluck up the cuourage to ask him to think of a new admin password, or maybe not.

[burakkucat]

  The administration password has not been changed because the HH3 is operating with the factory defaults. So here is my suggestion . . .

• Change the password to anything that is convenient for yourself. Note the current statistics.
• Make the wiring changes, etc. Note the new statistics.
• Perform a factory reset on the device, thus reverting the administration password back to that on the pull-out tab.

[sevenlayermuddle]

  The administration password has not been changed because the HH3 is operating with the factory defaults. So here is my suggestion . . .

• Change the password to anything that is convenient for yourself. Note the current statistics.
• Make the wiring changes, etc. Note the new statistics.
• Perform a factory reset on the device, thus reverting the administration password back to that on the pull-out tab.

Sounds like one way forwards.

Or I suppose I could just write a new password on the plastic tab, at least then anybody who needs to know it in future would probably find it.
; I can't remember whether there any room on the little tab for an extra sticky label, without overwriting the original?

[burakkucat]

I can't remember whether there any room on the little tab for an extra sticky label, without overwriting the original?

There is sufficient space below the current label for you to attach another one . . . as long as it is not too thick and prevents the tab from being re-inserted into the hub.

[sevenlayermuddle]

I can't remember whether there any room on the little tab for an extra sticky label, without overwriting the original?

There is sufficient space below the current label for you to attach another one . . . as long as it is not too thick and prevents the tab from being re-inserted into the hub.

Thanks a lot.   If I had any sense I'd have made that assesment myself when the router was in front of me, but I evidently don't and I didn't.

I shall add some thin sticky labels and a nice fine tipped pen to the box of tools and bits that I take at my next attempt.   

[ryant704]

Instead of doing the factory reset, change the password back to the default password obtained with the HomeHub when you are done.

[sevenlayermuddle]

Instead of doing the factory reset, change the password back to the default password obtained with the HomeHub when you are done.

I did wonder if that would be possible. Is it, with certainty?

Didn't try it, for fear of the consequences from bailing out after passing the point of no return.

[burakkucat]

I am not sure. There is the possibility that the firmware has been coded to recognise when an attempt is being made to reset the password to one that had previously been used and thus deny the act.

From what I recall, the factory reset is just a left-click from the appropriate page in the 'advanced' configuration section of the GUI.

[sevenlayermuddle]

I am not sure. There is the possibility that the firmware has been coded to recognise when an attempt is being made to reset the password to one that had previously been used and thus deny the act.

From what I recall, the factory reset is just a left-click from the appropriate page in the 'advanced' configuration section of the GUI.

Thinking more, the hard-coded admin password printed on the tab does not appear to serve the same purpose as a user-set password;   the only purpose it seems to serve is to allow a user password to be set.  Therefor, even if it allows me to set the 'actual' password to be same, it won't lead to same behaviour.

I like the plan of setting a new password, writing it on a sticky label, and attaching it to the plastic tab.   If for any reason half way through I come to doubt the wisdom of that approach, the option of factory reset will be a comforting thought.

[burakkucat]

I like the plan of setting a new password, writing it on a sticky label, and attaching it to the plastic tab.   If for any reason half way through I come to doubt the wisdom of that approach, the option of factory reset will be a comforting thought.

To me, that reads as a good plan of action. 

[ryant704]

It works, no flags are given at least with my HomeHub version B.

[Black Sheep]

I can't see what the issue is here. If 7Lm's relative cannot remember a simple password (like his or he own name), then they certainly aren't going to go into the 'Hub Manager' to bugger about with settings, etc etc ??
The 'Change password' screen even requests a 'prompt' in case one forgets their password. A prompt such as 'Your own name', wouldn't be difficult to ascertain.

[sevenlayermuddle]

I can't see what the issue is here. If 7Lm's relative cannot remember a simple password (like his or he own name), then they certainly aren't going to go into the 'Hub Manager' to bugger about with settings, etc etc ??
The 'Change password' screen even requests a 'prompt' in case one forgets their password. A prompt such as 'Your own name', wouldn't be difficult to ascertain.

The problem is that he will always need help anytime anything needs done.   And the next person to help may not be myself, it might be another relative or a neighbour.   

The other nuisance is that I'd gone there to help.  The router was perceived by the user to be already working, so it would not be seen as helpful when I suddenly started blabbing on about a new password being needed for a purpose he'd not understand.

To put the level of knoweldge in context...  the homeowner refers to the router as a ' The Hub', because that's what BT call it.   He is also vaguely aware that he has a router, so has attached that title to the mains/ethernet adapter. 

[Black Sheep]

So, the issue is not that the relative needs to remember the password, it's just in case someone else happens along in the future ?? If that's the case, you could make the new password 'Dog' and in the prompt box put, "The password is dog".
I just think this is a 'Mountain out of a molehill'.

Failing that, as mentioned above somewhere, once you've finished, do a factory reset and the default password (on the plastic tab) is reinstated.

[sevenlayermuddle]

So, the issue is not that the relative needs to remember the password, it's just in case someone else happens along in the future ?? If that's the case, you could make the new password 'Dog' and in the prompt box put, "The password is dog".

The problem with this suggestion would seem to be that anybody who is given access to the WiFi network, including (say) mischievous grandchildren or others who may overjudge their own competence, would have unrestricted access to change the router settings, disable firewall etc.  All of that could be done from their armchair without having to ask for physical to the router or to ask anybody what the password is?

I just think this is a 'Mountain out of a molehill'.

Sorry if it seems that way, BS.    I was actually happy, and remain so, with the resolution arrived at in post #8, hardly a 'mountain'.   You can't blame me for the fact that the thread has trundled on, though I think it is good manners to consider and respond to subsequent posts in a thread which I started.