BT Hub Flashing Orange Light (Causes & Easy Fixes)
Are you without internet? Is a light on your BT Hub flashing orange? In this how-to article, we’ll look at ways to fix your BT Hub’s flashing orange light.
And in case it’s glowing steadily instead of flashing, we’ll talk about fixes for that too.
We’d love to give you a straightforward recipe that covers every possible cause and just how to troubleshoot right here and now.
Unfortunately, it’s difficult to give quick answers when you could be using the BT Hub 3, the newer BT Hub 4 or 5, or the BT Smart Hub.
Just in case it works (it often does), you can try simply restarting the device. Switch off the BT Hub, give it a few seconds, and switch it on again.
Alternatively, you can try checking your cables, do a power cycle, check for service outages, or try the wizard.
Any luck? If your BT Hub continues to display an orange light after it has finished booting up, begin by checking which version of the BT Hub you are using.
Look at where the light displays, and whether it’s flashing or steady. Now skim our subheadings for a match.
BT Home Hub 3: Solid or Flashing Orange Light
This is a pretty old device, but it’s still in relatively wide use. Its display is really simple, consisting of just three LEDs and a single status light.
A flashing orange light likely means that your BT Home Hub 3 is trying to connect to broadband internet.
Give it some time to see what happens. It may be running through a WPS to protect the security of your home network, and it will need a bit of time. Ordinarily, the flashing light isn’t a sign of trouble.
A solid orange light, on the other hand, indicates two possibilities. It could have decided to switch to its power-saving mode, or there’s some problem with your internet connection which will take a bit more troubleshooting.
Either way, a simple restart might be all that you need.
BT Home Hub 4 or 5
Instead of having just one indicator light, these newer BT Hub models have several, so take a closer look to see where the orange light is showing up. Here’s a quick breakdown of where you might see the orange light and what to do about it.
Orange broadband light: The broadband service isn’t currently available. You can try calling BT to find out why or try waiting it out. Want to try a restart? It can’t hurt, but it probably won’t help either.
Steady orange wireless light: This orange light may well mean that you’ve accidentally turned off wireless security and the device is trying to warn you to reactivate it so that you can browse safely.
You will need to log in to your BT Hub management interface and reactivate security under the “wireless” tab.
Flashing orange wireless light: If the wireless light on your BT Hub is flashing orange, the device is indicating that you are set to WPS automatic connection mode. Anyone with access to the hub can connect without using a security key.
If you don’t want this happening, go to your management interface and tweak the wireless settings accordingly.
BT Smart Hub and Smart Hub 2 Orange Lights
The Smart Hub is definitely a device with far more features and functionality – when it’s working as it should. Here’s what you need to know about Smart Hubs and orange lights.
BT Smart Hub flashing orange: The flashing orange light means that the device is connecting to broadband. It shouldn’t be long before it turns to blue, indicating that you’re connected.
BT Smart Hub steady orange light: As with the flashing light, the device is trying to connect. It shouldn’t take long to do so, and when it does, the light will turn blue.
If the orange light won’t go away, you will have to move ahead with troubleshooting or else call support for help. For those who hate hanging on for support, here are a few things you can try.
Still Having Trouble With BT Hub Orange Lights? Try These Steps
You’ve already tried waiting it out, and perhaps you’ve attempted a simple restart. It’s time to get tough! Short of calling help and support, there are still a few things you try.
One of these might be all you need to get rid of the troublesome orange light on your BT Hub. To make it as easy as possible for you, we’ll list them from quick and easy to slightly more time-consuming.
1. Power Cycle the BT Hub
A power cycle is more than a simple restart. It allows your BT Hub to reset itself and then re-establish its connection – and it’s almost as easy as a restart.
To get the job done, switch off and unplug your BT Hub from its power source. Now leave it to stand idle for about three minutes before plugging it in and turning it on again.
Give it some time to boot up. The orange light should settle down to steady blue indicating that you’re connected and the problem is solved.
Still struggling? Move on to the next step.
2. Check All Your Cables
If cables are loose or damaged, you might end up with an orange light on your BT Hub. So, before proceeding to anything more complex, give them a thorough look-over.
Unfortunately, you won’t always spot damaged cables just by looking, so don’t rule this possibility out even if things seem to check out OK. If you have spare cables, try them out, just in case.
