I have replied to other peoples posts multiple times about this but thought I would start another post as well to keep up the pressure on Three as they are refusing to admit they are throttling connections, yet multiple users have posted on the community site about this and stating they can now only hit 120mbps download when they used to hit much higher, these are different people in different parts of the country, being impacted exactly the same.
I live right next to the 5G mast in my area, literally 30meters away. When I first went with three 5G broadband in October 2022 and up until November 2023, I was hitting anything from 600 to 900mbps download, all the time, even peak hours, I still have all the results recorded on my Ookla speed test app/account on my mobile phone.
In November, Disney plus stopped loading on my TV stating I was out of region, nothing I did/changed could get it to load so contacted three to see what was going on, they advised they could fix the issue by making some changes to my account settings and to restart my router and try and open Disney Plus again on my TV. Sure enough Disney loaded after the they messed with the settings, but from that exact point on (14/11/23) my download speed is stuck at 120mbps, won't go any higher. It jumps sometimes to around 400mbps when the speed test initially starts and then immediately and dramatically drops down to 120mbps with a second or two and stays there, clearly this is throttling and limiting the download speed.
I contacted them on multiple occasions over the next few months and they were giving me all sorts of excuses and said they had changed settings and to try again, and another said they were working in the area but it would be back to normal in a month. I ran a speed test every week and nothing has changed, stuck on 120. I have had a month refunded and a month half price but all this time they are still claiming they do not limit the download speeds which is obviously absolute rubbish.
As someone else has mentioned on the community site, when I do a speed test on my phone when I am not connected to the Home broadband, and I'm also with three for my mobile contract, I still hit the usual 500mbps+ and nothing has changed with the speeds on my phone, just my broadband from November onwards.
At the time I googled and couldn't find any posts on this so thought it was just an issue in my area, but after a speed test earlier, stuck on my 120, I googled and found this. Now I know this is happening to others I am going to contact them again and keep up the fight! Since I originally posted this only a month or so ago I can see there are new posts popping up weekly from people experiencing the exact same issue, so it seems to me Three and rolling out this download throttling across the country now.
For those that want to leave three, due to the speed decreases, who are stuck in contract, they agreed with me that I could leave with no charges due to the change in service. When you first sign up, you get 14 days no quibble trial to see how it works and what speeds you get and you can send back if you not happy. So, if the speeds you are getting now, do not match the ones when you first got it, you can argue this and say you want to leave without a charge!
A further update to this - I made three send me out a brand new replacement router only 2 weeks ago at the start of Feb 24, so I could rule out that being an issue. I have a brand new replacement router (Zyxel NR5103), brand new sim card, and nothing changed. exactly the same and stuck at 120mbps. I have attached screenshots of speeds tests below and you can clearly see the moment they made the changes at their end on the 14/11/23, and from this point on my speed has been throttled to 120mbps, when the speed only 3 days before that was 544mbps. I have also added screenshots of speed tests from Feb 2023, compared to speed tests from Feb 2024 and the differences are striking. My speed used to vary, as non throttled speeds should, between 400mbps up to 900mbps depending on the time of day/load on the network, as you would expect. Now, my download speeds have no variation at all, 7pm on Saturday evening at peak times, 120mpbs, 3am on a Sunday at the quietest time possible, still 120mbps. If speeds were not being throttled there would be a variation to the speeds I could hit. When I do the same speed tests on the Three mobile network when not connected to the home broadband, I get much quicker speeds, as previously mentioned, and I get the expected variation depending on the time of day. As I am about to post this, at 1:15am on a Sunday, I have ran a speed test on the 5G Mobile network and just hit 656mbps download, and then the speed test when connected to my home broadband, 119mbps, five and a half times slower!! Admittedly the upload speed was the opposite way around hitting 30.3mbps on mobile and 63.3mbps on the home broadband, but this again just shows that the speeds are being controlled and throttled. And again, I have attached the screenshot of this test below.
I would like someone from Three technical support team to respond and finally admit that they are throttling speeds on the home broadband now, may be they are doing this as the network is getting busier as more people have joined over the last 12 months, but they need to admit this and stop the lies.
Speed Test Results showing change in speeds on 14/11/23 immediately after Three changed the settings their end -
Three Home Broadband Speed Test Results Feb 23
Three Home Broadband Speed Test Results Jan/Feb 24
Speed Test Comparison Three Mobile 5G to Three Home Broadband 5G
I have something really interesting to share with regards to this. As I am with Three for Broadband and mobile, I thought I would do some tests today and swap the sim cards over, and the results are not what I was expecting!
Test 1 -
Broadband Sim Card in Phone - I removed the sim card from the router, and put it into my phone, ran a speed test and guess what, I’m hitting normal speeds with my 5G Broadband Sim in my phone, I ran 2 speed tests, the first at my desk, still hitting 354mbps, and the 2nd I stood at the window where my router is and hit 740mbps download! So, the problem doesn’t appear to be with the sim card itself and there is no limit when using in my phone.
Test 2 -
Phone Sim Card in Router – I removed the Three sim card from my phone and put it into the router to see if the issue is with the router. Speed Tests 576mbps & 617mbps. So, the problem does not appear to be the router directly.
Test 3 -
Broadband Sim back into Router – Now, I was really hoping that things might have just sorted themselves out and gone back to normal after my swapping sim exercise, but I was wrong. Speed test with the Broadband Sim back into the router = 118mbps & 119mbps, back to being limited again.
There is clearly something that has been set at Three's end to limit the download speed of the broadband account when the sim card is in the router, but it only limits it when it is in the router!
I have passed all this information on to the moderator who messaged me today to say he is going to help and look into this, so watch this space!
