Your mast upgrade spoiled my connection!

[Rob64]

I got the Three broadband box a couple of weeks ago to evaluate as my possible primary broadband source.

It looked promising, although I am on the edge of the indoor coverage zone, I worked out where the lone mast was and by putting the router on a little shelf high in the loft eve facing the mast I got a rock steady 'good' 5G signal. Speeds were typically 50 to 100mb, off peak even hitting 180mb at times, other times dropping down to 30mb for short periods. I even ordered an 4x4 MIMO external antenna with a view to mount externally on a pole for more height (height is always good in radio)

Then a few days ago 5G disappeared, the service status page said they were doing mast upgrades to be finished on the 16th. I was looking forward to probably even stronger service.
Its come back on and the workmen have gone, but its really poor!!  With the router in the same position I can only get 'fair' signal, I have spent a lot of time tweaking the position around but cannot get it to improve. Sporadically it flips to 'good' with a sub -100db signal but signal quality -12db is poorer and it quickly flips back to the weaker channel -108db with better quality -3db. I can't get past 20 to 35mb and before it was pretty stable but now the speed wobbles like crazy.

I am really gutted, I was gearing up to cancel my cable broadband and switch to the far better value Three 5G, but its now looking like I will be sending the router back, luckily I only took the 1 month at a time deal.
They have done what ever they did to the mast (big tower - 3 guys up it for days) and gone so its not likely its going to improve is it? and my area (small town) is unlikely to get another 5G mast anytime soon.

[Geluk]

Look up your postcode on 3's network coverage page; see what it says there.

[Rob64]

I did, its not changed, I am still just within the indoor and outdoor 5G coverage, network status says all is OK.
I am about 0.55 miles as the crow flies from a big tower with a LOT of services on it.
Whatever they replaced, its either putting out less power or its alignment doesn't suit my location as much as the original kit did.
Even though the mast isn't far, it isn't hugely tall and there are a lot of houses in between it and me. I can't decide whether to persevere and carry on with an external antenna, or just send the router back and go with a fixed line. I can't better position the router on internal aerial, its at max indoor height and facing the tower.

5G is certainly height sensitive as you expect with short wavelength signals, from nothing at upstairs height, to some signal in the loft to much better at the highest point in the loft. An external aerial on a 6 foot mast above roof height could give a super strong signal, but it could be investment without satisfactory result.
 

[Anvil_Iron]

Hi, Can you provide a screenshot of the Cellular Info page in it's current state. It may help to diagnose the problem.

[Rob64]

Yes, thank you.  Its frustrating but I am glad they did what they did before I got to the point of cancelling my wired broadband if I can't improve things.

[Rob64]

Perhaps they forgot to plug everything back in.... 🤣

[bulldog555]

Blimey very scary engineers get up to the height. Please watch Netflix called Fall (two girls)

[Rob64]

Its a long way down if you need a couple more cable ties from the van!

[JonathanB]

Hey @Rob64,

Sorry for the delay in picking up on your post. I'm sorry to hear that your speeds and signal seem to have dropped so much since the engineering work.

Having a look at what you've shared, I do wonder if you may be flicking between two nearby masts. I'm not sure if you've seen this on any other threads, but quite a few other customers have had success in improving the connection by using the band management options in the router's settings?

This should be Network Settings > Broadband > Cellular Band

Band auto selection can be switched off, then if you experiment with a combination of N78 (Required for 5G) and the various "B" bands you may find this will help you stay connected to the signal with the higher speed you mentioned. You need N78, and at least one B band selected to stay connected.

Bands best to have and 5G Not Turning On threads have some discussions about this that you might find helpful. Let me know if this seems to help at all.

If you'd like me to get you in touch with some colleagues that can take a closer look into the situation with the engineering work and the subsequent drop in coverage, I'll be happy to refer you over. Have you spoken to our customer service or technical teams about this at any point up till now?

Thanks,
JonathanB

[bulldog555]

Band locking sometimes won't work cos if your nearer 4G has the stronger signal, it will refused other band selection with N78. Cell locking is best way! But this features don't have it at the moment.