Zyxel NR5103E software issues

[Scoobysteve]

Hello all,

I just wanted to hear what others thought or if they have been told the same advice. 

Essentially I have had drop in my service since the 24 of nov. Speeds terrible & fluctuating, significant packet loss. I managed to get through to someone today from the tech team who explained many other customers are experiencing the same thing and it’s to do with the software on the router that it keeps switching nonstop between 4g 5g and causing the drop in speed / loss of packets. He explained that this is most likely going to be rectified in a few days as huge amounts of customers are experiencing the same. I am hopeful yet skeptical as they have only just rolled out the b12 update.

[russdaz]

I had a Three nr5103 wouldn't ever connect to 5g, my 4g+ Huawei has better download speeds. I still have a ZTE mc801a, that not longer connects to 5g either.. Which is odd as I have an unlocked none Three unit I take with me as I travel and work from hotels a lot. The none Three branded router is completely fine. As is a newer none Three branded nr5101. All the none the Three branded stuff connects to 5g and hits speeds over 500meg down and over 100meg up.

When I phoned them saying the peformace wasn't good, they told me my contracted stated 5g speeds where 100meg down with 50meg, which is just 4g+ speeds. They took it back but wouldn't try replacing the unit. So I a wouldn't be surprised to find out they are simply throttling there routers back by software, as the Nr5103 and MC801a units mentioned can easily hit the 100down with 50 up any where they have 4g+ network, which is pretty much threes whole network.

[lovell100]

Quite interestingly. I just looked back through the Speed test history in my XT8 (NR5103 is in bridge mode through to an Asus XT8 mesh), and on the 23rd November speed was 600 down and 95 up which it had been solidly for a month prior to that date (if not higher), and it was on the 24th that the constant switching between 5G to 4G began and speeds dropped to an average of 200 down and 40 up, much higher latency, in other words it is mostly now using an LTE connection.  It can't be a conicidence that this happened on the same date!

Anybody from Three care to comment/help?

[crypt0ninja]

So in your case mate your NR5103E was achieving a 5G connection and speeds around the 23rd November but something happened after that which stopped it working?

Might be worth trying to lock to certain bands just in-case its a problem with a specific cell in your area or something, try a few different band combinations to see if you connect to a different cell?

I personally lock my NR5103E to B3+B28+N78 based on my local cell details on CellMapper, this gives me the best performance but your local cell(s) may perform better on other bands its just a case of trial and error to figure out the best combination for you.

[lovell100]

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@crypt0ninja wrote:

So in your case mate your NR5103E was achieving a 5G connection and speeds around the 23rd November but something happened after that which stopped it working?

Might be worth trying to lock to certain bands just in-case its a problem with a specific cell in your area or something, try a few different band combinations to see if you connect to a different cell?

I personally lock my NR5103E to B3+B28+N78 based on my local cell details on CellMapper, this gives me the best performance but your local cell(s) may perform better on other bands its just a case of trial and error to figure out the best combination for you.

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Hey.  Thanks for your reply.  I have tried for hours fiddling with the band selection.  It makes no difference. 

My neighbour ( also on a Three NR5103), who is slightly further from the tower than we are, has had no issues at all in this time, which along with all other 5G devices in my house functioning normally leads me back to a router issue.

[crypt0ninja]

Yeah that does sound a lot like my previous NR5103E which was definitely faulty as the one I replaced it with works fine on the same firmware versions.

I still have my faulty one here with me and with both NR5103E's sat next to each other, the faulty one still not picking up any 5G but the one I replaced it with stays on 5G at all times and never drops to LTE(A) (not that I've spotted anyway).

Hope you can get yours replaced mate.

[lovell100]

Yep exactly the same here.  Keep getting fobbed off with it will be fixed soon.  Seems unlikely, and the people on the phone seem clueless as to this issue or how to resolve it.  In Three's defence they did refund me a months fees but I just want  a functional internet connection which this is not.  I was hoping Three might offer those of us with this broken router situation a replacement device but I guess they aren't that interested in retaining customers.  Clearly quite a common issue and one they are unable to fix.  

[Scoobysteve]

I spotted this thread too - https://www.ispreview.co.uk/talk/threads/three-zyxel-nr5103e-5g-connection-fault-smarty-b12-fw.39058...

[lovell100]

I posted in that thread some time back but never got a reply.  That guy has the exact same connection stats as me so it is clearly a common issue on a broken router.  As I said in that thread all other 5G devices in my house are showing full signal and 1000mbps download speeds.

Very friustrating that Three don't seem to be doing much about it.  Suspect I will cancel and just buy my own 5G router that actually works, won't be using Three though!  Very poor CS.

[crypt0ninja]

My connection has been fairly solid speed-wise recently but today have had some rather odd speed fluctuations but there is supposedly work still being carried out in my area and has been for a while so not sure if its down to that or something more.

Although I have spotted some other weirdness happening with the NR5103E (on b12 fw) after some heavy testing, in regards to how its oddly choosing to connect to cells/bands that don't logically make sense and don't provide the best performance (taking into consideration signal stats, download speed, upload speed, ping etc.). The routers connection logic seems a bit off in my opinion.

I've messaged @JonathanB regarding some of the weirdness I've spotted happening with the NR5103E so hopefully he can assist when he's online and also confirm if what you were told via telephone today is true or not.