GigaCube - Sudden performance loss (23/09/24)

[nickpiggott]

I have a Gigacube installed remotely to provide Internet to some equipment. It was installed in March this year, and has worked pretty much exactly as expected, with acceptable throughout on a reasonable 5G signal.

The device seems to auto-renew its network connection every 48 hours, which causes a brief disconnect and reconnect.

This morning, when it did that, it was down for longer, and when it came back online the performance was atrocious. I am getting some throughput (~2Mbps), but its so slow that the user interface (which is almost entirely coded in Javascript) is timing out, so I can't see what's going on. I got someone to power cycle it, and it was briefly fine (60Mbps), and then a couple of minutes later, the throughput collapsed again.

I feel like it might have had an over-the-air update to the firmware that's badly hit the performance. Does this sound like a plausible explanation, and if so, I guess that means I have to physically go to it to factory reset it?

Thanks

[nickpiggott]

Update - through some perseverance and Javascript hacking, I got into the device UI. The firmware hadn't been updated and there's no new version available, so I can rule that out.

I did a Restart, and similarly to when someone physically power cycled it, I was was getting 150Mbps down and 60Mbps up. But that soon crawled down to 2Mbps. and now it's unusable again. I've got 5 bars of 5G Signal.

Any thoughts on what to do next?

[Jason]

Hi @nickpiggott. We understand how both concerning and troublesome this must be. To further troubleshoot, can you please change your GigaCube network settings from 'Auto' to a manual network choice, the back to 'Auto' again? You can do via your Admin page: open a web browser and type 192.168.8.1 into the URL and click search - the default admin passwords to access the site are on the label at the base of the GigaCube unit. When you're logged in: 

- Navigate to the Settings tab
- Dial-up 
- From the dial-up dropdown, choose Network Settings
- Change the preferred network mode from 'Auto' to one of the listed network choices
- Apply (and confirm on the caution)
- Revert the change just made, changing the preferred mode back to 'Auto'

- Apply (and confirm on the caution)

If there's still no change, we would recommend creating a new APN. To do this, go back to the Admin webpage: Settings > Dial-up > Profile Management > New Profile. When you're here, enter the following information to create a new APN: 
 

- Profile name: internet (set it as a default by ticking)

- Username: web
- Password: web
- Authentication: Auto
- IP Type: IPV4 (Only)
- APN: Internet
- Set DNS Server manually (tick it)
- DNS Primary server:   8.8.8.8
- DNS Secondary server: 8.8.4.4

- Save
- Press the reset button on the bottom of the GigaCube for 10 seconds

[nickpiggott]

I reset the device using the reset button, and then reconfigured it for my LAN.

The throughput in "5G Mode" was variable, reflecting the fairly poor quality 5G signal. I pushed it back to "4G" mode, and the throughput was excellent - around 100Mbps down and 40Mbps up.

However, it went off network on Monday night at 20:35. A power cycle didn't get it back on network. After doing another hard reset using the reset button, all three LEDs come on white, but the device doesn't seem to connect to network.

I have seen elsewhere that this model, the ZTE MC888 has a firmware problem where it will not connect to network if there is no 3G signal. The 3G in this area appears to have been recently turned off.

Apparently there is a firmware fix available, but it wasn't available when I tried to update the firmware last week, so I'm doubtful if it's been offered to the Vodafone Gigacube devices.

The firmware and software on this device seems pretty poor, and causing problems. I wouldn't recommend a Gigacube, given the experience I'm now having.

[Gemma]

Thanks for the tests you've already done @nickpiggott - So that we can check if the status of the number used with the GigaCube on the network and also run through some of our network checks, please get in touch with us on Social Media. 

[nickpiggott]

The situation has evolved. The device is now powering up, but won't complete it's boot cycle. The power/network/wifi indicators come on white, but both LAN ports are dead (not even showing link) and whilst the Wifi SSID is visible, it won't connect. It feels like a firmware issue/corruption.

We've raised it as a faulty device, for return and repair as it's only 6 months old. 

Disappointingly, given how important this device is to our business, the Vodafone store in York refused to help, despite CS telling us this should be an option.

[Gemma]

Thanks for the update and I'm sorry to hear its at this stage @nickpiggott -  So that we can go through your options and feedback anything that's needed, please message us via one of our social channels.