Plusnet Hub Zero 2704n review

BT-owned Plusnet is one of the cheaper ISPs out there, and with such low contract prices, you might feel the company could be excused for providing a less than optimal free router.

Even with this in mind it’s difficult not to come away from its new Hub Zero 2704n router without feeling rather disappointed. It’s poorly specified, with just 802.11n speeds and single 2.4GHz band support when most other ISP routers have made the leap to dual-band.

The router’s 2.4GHz performance was lacklustre at best. With our test laptop’s built-in 802.11n wireless adaptor we saw speeds of just 3.9Mbit/s at 10m, dropping to a positively crawling 2Mbit/s at 25m. These are some of the worst speeds we’ve seen from any router.

The Plusnet Hub Zero is at least small and inoffensive-looking. It’s actually manufactured by Sagemcom and is based on the company’s F@ST 2704n router. We would argue that the rebadged model is more attractive than the original, thanks to its white glossy finish. The front of the router has a bank of LEDs to indicate connectivity and activity from the router’s four Ethernet ports.

The Hub Zero stands up vertically and has two swing-out feet to keep it propped up. With the feet tucked in you can also mount the router to the wall to get it out of the way. The side of the router has a button to disable the wireless as well as to activate WPS pairing.

The router’s username and password are written on a card supplied with the router, as is the default Wi-Fi password for the router’s 2.4GHz band; useful if guests want to get online.

The router’s administration options are minimal, however. You have the basic controls such as port forwarding and Dynamic DNS, but more advanced settings such as Quality of Service (QoS) or guest networks are absent. The interface is at least clean and easy to navigate, but that’s in part a consequence of the lack of controls.

Even if Plusnet is one of the cheaper internet service providers out there, that’s not an excuse to supply customers with such a poor router. With no 5GHz support and minimal features, the Plusnet Hub Zero is asking for an upgrade.