topic Re: Online games suddenly failing on EE FTTP - work via VPN/mobile data? in Broadband & Landline

Online games suddenly failing on EE FTTP - work via VPN/mobile data?

Klipschii — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 17:50:08 GMT

Hi all,

Wondering if anyone has encountered something similar or can suggest what else I can test.

I'm on EE Full Fibre, approximately 1.6Gbps, and since today I've suddenly been unable to connect to certain online games from my PC. Nothing in my network configuration was knowingly changed beforehand.

The two examples I've confirmed so far are:

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6:

CONNECTION FAILED – Networking failed to start [Reason: HUENEME - NEGEV]

Gears of War: E-Day beta:

DRONE - SNUB

Normal internet access is completely fine. Browsing, downloads and other general connectivity are working normally.

My setup is slightly non-standard because I'm using my own ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE16000 rather than the EE-supplied router. The ASUS is connected directly to the ONT and establishes the EE connection using PPPoE.

I've done quite a lot of troubleshooting already:

Restarted the PC and router.

Flushed DNS, renewed DHCP and cleared ARP.

Reset Windows Winsock and the TCP/IP stack, followed by a reboot.

Tested Cloudflare DNS (1.1.1.1 / 1.0.0.1) instead of EE/router DNS.

Confirmed there is no Windows HTTP proxy.

Confirmed normal TCP 443 connectivity.

Completely disabled the Surfshark OpenVPN/TAP virtual network adapters during troubleshooting.

Confirmed Windows is routing normally through the physical Ethernet interface.

ASUS NAT is enabled.

ASUS UPnP is enabled and its UPnP service appears to be running normally.

ASUS AiProtection is completely disabled.

No custom IPv4 inbound firewall rules are configured.

IPv6 is disabled.

Temporarily placed the PC in the ASUS DMZ to eliminate normal inbound NAT/firewall restrictions – same errors. DMZ was then disabled again.

Disconnected/reconnected the ASUS PPPoE WAN session – same errors.

I appear to have a genuine public IPv4 address, rather than a private/CGNAT address.

The interesting part is the testing with alternative routes.

I connected the same PC to mobile data using USB tethering. Both games connected and worked normally.

I then returned the PC to my normal EE FTTP connection and enabled Surfshark VPN. Again, both Gears of War and Black Ops 6 immediately connected and worked normally.

Disable Surfshark and use the EE connection directly → both fail.

Enable Surfshark over the same EE connection → both work.

Use mobile tethering instead → both work.

That makes me suspect this may be a routing/UDP issue somewhere on the normal EE path rather than a problem with the PC or the games themselves. Gears' DRONE-SNUB documentation also specifically mentions network security/VPN configuration and UDP port 443 as potential causes, which is why I'm wondering whether something upstream is affecting UDP traffic/routing.

The one test I haven't yet completed is temporarily reconnecting the EE-supplied router directly to the ONT. I appreciate EE would probably require this before treating it as a network fault, particularly because I'm using third-party equipment. I'll test that as well when possible. Although mines is gubbed.

Has anyone else on EE FTTP experienced either HUENEME-NEGEV, DRONE-SNUB, or other online games suddenly failing to establish their network connection while everything else works normally?

I'm particularly interested if anyone has seen the same behaviour where using a VPN immediately resolves it, as that seems like quite an important clue.

Tia.

Cheers!

Re: Online games suddenly failing on EE FTTP - work via VPN/mobile data?

XRaySpeX — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 19:20:44 GMT

How is your PC connected, by Ethernet or WiFi?

Do the tests with the EE supplied router ASAP.

EE fixed BB don't do CGNAT.

Re: Online games suddenly failing on EE FTTP - work via VPN/mobile data?

Klipschii — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 19:10:08 GMT

Hey, so its ethernet. The EE wifi is awful and doesnt support the speeds they offer. Also, mines is broken. Has been for a long time hense the upgrade to the Asus.

Re: Online games suddenly failing on EE FTTP - work via VPN/mobile data?

JimM11 — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 19:42:37 GMT

@Klipschii Are you running Asus FW on it or a third party such as Merlin, the Asus has just been updated yours is from 6/8/2026 onwards so depends if you have auto update on it or not, running Asus suggest you power it off for 5 minutes.

ASUS GT-AXE16000 Firmware version 3.0.0.6.102_37485

Version 3.0.0.6.102_37485

62.26 MB 2026/08/06

Re: Online games suddenly failing on EE FTTP - work via VPN/mobile data?

Klipschii — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 21:05:03 GMT

Hey Jim,

Im on the one you listed, yeah. Not on Metlin or any third party SW.

Re: Online games suddenly failing on EE FTTP - work via VPN/mobile data?

JimM11 — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 06:47:58 GMT

@Klipschii Use the Asus tools to see what is happening, start in your system log then System Log - Active Connections it will show you the Active IP and port connection state. Does sound like the Asus is fine through the VPN, but with the fact that you are just now complaining after a FW update, you may have to turn Auto Update off and apply the last FW before, you can download that from the Asus support for your Router.

My Main XT8 did not update correctly but the secondary did fine, noticed a slight hesitation because off the two different versions, did a manual update to the latest and running fine, no need for uPnP so it is disabled daughters PS5 get's out when needed port wise. Use google set for DNS found to to be more stable than cloudflare and iPv6 on fully functional at the Asus Hub level.