128 SEPTEMBER 2019 |COMPUTERSHOPPER|ISSUE 379
WhateveryourPC,hardware, software,officeapplication
or macroissues,SimonHandbyisheretohelp
Send [email protected]HelpHelpfile &
BusinessBusinessHelp
Ihavejust swappedmy Plusnetmodem
and router foraBTSmart Hub (Home
Hub 6). Ibought it from eBay, it’s working
well, and we like the new 5GHz facility.
But while the Plusnetdevices both had
LEDs to show internet activity,the Smart
Hub keeps it to itself.PreviouslyIfound
it reassuringto be able to glance across
and see that an expected downloadhad
started, forexample.
Iknow there are dozensof programs
that will displayinternet activity,but I
don’t find them convenient,especially
when gaming.I’ve spent hours searching
forapiece of hardwarethat would fit
betweenthe Smart Hub and the wall socket
to indicatebroadbandactivity.AsIenvisage
it, this might have just one LED each for
uploadand downloadactivity,but it would
be very importantthat it did not have any
effect upon the speed of the connection.I
had thoughtthere might be aRaspberryPi
projectthat covered it, but apparentlynot.
Before Igive up hope,can you help?
Frank ButlerUnfortunately,the short answeris no.The data
passingbetweenan ADSL modemand the
wall socket is modulated on to an analogue
carrier signal, the amplitudeof which doesn’t
necessarilycorrespondto how much data isBroadbandataglance?
I’ve got acouple of Tado Smart Thermostats,and awhile ago Iwas
experimentingwith addingaspare tablet of ours to my account
and giving it locationcontrolover my home.I’ve since stopped
using the device,but ever since Iadded it to my accountit’s been
lurkingon the edge of the map in the Tado app.I’ve tried looking
throughall the settingsbut Ican’t find away to remove devices
from my account.Bootingup the tablet and uninstallingthe app
hasn’t done the trick, either.Isthere no waytoget rid of it?
Mike HollisYoucan’t remove adevice from your Tado accountusing the app or
by uninstallingit. Instead, you’ll need to visitmy.tado.comfrom aweb
browser.Log in, drop down the menu at the left, scroll down to
settings,click People in the left-hand pane and you’ll see the users on
your Tado system. Drop down the arrow at the right of each user to
see the devices associated with them. When you find the tablet, you
can simply click Remove device and it will be gone.Tado won’tgo
passingthrough.Connectingan LED directly
to this wouldn’t reveal anythinguseful, and it
would be likely to destroythe integrity of
the connectionand reduce performance.
While you could, theoretically,create
abroadbandactivitymeter,this would
have to be an active device that decoded
and re-encodedthe broadbandsignal to
reveal the traffic level within it. Essentially
it would be anothermodem,with a
similar cost and complexity.
The best option we can suggestis that
you revert to your Plusnetmodem,and
use an Ethernetcable to connectit to
one of the Smart Hub’s switch ports.
Youwould be able to see the modem’s
activitylight, and still benefit from the
Smart Hub’s improved coverage and 5GHz
wireless,but it would be amore complex
setup.You would need to configureonly
one device to act as the DHCP server,and
rememberthat the Smart Hub’s broadband
features, includingits firewall,would be
ineffective;you’d need to make any settings
changeson the modem.⬆Need to remove adevice from your Tado home? Visitmy.tado.comand
you’ll find more detailedsettings⬆One light to guide them all –and
not displayinternet activity