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ZTE MC888 not connecting to 5G network (Three)

An update on this issue.
So I gave up and used my EE5G router for about a week instead of the ZTE, which provided excellent 5G performance. Since the EE router caused all kind of issues, I decided to go back to the ZTE MC888, being more stable.

After using the ZTE for a couple of days, I realised it picked up 5G connection randomly, but it then would revert back to 4G+ while staying connected to the same mast and cell. And then since about 3 days, it's constantly connected to 5G without any drops, and getting constant 600-800mbps just as before.

I don't know what's causing this, but it seems that stopping using it for a while can fix this issue, as @yacoboy mentioned in his previous post. It's probably a software issue as right now the connection is stable and fast.
 
Thanks for the report @Kimo, I have the same issue and will try to leave it off for a few days. This is so weird. Is it still working well on 5G after a couple of weeks?
 
Thanks for the report @Kimo, I have the same issue and will try to leave it off for a few days. This is so weird. Is it still working well on 5G after a couple of weeks?
Yes, it's still connecting to 5G although occasionally it does go back to 4G+. It will then reconnect to 5G without me doing anything.
Speed is also totally fine, usually stable 800+ mbps in download.
 
I'm on the same firmware - didn't face problems. N75 actually works but will not be shown anywhere. How do I know?
I get 300/50 mbit on Three Austria while locking the router to 5G SA 28. As this is a 15mhz 700 band - it cannot actually be faster than 150-200mbit. As I clearly get around 300mbit on speedtest (there my contract limit of 250 doesn't fully apply) it has to connect to N75 too - it's just missing in the UI.

Three Austria doesn't allow N28 and N78 CA, and kicks you out of N28/N75 if you have mid band 4G. So disabling all 4G bands that are used in Austria (one needs to stay enabled) it will be forced to 5G SA and allows me to use N28 even though other bands available which are all clogged up by users (N78 would be okayish but my reception is at the limit for N78)
 
Interesting to see that I'm not the only one who has encountered this very strange issue.

It is most probably provider-independent though, as I used to have the exact same problem in conjunction with O2 Germany. One day, all I got was 4G, no matter how often I reset this thing. Whereas the official menu displays 5G (which doesn't mean anything as professionals know as it is only referring to the nominal "readiness" to use 5G but doesn't mean that any 5G band gets connected) the "javascript hack" reveals "LTE-NSA" which always gets displayed whenever 5G is selected to be used but only 4G actually being in use.

In my case it started "over night" but still with periods in between with 5G and then eventually 4G only with no avail as reported here as well. The router's state was declining so to say. Ending up selling that one (interestingly it happened to be an import from UK with no support from the original seller of course as usual), I thankfully haven't had that issue anymore with German branded MC888s (Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone).

However, recently I've encountered another weird issue which - although not being as bad - goes in a suspiciously similar direction:

Mostly under load, once in a while, the MC888 (and the MC888A also, which uses the SDX65 chipset instead of the SDX62 with even more aggregated carriers/bands) falls back to that annoying LTE-NSA mode with 4G only. Unfortunately it is not just a cosmetic thing but goes along with the reduced performance to be expected when using only one or two LTE bands. It continously recovers quickly and switches back to ENDC - yet.

This so far only happens with the O2 SIM though, with the card from Deutsche Telekom, it peacefully keeps B1+n78+n1 in ENDC, no matter what load I throw on it so it remains unclear to me whether this is an issue with the ISP or the modem(s) (non-exclusive, so may be both in terms of a combined incompatibility). Will test that further with a Mikrotik Chateau 5G R16 next week.

My impression of those ZTE routers is that they nominally are a decent piece of hardware (low power consumption, very good nominal performance) especially given the price tag, but are foiled by the lousy software which is buggy as hell, combined with the absolute retarded approach of not being able to officially flash firmwares on those things and ZTE's also non-existent crap they dare to call customer support where hardly anyone even understands the questions or only even their own product lines (such as the difference between all those different models of the Cube format and the book format of these MC888s, Pro/Ultra, whatnot).


An absolute mess and it is beyond me how lousy companies can operate and yet being full in the business.

Update
"Will test that further with a Mikrotik Chateau 5G R16 next week."

Did so and also the Mikrotik switched to LTE only once in a while so it might be provider-related after all.
 
Last edited:
So I haven't been able to connect to 5G for about two months now. I tried various restarts, even left it turned off for more than 24 hours, but the router isn't connecting to 5G and stuck at 4g+.
A user suggested to try the SIM card on a phone and move it to another area so that it locks to another 5G tower, but that doesn't make sense to me, is it?
 
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Another update - today I tried a Spusu (EE) sim which has excellent reception in my area for 5G, and it also didn't connect to 5G, while it connects easilt to 5G on my phone.
I'm not what else I can do to let it connect to 5G now.
 
I'm on the same firmware - didn't face problems. N75 actually works but will not be shown anywhere. How do I know?
I get 300/50 mbit on Three Austria while locking the router to 5G SA 28. As this is a 15mhz 700 band - it cannot actually be faster than 150-200mbit. As I clearly get around 300mbit on speedtest (there my contract limit of 250 doesn't fully apply) it has to connect to N75 too - it's just missing in the UI.

Three Austria doesn't allow N28 and N78 CA, and kicks you out of N28/N75 if you have mid band 4G. So disabling all 4G bands that are used in Austria (one needs to stay enabled) it will be forced to 5G SA and allows me to use N28 even though other bands available which are all clogged up by users (N78 would be okayish but my reception is at the limit for N78)
Thanks for the update.
So did disabling all 4G bands help you force connect to 5G?
 
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