topic Re: 5GEE Router Unusable in Mobile Broadband

5GEE Router Unusable

kjharve — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 21:52:24 GMT

Hi all,

My 5GEE Router is frequently dropping connections (sometimes 4 or 5 times an hour) and often suffers from really slow speeds. It worked pretty well for about the first year. Then some work was carried out in the area in about mid-April and since then we've had nothing but problems. And they're getting worse.

I've tried forcing the router to only use 4G but that hasn't solved the problem. Shutting down the router does temporarily fix the issue but connection can drop again 10 minutes later. It's really frustrating.

During the times the connection drops or is unstable, my mobile doesn't suffer any of the same problems.

Can anyone suggest anything? I think I've tried all the options suggested on other posts, so I'm starting to run out of ideas. At £50p/m it's becoming an expensive ornament!

Thanks

Re: 5GEE Router Unusable

James_B — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 08:14:04 GMT

Hi @kjharve,

Welcome back to the EE Community. 🙂

Does the Network Status Checker report any problems in your area?

James

Re: 5GEE Router Unusable

kjharve — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 09:24:20 GMT

Hi James,

No it doesn't. There have been no issues with my mobile, just the 5GEE router.

Kevin

Re: 5GEE Router Unusable

James_B — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 09:26:11 GMT

Thanks for checking @kjharve

I'd recommend contacting Technical Support so a member of the team can take a detailed look at this for you.

They'll be happy to help. 🙂

James

Re: 5GEE Router Unusable

kjharve — Sun, 18 Jun 2023 16:06:11 GMT

I've been round the houses with tech support for a week and a half now. Their final solution was to send the router in for repair as they had supposedly ruled out all other issues. However, for that I would need to be without Wifi in my house for 2-3 weeks - despite being sent to an EE store to get an exchange unit (as advised by tech support) to find out apparently no such thing exists.

EE really need to look at these issues. There are lots of posts with people having similar issues with these devices. They are also marketing them as an alternative to traditional broadband and that cannot be further from the truth. The product is fine when it's working but when it doesn't, the technical support and issue resolution processes are woefully inadequate.

I'm now faced with a decision between being without Wifi for 2-3 weeks or pursuing expensive solutions such as alternative routers or aerials.

This is obviously a device issue as my mobile never suffers from the same problems. I am typing this now, connected to my iPhone hotspot whilst the router has one of its timeouts.

As for the condescending EE employee in the store who said the devices were "too expensive" to simply replace, maybe he would like to pay my £55pm bill instead. Clearly that's peanuts!

Re: 5GEE Router Unusable

kjharve — Sun, 18 Jun 2023 16:11:11 GMT

I'm having the same problems and they seem to be cropping up on this forum more frequently. EE are not handling the issues at all and their processes are woefully inadequate.

As advised by another member, you need to keep paying your bill as that won't help your case. The way to do it is to be a model customer and reclaim your losses through the appropriate channels.

I'm at the point now where I'm going to be seeking financial recompense, cancellation of contract and I think there's a legitimate investigation for trading standards based on how these devices are marketed.

Re: 5GEE Router Unusable

kjharve — Sun, 18 Jun 2023 16:19:37 GMT

Lots of people are having this problem. I got quite a lot of info from tech support before they ran out of ideas. They said it was related to when my router would switch between masts. Apparently, I'm in the middle of about 4. Before engineering works were conducted in April, my router would be connected to the mast to the south the majority of the time. But in the last 2-3 weeks, the router has been switching masts more frequently and when the connections drops, it's due to a switch of mast.

I'm not entirely convinced these issues are related to the device. Somethings forcing it to switch masts frequently and that has to be network related. But EE maintain there are no issues in my area.

Something doesn't add up. In the meantime, I'm paying £50pm for something that's barely usable!

Re: 5GEE Router Unusable

Xtopher — Sun, 18 Jun 2023 18:40:28 GMT

That’s interesting and actually makes sense. We are on top of a hill and can see maybe 3-4 masts. We always connect to the same one and I’ve only ever seen one reported on this 5G router, but on the previous 4G router we would often connect to some of the other masts. Interestingly never had these dropouts when the old router would swap masts.

Also getting reports from other users in local villages that they too are having issues after these engineering works, which one villager said he’s been told was mast upgrades. They are on a different mast as they are down the hill so can’t connect to the one we usually connect to.

How do we get a proper engineering contact to look at what’s happening? I’ve told the other villagers to report it to, but most are not using it for broadband so aren’t that bothered. ☹️

Re: 5GEE Router Unusable

Katie_B — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 07:22:34 GMT

Hello @Xtopher.

Since your last post when there was planned maintenance have you been able to get in touch with our technical care team to report further issues?

