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MiFi MU5001 5G Connectivity Issue with 3 SIM Card

yacoboy

Casual Member
I am experiencing a perplexing issue with my ZTE MiFi MU5001 device and a 3 SIM card, and I'm hoping to gather some advice and suggestions on how to address the problem.

My MiFi (ZTE MU5001) device is being used in bridge / modem mode to provide an internet connection to my ASUS home router. It was working well and was connecting to the n78 5G network band using my 3 SIM card for several months without any issues, that is, until recent mast upgrades in my area took place over the past 3 days. Since the upgrades, which involved the engineers physically replacing the 5G antennas on my mast, the device will only connect to 4G when using the 3 SIM card, even though the same SIM card still works with 5G when used in my phone. I have tested multiple 3 SIM cards with the same result.

Further troubleshooting steps taken:

  1. I tested an EE SIM card with the MiFi device, and it successfully connected to the 5G network, indicating that the device is still capable of connecting to 5G.
  2. I have checked the device settings, ensured the correct APN configuration (tried both 3internet and three.co.uk), adjusted the band settings i.e. locking to B3 only (as I thought it could be a CA combo issue).
  3. I performed a factory reset on the MiFi device, but the issue persisted.
  4. I contacted 3's customer support, and they confirmed that there are no restrictions for connecting to 5G on a MiFi device using their SIM card, suggesting that the issue might be related to the device itself.
I've emailed ZTE customer support, but I'm not holding out much hope with that either.

Are there any potential explanations for this issue that I might not have considered, especially related to the recent mast upgrades?

Are there any additional troubleshooting steps or workarounds that you can recommend for getting the MiFi device to connect to 3's 5G network again?

Has anyone else experienced similar issues with their MiFi devices and 3 SIM cards, and if so, how did you resolve the problem?

Any guidance or insights that you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

I've attached screenshots of the network status from before and after the mast upgrades. You can see that it's now using multiple 4G bands, but the 5G will not connect, despite it indicating a 5G connection at the top of the page. The speediest results also indicate that 5G is not connecting on the MiFi, but using the same SIM in my mobile phone connects to the 5G instantly and has a full speed connection.

Thank you in advance for your help and suggestions!
 

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Feels like an issue with the device. Options are to do the same tests in a different location, or obtain a second known-good 5G NR mobile router to test in this location.
 
What speed is the 'full speed connection' that you mention when in your phone, and what phone is it?
What were the speeds you were getting before they swapped the antennas from your router and what is the speed now?
 
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What speed is the 'full speed connection' that you mention when in your phone, and what phone is it?
What were the speeds you were getting before they swapped the antennas from your router and what is the speed now?

Gigabit speeds, average was around 800Mbps with the 5G band connected. The 4G connection was around 100Mbps before the mast upgrade, but now it's around 150-200Mbps. I assume due to the carrier aggregation, but without the 5G connection it's a big downgrade. When downloading on 4G the bufferbloat is also much worse than it was when using the 5G band.
 
Is it possible to band lock with the device?

If so, I'd try unchecking everything other than B3 and N78.

It's possible but unlikely with the upgrade that they didn't ENDC enable the new carriers.
 
I am experiencing a perplexing issue with my ZTE MiFi MU5001 device and a 3 SIM card, and I'm hoping to gather some advice and suggestions on how to address the problem.

My MiFi (ZTE MU5001) device is being used in bridge / modem mode to provide an internet connection to my ASUS home router. It was working well and was connecting to the n78 5G network band using my 3 SIM card for several months without any issues, that is, until recent mast upgrades in my area took place over the past 3 days. Since the upgrades, which involved the engineers physically replacing the 5G antennas on my mast, the device will only connect to 4G when using the 3 SIM card, even though the same SIM card still works with 5G when used in my phone. I have tested multiple 3 SIM cards with the same result.

Further troubleshooting steps taken:

  1. I tested an EE SIM card with the MiFi device, and it successfully connected to the 5G network, indicating that the device is still capable of connecting to 5G.
  2. I have checked the device settings, ensured the correct APN configuration (tried both 3internet and three.co.uk), adjusted the band settings i.e. locking to B3 only (as I thought it could be a CA combo issue).
  3. I performed a factory reset on the MiFi device, but the issue persisted.
  4. I contacted 3's customer support, and they confirmed that there are no restrictions for connecting to 5G on a MiFi device using their SIM card, suggesting that the issue might be related to the device itself.
I've emailed ZTE customer support, but I'm not holding out much hope with that either.

Are there any potential explanations for this issue that I might not have considered, especially related to the recent mast upgrades?

Are there any additional troubleshooting steps or workarounds that you can recommend for getting the MiFi device to connect to 3's 5G network again?

Has anyone else experienced similar issues with their MiFi devices and 3 SIM cards, and if so, how did you resolve the problem?

Any guidance or insights that you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

I've attached screenshots of the network status from before and after the mast upgrades. You can see that it's now using multiple 4G bands, but the 5G will not connect, despite it indicating a 5G connection at the top of the page. The speediest results also indicate that 5G is not connecting on the MiFi, but using the same SIM in my mobile phone connects to the 5G instantly and has a full speed connection.

Thank you in advance for your help and suggestions!
Hi, I know you posted this some time ago and is probably in the back of your mind by now and no longer a concern but did you fix this in the end.

I have noticed the operating frequency is similar to mine



3G/4G Frequency 99
3G/4G Connected Band10.0MHz@2100(B1) + 15.0MHz@1800(B3) + 10.0MHz@AC700(B28)
3G/4G Signal Strength-104 dBm
3G/4G ECIO/SINR-1.8 dB
3G/4G PCI97
3G/4G Cell ID13388360
4G CA StatusCA Inactive
5G Frequency 641376 right here According to CHATGPT this isnt a 5g range
5G Connected BandN78
5G Signal Strength-105 dBm
5G SINR12.0 dB
5G PCI784
 
In my case with the Teltonika TRB500, I need to exclude B1 and B3 to get better download performance of about 120 Mbps but only about 6 Mbps upload.
 
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