Slow speeds from Vodafone Gigacube 5G in Central London...

[Janupedia]

I recently purchased the unlimited plan for the Gigacube and upgraded from my 12mbps down/1mbps up DSL connection. 5G is not available in my area yet (Clapham Junction) but will be soon. I set it up, updating the firmware, slotting in the SIM and placing it near my top floor window (positioning doesn't matter). Speeds would fluctuate depending on peak usage because it's 4G but I was clocking in at 70-80mbps download and 30mbps upload. However, at least once a week or possibly more the speeds will drop to and average around 6mbps down/15mbps up across all my devices such as my ethernetted desktop and smartphone. The timing of these drops varies as it's never a set time during the week/day but appears to be occurring randomly.

I've contacted Vodafone, who offer my unlimited data plan contract for the Gigacube (Huawei 5G CPE Pro) but their support has been useless. Their suggestions...

1.) Engineering work ongoing. Possible but unlikely, seeing as this continues for ages unless fixed. My smartphone is also with Vodafone and that's clocking in at a good speed.

2.) Network logs need updating. Not sure about this but I keep the Gigacube updated and it does so automatically anyway.

3.) Remove the SIM and place it back after x amount of time. This worked on 2 separate occasions but has failed entirely for the past 24 hours.

4.) I'm not on the correct plan. This was a straight lie as I'm paying £50 a month for unlimited data as stated in my contract. No limitations. Period. Bear in mind, only 1 support guy replied with this.

I honestly have no idea what is causing this. I doubt it's an actual issue with the Huawei 5G CPE Pro router as I haven't damaged it in anyway or form and I don't see why it would be an issue with that. I purchased the Gigacube and contract nearly a month ago and have since used 900GB of bandwidth. I've browsed online for solutions but there is very little support on the 5G Gigacube. I should also ensure the SIM is correctly placed in the router but I'm pretty sure it is. I personally believe this stems from either Vodafone throttling or the supposed "engineering". Any thoughts or suggestions would be graciously appreciated.

[plm9088]

My situation is still the same mark I expect something to be done about this I can't be paying £50 a month for that speed  I was promised 15-60 mbps when i got the gigacube by your agent as inspecifally asked for the speed 

[Ash194]

I understand where you’re coming from. The only thing their so called support are good at is invoking stress. Many threads echo long waits getting passed around and point out poor technical knowledge of front line staff. There is another thread on here for Gigacube NAT issues which means you can’t game on the device. The same Moderators that are responding to you now left us in the dark for months nothing from them. That’s what they do when their  scripts have been exhausted. I sold our PlayStations to use stadia because they refuse to engage about the NAT issue and now I’m dealing with speed issues. Their 5G doesn’t really deserve to be called 5G since it’s widely known 4G can be faster. But a lot of issues are because of engineering work going on. Three on the other hand built their 5G network then switched it on. Vodafone to use a metaphor checked it’s guests into their hotel rooms then make them wait to use the bathroom while it gets built.

[NWebber]

Ive has mine about 6 weeks now and exactly the same issue. I get 60+mbps for about 24 hours then it drops to single figures. The only solution I have found is to take the sim out, place it in my mobile and then return it to the gigacube. I then get great speeds again for about 24 hours. 

my neighbour has a gigacube. He gets constant 60+ speeds. 

This cannot be right. 

[Ash194]

I was reading up on this and in their own terms and conditions they will prioritize voice over this device. That could in theory mean instead of the full 50 Hertz you could go as low as 20 in what’s known as a TDD Setup short for time division. It’s effectively like a Walli talki except it Switches between transmit and receive in mill seconds. But still this can add latency and restrict bandwidth. Further more carrierS like Vodafone use burst data rules. The cell tower only has so much backhaul capacity. So if for instances there is a surge in demand at the tower it will slow everything down for a short period then as soon as capacity returns it’s burst back to full speed. This is why sometimes your see a page loading and loading then suddenly boom there it is. The logic is this maintains service under high load conditions. 

This is all fine of course if your using a mobile device and you’re on the move. What’s wrong in my view is that Vodafone advertise this is a broadband replacement which it certainly isn’t. As mentioned before the strict NAT also make it unusable for gaming, there has been an open thread on that for over a year on this very forum.

[rgiblin]

My issue seems to be slightly different but as yet no had a response from VF.

It seems that loading of pages is painfully slow upon pressing <ENTER> circa 40-60 seconds which is strange.  I dropped the sim into another device and this was not an issue.

I did want to check the APN was correct for VF on the CPE as it came with multiple APNS listed and unsure which should be used.

Does anyone know what APN they are using??

[M5barney]

I get exactly the same thing. Super fast download (>400Mbps in Clapham). Upload speed is ok (C. 20-40Mbps) but the time to load pages or respond to searches can be around 1 minute. Vodafone support spent hours ‘reconfiguring my account’ then told me to wait one week(?!) It got a little better for a day or so then back to the same. I called again and the Vodafone tech said his colleague had been lying and there was nothing that could be done as this was “quite normal for 5G” !!! 

Any advice very welcome, I have the CPE Pro 2 so can’t force it to 4G, which has more than enough BW here to work just as well for my needs.

[NWebber]

I have tried for over a year. In the end I have now just cancelled my contract. I get a faster speed on a copper wire. Vodafone were of no help whatsoever, their customer service used to be great, but now is almost non existant.

[Basketballnut]

Hi, I’m having exactly the same issue with the same responses from Vodafone.  it’s so frustrating with the amount I’m spending and the service is so erratic dropping off completely and a ping of 300-400.
Did you manage to get sorted?

[Mark]

Many issues connecting to our network can be eradicated by following the troubleshooting steps advised in our initial checks @Basketballnut. If you've checked these and are still struggling to connect, pop us a message via our social channels and one of our team will be happy to take a closer look 😊