5G Internet Showing Incorrect Location

cperg wrote:

So when I am using my 5G Samsung on T-Mobile I get accurate locations. When using the 5G T-Mobile ISP the location is not accurate. I see that the 5G modem is just a stripped down mobile phone. Why is the location different. Is it because the phone connects with a local server at the tower? and the 5G ISP service is going thru a microwave connection?

My guess is somewhere the phone is using GPS for location (it's called geolocation) and since the gateway doesn't have GPS, it defaults to the IP address. 

We are having this issue on the regular now with fubo and location not being where we are and not being able to get the local news. Doesn't seem there is a resolution so when I went on the hunt for other options, looks like I am going to try out slingtv because they have an option to allow for a physical antenna on my house to obtain my local stations and they load straight to the slingtv app. This may not be very helpful for rural locations, but there is a way to find the local channels dish locations and get a distance. 

Has anyone else tried this and have positive/negative remarks?

So when I am using my 5G Samsung on T-Mobile I get accurate locations. When using the 5G T-Mobile ISP the location is not accurate. I see that the 5G modem is just a stripped down mobile phone. Why is the location different. Is it because the phone connects with a local server at the tower? and the 5G ISP service is going thru a microwave connection?

Not defending TMHI, but I had COX Cable for almost 20 years. Started using HULU Live a year ago. 4 Times HULU gave me that message of location change. It finally wouldn't allow me to reset location and had to CHAT Hulu to reset. Chat agent confirmed home address and zip and changed it and said that should stay. So yeah it can happen with Cable Internet also. Now I'm on TMHI and this will probably happen sooner or later. I'll just CHAT Hulu if it gets stuck.

We recently switched from Verizon Wireless to T-Mobile looking to take advantage of the great TM cell plans and low-cost 5G internet. Thankfully I didn't cancel our current ISP (Wow! Internet) because the TM Gateway was a total headache for us and I've just canceled that service. 

The first issue we noticed is what's been discussed here: the location issues. We use HULU (Live) and it kept giving us the "It looks like you're not at home" message when we opened the app on our AppleTV. After an hourlong call with HULU I find out it's likely due to TM using a dynamic IP address, rather than a static one. The person at HULU said she would reset our location change limit (which is 4 location changes per year) because they are aware of the issue. I'm sure we could continue to call them to get it reset again but who the heck wants to keep having to do that regularly?

I spoke to TM tech Dept and they told me there's no way to set the IP to static with the Gateway router. They suggested getting a third-party router, switch or Smart extender that would allow us to set a static IP address for our devices to work off of. I asked if having a second router would slow down the speed - he said it wouldn't - if anything it would extend the range. He couldn't recommend a specific device or brand so I tried calling Best Buy (really the only option I know for this kind of question) but they were of no use -- the "Geek Squad" chat told me to call BB customer service, who then told me I should call Geek Squad, who transferred me back to CS again! Each time I'd have to explain the mouthful of a question. This went on for 40 minutes! 5-6 transfers until they finally "accidentally" disconnected my call. So, then we went to the brick & mortar Best Buy -- they were just as bad. It took them over 20 minutes to get someone to even acknowledge us, even after requesting assistance twice. Anyway, when we finally got someone to help us, he told us the TM Gateway is basically a "mobile hotspot" (which I'm sure is great if you're on the road in an RV), and the idea of using the second router or switch didn't make sense. So, I guess that's that. 

The second issue is the quality of the internet. I had no issues while on my computer but my son, who's a gamer, said his game was "laggy and unplayable" -- he was very frustrated and eventually went back to the old router via ethernet.

I was really hoping the TM internet would work out for us but, until they find a workaround for the IP location issues, we will have to use another ISP.  Bummer.

So...I am in Branson Missouri, my 5G antenna is line of sight 1.5 miles away, huge dropout during tourists seasons, but...acceptable and cheap at 35.00 p/mo.  however, I am located in Denver , imagine that, and what a pain that is. 800 miles away from here, and everyone has 50 to 100 etc.  Tales to TMO no answer, why is it that no one understands what we are talking about on this forum?  Century link ( twisted pair) has limited band width, sudden link/optimum are still basic

How can Elon Musk help the Ukraine fight a war with his system, and I cant watch cartoons/

T-Mobile:  The problem is understandable.  But why can there not be a way to PIN a Lat/Lng to the Server for location purposes like this?

