Potential 'fix' for the Three uk latency / stuck pages issue

I just posted this in reply to a thread I found on here a few weeks back when trying to understand why my three internet was so bad. The below is what I have done to fix in my case and I hope it may trigger solutions for others struggling to get a solid connection out of their Three 4G connection

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I have come back here and registered specifically to try and give some hope and a solution to people who (like myself) have been having really weird 'sticky' internet with Three.

E.g. you'll be browsing fine, then suddenly it just starts to refuse to load pages. Often until you restart but that doesn't always fix it.

Here is what I have done.

Firstly, I got a TP Link Archer Mr6 router. This took my speed from around 12mbs to 40mbs and 4G+. Great I thought, all sorted.

Nope, same issue, but now I can get faster speeds between the issue happening.

Here is where I hit gold though.

I have a Linksys WRT3200ACM sitting about. This happens to be one of the routers that ExpressVPN release their own software for.

I have now put that router between the TP Link Archer and my home wifi. This means that all the traffic on the network now goes in and out of a VPN connection. Three is no longer doing any of the DNS or traffic routing/lookups.

Since I have put this VPN in the middle my internet has been absolutely lightening fast and not got stuck once! On any device.

So... here is a way for you to test if this solution might work for you.

1. Get connected as usual
2. Install Express VPN as a trial on your machine (other VPNs may do the same I expect)
3. See how your internet is on THAT specific machine while connected

If you find that this resolves the issue for long enough, you might then consider putting your own ExpressVPN router VPN in-between three and your home wifi.

Right now I have

Archer
goes into
WRT3200ACM with express vpn firmware installed
goes into
ORBI home wifi to get the signal through the house

Yeah, it's not a cheap setup, but now out in the country I have 50mbs flawless. Very happy.

There are very likely cheaper ways to achieve this but hopefully this triggers some ideas.

Finally, I did try setting up express VPN on the threeUK supplied 4g modem as it has space to do so. At the time I found that broke some things / it wasn't great so I removed those settings in the end. That may be worth exploring as perhaps with another VPN or your specific network setup that will work just fine.

Anyway, I hope this maybe helps someone smile

I have a similar setup although I use a Asus AC87U as my house wifi/router and on that I run the Merlin software with a Open VPN client.

The WAN port of the router is connected to the Three B310 which I have in DMZ mode.

I haven't had many issues with web pages not loading but sometimes it does happen and as soon as I switch on the VPN client on the Asus router it all works well.

I use NordVPN but I see Express VPN have also a configuration HERE for the Asus routers.

The best fix for Three's 9 month web page hanging/ high latency issues would be the following:

1. Three admits publicly it has an issue with its core network.
2. Three fixes it.

It all stemmed from them launching their 5g service in January, before then it worked. Whatever they did then, they can undo.

Expecting customers to go to the trouble of setting up VPN hardware or software to get around their networks problems is just ridiculous. Not that using a VPN has ever improved latency.

Edited by deleted (Sat 01-Aug-20 11:37:07)

You are not wrong. But my focus is on helping based on what is in our control in the meantime. I imagine it’s a complex issue for them to solve but here’s hoping they are working on it.

I know where you're coming from, I just don't think they are. Its not like they don't know about it, but the "pretending it don't happen" and actually addressing a technical issue like this shouldn't take this long to fix, unless you don't have the people in your company able to fix it anymore.

In reply to a post by buggerlugs:

I know where you're coming from, I just don't think they are. Its not like they don't know about it, but the "pretending it don't happen" and actually addressing a technical issue like this shouldn't take this long to fix, unless you don't have the people in your company able to fix it anymore.

Or they have decided at the strategic level that it is more important for their business to get on with 5G than it is to solve the problems about which a small part of their customer base is mithering.

If they think the Thinkbroadband thread "Is Three�s network struggling at the moment or is it just me? ( 6 pages long)" with 26388 views is just a small part of their customer base mithering then it speaks far greater of the company than its customers IMHO.

Btw, I didn't start that thread.

Edited by deleted (Sat 01-Aug-20 17:30:42)

In reply to a post by buggerlugs:

If they think the Thinkbroadband thread "Is Three�s network struggling at the moment or is it just me? ( 6 pages long)" with 26388 views is just a small part of their customer base mithering then it speaks far greater of the company than its customers IMHO.

Btw, I didn't start that thread.

I'm not trying to defend or castigate Three; I was just suggesting what might be behind their thinking.

Don't forget that the 26388 count increases by one every time anyone looks at the topic (so I've just increased the count by two by going into the topic twice). Over 14 pages there have certainly been less than 26388 individuals watching the topic. If we put a finger in the air at maybe 5000 individuals who have looked at the topic and consider that Three has a smaller customer base than some of the other network providers then even allowing for the fact that Three customers are more likely to look than customers of other Network Providers you might only be looking at 2000 or 3000 Three customers actively taking an interest and a much smaller number who have actively posted. Not good when anyone takes to a public forum to criticise a business but even if my guesstimates are a good way off I don't think that quoting the 26388 (and rising) is maybe giving a true picture of the situation.

Personally just wouldn't use it, most of the time EE is available where Three is so would use that instead,

It is pretty obvious Three are aware of the issue as ordering Home Broadband is now near impossible as its been removed from their website,

A network that is built on the cheap and then oversold cheap isn't worth getting involved with, can't see things getting any better with Huawei issues.

When EE offer a sensible unlimited package and signal in my area.

Until then.