Issues getting Outdoor hub to connect to 5G and stay connected to it.

[Xandros]

Hello. I signed up to Three 5G Broadband back in April with the promise that I'd get around 120mbps downstream on average, and got given the Greenpacket 5G Outdoor hub and eero router.

I live in a three story block of flats (on top floor) and I'm about 100m away from the mast so I figured I'd probably get fairly good signal with an outdoor hub. Indoor though is non existent, always has been. I knew that beforehand though as I've checked 5G coverage here before when I first got a 5G capable phone and the coverage maps say outdoor coverage is supposed go be good but indoor is a no go in this area which rings true.

When I got the hub I initially put it on my windowsill with the temp stand just to see if I could a 5G signal there. I was surprised to find I could. It wasn't great, it varied around 50-60 percent according to the hub metre, but that got me around 100-150mbps downstream at best and 10mbps upstream (seemed to start high and drop down before evening out when I did speed tests).

Occasionally (like once every few days) it would drop to 4G which is abysmally slow here, but I found rebooting the hub from the web portal would kick it back into 5G. I'd obviously been meaning to fix it to an outside wall but as it worked most of the time on the windowsill I kept putting it off.

Then about two weeks ago, it started to drop to 4G after only a couple of hours and would often not connect to 5G again at all, ever after rebooting. I repositioned the hub on the windowsill multiple times until I found a new "sweet spot" but again, it only lasted a few days before it began dropping to 4g constantly and getting it to connect to 5G again was difficult to achieve.

I decided that clearly I needed to bite the bullet and fit the hub outside on the wall as it was intended, altho I couldn't understand why it had suddenly stopped working on the windowsill, it was almost like the signal had been reduced from the mast. I rebooted it leaned out the window with it my hand and looked for a good place to put it.

Seemed like right next to the window was good enough, I would get 70-80% signal there. And around 200-350mbps downstream and upwards of 40mbps upstream which was great.

Having said that again when doing a speed test it would start off around 350mps and drop rapidly to 200mbps before leveling out. The upstream was always fairly constant at around 40.

I fitted the modem a couple of days later to that spot on the wall, only to find it refused to connect to 5G. I tried restarting it from the web portal multiple times but it only ever connected to 4G again, which even outside on the wall only gives me around 5mbps downstream and barely 1mbps upstream.

I can only manage to get it to connect to 5G if I turn it off completely and leave it off for a good few hours. However this itself only seems to last a few hours before once again it was back to 4G. Multiple restarts and power cycles later I got it back on 5G, again with 75%ish signal. And again within a couple of hours (if not less), back to 4G.

I was worried at this point but used Three's network status checker and found it said there was an issue in my area that was being addressed, so I just chalked these problems down to that and put up with it. This lasted at least a couple of days until the night before last when I checked the service status again and it went back to saying no issue was reported.

However, my hub was still connected to 4G. Leaving it switched off for an hour didn't work (it was late at night by this point) so I turned it off and went to bed.

Yesterday morning after turning it back on again, it connected to 5G and stayed connected. Although the portal claimed signal strength was around 80% doing speed tests of it varied. It would either be around 350mbps and drop to 150, or it would start at 40 and creep up to around 120. Within hours, it had fallen back to 4G again and simple restarts or even powering it off for an hour won't get it to connect back to 5G. This time I've had it switched off for an hour, just turned it back on and it went straight back to 4g!

Seems like it needs to be switched off for many hours to make it work again. Even then I'm not sure this is a "reliable" (for want of a better word) way to get it to connect to 5g. So I'm starting to wonder, why? Has the 5G signal from the local mast been reduced in power or something, or does it keep dropping out, and the hub is only sporadically able to pick it up, and in the end it gives up and connects to a much poorer but evidently more stable 4g signal?

I will note that my phone doesn't pick up 5G at all most of the time when I'm in my flat or even if I stand near the window. It doesn't even pick it up outside if I'm round the kther side of the building where the entrance is (although that's not where my window is).

I have noticed sometimes though even before I got this hub that imy phone would randomly connect to 5G in the same room where I had the hub on the windowsill so even it seems to sporadically see signal (however its rarely a good signal, my phone usually shows it as having none or 1 bars signal strength).

There is another block of flats identical to mine next door which blocks line of sight to the mast from my windows so I'm wondering if I'm actually just SOL and the signals being blocked by that building. But, why did it work OK for those first few weeks just sat on the windowsill? And why when it does connect to 5G do I get 80% signal strength?

Obviously if I hadn't been able to get it to work on the windowsill initially I'd have tried fitting it outside sooner and when I found that didn't work properly I certainly wouldn't have stayed with the contract if I had these issues, but it's almost like it waited until after the cooling off period I was given to end before it decided to stop working properly (and now doesn't work at all unless I switch it off for a ridiculous amount of time). So now I'm stuck on a 24 month contract and no doubt will get s hefty cancellation fee if I cancel it?

I can't feasibly keep having to turn the poxy thing off all night just to get it back on 5G for a few hours. Given im in a flat too theres a limited number of places I can refit the modem as well. I did try other areas when I first got it but only that windowsill and directly outside that window seems to get the strongest signal anyway.

Any ideas?

[Xandros]

Needless to say it didn't work. It appeared to at first as after setting lock band up it connected to 5G and stayed on it for a couple of hours but eventually dropped again to 4G.

I factory reset the hub like I was going to a while back but didn't have time but even that didn't work. If anything it seemed to make it worse; dropped to 4g and stayed on 4g for a few hours no matter how many times I reset it before it finally switched back to 5g by itself.

Probably is just the mast being temperamental. Shame! Clearly they should have installed Huawei kit. 🤣

[JonathanB]

Thanks for the update @Xandros, it does seem like there's an issue with the local network, so I'll be happy to take a closer look at that angle. I'll send you a PM so I can get some location info if you don't mind.

To view your private messages on the community, click on your avatar image in the top right of any community page, then "Messages".

Thanks,
Jonathan

[JonathanB]

Hi @Xandros,

Are you seeing any improvements since our last conversation?

Thanks,
Jonathan

[Xandros]

Yes thanks, it appears to have been sticking to 5G again for the last couple of days.