Someone left this answer

Location for T-Mobile's 5G service reflects where the signal from the towers connects to ground based servers and infrastructure.  This can sometimes be hundreds of miles away and even further.  This is how the service works.

But no, this not how 5G works. This is how 4G works.

I'm sure if Homeland Security wants to know your device exact location down to 50 ft, T-Mobile home Internet will be able to provide that info.

I just signed up for the newly launched Amazon AD FREE PRIME VIDEO on 1/30/2024. The fee is $2.99  a month plus tax. Lee County Florida sales tax is 6.5%. I was charged $3.33. $2.99 x 6.5% is 19 cents not 34 so may total should have been $3.18. So I am thinking that this whole T-Mobile Dynamic IP address mayhem is the cause since my IP address is in Miami on Ookla as I write this and was in Boca Raton a half hour before that, both are over 100 miles away from my home address.

I contacted T-Mobile home internet to see if anyone knows anything about the issue and they don't and said it is an Amazon problem. I had called Amazon first and did not have any luck with Amazon customer service. It is really hard for any call center staff to comprehend that T-Mobile has assigned my internet service an IP address located over 100 miles away and it changes randomly from town to town throughout the day.

So my question is, and one that I will be asking the Lee County Commissioners, if I am paying 7.44% tax, when Lee County’s tax is 6.5, is the tax going to Miami Dade or Orange county when my IP address says I am in these counties and how much are the local governments loosing or gaining?

I will bet that if this ends up being a significant amount of loss for counties with smaller revenue that the government will make someone fix this mess.

In reference to "Papigoes" demeaning post in this thread, the reason I now use T-Mobile internet is because I WAS FORCED TO. I had a Centurylink Landline with DSL internet for 38 years in my rural area as there are no cable service providers, and satellite service blacks out too much with all the thunderstorms. Hurricane Ian decided, on September 28th 2022, to destroy Centurylink infrastructure in Lee County Florida and many other areas. It took Centurylink a month to fix the severed cable a ½ mile down the road and when rain, fog and gusting winds continued to make the internet and phone go out they sent 3 different Century link techs out over 6 weeks to fix the problem and the first 2 said someone needed to come out when the lines were wet, and the 3rd came out once again when the lines were dry and wanted to blame it on my electric fence that was not even working at the time because of Ian and the 30 plus trees that came down and smashed a lot of the fence, even though I had the same phone service that worked just fine for 38 years with the electric fence on the whole time. So I got enraged and cancelled Centurylink and 6 months later around June of 2023 when I called the local Centurylink supervisor{a tech had given me her number} to have someone come raise their cable up, because a Lowes delivery flatbed semi truck could not get on my property because the phone cable was still hanging 10 feet off the ground from Ian {and a call to the Fire Department said they need 12 ½ feet of clearance}, the supervisor told me they don't like to fix the old copper cables. Supposedly they are running fiber-optic out here in the Floriduh swamp but no one knows which century we will have service. 

I found out through lots of research in the weeks after Ian that a $1300 purchase for a Long Ranger cell antenna with a 20 mile range, and a Cel Fi GO X 32 signal booster would give me 5 bars of 5G in my metal mobile home, instead of the 1 bar of dropping service I got outside and none in the home, and I could do the troubleshooting and fix things myself rather than always have to wait hours, or days, or weeks, or months for the idiots form Centurylink to fix things. One time it took 6 months for them to figure out they needed to replace the buried cable from the road to the home which was over 300 feet long.

Dealing with this ongoing B.S. is a royal pain in the arse.

This could be fixed but T-Mobile does not want to spend the time to do it.

Each home router has a MAC address and all they need to do is assign that MAC address and static IP that is assign to that tower.

I have worked in IT / networking for 30 years, so them saying it can’t be done is BS and frustrating.