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Huawei B535 on 3 major problems.

Apologies for not updating for a few days. I've had comments from 3 support on twitter and on facebook which have both been along the lines of "we're NOW aware of this, and are working to resolve it asap".

I've got it working intermittently on 3G, but have switched my router back to 4G and am using the XBox hooked up to a rPi via ethernet, which is a VPN tunnel, connecting to the 3 router via WiFi. Seems to be working reliably, if slowly (because my VPN bandwidth is lower than 4G, but still higher than I was getting on 4G). This means I can run the rest of the house on the faster 4G, and still get reliable xbox downloads.

Hopefully 3 will sort this out soon and I can stick the Pi back in a drawer...
 
I too would like Three to explain what "this" is that they are NOW aware of? And exactly what are they doing to resolve it? eg. network config? B535 firmware update? replace all B535s? (the latter two suggestions being VERY VERY unlikely).

My B535 (Three supplied) has this firmware:
Hardware version: WL1B535M
Software version: 10.0.1.1(H191SP4C983)
Web UI version: WEBUI 10.0.1.1(W2SP3C21)

It was updated to H191SP4C983 back in Dec 2019 or early Jan 2020 when I got the device. It's had no updates since. It was working pretty well on Three all through Jan & into Feb. The recent issues only started around mid-Feb (shortly before Three began the switch-on of their 5G network).

So I don't think the Huawei B535 is the culprit here. I blame Three and whatever changes they have made prior to 5G switch-on.

I've found if I use Windscribe VPN (free account) on my phone connect to B535 WiFi, then the 'hanging' page loading issue disappears (but speedtests are drastically lowered). So again, I think the issue is Three network related, not B535.

How did you get unlimited data for £14/month? I thought I was doing well to get £17/month! Is it a standard phone SIM deal or HomeFi MBB SIM deal?
 
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Maybe because they're throwing "unlimited data" around for as low as £14 a month explains the slow down?

Strangely things are looking up today so Three must be doing something finally. Webpages seem to blitz up today (though latency still needs work!) and I just got a 45mb reported on a speed test for the first time in months!


Weirdly I am seeing up to 70mb download when "purely testing" bandwidth with torrents though, so there is obviously more factors at work.
 
I'm at the same software levels reported above.

After a few hours of the adhoc page loading issues I tried a vodafone SIM in the B535 for 24 hours. I got through about 17GB (that's quite low for me...!) data across 6+ devices with a variety of services.

Zero issues. Nada. Fast, responsive. worked.

Pings dropped from 50ms to 30ms, I went from 4G to 4G+ (2CA B7+??), Download from 25-40 to 100-150, upload from 20-25 to 38-42, and.. zero hangs.

Of course for 1 month contracts whilst three is 26, smart is 20, we instead have vodafone around 38, voxi 35. :-(

Back on three now - fine currently, albeit back to lower speeds. Waiting to see what happens in the next hour or so...

I should add that first thing yesterday I raised an issue with three, and I've been promised a call back from the network team in 24-48 hours.
 
Vodafone seem to have an offer on 24month contracts at present, whereby the first 6months are half-price. So their "Unlimited Max" deal (Fastest available download speed), is £15 for 1st 6mnths, then back to £30 for 18mnths. So that works out at an average of £26.25 per month over 2yrs. Three is still significantly cheaper - if only they would sort out their network.

I think that 'offer' is a phone SIM (unlimited everything). A Vodafone unlimited data SIM on 12mnth contract is £33/month.
 
Hi, Just adding my experience here.
I had used a Sim with unlimited Data to connect to Xbox before, just through a regular phone using hotspot, this worked for a while on 4g. Then one day I started getting the Installation Stopped problem. Didn't think much off it as I had borrowed the phone purely to do some updating.

I never had a problem using a Virgin Mobile sim through regular smartphone hotspot.

I got me a huawei b311s box off ebay, and have had the same problems with that as mentioned by others on here, however setting it to 3G only and the Xbox connects fine and will download large files albeit rather slowly.

So anyway I can confirm that the problem is with Three and the network blocking large game downloads on xbox if using 4G, whether that is tethered from a phone, a Laptop or a router.

But 3G does fix that problem.
 
Of course for 1 month contracts whilst three is 26, smart is 20, we instead have vodafone around 38, voxi 35. :-(
Voxi still don't record data use so even their £10 sim gives unlimited data. For a 30 day sim might as well strike while the irons hot 👍
 
I can confirm that the problem is with Three and the network blocking large game downloads on xbox if using 4G, whether that is tethered from a phone, a Laptop or a router.

From what you have said, I would understand that to mean that an investigation by Ofcom would be warranted.
 
I had a call back from the Three Technical team about 1615 today. I couldn't talk at length as I had to go out, but they said to me that there had been a known issue, that is now fixed, sometime around friday night/saturday. They suggested the issue was to do with xbox game downloads (not the issue I had)

Today I had the router on 3 and didn't notice the issue immediately, however I definitely had issues with page loads stalling this evening. Extensively to the point of switching to tethering via vodafone again.

I also did a hard reset on the router as three had requested, but I doubt this will make any difference (I reset a few days ago), so as far as I can see the issue I had remains.

