topic Re: 5G ZTE MC801A router dropping connection 4-5 times a day in Broadband

5G ZTE MC801A router dropping connection 4-5 times a day

GIWEBB — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 11:11:14 GMT

I got this 5G router back at the end of November 2022 on a 1 month rolling contract and from day one it drops the connection 4-5 times a day when i'm working, on all devices, and I have to browse to the router web page, disconnect and then reconnect to get it going again. With working from home this is a constant nuisance as you can be mid-call with someone. Reported the issue in December and was told to reset router, made no difference, left it as I was off work over Christmas and it was no big deal, I could reset it from my phone when netflix went down on the TV. Rang support again there today and they said it sounds like a faulty router, but since I am on a rolling contract they can't send me a new one, is this correct, seems bizarre? Also, any support pages here don;t list this router, all huawai routers.

Re: 5G ZTE MC801A router dropping connection 4-5 times a day

crypt0ninja — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 11:20:44 GMT

Pretty sure there's an issue being investigated atm that sounds very similar to this if you are on the current B12 firmware? (I don't personally use the MC801A I have the NR5103E)

Maybe @JonathanB can confirm as I know he was requesting info from some users to help investigate a problem users started to experience after the B12 update.

Regarding what you were told about not being able to replace your router due to being on a rolling contract that's not true at all. The hardware is owned and covered by Three regardless of the rolling, 12 month or 24 month contracts.

If you do wish to seek a replacement for peace of mind then I would advise to call up and escalate the issue as you should be offered a replacement if Three have told you it sounds like a faulty router.

Hopefully the mods can assist you.

Re: 5G ZTE MC801A router dropping connection 4-5 times a day

GIWEBB — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 11:48:30 GMT

They have told me i need to cancel this contract, persevere with the crappy router for 30 days then start a new one and order the NR router, why they couldn;t just send me the NR router, they said it's all because of this one month rolling contract.

Re: 5G ZTE MC801A router dropping connection 4-5 times a day

crypt0ninja — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 13:46:07 GMT

What firmware version is your MC801A currently running?

Re: 5G ZTE MC801A router dropping connection 4-5 times a day

GIWEBB — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 14:26:04 GMT

one ending in 0B12

Re: 5G ZTE MC801A router dropping connection 4-5 times a day

Gagandeep — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 01:34:02 GMT

Another user with a B12 firmware problem. Welcome to the club. This issue appears to be experienced by quite a few people (https://community.three.co.uk/t5/Broadband/5G-Broadband-dropouts/td-p/6687/page/8)

Posting here to see if you get any useful advice/highlight the problem to mods.

Re: 5G ZTE MC801A router dropping connection 4-5 times a day

JonathanB — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 16:02:53 GMT

Hi @GIWEBB,

I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing this issue.

We definitely can arrange hardware exchanges for 5G broadband customers on rolling contracts. As mentioned by @crypt0ninja and @Gagandeep we're looking into an issue which may be with the firmware rather than hardware though.

Everything you're describing seems to match so I think it's almost certainly the same issue:

We're still investigating what specifically is causing this to happen for some customers and not others, but I'll update the community as soon as we have any news or further advice.

Thanks,
JonathanB

Re: 5G ZTE MC801A router dropping connection 4-5 times a day

GIWEBB — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 18:01:27 GMT

Disappointed that I was told otherwise on the helpline and they made me cancel my current contract and have told me to start a new contract closer to the end of the 30 days notice and order the different router, stuck with this issue for another month.

Re: 5G ZTE MC801A router dropping connection 4-5 times a day

crypt0ninja — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 18:35:41 GMT

Yeah I agree that frontline call centre staff are not very clued up on these technical issues from what I've experienced and heard from others.

Its been a much better experience getting issues resolved on this forum.

Hopefully the mods here can provide some internal feedback to try and improve the misinformation coming from the frontline call centre staff (which seems to happen more often than not) when it comes to these technical broadband issues.

Re: 5G ZTE MC801A router dropping connection 4-5 times a day

GIWEBB — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 10:45:14 GMT

On with phone support again, I told them what was mentioned here by @JonathanB , eventually they budged, cancelled my cancellation and are sending the new router. Was like pulling teeth though, took nearly 40 minutes on phone to get it sorted. First they wouldn't do it, then when they finally said they would they were going to send me the same router, seems the new router they are sending uses a bigger sim card so they are replacing the sim too.

Re: 5G ZTE MC801A router dropping connection 4-5 times a day

crypt0ninja — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 11:19:20 GMT

If they are replacing it with another MC801A I suspect you will probably have the same issue as its suspected to be firmware related (but only affecting certain people, not everyone).

Odd that the new router uses a bigger sim unless there are different variations of MC801A out there...

Let us know how it goes with the replacement and if it is the same model etc.

