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

[JonathanB]

Hi Everyone,

For those of you using the ZTE MC801a, to progress our investigation with ZTE we need to check if a couple of settings are relevant. Can you let me know if the drop outs are still happening with the following set up?

In Advanced settings> Night mode. Please disable "Wi-Fi Awake Settings"

Also found in advanced settings, DFS switch (5GHz Wi-Fi) should be disabled too.

In the basic Wi-Fi settings please enable "Single SSID", and disable "Guest SSID Switch".

Please give these a try and let me know if you're still seeing the same issues.

Thanks,
JonathanB

[TC64]

Hi Jonathan,

The WiFi continues to work as normal. I have a ring alarm and blink cameras that report offline, so I get an alert after 5 minutes offline and my wired devices also lose internet such as my PC. the router sends out data for upload and download shows 0.

[WhimsyWidget]

Hi @JonathanB,

I don't currently see a setting for Night Mode, likely as I have the SSIDs split. I don't have single SSID enabled as I need it split for my smart plugs etc to work. Guest SSID is disabled.

[Romsus228]

Hi MacDavidson. Yeah. I've got exactly the same issue for nearly a month now! Broadband drops down at random times of the day, however my phone (which is also on Three 5G) can still reach 300+Mbps

[JonathanB]

Hi @DPW70, @FoolishReveler, @WhimsyWidget, @antingham, @Royle11,

Thanks for reaching out to let me know you've been facing similar issues. I've sent/replied PMs with the information I need to get this investigated further.

To access your messages, click on your avatar image in the top right of any community page, then "Messages". If you've verified your email address, you'll also get a notification in your inbox.

Thanks,
JonathanB

[iceNfire]

Hi, I see lots of pages of people suffering these drop outs. I've had 3 5g since sept 2023. No issues at all until last month. Intermittent drop outs that's annoying me. Live chat just keep telling me they're working on the issue for the past month. Any updates on fixing this please? Failing that, I will be cancelling my contract also as I'm not receiving the service I am paying for. Thank you.

[Debbie62]

Could you please contact me about the same issue

[jonesthesteam]

Hi everyone,

Same issue here and I have done some investigating.

I only signed up with Three on 29th November and was pretty happy with the download speeds for my area (+300Mbps). I didn't check the version of my firmware on the ZTE router when initially setup as I didn't think I needed to but now I am on firmware BD_UKH3GMC801AV1.0.0B12.

On Monday 13th in the morning I was still getting +300Mbps and then in the afternoon I was getting as low as 1Mbps. I could connect to the ZTE router and all network diagnostic checks came back OK but could not to the internet on any connected device.

As I work from home this is pretty critical to me so I contacted Three and wasn't terribly encouraged by the fact they said the response could take up to 7 days. As I couldn't wait that long I took matters into my own hands and lucky for me I had a spare Huawei CPE Pro2 router when I popped my Three 5G sim in the router, surprise, surprise... +300Mbps again.

As luck might have it, my neighbour also purchased a Three ZTE 5G hub the same time as myself and is experiencing the exact same issue.To further add to the mix he also has a Three 5G sim in his iPhone 13 and has no issue with download speeds on that device (+500Mbps)..

So in summary with a Three 5G sim installed the Huawei CPE Pro2 and iPhone 13 there is absolutely no issue downloading at very decent speeds but my new Three ZTE  hub on firmware BD_UKH3GMC801AV1.0.0B12 it is now barely functioning.

So as it now really looks like this is all down to the Three ZTE Hub and firmware BD_UKH3GMC801AV1.0.0B12 the question for me is... so what happens now, and quickly to resolve this?

[DPW70]

Hi, this issue has been happening to me, I got rid of virgin because of drop outs, since update it drops out at least twice a day.

Thanks

[JonathanB]

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the delay on updating this thread. We've not managed to pinpoint what's causing this issue yet, but I've not had responses on most of the private messages I've mentioned previously, so it's making it difficult to establish the reason these drop outs are happening.

I'll be sending another batch of private messages out shortly, and including everyone that has posted about this more recently. To access your messages click on your avatar in the top right of any community page, then "Messages".

I hope to hear from you all soon.
JonathanB