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?
Mark H wrote:
Sorry, 007BondMI6, but it is not helpful to misdirect to every other possible cause in the universe (maybe it’s caused by Space Lasers!).
have to suffer because they are selling a defective service and have people willing to run interference for them. Spare me the "just trying to help" BS. You are trying to DEFLECT. Simple y claro.
Here is the larger question, has anyone has "reliable" service with T-Mobile's 5G service, not just with the gateway but with your mobile phone? Because i have not. With 4G, it's always been responsive unless the signal was too week. But with 5G, there are times it just STOPS working (drops out), where upload is non-existent. (Ran multiple speed test to confirm this.)
This frustrates me because T-Mobile advertises this AMAZING 5G service that is unstable and unreliable, not just for the Home Internet but for the mobile devices as well. I have to take my phone's settings and turn off the 5G part to have reliable connections.
Here is the big thing. For a Home Router, that has massive antenna's compared to my phone, meaning it should have a stronger and betting quality signal than me phone has, has a WORSE connection.
If it is really the towers, then why does my phone work better?
TBH, this is the first get of a 5G product. Like WIFI 6, it is also new. So i expect it will be 1-2 years before we have reliable consistent products for the 5G space. I have tried to look for alternative home routers and home everything is about $1k in prices for a 5G router. You know T-Mobile isn't giving you, for free, a $1k dollar home router.Mark H wrote:
I seems more than arrogant and condescending for you to conclude that if people take issue with your attitude then they don't want help. You have great service and that much is clear. This is about those people who are not so lucky.
You could have great service too if you would just post your readings and take advice. You seem like you more want to complain about your bad service then be helped. Remember at first I did not have good service I had issues like you. I had to do my own investigation and figure out where towers were what band they had and where I could get the best signal. Only after moving my unit around for oh like a month and adding and ext ant did I find a great spot with great service.
Maybe you misunderstand me you said “My Gateway has been in the same place it always has been and shows three bars consistently, sometimes four. I don't move it around like a cell phone. What an inane "suggestion."
As I have stated so many time Bars mean nothing at all it is the signal quality that matters. So you could have 5 bars and such a low SNR that it just does not work. So if you post real data not bars you could be helped. If you search you will find post where people move it around have less bars but better signal quality and better service with less bars. So no I am not insane but you are a fool if you think moving it around won't help you. But you know keep it just where you have it and keep complaining about your service I guess. If you knew even a little about how signals work you would understand that moving it would help. But again seems like the bars are really working for you so keep on that path and don't accept help. Why take 2 seconds to post your reading and get some real advice when you can keep saying that you have 3-4 bars and bad service, sounds like a plan to me.
Again if you really wanted help with far less effort you could have posted your signal readings and already had some solid advice. The fact that you have not is what indicates you really don't want help. People that want help take advice when it's given and don't keep posting about their problems over and over.
I seems more than arrogant and condescending for you to conclude that if people take issue with your attitude then they don't want help. You have great service and that much is clear. This is about those people who are not so lucky.
Mark H wrote:
Sorry, 007BondMI6, but it is not helpful to misdirect to every other possible cause in the universe (maybe it’s caused by Space Lasers!).
My Gateway has been in the same place it always has been and shows three bars consistently, sometimes four. I don't move it around like a cell phone. What an inane "suggestion."
I am not stupid and I know where the admin web-based interface is (and you can actually get to it when the router is down, showing the cell connection is fine but the Gateway is not providing routing access to the internet). If it's all a simple explanation that is technically viable, then T-Mobile should have that explanation on "speed dial" as a document that can be examined and verified. They should ALSO have a "logging" tool on the Gateway to facilitate troubleshooting… it has a web server on it, so there MUST be some kind of operating system. I went poking around this morning and I cannot even find ANY means to identify any of the 20 devices it says are connected. I thought, well, maybe I can just start blocking access by each device to see if THAT is the problem. But I cannot even see what's connecting (which is more than bizarre… seems like a security vulnerability to me).
I guess we just have to suffer because they are selling a defective service and have people willing to run interference for them. Spare me the "just trying to help" BS. You are trying to DEFLECT. Simple y claro.
OK if you don't want to post signal readings you don't want help that's ok with me as my setup works great. BTW that is a copy past as I need to post the same info for so many posts so it's generic not to you personally. If people can post signal I can offer advice to help them if not well they must not actually want help.
Sorry, 007BondMI6, but it is not helpful to misdirect to every other possible cause in the universe (maybe it’s caused by Space Lasers!).
My Gateway has been in the same place it always has been and shows three bars consistently, sometimes four. I don't move it around like a cell phone. What an inane "suggestion."
