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! 😄

[456]

Hi all,

Three replaced the router and that has fixed the 5G connection issue. So this has nothing to do with "mast works in the area", but was related to some kind of a hardware fault with the router.

[crypt0ninja]

Hi @456,

Thanks for updating us and glad to see that the replacement is working great for you.

I see a few others in the same situation have also had their routers replaced and are working great now too so this does solidify the fact that there are some faulty units out there.

[456]

There are definitely faulty units out there.

For some reason, I'm getting 300Mbps on my phone and other devices, while only up to 60Mbps on my laptop. They're all connected to the same 5Ghz network. Confused.

[crypt0ninja]

What WIFI adapter does the laptop have @456?

[456]

It's a Macbook Air M1:

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/deployment/dep97005355c/web

I was getting up to 250Mbps on the same laptop with the old router. 🤔

[crypt0ninja]

Hmm unfortunately I'm a Windows engineer not MacOS 😅

Not sure if there's a way to change or manually set the channel width on those like you can in the Windows driver properties?

[456]

Odd - it just started working all of a sudden, without me having changed anything. Now getting up to 500Mbps on the laptop.

It would still be good to know if the LEDs on the device can be switched off, and how to add domains to the router's blacklist. Anyone from Three that can help? :😄

[russdaz]

Those suffering with the Nr5103e check the 5g connection method, under the Broadband cellular connection method. 

Make sure it’s set to Nr5g SA/nr5g nsa/ 4g auto mode. Some have been set to 4g mode, the unit I was supplied. I find out just after their customer service team want to pick it up and cancel the contract, works fine after changing that setting. But I believe the b12 firmware adds the that selection mode.

[danny_thompson]

Mine was set wrong upon arrival today.  I tried your suggestion and that has made no difference.  I am on b12 firmware.   

I had rock solid 5G on my Huawei 5G Hub until I swapped this one into its place today.