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tell-me-y's avatar
tell-me-y
Transmission Trainee
Hace 5 meses

WARNING!!! Aug 8, 2024 - Potential Flaws in G4AR 5G Gateway Firmware Update v1.00.09 Related to External Antenna Use

T-Mobile has recently updated the TMO-G4AR 5G Gateway firmware from v1.00.02 to v1.00.09.  Firmware updates are automatically performed between the hours of 1:00 am and 3:00 am and occur at different times in different regions over a period of weeks or months.  I cannot confirm the exact date my firmware was switched from v1.00.02 to v1.00.09 but based on extremely poor performance of my internet connection suddenly beginning on or about July 21, 2024, I would say that's when the firmware was updated.  My first assumption was that the tower serving my internet connection was undergoing maintenance or improvements.   

My T-Mobile internet service began in November 2023.  My location is near the bottom of a foothill canyon with sloping hillsides obscuring direct line of site to T-Mobile service towers.  It was absolutely necessary to install a several-hundred-dollar external 4G/5G internet antenna which provided sufficient T-Mobile 5G 2-bar (weak) reception at my location.  The 2-bar 5G reception was rock-solid and dependable until July 21, 2024.  Suddenly I was only getting 1-bar (poor) service showing on the gateway screen plus frequent internet disconnects lasting for hours.  Normally these disconnects would eventually reconnect all by themselves, but now they required a gateway restart.  By Aug 2, I was unable to reconnect the gateway to the internet at all.  

I've experienced periods of loss of internet service due to tower maintenance twice before this latest loss of internet service incident.  So, I decided to wait out the loss of service hoping for improved internet service when maintenance was completed.  But the interruptions of my internet service continued for nearly 2 weeks and were getting longer and worse.  I finally called T-Mobile technical help on Aug 2 to find out if maintenance was being performed on the T-Mobile tower.  The technician had great difficultly accessing a computer application that provided tower maintenance information, but finally concluded that the tower was NOT undergoing maintenance.  However, data showing an exceptionally large number of internet disconnections of my internet service over those 2 weeks in question convinced the technician that there was indeed a problem and offered to immediately ship a new G4AR Gateway for me try to see if my current gateway had a problem.  I accepted the offer. 

After calling T-Mobile technical help, I made another attempt to reconnect my gateway to the internet.  This time I first switched the antenna connection from "external" to "internal" and then disconnected and reconnected the power to the gateway to restart it.  The gateway restarted and reconnected to the 4G and then to the 5G network on the "internal" antenna, oddly showing 2-bar reception.  Reception on the "internal" antenna is extremely poor and slow with totally unusable download speed, and yet it is given 2-bars???  I switched the gateway back to the "external" antenna and it finally connected to the 5G network with only 1-bar showing.  But now on my computer, the reception speed was nearly just as good as it had been prior to July 21 with 2-bars showing.  Something was weird...  I found the gateway would remain connected to the internet so long as I had an active website running.  Without an active website running, the gateway eventual disconnected, and I had to again manually switch from "external" to "internal" antenna and restart the gateway all over again to reconnect to the internet on the "external" antenna every time there was a disconnection!!!  Extremely annoying!!!  Clearly something was faulty in handling the gateway's internal connection to the "external" antenna.  And that was the problem!!!

3 days later after Aug 2, I received and connected the new replacement G4AR Gateway to my computer.  First, the SIM Cards were swapped between the old and new G4ARs.  It's a bitch to disconnect and reconnect the very stiff external antenna coax cables to the tiny, cramped G4AR antenna connectors.  I had to first reinstall 4 L- connector adapters before reconnecting the stiff antenna cables.  Finally, the new G4AR was connected to the computer, and I used the T-Mobile Internet app (emulated on my PC) and my PC webcam to scan in the info from the G4AR QR code and initialize the gateway settings.  I also added the new gateway to the emulated T-Life app on my PC.  The new G4AR came with v1.00.02 firmware installed.  With the "external" antenna connected, the gateway screen displayed a 2-bar (weak) 5G signal, just like my old gateway displayed prior to July 21.  It looked like the new G4AR solved my problems with the "external" antenna connection until it turned 1:00 am.  That's when the G4AR began receiving the v1.00.09 firmware update from T-Mobile.  I witnessed the v1.00.09 firmware being fully installed on the new G4AR.  I had to switch to "internal" antenna and restart the gateway to get it going.  Finally, I switched to "external" antenna and got 5G going.  Now after the v1.00.02 firmware was replaced, instead of 2-bars, only 1-bar (poor) was showing on the gateway screen.  Now it became very clear.  The G4AR gateway is NOT the damn problem!!!  The problem is the damn v1.00.09 firmware!!!!!!  It does NOT properly handle the switching between "internal" and "external" antennas!!!!!!!!!  That said, the new G4AR did reveal there was a problem in the old G4AR.  The old G4AR had a tendency to randomly and frequently disconnect the gateway from the internet.  The new G4AR does not randomly disconnect from the internet (at least not frequently), and it eventually reconnects to the internet all by itself if it does disconnect.  

