Three Home Broadband: The new Zyxel NR5103E router will NOT connect to 5G

[456]

Hi all.

I just took out a new 5G home broadband contract with Three. My old contract is still valid for about a week so I can test the devices side by side.

Previously: Huawei H112-370. Connects to 5G, 300-400 Mbps.
Now: Zyxel NR5103E. Will NOT connect to 5G (4G only), 60-80 Mbps.

It seems I'm not the only one whose Zyxel router will not connect to 5G. Three told me there's an issue on the mast and they're working on it.

However, that doesn't make any sense, as that would affect the old router as well. I can also see they've been telling customers the same thing for months now.

What is going on?

Oh, and for the Zyxel:

- How do you add domain names to the router's domain filter blacklist? Is this done via Parental Controls now?
​- How do you turn off all the LEDs on the router? You could do this for the Huawei using the admin page.

Thanks! 😄

[lovell100]

Hopefully you got yours sorted - I had the same issue and a new router fixed it.

[crypt0ninja]

Hey @456 any update? 👀

[russdaz]

I tried a Zyxel nr5103e unit from Three but that never connected to 5g at all, as above, I was advised to await the B12 firmware, still didn’t work on 5g. The speeds where the same as an older iPhone SE so just 4g speeds.

Three just said the nr5103e wasn’t compatible to the Three’s network in my area, and simply said they would take back it and cancel my contract. So there must something going on behind the scenes.

Turning the lights off isn’t something you can do with the Threes unit. Threes firmware is there own, and is different to getting a Zyxel direct unit.

I have there Nr5101 unit and that’s amazing, using external antennas with them makes a huge a difference when setup right. 

Although none of the Three units I have had actually make use of them.

[lovell100]

Please do let me know if you get a replacement device and this fixes your issues.  What you are describing is identical to my experience and thus far I have been fobbed off by phone based CS.  

There is a chap on here who was helping but I assume he is having a well deserved Xmas break.

[crypt0ninja]

Hey!

If you can receive 5G on Three using the Huawei router right now but not on the Zyxel router then its nothing to do with whatever issue is going on at your mast, if you can receive on one then you should be able to receive on the other.

Is your Zyxel NR5103E currently running the latest b12 firmware?

If so, it certainly sounds similar to my first NR5103E that wouldn't receive 5G despite the latest firmware resolving most of the known teething issues. I replaced it with another NR5103E which works just fine on 5G so suspect a dodgy batch out there as I know a few that had the same problem now although I think the initial 5G issues everyone experienced, which were resolved with b12, masked another 5G issue that some are experiencing that I personally think is hardware related (not confirmed by Three yet but they are aware).

Not sure about the parental/blacklisting stuff as not checked it out but an option in the firmware to control the LEDs (especially the super bright WPS LED lol) would be very nice for us to have @JonathanB 👀🙏

[456]

That's what I thought as well. Yes, the Zyxel is running the latest b12 firmware.

Really annoyed that a new, "upgraded" contract and device are so much slower and won't connect to 5G.

[crypt0ninja]

The b12 firmware did resolve the initial 5G firmware related problem but I suspect your NR5103E has some form of hardware fault like my previous one as your situation seems exactly the same and I know of a few others in the same boat.

My replacement NR5103E performs great.

Might be worth asking customer services to escalate your issue to tech team or something so you can request a replacement as its certainly nothing to do with the mast if 5G works on the Huawei but not the Zyxel.

Hopefully the mods can assist you but might be quicker to call up again.

[456]

Thanks for that! Had to call again and escalate. Only after escalating did they offer to replace the device. They agreed that if 5G works with the old Huawei router, it should also be working with the new Zyxel. 

It seems Three's regular customer service did not fully understand this, which is frustrating.

I'll update this when I get the new device in a few days' time. 🤞

[crypt0ninja]

Glad to hear you have the replacement sorted!

Yeah unfortunately customer services lack technical knowledge and only cover basic steps (turn off and on again etc. lolol), and they likely just saw that there's work going on at your mast and assumed that was your problem.

Keep us updated as if your replacement works fine (and I suspect it will) it strengthens the case that there may be a dodgy batch of NR5103E's out there that were unfortunately masked by the initial 5G firmware issue that was resolved with B12.

🙂