Speak soon,

Katie

Re: 5GEE Router Unusable

Xtopher — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 07:57:59 GMT

Hi Katie, I had a twitter thread open and they raised a complaint off the back of it, but just kept suggesting it was my router, even though the router has been fine since I got it, until we had this 'engineering work' and since then it sporadically drops the connection. It got to a level where it was bearable compared to trying to jump through hoops with support to get nowhere. Not blaming support, they have to follow their processes, but it needs a network engineer to look at it as it will be a very low level issue, possibly a compatibility thing between the 5GEE router and whatever hardware they installed at the cell tower. I know these intermittent issues can be a right PITA to chase down.

Re: 5GEE Router Unusable

kjharve — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 08:00:38 GMT

They did raise the issue with a network engineer for my complaint but they found no issues. To what extent it was investigated, I don’t know. From there, they just blamed the router and said it would need to be sent off for repair.

Re: 5GEE Router Unusable

Katie_B — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 08:04:57 GMT

Hi @Xtopher.

Thanks for getting back to me and providing more details.

Our technical care team do a have a process to follow when completing a diagnostics.

Are you aware if others in your village have reported this?

Did you make the team aware there was multiple users experiencing this issue?

Speak soon,

Katie

Re: 5GEE Router Unusable

Jacques7 — Sun, 20 Aug 2023 12:48:09 GMT

Hi All

I have been having the very same issues with my kit. All the same as above. Tried hunting for the best signal in the house.

the issue is it drops connection randomly and again my phone is fine. This really starting to get annoying and at £50 it is unacceptable for this item not to work as it should.

Re: 5GEE Router Unusable

James_B — Sun, 20 Aug 2023 13:31:38 GMT

Hi @Jacques7,

Welcome to the EE Community. 🙂

Our Technical Support Team will be happy to take a look at this if you get in touch.

Thanks

James

Re: 5GEE Router Unusable

Wannabee — Mon, 04 Sep 2023 14:05:21 GMT

See "Fix for 5GEE WiFi Hub IPv6 internet issues over ethernet [Solved] " on the EE Community forum.

This solved the same issue for me completely.

Rgds

Re: 5GEE Router Unusable

andresalomao — Sat, 23 Sep 2023 15:29:53 GMT

Hey James,

Im having the same issue with my router, suddenly my speeds dropped from +-100a(DL)/10(UL) to 10/20(dl)/200kbps(UL). After more than a week calling EE and trying to explain that the problem is a hardware issue from the router itself, they understand and ask me to drop in a EE store so than can send it to the correct place for a repair. But today someone from the store said that they can't send the device because is too big(what?) and will prob have to pay for external repair that will cost more than 100 pounds.
We are in 2023 why is so difficult to just replace a router?

Re: 5GEE Router Unusable

Christopher_G — Sun, 24 Sep 2023 07:18:19 GMT

Sorry to hear that, @andresalomao

I suggest speaking to our Mobile Care team again to let them know this happened. Hopefully there's an alternative they can come up with.

Chris

Re: 5GEE Router Unusable

kjharve — Sun, 24 Sep 2023 12:39:35 GMT

EE's processes aren't fit for purpose on this issue. The stores says different to customer services and the engineering team have a totally different view.

I eventually decided to send my router away as EE requested, even though I am convinced this is a firmware issue. The repair centre said that the repairs on the device were not supported and sent it straight back.

I purchased a third party router (at significant expense) and this worked with no issue. So it is a device issue but can't imagine it's a fault with a physical part.

Fortunately, fibre broadband is now available in my area so I now have another alternative. I also raised a complaint with EE and escalated it a few times until I got to speak to useful manager. We eventually came to a satisfactory conclusion regarding the remainder of my contract.

Re: 5GEE Router Unusable

andresalomao — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 09:34:26 GMT

Hi, morning guys,

I had the same issue as you @kjharve . After calling a hundred times and sending the device to the EE Repair centre, and after one week in there.. they were ''unable'' to repair it. so I had to call EE customer service again and explain everything, and all the time reinforcing that I was under warranty and it was EE fault that they didn't know how to handle this situation.

So the only solution available was to cancel my contract for free because it was EE fault. We are in 2023 and to have to send the device for a repair without receiving a replacement is mind-blowing how bad the whole process is.

Also apparently the device(EE 5GEE ROUTER 2021/EE SMART 5G HUB ) is not fabricated anymore, so be careful if you are using this and your warranty/contract is going to end soon.

Good luck and Thanks all!

Re: 5GEE Router Unusable

zedrake — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 17:40:36 GMT

Going through an almost identical thing. Same 5G EE router, same support issues, same timeline of "it worked well then some engineering work happened and suddenly it stopped working". Mine has been dropping off around 20 times per day and I'm not in some village somewhere im in the centre of a town centre where the coverage is excellent for indoors and outdoors. I can literally hotspot my iPhone 14 Pro onto 5 devices with no issues yet this device which is costing me £50pm can barely keep itself on.

When will EE address the very obvious customer centric issue. If the device isn't up to scratch then start letting people get refunds and cancel their contracts.