Re: 5G ZTE MC801A router dropping connection 4-5 times a day

Dazzar — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 22:38:31 GMT

@JonathanB @Having the same problem is there any update yet on what is happening g same 801a router

Re: 5G ZTE MC801A router dropping connection 4-5 times a day

tlm000 — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 13:22:41 GMT

Having gone through the customer service/technical support/complaints doom loop for months I’m so glad I stumbled across this threat and simultaneously infuriated I wasn’t told this. Likewise my connection drops at random intervals throughout the day and the only way to reconnect is through the web/mobile router UI. Complaints offered to cancel my contract at no cost but a new router was never an option. I was told the 5G/4G signal is poor in my area, which is nonsense as I regularly have full signal and achieve 350 mbs download. What can I do to organise a replacement router for my ZTE model?

Re: 5G ZTE MC801A router dropping connection 4-5 times a day

tlm000 — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 13:29:07 GMT

@JonathanB

Re: 5G ZTE MC801A router dropping connection 4-5 times a day

JonathanB — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 14:21:45 GMT

Hi @tlm000,

Sorry if this caused any misunderstanding.

By our processes router exchanges are like for like, i.e a ZTE MC801a would be replaced with another ZTE MC801a, so I'm not sure if that would help here, we're investigating whether there's a general issue with firmware, or perhaps with the ZTE connecting to certain masts, or some other factor, based on a number of community users reporting a similar experience.

I'm sorry that this has been going on for so long, we'll update the community as soon as we have further advice or a solution.

JonathanB

Re: 5G ZTE MC801A router dropping connection 4-5 times a day

GIWEBB — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 09:58:21 GMT

Oh the joys of three customer service. After receiving the different model router and having several days joy of no drops, I woke on Sunday morning to find no internet. Turns out they cancelled my contract - they forgot to cancel the initial cancellation request from 5th january. So, after much back and forth on online chat, they couldn;t do anything and i had to travel to the nearest Three store and purchase a new contract - guess which router they gave me? only the original ZTE one that I had issues with. After them reassuring me in the shop that both the staff used that one at home and had no issues and I just had one from a bad batch, I took it. Lo and behold, the drops are happening again, so back to square one. Couldn't make it up, I'm selling the rights to this comedy to Netflix.

Re: 5G ZTE MC801A router dropping connection 4-5 times a day

Gagandeep — Sun, 12 Feb 2023 16:35:08 GMT

Hi JonathanB

There are in excess of 15 pages of forum posts about this same problem in various threads from lots of affected users.

Can we PLEASE get some form of update. Surely the solution is to replace the ZTE routers with Zyxel ones?!

Whilst I appreciate your input, If you are unable to help, please direct us to an individual or team where a formal grievance can be raised in writing.

Re: 5G ZTE MC801A router dropping connection 4-5 times a day

Jempomidory — Sun, 19 Feb 2023 20:12:08 GMT

Hi, I am having exact same problem. From my research, there is a conflict between B12 software and Intel chip-based wi-fi adaptors. If you have your 4G channels in automatic while being on 11-12-13 channels may cause drops. I set that to channel one and have had 0 drops for about a week and then the same problems started occurring. I rang Three just to be told that they have super offers for me and wanted to transfer me to the sales department. After I was fuming that they don't understand what is the problem they said I have to pay around £260 to cancel my contract (!) Don't know who am I supposed to contact so they can solve the services that I pay for.

Re: 5G ZTE MC801A router dropping connection 4-5 times a day

thegoodguy — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 14:02:50 GMT

Hi,

I'm hoping this may help someone.

I just signed up for Three home broadband. I'm still within my cooling-off period.

Right from the start I was having a problem with the router dropping out. As much as they tried, phone support weren't much help. I have solved the problem myself ... at least for me.

I have a slightly unusual setup. in that I don't use the router wifi. I connect the router via ethernet cable to a powerline device equipped with wifi. I do this because I have several "smart" devices that connect to the network through wifi, and this way it doesn't matter if I change ISP or router, I don't have go through the hassle of reconnected all my devices to a new wifi network.

The time that the router would have a nervous breakdown was when I ran a speed test. The router HATED being pushed to the connection-speed limit (230-315). Without fail, whenever I performed a speed test, the router would throw a strop. I thought "let me lessen its load. I'll switch the wifi off". You can only do this through the wifi schedule because there is no wifi "switch". As soon as the wifi was switched off my connection was solid (apart from very occasion dropouts for a few seconds - I have a tiny little script running to log dropouts). As I said I am still in my cooling-off period so I can't say it's been brilliant for ages, but it is now stable.

Obviously the above is not possible if you need the router wifi.

Hope this helps.

Re: 5G ZTE MC801A router dropping connection 4-5 times a day

chrise — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 09:57:36 GMT

My 801A supplied March 23 has firmware version 0B15 and drops the 5G connection at least twice per day.

Is this issue still being addressed or has it been abandoned??