What does the WPS button on my Virgin Media Hub do?

If you’ve got a Virgin Media Hub, you might have noticed a little ‘WPS’ or ‘Pair WPS’ button on the front of the device? Not sure what it does? Read on to find out how it could make connecting Wi-Fi devices much easier.

What does WPS stand for?

WPS stands for Wi-Fi Protected setup. In short, it allows you to securely connect devices to your Virgin Media Hub without having to enter the Wi-Fi password.

When is the WPS button on my Virgin Media Hub most useful?

When you’re connecting a device such as a laptop or smartphone, it’s generally not that much hassle to find the name of your Wi-Fi network and enter the password.

WPS is most useful when you’re dealing with devices such as printers, Wi-Fi extenders, video cameras or other devices that don’t have their own screen. In that case, you can simply press the WPS button your router, then press the WPS button on the other device and the two should connect without having to fiddle around with passwords.

How do I set up WPS on the Virgin Hub?

WPS is normally set up by default if you have Wi-Fi switched on. If you find it’s not working, first access the Virgin Media Hub settings.

Once you’re in those, click Advanced, then Wireless, then WPS. (These are the menus for the Virgin Media Hub 3, they might be slightly different for other Hubs.) You should see a menu like this:

Make sure the WPS Push button setting is enabled, as shown here.

If you wish, you can choose to protect WPS with an eight-digit pin that has to be entered on any device you’re connecting. This can make connecting to other devices more difficult and we’d only use it if your Virgin Media Hub is easily accessible to strangers – for example, if you’re running a guest house or B&B.