Home Internet Gateway Needs Reboot Multiple Times Daily, Internet Access Dropping

I have been on the T-Mobile home internet solution since January of 2021 at what appears to have been toward the end of the BETA period. The Nokia router I have is hardware revision 3TG00739AAAA and it is currently on the 1.2103.00.0338 software version. I have seen at least 3-4 software updates; all appear to take place upon a reboot if it is available. I could not get a download image or push it myself so I believe that is just the T-Mobile control factor. 

I have not observed heat issues with mine. I stated the hardware revision as is could be important. I worked in the industry for 22 years and I know manufacturing runs can have issues. A build manufacturer might use components that are not to the original specifications and a whole release of product is compromised. I have suspected the heat issues might be with the improper bonding of the heat sinks on the chips or not present at all. The insides are pretty obscure so you would have to dig in deep to investigate. Nokia would know how/why the hardware revisions are determined but if it is due to cost cutting for manufacturing, well, not likely they will fess up to that.

In the early 2-3 weeks after obtaining the router we did experience some repeated cellular disruptions. Then the router ran pretty great till June when there were repeated disruptions for 7-10 days. After three calls to T-Mobile support they stated there was work on the tower equipment as upgrades were necessary. It would be nice IF T-Mobile would notify customers in advance of doing work in given locations. This would prevent customers from wasting a bunch of time chasing after issues that are not present. Taking a more proactive support mode makes sense to gain customer loyalty. I don't think they quite get that or the powers that control matters don't want to invest in the support initiative.

I believe is could be a very good thing if there is a new improved router to be released. That is if it is truly better for the customer base and not just a tighter control element for T-Mobile visibility to traffic. Nokia has been in the industry a long time now but over time things change so how they may have done things in the early days vs. how they operate now could be very different. 

Even with the current router the web management interface could use some improvements. The features present with the Nokia router are pretty limited. A more robust router with more local controls would be a welcome addition. The current management options are not impressive. The mobile application is a waste of time and i have found it to be so useless that I removed it from my phone as it would usually hang up and I would have to reboot my iPhone 12 Pro just to get the thing shut down. 

The cellular signal bouncing is a very frustrating issue. The inconsistent service delivery for speeds and quality of signal is another. Local WIFI seem to work well enough but lacks controls. I have used wireless scanners and I used cellmapper.net to identify the towers. CellMapper is only 70-80% accurate for data but is one of the best tools for tower location. The 4G LTE is more complete and I have found the 5G NR PCI values not present on some towers. A call to T-Mobile support and asking them for coordinates to the tower is possible and I recommend it. If the tower is too far away and/or the topology of the landscape between the tower and router is suspect this is important to know. In some locations it is just not possible to obtain a strong, clean signal from the tower. With wireless transmissions there can be external factors that are difficult to resolve. In some cases using an external antenna can improve the solution and make it work. Waveform.com is a vendor that has antenna solutions and they have clear documentation on making the antenna setup and placement. They have engineers that will talk to you and answer questions. 

There are multiple ways to resolve some of the issues and understand what is going on. I found it took a bit of research online and testing here and just trying multiple different locations and positions with the router before I found the optimal location. You can't optimize the router location with the LED on the top of the router. Making a wired connection to the router and using the web interface is pretty important. Understanding the various RF connectivity factors is also necessary. There is a great deal of information online and a quick search of something you observe in the web interface that you don't understand can help resolve problems. When posting to the community more information is better than just a one line obscure statement. 

I spent considerable time getting the solution optimized so I do know it can be frustrating. The T-Mobile solution is maybe not the best for every location but for many users, like us, it has been the most economical and works pretty solid now. The community is a good place to start and on Reddit there are some good conversations. Some are bash sessions and others actually have good information and are worth reading.