New 5g broadband, no 5g connection

[Lenthra]

New Three customer here. Got the 5g broadband delivered a few days ago. Had some trouble activating the SIM but that's sorted now.

Long story short, the router is able to connect to 4g (and occasionally 4g+) but not a single bit of 5g. Three's coverage checker shows that there is 5g coverage in the area, although not the best. I've tried a few things that helped others but nothing seemed to help me. 4g signal strength fluctuates between Fair and Excellent every 10 minutes.

The router is the NR5103E, firmware is b14. Tried tweaking the bands, B20 B28 n78 seems to give the best signal, although still no 5g at all. Changed APN to three.co.uk and signal got slightly better, no major difference. Preferred Access Technology is NR5G-NSA/4G, tried the others as well, no change at all. Tried putting it into an unlocked phone, very strong 4g signal, no 5g at all. Yes the router is on a windowsill.

I'm reluctant to speak to customer support due to others' experience with them (mine isn't any better this far). The only (and very stupid, it surely doesn't work this way) idea that I can get to is if 5g wasn't enabled on the SIM itself.

Any help would be appreciated.

[JonathanB]

Hey @Lenthra,

I'm sorry to hear that you've not been able to pick up 5G signal. All Three SIMs are provisioned for 5G by default. Our coverage map is an estimate, but generally the system only allows you to purchase Home Broadband where we're confident that you'll be in range of 5G.

Does our Network Status Checker show that we're aware of any issues in the area?

Thanks,
Jonathan

[Lenthra]

Hi Jonathan

The tool doesn’t show any issues in the area, no. 
Considering that I’m towards the end of the 5g coverage in the area, I would understand if the signal would be weaker - however I do not understand why it fails to receive ANY 5g signal at all. 

[JonathanB]

Hi @Lenthra,

Do you have any other Three SIM you could check the signal on? For example we quite often send out free PAYG SIM cards with contract purchases. If you're able to check this that might help narrow down whether you're out of range for 5G signal.

I appreciate you're reluctant to engage with our support teams, but I don't think there's anything else we can suggest without you speaking to a team with access to your account. I'll PM you a link to some colleagues that can take a more detailed look for any network or account issues.

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

[Wisteriasuze]

Hi could you let me know how you sorted the activation of the SIM please as currently mine is not working on a brand new hub.  TIA 

[Lenthra]

Go to the below page and enter your Three number and the SIM’s 19 digit number and then wait 2 hours.

https://www.three.co.uk/support/SIM_activation

If it doesn’t work still, you may want to give the customer service a call. 

[Wisteriasuze]

Thanks will give that a try 

[Lenthra]

Forgot to add - 4g download speed is also abysmal, 5-10 Mbps