These are networking/routing/ISP issues
If there are packet problems you'll get blank servers and crashes while zoning. Where most modern programs/games will verify and request new packets, old EQ does not do this and is not fault tolerant.
Sometimes its shotty wifi and going wired can alleviate problems. Sometimes its routing/ISP issues you can do very little about. If you have access to a VPN or tether/hotspot theres a chance it can bypass routing related issues
One thing you can try with the blank server list is Middlemand. Its a login helper that filters the list so it only tries to load Project1999 servers limiting the traffic its trying to load. You do have to edit your eqhost for it to work, the download/instructions are on its Github page
https://github.com/rm-you/p99-login-middlemand/releases