GigaCube unstable 5G

[Ash194]

Despite having a full 5G signal at all times the GigaCube randomly drops away. The only way to get it back is to login to the device and run a location test, this in turn forces it to jump back into 5G with a full signal. Just wondering why the device is not doing this automatically if it momentarily looses the 5G signal? I don't want to have to keep doing this .

[Ash194]

They will give you a template with an apology in it saying getting you connected is important. Don't hold your breath for much more though.

[TheWeeBear]

Well a lot of good that is Ash194 lol. 

[Bravo]

Small update: got off the phone with VF support. They've asked me to undertake a factory reboot, which I've done, not that I'm able to now select the network type (5G/4G/Auto), any more than before.

They have promised to call me back on Sunday, to see how well its hanging onto the 5G network.

As said, previosly the box was solid and its only started really playing up, coicindenatlly since about the time it reports to have updated itself.

Will have to now see if they offer me a replacement box come next week, if it continues to fallback or if they try and fob me off with "our systems show that there is a lack of 5G service at your postode sir...."

[TheWeeBear]

Cheers for the update Bravo, wonder why my router never ever updated to the same firmware as yours.

Not too bothered at the moment, but hopefully it will update one day if need be.

[Ash194]

Maybe use the network checker to see if there is any work in your area. If it's anything like the US it will mean they shutdown sector by sector as work requires, depending on how busy the cell is this can cause huge amounts of handover requests to neighboring cells, if there isn't an available channel the signal will drop. And that's if they are even bothering to do a soft lock on the logical cell first. You get some heavy handed work crews that just flip the breakers on the radio meaning everything drops.

[vegtable]

First off I don't have a Gigacube or any chance of 5G where I live in the next billion years (can only get 4G via external high gain directional antenna) so I am not familiar with its querks.

5G is a bit bleeding edge so it is not surprising there are teething issues but......

.....that sucks. A 5G router that insists on falling back to 4G isn't that useful really. In real world terms how much diference are you seeing in bandwidth and latency between 4G and 5G? Forcing the router to only use 5G isn't ideal either really as in an ideal world you would want it to fall back to 4G in case of a 5G outage and then re-connnect to 5G when 5G is back up again.

It would be interesting to also know why it falls back to 4G in the first place? Unless your 5G reception is patchy and unreliable I would expect it not to keep falling back.  Have you tried changing the physical location of the router such as putting it in an upstairs window or whatever? That might be enough to stop it falling back to 4G in the 1st place? 

My cheapo 4G router sometimes gets its panties in a wad so I run a CRON job on another box that logs into the router UI every morning at 05:00 and 'clicks' the reboot button. A bit of a nasty hack but it does the job. Code is here (I am not the developer): https://gist.github.com/jonathanhoskin/0bc11f55d0ec926c0a457d4110b1f46f

You could modify the script to log into the Gigacube instead if you can be bothered with the hasstle. Alternatively buy a cheapo plug in 24/7 timer that power cycles the router everynight if code is not your thing?

Of course you should not need to do the above but sometimes needs must.

V  

[Ash194]

I get around 50 mbps down and 8 mbps up 22 ms with a full signal at 17:00 hours on the Gigacube which of course can't even be called 5G in my view. Would upload the screenshot but I only ever get a loading animation when trying to use a mobile to load attachments on this forum.

[vegtable]

50Mbps and 22ms isn't really delivering on the full promise of 5G. I am not so far off that on 4G on a good day and a LOOOONG way from the mast.

I think 5G will improve over time, still early days, but I would be dissapointed with 50Mbps.

The bigger issue for me is CGNAT and inherent lack port forwarding ability. I think Vfe really do need to adopt IPv6 as a matter of priority which opens up a much larger address space so no need for CGNAT. Not holding my breath on that one though.

V

[Ash194]

I couldn't agree with you more, the CGNAT renders it useless for gaming. Sadly the marketing team at VF are pushing it full steam ahead and failing to tell their customers about this massive drawback despite a significant selling point of 5G is that in concept it's good for gaming because of the low ping. And yes they really do need to intruduce IPV6 or at least give customers the option of having a routed setup if they so desire.

 Regarding the signal I just hope it gets better when they introduce more spectrum next year. Would also be interested to see if carrier aggregation will be utilized if continuous  spectrum can't be obtained.
 

[vegtable]

To be balanced it is not just Vodafone and not just cellular. Lots of FWA, fibre and copper ISPs also use CGNAT but most of them do provide (at a cost) an option for a static IP.  It does seem a bit crazy to introduce 5G and not couple it with some form of solution to this problem given the likely uses of 5G. Even worse, the diss-information is terrible. Not telling people about CGNAT upfront is bad, concealing that it is the root of people's port forwarding woes is very questionable practice.....

It was also interesting to see that Vfe are starting to traffic shape my usage - notably port 563 (Usenet SSL). Might just be a glitch (and easily fixed with VPN) but not the experience I was hoping for. 

We are getting FTTP to our village in April next year but the provider in question (not Vfe) charges an additional £22.50 to get a static IP address (and a slightly higher bandwidth and 2nd very expensive to use VOIP line). If I take the service I will continue to use my current very cheap VOIP provider and continue to use a 3rd party tunnel to get a static IP that I can move from ISP to ISP.

At the end of the day most people just want a service that works. I am a geek, I can write code, I work in the telecoms industry so I can find solutions to problems. The average punter just wants stuff to work, an honest and open provider. The telecoms industry is cuthroat and profit margins can be hard to maintain. Domestic customers have a low return. In Vodafone's defence their 'unlimited' data SIMS are better than many - their unlimited phone SIMS are good for 2.5TB a month before they whinge (no, personally I have not hit 2.5TB a month). As allways they will need to keep on their toes because competition is fierce and customer experience counts for a lot, especially with premium services.