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

[James99x]

Ask to be put through to complaints department and tell them you want to replace the device with not the current one. They will do it. 

[Sythiri]

Just want to add my two cents to this topic. I've had the ZTE MC801a router since around August last year and it was working well up until the October firmware update. However, since then I've been dealing with several issues. I run the ZTE hub with wifi turned off, and in bridged mode to my existing TP-Link Archer wifi router. The two main issues that have been plaguing me for the last 3 months are as follows:

The connection completely drops out on the WAN port randomly and my TP-Link router reports that it cannot connect to the internet and I cannot even reach the hub web interface. This can sometimes happen 5x or more in one day but then be completely fine the next day. I've found that restarting the hub, unplugging and reconnecting the cable from the back of the device, or going into my TP-Link router settings and releasing/renewing the IP, all temporarily resolve the issue. I assume that this is related to the problems with connection dropouts that the OP and others are having as it could be on the routing side of the hub.

The hub will also randomly swap from one 5G N78 PCI at -90db to another at -110db, cutting the bandwidth from ~450-500mbps to 20-30mbps. If the bandwidth is maxed out on the weak signal like by watching a youtube video, the latency goes through the roof up to ~3000ms from 40ms and seriously interferes with multiplayer gaming. This is also completely unpredictable and happens multiple times per hour, and I have so far not found a resolution to this.

I have tried locking the hub to different combinations of 4G and 5G bands to see if any would be more stable but so far I haven't found any that don't swap between a strong and weak PCI on the N78 band. Sometimes, the N78 band will drop out completely and leave only "5G" from combining the 1+3 4G bands.

I called up support today and they stated that it was due to the network signal in my area not being very good, and that the mast was over capacity. I asked if they could send me a Zyxel hub instead, even just to test, and they refused, offering to just cancel my contract instead. I'm not sure I believe that it's a capacity issue because the PCI switching happens even in the small hours of the morning. When it is connected to the PCI with the strong signal, everything works perfectly fine and I just wish it would stay connected to that.

[bathugeo]

If they refuse to send you a hub, maybe first try again - you may have more luck with a different person especially if you talk nicely to them. If that fails, ask to cancel your contract at no cost, which you have a legal right to do as they've not delivered the promised service.  Then you can go to a Three shop and after signing a new contract walk out with a new one. 

[Grum]

So, I have had my ZTE exchanged for the Zyxel, its been on for a week and (touch wood) no issues. Also has resolved Sky Glass loading issues. @JonathanB clearly shows the issue is ZTE and only since the firmware was updated to B12

[henryshelley]

Hi there, I'm about to call three to swap the ZTE router for the zyxel. Are you still having issues or are they resolved with the new zyxel router? Tks

[Grum]

Hi, all working fine now with the new one

[krixon]

I'm having the exact same issue with the same firmware version. I spend a while chatting to support while they tried to tell me it's because my device isn't on a windowsill (it is) and it's because I have 7 devices connected via WIFI and ethernet! This was despite me linking them to this thread and explaining it is a device firmware issue.

In the end I asked to speak to someone else and was put through to the complaints department who immediately arranged to exchange the ZTE for the Zyxel tomorrow (I confirmed it was not going to be another ZTE).

I may have just got lucky, but I suggest speaking to the complaints dept if possible and giving tech support a miss.

[James99x]

The new one was indeed the zyxel, it’s on and running. I’ll update tomorrow when it’s had 12hrs. I always get at least 2 drops before 10am. So let’s see. 

[techsavvy]

I tried changing to IPV4 and also changed the APN.
Neither fixed the problem.
It would be nice to get ANY reply from Three that indicates how far along they are with trying to solve the problem, and if that will come in the form of an update, or something different.
Putting their head in the sand and hoping we will all go away .. but then not allowing anyone to cancel their contract seems to be commercial suicide.
Who here on this thread would recommend the broadband as a viable option - especially for home working, where the product is clearly not fit for use.
I have had more dropouts in the last 7 days alone than I did with Virgin Media in over 15 years!!!

[James99x]

Made a bit more progress, asked to be put through to complaints and they agreed to allow me to cancel my current contract after ordering a new device and contract via the phone sales. On that sales call I demanded the Zyxel NR1503E device which they could switch it over to from the ZTE junk as at first they sent the contract details in the email and it explicitly stated the ZTE model numbers, which they has absolutely assured it me it was not, but then it was. 

so.. it comes tomorrow. Should be fun to see if it really comes or if it’s another same ZTE thing. 

I’m not sure at this point why I’m continuing with three, but I actually like the connection speeds so I hope it’s worth it now if I get this zyxel.