Forum Discussion
5G home internet keeps dropping
I'm having a problem with T-Mobile 5g home internet that has not been resolved despite many calls in to the help line. I've had T-Mobile 5g home internet for almost a month now, and the short version is that every so often the gateway drops the network. When I say "drop the network," I mean to say it throws everything off of the Wifi that it's broadcasting, and anything plugged in via ethernet says "no network found. (To elaborate this point, cell phones switch to cellular data because wifi is gone for them, and computers hardwired into the gateway think that they are no longer plugged into anything.) Turning off the gateway and turning it back on resolves the issue, but doesn't prevent it from happening again. Whatever is happening doesn't seem to affect our connection speed/strength when the gateway IS providing signal to devices in the home, but due to the nature of our work, we need a connection that won't just disconnect randomly.
To address this, T-mobile has so far run a bunch of tests on their end, and seem to have ruled out a tower issue (which makes sense, as the tower shouldn't have anything to do with whether or not the devices on the gateway's wifi or ethernet connection get thrown off of the network.) They've sent me a replacement gateway, which is experiencing the exact same problem (3 times in the last 36 hours, in fact). I've noticed that the device gets pretty warm, so I set up a computer case fan as a cooler to force air through the device, thinking that perhaps it's an issue with the device overheating. However, while the gateway is notably cooler than it was without the fan, it has not prevented the issue from persisting. The last thing that I can think to do (and my most recent attempt at resolving this issue) is to plug a router into the gateway via ethernet, and allow the router to handle the wifi/connections w/ devices in the house, and to disable wifi from the gateway all together. Maybe the gateway is simply too overburdened with connections and gets somehow overwhelmed and shuts down, and having the router handle the "heavy lifting" of taking care of all of the individual device connections will resolve it? I don't have a great deal of faith that this will fix the issue (as the gateway also kicks ethernet things off of the network when it experiences this problem), but I'm running out of options/ideas of what to do in order to just get a stable, constant internet service.
Is anybody else having this issue, has anybody resolved this issue, or does anybody have any advice or feedback regarding how I might get this resolved so that I can get back to having stable internet?
Constantly drops. I changed from the white gateway to the 5g round black gateway hoping to get away from the disconnecting issue...I still disconnect from the internet for extended periods a day, multiple times a day.
The app shows that all is well and connected to the internet but that is not the case. This internet is very unreliable and frustrating. I have to manually reload several of the devices that get kicked from the internet.
I will be forced to cancel the service if this continues...confidence in the TMOBILE products is deteriorating.
@jdt254 already linked to my overheating post. Even with two cooling fans running when I was using the built-in wi-fi I would still lose my connection every few days. Offloading the wi-fi to a dedicated router helped me get an 18 day uptime. I think I managed to crash it last night with a solid upload and download running at the same time. I'm also only getting a 4G connection. If you're getting 5G speeds it may run even hotter. I would definitely switch to a dedicated wi-fi router though. Rebooting twice a month is much better than rebooting twice a day.
If you can't get any help from T-Mobile's support staff, take your complaint to the FCC (see my signature for a link to their complaint department). If the FCC accepts it, they'll forward your complaint to T-Mobile who has to respond to your issues. I'm still in the middle of my own complaint without much change in T-Mobile's behavior, but it did give me a chance to speak with someone from T-Mobile's Office of the President. Still waiting to see the results of my pestering, but if they think they're going to blow me off that easy, they're underestimating the stubbornness of a pissed off consumer, haha.
Unfortunately you aren't the only one having these issues. A quick search on this site will show you how many others are experiencing connection drops, speed issues, and general dissatisfaction with T-Mobile's Home Internet service.
This thread discusses the overheating issue, but since it hasn't fixed your problem, it probably won't do you any good.
https://community.t-mobile.com/tv-home-internet-7/home-internet-overheating-36560
There is another thread that talked about connecting the gateway to a router like you talked about toward the end of your message. From what I remember reading, that may not be the solution you're hoping for either. If I can find that thread, I'll link if here too.
I know this hasn't helped any, and I wish someone who actually works for T-Mobile would address these concerns. From my experience, constant pestering has gotten me further up the chain-of-command to voice my complaints, but even that hasn't gotten me any closer to resolving my own issues. Not trying to discourage you, but if you have any other internet options, you may consider switching.
T-Mobile's Home Internet push, particularly to rural Americans with no alternatives, has been plagued with issues, ranging from inadequate service, gateway device problems, and unethical billing/benefit practices. It's a mess, and if T-Mobile actually cared about its customer base, they wouldn't roll out a service with so many issues.
(Here is the link I referenced before https://community.t-mobile.com/other-devices-11/alternative-router-for-home-internet-service-need-bridgemode-33531)
