One Tuesday morning, her network dropped to 30 Mbps. The 5G icon was gone. Only 4G remained. After rebooting, resetting, and repositioning the router, nothing worked. The 5G band (n78) she relied on had simply vanished.
Frustrated, she logged into the admin panel: Firmware Version: V1.00(ABUV.0)b12 . She then visited a niche ISP forum. There, she discovered the truth: Three UK had pushed an Over-the-Air (OTA) firmware update overnight. The new firmware (b13) wasn't buggy—it was intentional . It had disabled specific 5G bands to prioritize traffic for newer, more expensive plans. Her "unlimited" plan was now throttled in firmware, not just policy. nr5103e firmware
The screen flashed. The router rebooted. And there it was—the 5G icon, solid as a rock. 620 Mbps. She had won. One Tuesday morning, her network dropped to 30 Mbps