5G Broadband Dropout ZTE MC801A

[ItD0T4k3N3rD]

Since I signed up for my 5G Home Broadband if have been getting regular download speed dropouts - at least 4 times a day. This causes streaming to stop working and all my smart devices, including my Hive heating, to pitch a fit. It doesn’t matter what I’ll be doing, could just be watching Netflix or on a call and it’ll just stop. Uploads still seem to be ok, and I check the device page each time it happens. The issue is always resolved by restarting the router.

After 3 calls to Customer Support where they didn’t understand/believe that the issue was the router and rather said it was the nearby tower that has had an issue for nearly 2 months, I finally got a replacement router. But alas it was the same model and I’d still having the same issue. I don’t really know what else I can do, I like the speeds we get and the price is very agreeable but the service is just a farce at this point.

Looking at this forum it definitely looks like it’s the janky firmware update from October. So come on Three, get on and fix it already, it’s been a problem for nearly 6 months!

[martcoug1]

Same here. I seem to only be connecting to 4g plus now. Where I was receiving around 400mb down and around 10mb up I'm getting around 70 down and 2 up... just not enough to watch Sky Glass TV and do anything else at the same time. 

Zero help from support other than the usual... and that they're doing work in the area and would update me in two days... surprise surprise no update, at all ! 

Actually, just ran a speed test... these are my current speeds. It's literally all over the place! 

36ms latency 57.72 down and 11.98 up

[T5G-Hub-zte]

Hi  

I have the same hub Three ZTE MC801 5G since Dec2022 and from day one getting the same problem. Cutoff at least 3-4times a day for 4-5mints. Even Three replaced Hub with another ZTE Hub still problem remains. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks

[craigs85]

I have the NR5103E hub and yesterday this dropped out twice and once so far today. I kind of put this down to the weather but I've only had it a week, so am monitoring it quite a lot to see if its suitable for my needs.

[Gagandeep]

Unfortunately, you too sound like 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)

Interestingly there is now a b15 firmware for the ZTE router - you could try updating and see if you get fewer dropouts (I still get some, but less frequently now)

[acelove]

I have the B15 update, March IIRC was the last update, when all my issues started with DNS issues plaguing my network and making smart devices dropping, gaming laggy, lost half my speed and constantly hanging for simple browsing. 

My phone works connected to the same mast, changed the APN from 3internet to three.co.uk, testing it this week and hopefully fixes the issues. 

[mattpreston80]

I'm having the same issues. Anyone know of a solution? I've even resorted to writing some scripts to automatically re-boot the router when the connection drops using selenium.

[acelove]

I'm going this exact same thing, have been since March. Was great in Feb when I first got the connection. 

Gaming is impossible now, every game getting high lag spikes, like its disconnected for a minute, but the router say its still connected. 

Browsing is terrible, hangs trying to reach websites, like it can't do the handshake, then eventually will load. 

I live facing the antenna, I started with 600-700mbps, now between 90-300. Three said there was issues at the mast, which reflects via the mast checker. It gets updated everyday with no new updates, It's been like that since March. 

The issues are felt all day, via the PC and mobile devices. When it hangs I switch off the WIFI on my phone and it starts working. Checked in the phone settings and there different APN settings. 

I've manually edited the APN to three.co.uk and trying it out for the next week to see if there is a difference, as there is on Three SIMO. 

Three have been completely useless. I'm tried of resetting the router, I lose all my device IP's, my NAS has to be physically moved to the router to get the IP get, my smart lights plus just keep disconnecting. Its turned into a mess. Ive had it escalated so many times, no call backs as promised. 

I moved my 2 phones and tablet over, won't be keeping them on Three, I feel like I'm doing their work for them, they never listen and just go the easy way out of disconnect for free, which will leave us with nothing as ISP is managed by the building and it costs a fortune for even worse speeds. Stuck in limbo