5G Broadband dropouts

[MacDavidson]

Hi folks,

So I got Three’s 5G broadband and get great speeds, with great coverage around the house. But at various times each day (for no apparent reason), it just disappears from being available as a wifi device for around 10 minutes, or until reset. The Mac connected by CAT7 cable is unaffected, and all lights remain as they should.

I’ve positioned the router in various places, tried changing the APN from 3internet to three.co.uk, and reset several times. 

Am I doing something wrong? Should I have 2.4 and 5 GHz on at the same time? 2.4 GHz is slower, but I need that for the smart gadgets in the house, but speed is what it’s all about…

Thanks in advance for your time

[bethanrex]

Hi, I have exactly the same issue. Been happening probably for the last 1-2 months.

Each time the WiFi icon still appears as though it's connected but I'm unable to access anything online on any device. Sometimes it returns to normal after 5 or 10 minutes but often it seems to just get stuck and I have to manually reset the router

[feersum_endjinn]

Hi there,

Thanks for posting this as I've been having this same issue and I was starting to think I was imagining it all! I also have a mobile phone with a Three 5G connection and when this happens the phone's connection is fine, which tells me the issue is with the router. 

 I am loathe to call Three tech support as they seem utterly clueless. When I called previously about a different issue they didn't know about the ZTE router and kept insisting the IP was 192.168.0.8 (why 8!? 8 seems an odd choice for the default gateway).

The firmware was last updated on 29 Sept 2022 and it's on BD_UKH3GMC801AV1.0.0B12.

@JonathanB what's the latest update? It's great that you're passing these messages on to... someone but is there a suggested fix? The drop outs are really really frustrating as they happen at least 3 times a day. This isn't great for someone who works from home.

[JonathanB]

Hi @techsavvy, @Walkertron,

Thanks for highlighting that you're also experiencing these issues. I've sent a private message to your community accounts to ask for some info to help with investigating this further.

Thanks,
JonathanB

[TheJunglist]

I'm having the same problem, for months on ends it's been brilliant, no drop outs to mention and speeds in excess of 300mbps,  then about a month ago (april ish) it keeps dropping down as low as 12mbps, reset or unplug the modem and back up to full speed, but then it happens again.  Phoned tech support a few times, they don't seem to grasp that when they tell me to reset it and it goes back to full speed it's not actually fixed because it will happen again!!!  annoying now, frustrating, it's not like it happens a peak times, well not only anyway.  Whats happening???

[Joemac99]

I am also received the same issue with dropouts multiple times a day since the B12 update which is fixed after a reboot. 

Strange this is that all the devices will stay connected and when I go to the router management page it shows that I am still able to upload but my download speed it 0b/s.

Happy to provide any further information if needed.

[techsavvy]

Hi,
Same problem here with the ZTE modem.
At least once and sometimes twice a day I get a network dropout.
The connection and speed I get on 5G is excellent, but these dropouts are really very frustrating.
I can understand how it must be for Walkertron above WFH.
I even set the modem to reboot every day at 4:30, but this hasn't solved the problem.
I now have a laptop permanently connected to the router purely for diagnostics.
Even when the network is down, it doesn't show any errors on the diagnostics.
It normally takes a reboot to start working again - and it works almost immediately, suggesting it isn't actually a true outage - at least so far it doesn't appear to be.
Whilst I am happy with the strong signal on 5G, I've actually had more disconnections in my first month of use than the previous 12 years on Virgin.
Someone needs to figure this out.
If anyone at Three needs a test subject, I'd be happy to help.
Incidentally, my router is running in bridge mode and I have the wireless disabled on the router, since I have a mesh wireless setup from my TP-Link router.
Just in case anyone jumps to conclusions, this has worked with my old Virgin router in bridge mode for at least the last 2 years.
Let's hope the Three engineers can sort this, because as Wlakertron said - it's unusable as a work connection

[SteppyB]

I seem to be having similar issues but with a different hub.

I have been using 3 5G broadband since March this year and had a couple of instances of a similar problem to this for the first few weeks but then they resolved themselves without any firmware changes.

I have the Sercomm LTE2122GR and recently it'll just pretty much lose connection. It doesn't actually lose it, but becomes so slow that even trying to search for something on Google gives a timeout page.

Unfortunately I can't try swapping the SIM cards between my phone and hub because they straight up don't work at all if I do - I tried this in my original troubleshooting in March/April. However I can confidently say that using my phone's 5G connection with it directly next to where I have the hub I'll continue to get the great speeds I'd expect.

Restarting the hub either by power cycling or through the app will fix the problem until it occurs again later at a random point. Yesterday evening it was consistently happening every 20 minutes or so but today it's only happened once in 3 hours.

If there's a firmware update for this hub then I have no idea how to install it, or if it installed itself automatically (which I have issues with it that is the case precisely because of scenarios like this.)

[JonathanB]

Hi @SteppyB,

I'm sorry to hear that you're also having intermittent connection issues on your Sercomm router. I can't recall seeing other posts on the community describing this issue with that particular device but I'll do my best to help.

It doesn't sound like this will be a network issue if it's specifically the router and you're not having this issue with a Three phone at the same location. Usually swapping SIMs between the devices should work so that's really odd to hear.

It may be a faulty router or SIM card, have you already spoken to customer services and the technical team? If so, have they tried replacing either of these?

Thanks,
JonathanB

[Walkertron]

Exact same issue here since Three upgraded the ZTE firmware to B12. Unexplainable drop outs which are massively effecting ability to WFH and dropping out mid call. I too have a strong 5G signal. I've already tried all the steps. Reset the router multiple times and swapped out the SIM card with my 3 5g mobile. Still happens.

Considering cancelling my contract as it is unworkable for me.

[28900br]

Same issue here since Three upgraded the ZTE firmware to B12. Unexplainable drop outs and much slower speeds, and I have a strong 5G signal. I've already tried all the steps. Reset the router multiple times and swapped out the SIM card.

Another issue, is that Three deactivated the external antenna ports in the B12 firmware. This contradicts their manual guide point 6.

I'm on a monthly contract. So might just have to cancel unfortunately.