I am not stupid and I know where the admin web-based interface is (and you can actually get to it when the router is down, showing the cell connection is fine but the Gateway is not providing routing access to the internet). If it's all a simple explanation that is technically viable, then T-Mobile should have that explanation on "speed dial" as a document that can be examined and verified. They should ALSO have a "logging" tool on the Gateway to facilitate troubleshooting… it has a web server on it, so there MUST be some kind of operating system. I went poking around this morning and I cannot even find ANY means to identify any of the 20 devices it says are connected. I thought, well, maybe I can just start blocking access by each device to see if THAT is the problem. But I cannot even see what's connecting (which is more than bizarre… seems like a security vulnerability to me).
I guess we just have to suffer because they are selling a defective service and have people willing to run interference for them. Spare me the "just trying to help" BS. You are trying to DEFLECT. Simple y claro.
Mark H wrote:
I guess I should have searched for customer comment on this before wasting weeks with T-Mobile tech support and having them ship me a replacement which did the same thing. I have the same issue… good cellular signal to a nearby 4G/5G tower, but the ROUTER inside the Gateway just quits connecting any devices to the Internet (whether the devices are Ethernet or WiFi). The "tech experts" all seem to be overseas working from farmhouses (I heard a rooster crowing the day for a long time during the call) and really have no technical expertise at all. They have a script that they run no matter what. They start with, “They are working on the tower.” But when I say, “OK, if there is a temporary outage when they work on the tower, wouldn’t the device automatically reconnect after they are done?,” it’s a hard question “off the script” and they have no answer, which means they really don’t know the technology at all, so they just pivot to some other nonsense.
I asked if there was an engineer who could look at the operating system and logs of the Home Gateway I have to see what is failing and when. No. Customers cannot talk to engineers.
They told me I could suspend the service and not be charged for it and then try later in a few months after tower work (which is not going to fix a damn thing).
It blows me away that SO MANY CUSTOMERS are clearly experiencing the same problem and T-Mobile just deploys human robots who pretend the problem is mine and ignore the systemic nature of the problem.
So I guess I will have to write to T-Mobile corporate... and the FCC… and my Congressional representatives about this. There is NO WAY that T-Mobile should get ONE DIME of the new infrastructure money when it is clear they have a DEFECTIVE product/service and repeatedly demonstrate they just don't care as long as they get their money. They need to DOMESTICATE their Home Internet tech support and staff it with competent experts, not script-reading robots based overseas you can barely understand.
First have you ever been on other forums? Verizon. Comcast same post so this is not just TM.
Bars mean nothing what matters is the signal quality.
Phone app is a bit limited go to 192.168.12.1 on your computer web browser.
First page expand Primary and secondary internet connection signal all that info is needed screen shot ok too.
Then on the left click Status and again expand Primary and secondary cellular network again all that data or screenshot.
Again need
RSRP
SNR
RSRQ
RSSI
For both primary and secondary.
And Band for both.
With this info we can help you.
RSRP the lower the number the better.
SNR higher is better on this one.
RSRQ lower is better.
RSSI lower is better.
This is not really a take out of box plug in and put it anywhere and it works for everyone. Example does your cell phone work the same in every spot/everywhere? No it does not some spots are better some are worse some are terrible. So like any radio device you have to find a good spot. It may take you some work to find the right spot if that's not your game maybe this is not for you. I am just trying to help you so you can find a good spot and then you get good speeds. I now get at least 650 down most of the time 150 up I pay 1/3 of the price I paid Comcast I also have not data cap. As I said in another post last month I did some moving of pictures to cloud storage used over 2TB of data if I was with Comcast that would have put me over my data cap and cost me an additional $200. So for me it was worth investing some time to find out what I needed to know to get it working well.
But yes this is not like say cable that has yes a cable so it works (well most of the time with Comcast) it uses a wireless signal and you have to find a good spot to receive that signal.
Again think of it like your cell phone it does not work perfect in every single spot everywhere.
I am just trying to help you out if that’s what you are interested in.
I guess I should have searched for customer comment on this before wasting weeks with T-Mobile tech support and having them ship me a replacement which did the same thing. I have the same issue… good cellular signal to a nearby 4G/5G tower, but the ROUTER inside the Gateway just quits connecting any devices to the Internet (whether the devices are Ethernet or WiFi). The "tech experts" all seem to be overseas working from farmhouses (I heard a rooster crowing the day for a long time during the call) and really have no technical expertise at all. They have a script that they run no matter what. They start with, “They are working on the tower.” But when I say, “OK, if there is a temporary outage when they work on the tower, wouldn’t the device automatically reconnect after they are done?,” it’s a hard question “off the script” and they have no answer, which means they really don’t know the technology at all, so they just pivot to some other nonsense.