The new G4AR varies between displaying 1-bar and 2-bars on the screen, not rock-solid, but I do receive the internet at nearly the same speed as before July 21 (which is typically between 7 and 11 Mbps download, 1.5 to 3.0 Mbps upload with excursions beyond.)  However, the v1.00.09 firmware is definitely flawed and NOT properly tested by T-Mobile's software "experts".  It does not properly handle the G4AR's "external" antenna switching function and is NOT displaying the appropriate signal bar strength.  The low bar strength may be related to the problem of the G4AR randomly disconnecting the gateway from the internet because it perceives the signal as being too weak to be received.  Since the problem is exclusive to those T-Mobile internet customers who rely on external antennas, the fault in v1.00.09 was likely overlooked by T-Mobile firmware programmers.  Another issue that needs to be addressed is that the T-Life app omits important Gateway information that is available on the T-Mobile Internet app which includes the Firmware version number.  That information should NOT be omitted from the T-Life app!!!!!!!!!!  Why was it omitted?????  Also, why doesn't the T-Life app display the signal strength bar pattern as shown on the gateway screen like the T-Mobile Internet app????????

  • tell-me-y's avatar
    tell-me-y
    Transmission Trainee

    Sep 10, 2024 - First Experiences with New G4AR V1.00.12 Firmware Update

    The first thing to note about v1.00.12, after sitting inactive for a while or after restarting the gateway, is that the gateway comes up in the 4G mode when the internet is connected.  The gateway will automatically switch to the 5G mode (if available) when you begin any internet activity on your computer.  "Advanced cellular metrics" on your T-Mobile Internet app for 5G will be "lined-out" until there is internet activity on your computer.  5G metrics will then be displayed until internet activity stops.  5G metrics again become "lined-out" when internet activity ceases.  Why v1.00.12 does this, who knows?  It's very annoying, but not harmful.

    The G4AR gateway under v1.00.12 will restart properly whether the antenna switch is in "Internal" o "External" mode (unlike v1.00.09).  The gateway will properly restart via the T-Mobile Internet app while you are seated at your computer terminal.  With v1.00.12, there is no need to get up and physically go to G4AR to switch the antenna from "External" para "Internal" mode, power down, and then switch back to "External" mode if you are using an external antenna.

    So far, I have NOT experienced any unwanted random internet disconnects with v1.00.12.  It appears v1.00.12 has eliminated the major problems that were in v1.00.09.  However, I am still unable to clear or remove the persistent Aug 13 message that confirmed receipt of the month's payment for internet service.  It reappears every time the gateway is restarted despite being "DISMISSED" over and over.  A factory reset also DOES NOT delete that Aug 13 message, and T-Mobile provides NO WAY to remove the message!!!

    With regard to the T-Life app, T-Life does not provide the "Gateway information" that is provided in the T-Mobile Internet app which includes the "Firmware version".  If you can't install the T-Mobile Internet app, you have NO WAY to know what firmware version is installed on your G4AR gateway!!!  That is absolutely NECESSARY information and TODO el "Gateway information" available on the T-Mobile Internet app SHOULD be included in the T-Life app including the "Connection quality" bar display that matches the display on the G4AR gateway!!!  Hay NO REASON to omit this critical information and keep it from T-Mobile customers!!!  Does T-Mobile think its customers are too stupid to have this information???  I am only using the App T-Mobile Internet.  I don't want anything to do with the T-Life app.  It's total CRAP!!!
     

  • Paraquat67's avatar
    Paraquat67
    Transmission Trainee

    How can I get the internet app instead of this T-Life they make us newer users use? (LOL)!

