4G Router speeds now unusable.

Hey there ​@GeraintJ, thank you for reaching out. Unfortunately, we don’t officially support the usage of our SIM cards in external devices such as routers, and only support them in the handsets listed on our website, and handset devices as a whole. Therefore, we cannot advise why your router may be having issues currently I’m afraid, as we cannot guarantee it’d work at any time.

However, if you’re having issues with your SIM in your phone, we can indeed investigate that. What’s the full postcode please?

Thanks,

Tyler

Thanks for responding Tyler.

The SIM/router combo had worked flawlessly for over a year without skipping a beat, and there's nothing wrong with either the SIM or the router - as swapping out both items has demonstrated.

All I can reasonably conclude now is that (in my region) Three appear to be throttling the usage for non-handset devices during the day - between 8am and 8pm. The throttling is so severe as to make establishing and maintaining any form of working internet connection impossible which is a shame as this was a very convenient and cost effective solution. Unfortunately after 3 days of no useable internet and no roadmap/path to resolving the issue I've regrettably had to bite the bullet and cancel my SIM contract and sign up for some FTTH to replace my funky GSM based broadband.

Cheers!

Hi ​@GeraintJ 

We are sorry to hear that but want to confirm that we do not throttle data speeds. 

It is disappointing to hear you will be cancelling the service but we understand and respect your decision. 

Thanks, 

Natalie 

I doubt you’re being throttled; it’s likely down to congestion in your area. Likely due to too many high-volume traffic connections at the mast from people using a mobile connection as a replacement for home broadband service.

My internet is also very slow unusable in my home I'm leaving id because of this and other issues as soon as I'm paid up for this month.

Hi ​@Tom Earnshaw  this is disappointing to hear. Would you like some assistance with this to see if there's anything further we can do?

Hi Sian it's likely the three masts in my area the signal seems generally poor in rural north Wales where I'm located luckily I only signed up to a 1 month contract back in January so im not tied to a long contract with a big termination fee.

Ah OK ​@Tom Earnshaw  have you checked your coverage? You can do this here - Improve Mobile Coverage | Check Mobile Coverage | iD Mobile Network

Yes ​@Siân my coverage is very good according to the map but this isn't the case in most areas I travel I've tried in a different phone to no avail it's exactly the same.

Hey there ​@Tom Earnshaw, what’s your full postcode, or what’s the full postcodes you regularly have issues in, and what phone do you have please?

Thanks,

Tyler

Hi Paul and thanks for commenting.

Just to re-cap…

I have 2 ID SIMs, 2 phones, and 2 4g routers; all within a foot of each other.

For the last year (and more), placing either SIM in either phone, at any time of day results in a solid 35+Mbps. Placing either SIM in either router, at any time of day results in a solid 35+Mbps.

As of early last week, placing either SIM in either phone, at any time of day results in a solid 35+Mbps. Placing either SIM in either router results in:

1 - weekdays during office working hours, no useable internet. 

2 - weekends (including the bank holiday) and outside of weekdays office working hours, a solid 35+Mbps.

If it were purely congestion related then I'd expect the behaviour to be the same across both device types. As it is not, and ONLY affects the routers during office working hours on workdays then I still have to conclude that somewhere within 3's network they are clamping down on what I guess they interpret to be "business" users; and they seem to be doing this crudely simply by identifying a device as "not a phone" and as such people like myself using 4g routers for our modest broadband needs are getting caught in the cross-fire. I've also noted that 3 are marketing their own GSM based home broadband service, and as such they will no doubt want to charge a premium for this (and even more for businesses) which again makes me think that they're tinkering with ways and means within their network to identify and enforce different rules/restrictions based on device types.

I could be wrong on that last one, but from my testing what I am experiencing is not consistent with simply "network congestion", there's something else awry :-) At least it's forced my hand now and I've signed up for some fibre broadband...will keep an eye on this though as I'm interested in how it pans out for everyone else.

Cheers!

Hi ​@GeraintJ  we can take some further details and get this escalated with our Technical Team if you like? However, the outcome may be that iD SIM’s are not to be used in devices such as routers, only handsets. 

Hi Siân, too late for me I'm afraid - can't be offline that long, especially when the outcome is likely to be (due to Three changes, not your own) "ID have never claimed to support routers" which I completely understand and accept. Historically the approach (and advice from ID events) had always been "no reason why it shouldn't so give it a go" and by and large it's worked well for years. As a community maybe it would be good for ID to do some digging and to update their advice for others who may be considering this approach or are currently struggling with the changes that appear to have occured.

Thanks again! 

No worries ​@GeraintJ 

If there is anything else we can help with, please let us know.

Hi ​@Tyler  the internet goes down around LL19 9UF can't make phone calls either in this location and it's pretty poor around LL18 6LG none existent especially indoors near CH8 9NF I have a Samsung Galaxy A16 5g UAE version but has the same chip set and antennas as the UK version according to my research.

Hi ​@Tom Earnshaw  are you connected to 4G? As you should have very good service in both those areas. Although if it is not a handset from the UK, we cannot guarantee this will work, as our SIM’s are designed to be used in UK only handsets. Have you tried the SIM in another handset to check how it works?

Hi Sian I have 4g around my home the phone worked fine on my previous network I even get 5g in my workplace with 600mbs a sec download speed so I doubt it's an issue with bands.

Is it just phone calls you have issues with ​@Tom Earnshaw ? Are these incoming, outgoing or both? Does it happen at any particular time of day? 

It is worth considering that some buildings/structures can affect sign

Hi again ​@Siân thanks for the assistance but I'm porting out tomorrow three's network in my area is poor at best I have no issues on voxi with data speeds or phone calls.