3. Check Whether the Service is Available
There’s no point in trying to get your BT Hub to connect if the service isn’t available.
Use a mobile device to navigate to to see whether there’s an outage or scheduled maintenance occurring in your area. If there is, at least you’ll know why you were seeing orange lights.
4. Try the Wizard’s Troubleshooter
To troubleshoot your connection using your BT Hub’s management interface, use an ethernet cable to connect directly to your BT Hub.
Enter 192.168.1.254 in the search bar and hit enter so that you can get started.
In the top left-hand corner of the first page you can access, you’ll see a status indicator, and if you’re not connected, it will be orange. Just below the “no service” button, you will see an option to open no connection help.
There’s a troubleshooting option, and when you select that, your BT Hub will try to re-establish its connection – and it might just do so, with the welcome blue light reappearing to let you know you’re online.
For Home Hub models, you’ll follow a different process. After connecting to the interface, navigate to “Advanced Settings” and log in. Select “Broadband” and click on “Reset User Name.”
It sounds weird, but it often works. It will take a few minutes, though, but at the end of it, you may strike it lucky with a solid blue light.
5. Check Your WiFi Frequency
There’s one more thing you can try before you resort to a factory reset. A WiFi frequency can be overused, so switching to another one might just solve your problem.
It’s an outside chance, but if it works, it’s worth the small effort it takes to try this step.
To check this option out, input 192.168.1.254 in the address bar of your preferred browser. Depending on your BT Hub, the tab you’re looking for will be labelled “Settings” or “Advanced.”
You should see two options: 2.4GHz and 5G. If only one is enabled, enable the other one too. Give your Hub a little time and see if your issue has rectified itself.
6. Try a Factory Reset
This is a last resort. Reverting to factory settings means that you’ll have to set up your hub from the beginning – just as you did on the day it arrived.
Most BT Hubs have a recessed reset button that needs to be pressed with a pointed object, but the Smart Hub 2 has a small, but otherwise normal-looking button located just above the socket where the power cable plugs in.
Regardless of how you have to go about pressing that button, the trick is to hold it in for about five seconds before releasing it.
The reset process takes approximately five minutes and you shouldn’t expect anything to work properly until you’ve reconfigured your hub.
The big advantage of a factory reset is that if anything has become corrupted or scrambled, it will do away with the faults. The drawback is the need to reconfigure.
You’ll need the SSID name and password that you’ll find printed on the back of your Hub and your admin password will have reset to its default along with everything else.
7. Other Things to Try
If you’re using an old-fashioned ADSL line that’s linked to your landline, you should be using a microfilter to minimise issues from your phone line that could be impacting your connectivity.
Your phone lines also have a master socket plus any extensions. If you aren’t connected to the master socket, try moving your BT Hub to it.
It will have the strongest connection and you might succeed when all else has failed.
Finally, there’s an outside chance that you’ll be able to get connected despite your orange light when you use a wired connection instead of WiFi.
Since it jacks straight into your Hub, it will have a stronger connection than any WiFi could have and the connection will be more stable. Admittedly, it doesn’t solve your WiFi problem, but it could offer you a temporary alternative.
FAQs
What Color Should My BT Hub Be?
When a BT Hub is working fine and has a stable internet connection, the power light will display a solid blue light.
Sometimes, the solid blue light may be displayed but you cannot connect to the internet.
In these cases log on to http://btbusinesshub.home/, select the Home tab, and see if the service is connected via the My Services section. If it is disconnected, select connect and hopefully, your connection is restored.
What’s The Difference Between Restarting And Resetting My BT Hub?
If you are encountering internet connection issues, restarting or resetting your BT Hub are both options you can try.
Restarting the BT Hub should be attempted first. The restart involves switching off your device, leaving it to rest for a minute, and then turning it back on.
The process should remove any bugs or issues and allow the device to start afresh and establish an internet connection.
Resetting the BT Hub removes any previous configurations and restores the device to its factory default settings.
To Sum Up Your Orange Light Issue
The BT Hub’s flashing orange or orange light means that it’s trying to connect to the internet. If it keeps on flashing, keeps showing a steady orange light, or changes to a red light, it isn’t having any success.
Quite often, waiting it out or doing a simple restart solves the problem, but failing that, there are a few other fixes you can try. Never forget, you can always reach out to customer service at any time along the way!
