5G router getting worse over time

[jd1993]

I joined Three in Jan 2022 (last year) for 5G Home Broadband and have the first gen HUAWEI CPE Pro router. Over time the download speed has got better, more consistently using 5G rather than 4G. However, the upload speed has gotten worse and worse. It is now so bad that I just get unexplained periodic cut outs (down to 0kb/s) while streaming. I assumed there would be issues with upload speeds so I only stream in SD, with a bitrate of 2000kb/s but now am having outages, when before it could handle that (as a 4G upload should still be able to manage 2000kb/s). This is even worse than just a reliable 4G service now, let alone a 5G service. I've tried everything possible in router settings (and on the PC end) and I'm using a high speed ethernet connection to the router.

If there is a more reliable, newer router which can cover more 5G bands then I'd like to have one of these if possible to see if that sorts my issues? I took the compromise of streaming in SD as I knew things wouldn't be perfect at the start but expected the service to get better over time, not worse. This is untenable now. 

[crypt0ninja]

Hi @jd1993,

Have you tried checking your location via the Three Status checker to see if there's any on-going/known issues in your area?

There could be various reasons/factors as to why things have got worse over time (congestion, signal interference etc) but there's certainly a few things you can try/test to see if there's any improvement but lets start with the basics which will help determine the next steps.

Can you please reply with a screenshot of the Cellular Statistics page from your routers admin portal? its the one that shows the CELL ID and Frequency Bands that you are connected to, along with the signal info such as RSSI, RSRP, RSRQ and SINR etc.

There are a few things you can test to see if there's any improvement, such as locking to specific Band combinations if your router has this option available.

Once we know what Cell ID you are connecting to I can check CellMapper to see what bands are available from that mast and help advise on some Band locking combos for you to test (if your router allows this).

Regarding upload speeds I find location of the router is key here, especially height. Where is your router located in the property atm?

Regarding hardware, I don't think the current NR5103E offers any additional bands of use compared to the CPE Pro but I might be wrong as I've never used the CPE Pro, just going from my vague and terrible memory lol

Hopefully someone here who has had both can chip in and advise you of the difference but ill try and help you out with your current setup once I get the above info 🙂

Cheers

[jd1993]

That's really helpful, thanks. Attached the info you mentioned but did a quick speed test and upload speed currently on the just about passable end of what i get (7/8Mbps) so might be this particular cell isn't the issue but another in my area (I'm London based). Router is currently sat by a window on the top storey, pointing towards where the nearest mast is (last time I checked anyway!). Am a top floor maisonette so that's 4 storeys up. No taller buildings in line of sight. 

[crypt0ninja]

Hi @jd1993,

Sorry for the late response I was waiting for the mods to approve the image (I can see it now).

I have checked the mast details on CellMapper using that Cell ID you are connected to and it offers the following bands via several cells on that mast:

B1, B3, B20 (and N78)

From that image you've attached your 5G signal stats look good, although the 4G SINR is on the bad side.

If your router supports band locking you can try lock to the following band combinations to see if it switches to another cell and provides you with better performance:

B1 + N78

B3 + N78

B1 + B3 + N78

B1 + B20 + N78

B3 + B20 + N78

B1 + B3 + B20 + N78

If you can lock the bands then test the speeds and signal of each combination to see what works best for you.

Again I'm not sure if the CPE Pro supports band locking, if not then it might be a worth upgrading to the current NR5103E that does.

[jd1993]

That's great, thanks for your help! Will play around with the router and see if I can lock the bands. If not, I'll get in touch w Three and work out where to go from there, thanks for the advice!