  • tell-me-y's avatar
    tell-me-y
    Transmission Trainee

    5 de sep, de 2024 - G4AR 5G Gateway firmware update v1.00.09 Continued Problems

    I continue to have issues with the G4AR 5G Gateway firmware update v1.00.09.  I traced some of the problem to be due to loose coax cable connectors on the external antenna coax where they connect to the gateway.  The loosening of the connectors was, in fact, due to frequent handling of the gateway to power down and restart the gateway to reconnect it with the internet BECAUSE of v1.00.09 causing frequent internet disconnects!  I have reinstalled new connectors firmly onto the coax cable and eliminated that problem resulting in far fewer internet disconnects and increased download speeds up to and beyond 16 Mbps.  But problems remain.  With v1.00.02, the gateway always displayed a solid 2-bar 5G signal strength for the external antenna.  With v1.00.09, the gateway display continues to waver between 1-bar and 2-bars, even though speed checks show the same download and upload speeds that v1.00.02 provided previously.  If the gateway disconnects from the internet, it is necessary to PRIMERO switch the antenna from external to internal antenna mode, and LUEGO power down and restart the gateway to reconnect the internet to 4G service.  LUEGO I need to switch back to external antenna mode to restore 5G service.  This is a major v1.00.09 defect!  I SHOULD be able to keep the antenna mode ALWAYS set to external antenna mode!  

    I SOLAMENTE use an external antenna to receive internet service!  Plus, every time the internet disconnects, I have to hike the length of my home to physically push the "Change Antenna" button on the gateway to be able to restart it.  I can't just sit at my computer terminal and restart the gateway in peace via the T-Mobile Internet app after it disconnects.  I have extreme leg pain problems, and it hurts a lot every time I have to walk the length of my home to restart the gateway!  Esta EXCEEDINGLY annoying!  Firmware v1.00.09 is NO handling the connection to external antennas properly or properly measuring the signal strength received from the external antenna, causing problems with both the signal power bar display and creating the need to switch to internal antenna mode to restart it.  Another annoying flaw is that v1.00.09 NEVER CLEARS messages!!!  Every time I restart the gateway, a message dated August 13 confirming "my monthly service payment had been applied" keeps reappearing despite "DISMISSING" the message over and over again!!!  

    Also, the T-Life app continues to need to be able to display the gateway firmware version number and needs to have a bar display of the signal strength just like the T-Mobile Internet app does!  NOTHING IS BEING DONE TO CORRECT THESE PROBLEMS, AND I AM MAD AS HELL!!!

  • I don't know if your able to run the old TM Internet app with the G4AR or not, but if you can, there is a tab in there with "advanced metrics" that provides a lot more information than just "number of bars".  It would be interesting to see if the bands are changing around when you switch the antenna selection.  It may even be that you are changing cell towers completely.  If it's the later, you may be able to call T mobile and have them lock out the problematic tower.  It may be that the firmware update is just not playing well with your particular circumstances.  Advanced metrics may shed some light on it.

  • tell-me-y's avatar
    tell-me-y
    Transmission Trainee

    Sep 9, 2024 - New G4AR Firmware Update to V1.00.12 from V1.00.09 Today!
    Now I am really confused.  My G4AR Gateway was updated to firmware version v1.00.12 from v1.00.09 today.  The G4AR display and T-Mobile Internet app now no longer show an internet connection to 5G, ONLY 4G!!!  However, the 4G download and upload speeds now seem to be about the same as the former 5G speeds.  The former 4G speeds were unusably slow.  So, am I really connected to 5G???  I have yet to see if any internet disconnects from v1.00.12 occur so far, but I am watching closely.  The Aug 13 message confirming "payment of my internet bill" still came up again when the gateway was restarted.  I will see if that Aug 13 message was really "dismissed" this time the next time I restart the gateway.  What other new problems will there be with this new firmware version v1.00.12???   Do I still need to switch to "interna" antenna first before restarting the gateway?  I will be finding out soon!

    • JimmyJoeBob's avatar
      JimmyJoeBob
      Network Novice

      This past week, my G4AR began losing its LTE connection to the same tower that provides our 5G service, and using Hint (https://github.com/zacharee/HINTControl/releases for the Windows / xNix / Mac releases) to get more connection details, discovered that when this happens, the gateway indicates a negative number for the gNBID (tower id). The only thing that can resolve this is a factory reset, which lasts no more than a day.
      Like you, I don't know when the gateway got infected with version 1.00.12, and I also was wondering about a hardware failure (been running pretty solidly for almost a year) until I read your adventures.