4G Home router 3 extremely slow in comparison with my iPhone 4G hotspot

[Jimboooob2]

I received the home router 3 today. I plugged it in, inserted the 4G sim card and I'm getting one bar signal. I did a speed test and achieved 35 ping with 1.6mb download/ 0.5 upload. On my iPhone 13 pro max I'm achieving between 60mb-80mb download/ 3mb upload. 

The whole purpose of getting this was so I could use an ethernet cable to stop ping spikes in games such as Vanguard and Battlefield 2042 and that has fixed the issue but now I'm getting unbearable speeds. If the problem persists I will have to cancel the contract and just stick the hotspot out.

[Northerner]

Hi @Jimboooob2 

Have you tried moving the device to a different location? 

Secondly they are not great at online gaming, so if that was your intention I would suggest fixed line broadband. Lastly both those games are really poor/disappointing. I would avoid them, or wait until they are considerably discounted in a few months 😉

Thanks

[Jimboooob2]

I picked up the home router 3 as I don't have fibre where I live and I'm sick of using my phone as a hotspot as it's giving me ping spikes in games but fantastic speeds. I'm averaging anywhere between 60-110mb from my iPhone 13 pro max hotspot.

With the home router 3 highest download speed I've gotten is 2.1mb. For some reason it's only achieving 1 bar signal strength but I had the same issue with the BT home hub so I sent it back and was advised by EE that the home router 3 would fix the issue but it hasn't. My iPhone achieves 2-3 bars whereas the home router 3 no matter where I put it, doesn't go past 1 bar.

[Jon_K]

Hi @Jimboooob2.

I'd recommend getting in touch with our Tech Gurus about this.

It's clearly not an area issue if your phone is achieving much higher speeds than the router.

Our Tech Gurus will be able to raise an investigation ticket for you to see why this is happening.

Jon

[Jimboooob2]

Unfortunaly the Tech Gurus recommended I get the external antenna installed which is another £100, on top of the £50 upfront cost and £55 a month, It just seems that the service I was hoping for isn't what it's meant to be in any way shape or form/

[wardi]

@Jimboooob2 .. how far away are you from your nearest transmitter?  I had a 4GEE router until recently (I'm on Fibre now it has become available in my area).  My transmitter is just under 1 mile away and I typically got speeds of 60-90 download & 20-30 upload just by placing it in a window with a couple of those stub ariels.

[mikeliuk]

Hi @Jimboooob2 ,

As your iPhone is fine, above it is concluded that it's not an area issue, and you've engaged in professional debugging with experts, I recommend that you request to exchange the device (with insurance and tracking) due to possibly faulty sub-par behaviour or ask that a fit-for-propose device is sent in its stead.

Simultaneously, you could look into testing a device with good reviews online, such as a Netgear MR1100 for under £200 to see if an alternative performs better. If any run of the mill device does better, it's additional evidence the device you were supplied with is faulty. If you buy from a retailer which allows change of mind returns, you could test and return.