EE 5G Smart Hub, insanely poor jitter and not fit for gaming

[UnGodly]

Hi All,

I not too recently swapped back over to EE for my 5G WiFi due to my previous provider just suddenly removing 5G service in my area without telling me, unfortunately it meant I had to go back to EE.

The service I received from a previous provider was superb and much cheaper, better speeds and now I am paying £50 a month for Unlimited Data and significantly worse speeds, however I am not here to bash EE on this.

What I want help with is why on earth the jitter is insanely bad in comparison with EE, to the point where I cannot play online games without having insane packet loss and jitter causing me to teleport in whatever game I may be playing, when on the previous provider I had no such issue, this is half the reason I have the WiFi in the first place and before anyone asks, no I do not have the option for broadband.

I understand 5G WiFi isn't perfect for gaming and it's not at all why I made this post, however I am on a wired ethernet connection to my PC and it is still insanely poor. EE market it as being able to be used for streaming, gaming etc. but it is far from capable of being used for gaming and it's really frustrating me, I have made so many changes, trying to just use a 5G connection but my Smart Hub just will not connect even though I get perfect 5G signal with full bars, my download speeds are anywhere from 140mbps up to 270mbps and upload between 30-45mbps, ping is usually consistently between 25-40, yet still have insane jitter and packet loss every couple of minutes when I play any online game.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can mitigate this or make it useable as I am on the verge of just paying to cancel the contract and using anyone but EE, I don't understand how another service provider can be the complete opposite in that respect when it was a 5G router too.

I have put a Bufferbloat test screenshot on this post to show had badly rated it is, achieving the lowest score possible - F. I don't believe when I am paying such a high price that I should be receiving such poor service from someone as renowned as EE, it's unbelievable how bad it is and I genuinely could get better internet speeds tethering to my mobile device with another network provider, this is a router that is meant to be designed for online gaming as their advertisements claim and if nothing can be done then someone needs to rethink those advertisements as it's completely false.

Any suggestions would be appreciated and I hope someone has something that can help, thank you in advance.

[Lesley_W]

Hi @UnGodly

Thanks for coming to our community.

I'm sorry you are having trouble with your 5G Hub. Has this been consistently like this since you first started using it?

Lesley

[Lapwing1]

Have you checked if the issue is to do with IPv6, which seems to be a problem for EE Smart Hubs?

If your profile is currently IPv4v6 then change it to IPv4 only and see if that helps. 

[KManton]

Hi, I am having the exact same issue speeds seem to be fine I have even tried change to pv4 I have tried just 4g, 4g and 5g I have tried everything. Any suggestions? Otherwise I will need to return it however I am now locked into a 12 month contract 

[KManton]

I am having the same issues any fix for this ? I tried the pv4 method still no success insane spikes and high packet loss latency in an area with apparently good 4g/5g 

[Ali_A]

@KManton 

Has this issue happened since the start or something that only began recently? 
You can check coverage and network status at Check mobile coverage to see if there is anything going on in the area that could be affecting your connection. 

If you're still struggling with jitter, I'd recommend giving Customer Service a call where the technical team can look into your connection issues that you are facing. They may just need to refresh your SIM card connection. 

Ali 

[KManton]

Hi, thankyou for coming back to me i have tried the mobile coverage and it shows great coverage on 5g and excellent coverage on 4g but both have consistent packet loss and spikes in ping it is an issue i have had since i bought the device.

I will call the team tonight to get the sim reset

[UnGodly]

Hi Lesley,

Sorry for the delay getting back to you, yes this has been an issue since I have had the device, although a few weeks ago it seemed to be working fine, now I am back to the exact same issue and it's constantly happening every day I use the device.

I don't understand how you can claim that EE's 5G network is built for gaming when it is this poor, to get a buffer bloat score of F is an incredibly poor score.

Nothing I have tried will fix it, reset the hub to factory settings, restarted it several times, changed to IPV4 in the settings and that did nothing, I have taken the sim card out and cleaned it and put it back in the device.

Bearing in mind I am using ethernet and not WiFi I can't even imagine how bad it would be through WiFi.

Thanks

[UnGodly]

Hi Lapwing1,

Yes I have tried IPV4 and it's done nothing to solve the problem, as KManton has stated I have tried to change to just 5G, just 4G etc. and it's done nothing but make it 10X worse.

This ridiculous for the cost of it, I was with 3 Network before and never had this issue with their 5G network for gaming, if they hadn't of removed their 5G coverage from my area without even telling me I would have never swapped back to EE.

I don't know how much you know about networking but to get a buffer bloat score of F is incredibly poor, this network is not designed for gaming as much as EE claim it is, I don't mean to offend EE with that statement but it is factual at this point.

I am getting a near perfect connection from the hub having almost full signal bars and still experiencing ping spikes, packet loss, network jitter etc.

Thanks

[UnGodly]

Hi KManton,

Did this fix the issue for you or are you still experiencing it? I had it stop for a few weeks, but just before I went on holiday it came back again and has been constant ever since, I am at a loss and to be honest when my contract runs out will likely cancel it.

The cost of it is ridiculous, as I said before they claim their network is built for gaming but it is not in any way or shape built for it, buffer bloat score just proves it.

When I was with 3 network I never had this issue at all, the only issue I had was when they suddenly removed my 5G coverage in my area without even telling me, hence why I swapped back to EE.

Thanks