I'll contact them shortly to complain
 
I have referred my complaint regarding Three MBB to the Ombudsman (Ofcom) and attached 3 screen capture videos demonstrating the 'page load stalling' issue. I have also attached to my complaint a screen capture video showing the same connection to Three MBB but using a VPN service with the page loads almost instant.

I expect one of two results:
1. Ombudsman says this isn't something they can progress - case closed
2. Ombudsman says "Three offered to send you a new SIM to try in your device, which you declined" - case closed

So, unfortunately, nothing will be done to resolve the issue on the Three MBB network regarding page load stalls.
 
Reset the router again (since they asked) - problem still present. Again this morning noticed some pauses, and tunein not working. TV had some aborted youtube plays.

So it may be three different problems
* Xbox downloads - I didn't notice specific effects, but they say fixed
* Gobinge restricting netflix - seems sorted since I had it removed
* Adhoc connection stalls - seems to occur mostly in Brighton, not so much in hampshire from some tests

Still pretty certain there's nothing wrong with the B535 unless it's a subtle interaction

I can add that personally I've hit laptop issues in the past - either at the OS level, or a specific browser like safari, or local wifi - I've used multiple devices to verify against this - but always consider these as potential issues too
 
Have had same issue with B535 since early Feb. None of anybody's recommendations worked. Running personal hotspot on my Three phone works perfectly every time. Same provider, same mast, same channel. The B535 is clearly the culprit.
 
Have had same issue with B535 since early Feb. None of anybody's recommendations worked. Running personal hotspot on my Three phone works perfectly every time. Same provider, same mast, same channel. The B535 is clearly the culprit.

I see the same between an iPhone8 and the B535 -- both are on Band3, neither are using CA, CellID is the same. We didn't notice issues on tethering. We absolutely do on the B535.

BUT... Also I used a vodafone SIM in the B535 and it behaved impeccably.

So either
* it's a subtle interoparability issue between 3 / B535
* It's sim/account related

Makes me think if it's worth trying the three.co.uk APN again -- I tried before and still had issues, but the xbox issue & GoBinge may have confused me.. But that is a clear issue between the SIMs
 
Came off the phone with 'tech support'. ( second call). They clearly arent. They have no access to the network, no idea what is going on. We did progress from problem fixed, 'do a reset' to 'problem fixed', force 4G

Nope. It's connected 4G. Indeed I know the cellID, the Band, all kinds of data but they don't have a clue. Complaints about stalled connections get translate to slow speed which is NOT a representation of the issue. It's quite different (sure there could be a common cause I accept - but it suggests a lack of attention to detail)

Very frustrating


Just had a bit of a polite rant ->
 
@Oft1950 Can I just dig into your phone vs B535 comparison a little more.
a) Are you using the same sim in both devices, or are they two seperate sims/contracts
b) Did you try different APNs? If not -- Do you happen to know what APN is configured on your phone when it seems to work - is it 3Internet or three.co.uk? How about the router?
 
Came off the phone with 'tech support'. ( second call). They clearly arent. They have no access to the network, no idea what is going on.

You don't get to speak to the Network Services team - they are an internal team only. My understanding is that there are 3 customer facing teams: Customer Services (the people who answer the phone or webchats), Customer Relations (the people who raise complaint cases), Tech Support (the people who liase with their own internal tech & network services). The latter are the people who are supposed to manage your support case to resolution.

The best option, as they are not resolving the reported issue, is to request that you are passed to the Customer Relations team & insist that they give you a Case ID for your complaint. If they do not provide you with a resolution to your complaint (which they aren't doing), then inform them that they have not provided a satisfactory resolution and you are now at 'deadlock'. Request a 'deadlock' letter. Your letter will arrive in the post in a day or 2.

You can now refer your complaint to the Ombudsman. Go to https://www.ombudsman-services.org/ and refer your complaint. You create a Case online and upload any evidence you have online (WebChat transcripts, images etc) and press a button to submit it to the Ombudsman for consideration.
 
You don't get to speak to the Network Services team - they are an internal team only. My understanding is that there are 3 customer facing teams: Customer Services (the people who answer the phone or webchats), Customer Relations (the people who raise complaint cases), Tech Support (the people who liase with their own internal tech & network services). The latter are the people who are supposed to manage your support case to resolution.

The best option, as they are not resolving the reported issue, is to request that you are passed to the Customer Relations team & insist that they give you a Case ID for your complaint. If they do not provide you with a resolution to your complaint (which they aren't doing), then inform them that they have not provided a satisfactory resolution and you are now at 'deadlock'. Request a 'deadlock' letter. Your letter will arrive in the post in a day or 2.

You can now refer your complaint to the Ombudsman. Go to https://www.ombudsman-services.org/ and refer your complaint. You create a Case online and upload any evidence you have online (WebChat transcripts, images etc) and press a button to submit it to the Ombudsman for consideration.
Thanks for the helpfuland detailed info though tbh it's a fine line between persuing agressively and just giving up and going to vodafone (for which I can use the B535 and only on 1 month). It's just a shame we can't have a working network
 
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