Forum Discussion
No internet on T-Mobile Hotspot
I recently purchased a T-Mobile 5G hotspot. The problem I'm having is, when I turn it on it boots fine but is VERY slow to connect to the internet. I get at least 3 or more bars (usually 4 or 5) of 5G service, but the checkmark next to the globe stays an X with no internet. If I power cycle the unit it will sometimes connect right away but not always. Is this normal?
I had the Insego hotspot prior to getting the Nokia gateway. The downside of the hotspot for me was the cost and streaming was eating up our bandwidth so that ended up being returned. If you don't need the mobile hotspot for the home the gateway is a much better deal. I am not familiar with the newer hotspots as that just has little attraction for me. If I need a temp hotspot I also just use my iPhone. Sorry I have no useful feedback on the hotspot really. If they are turning up refurbished so inexpensive and plentiful maybe that is a bit of a sign that they are not terribly reliable. I don't know.
Just received a second T-Mobile 5G hotspot device for comparison. This one behaves much better. Connects to the internet each time I power it up and does so fairly quickly. Returned the first refurbished unit from Amazon for an exchange. I'll see if the replacement behaves like the second one I picked up on eBay. If not, then I'll return it for a refund and look elsewhere. I'll be keeping my eyes open for a Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro that's selling for a good price. Those have very good reviews.
Replacement unit arrived today. This one works properly as well. So far it charges battery, powers up, gets 5G service and connects to the internet. All of this without having to be power cycled and in a fairly short time.
So, now I have two working Quanta D53 5G hotspots in good working order. Each one has its own SIM card so I can load both up if I need the extra data and I have a spare device if one craps out. I plan on doing a fair amount of streaming in a few weeks, so I'll have a good test. So far all I've done is stream an hour of 720P video (Star Trek) on my Roku and visited a few web sites. The video ate up about 900MB of data. At that rate I can stream over 50 hours of movies on my 50GB prepaid plan. That's a good bit of streaming for what I need it for. :)
Keep in mind that these have been "refurbished" units. Right now the score is 2 good out of 3 with the 3rd on working but slow and constant restarts to get it to connect initially. Once connected, it did work for the most part.