I asked if there was an engineer who could look at the operating system and logs of the Home Gateway I have to see what is failing and when. No. Customers cannot talk to engineers.
They told me I could suspend the service and not be charged for it and then try later in a few months after tower work (which is not going to fix a damn thing).
It blows me away that SO MANY CUSTOMERS are clearly experiencing the same problem and T-Mobile just deploys human robots who pretend the problem is mine and ignore the systemic nature of the problem.
So I guess I will have to write to T-Mobile corporate... and the FCC… and my Congressional representatives about this. There is NO WAY that T-Mobile should get ONE DIME of the new infrastructure money when it is clear they have a DEFECTIVE product/service and repeatedly demonstrate they just don't care as long as they get their money. They need to DOMESTICATE their Home Internet tech support and staff it with competent experts, not script-reading robots based overseas you can barely understand.
R Wolf wrote:
007BondMI6 wrote:
Did you say you have an external ant? If you do is it a good one? I bought a few and some are real junk like aluminum foil inside actual junk. Maybe you are pointing to the wrong tower as Cellmapper is so out of date.
You’re telling me. We did the 2x2 MIMO Log Periodic 4G/5G Hotspot/Router External Antenna Kit from Waveform. https://www.waveform.com/a/b/guides/hotspots/t-mobile-5g-gateway
The original results posted were before connecting the antenna. After connecting, nothing.
I did validate that the PCI and EARFCN numbers did correspond to the numbers in CellMapper.net to the tower we pointed the antenna too that is 2 miles away. I am heading back out tonight and will attempt to point it to another tower that is further away BUT it has an antenna that is actually pointed into our direction.
I also did testing with the waveform app (on LTE though because their 5G side in the app doesn't work) and that is where i was able to see some interesting results. (I have T-Mobile cell service on my phone to perform these tests.)
NombreBanda Tecnología Proveedor Latency [ms] Download [Mbit/s] Upload [Mbit/s] RSRQ [dB] SINR RSRP [dBm] adentro 71 (624.5 MHz) 4G 310260 55 2.2 1.9 -16 0.3 -113 Front West side 2 (1960.1 MHz) 4G 310260 47 4.58 0.15 -15 -2.2 -112 North side 2 (1960.1 MHz) 4G 310260 506 7.44 2.51 -13 0 -111 East side 2 (1960.1 MHz) 4G 310260 171 8.39 4.51 -12 -0.7 -112 South side 12 (731.5 MHz) 4G 310260 833 19 1.99 -18 -5.9 -115 roof 2 (1960.1 MHz) 4G 310260 75 5.35 1.08 -13 -1.3 -110 BTW I have calle TMHI support a few times to get cell tower details including location, bands,… they had no issue giving me this info so I could make accurate mapping of my area and plot out the best location to put the ant for tower alignment. The waveform ant are excellent you just need to find the best spot.
007BondMI6 wrote:
Did you say you have an external ant? If you do is it a good one? I bought a few and some are real junk like aluminum foil inside actual junk. Maybe you are pointing to the wrong tower as Cellmapper is so out of date.
You’re telling me. We did the 2x2 MIMO Log Periodic 4G/5G Hotspot/Router External Antenna Kit from Waveform. https://www.waveform.com/a/b/guides/hotspots/t-mobile-5g-gateway
The original results posted were before connecting the antenna. After connecting, nothing.
I did validate that the PCI and EARFCN numbers did correspond to the numbers in CellMapper.net to the tower we pointed the antenna too that is 2 miles away. I am heading back out tonight and will attempt to point it to another tower that is further away BUT it has an antenna that is actually pointed into our direction.
I also did testing with the waveform app (on LTE though because their 5G side in the app doesn't work) and that is where i was able to see some interesting results. (I have T-Mobile cell service on my phone to perform these tests.)
NombreBanda Tecnología Proveedor Latency [ms] Download [Mbit/s] Upload [Mbit/s] RSRQ [dB] SINR RSRP [dBm] adentro 71 (624.5 MHz) 4G 310260 55 2.2 1.9 -16 0.3 -113 Front West side 2 (1960.1 MHz) 4G 310260 47 4.58 0.15 -15 -2.2 -112 North side 2 (1960.1 MHz) 4G 310260 506 7.44 2.51 -13 0 -111 East side 2 (1960.1 MHz) 4G 310260 171 8.39 4.51 -12 -0.7 -112 South side 12 (731.5 MHz) 4G 310260 833 19 1.99 -18 -5.9 -115 roof 2 (1960.1 MHz) 4G 310260 75 5.35 1.08 -13 -1.3 -110 R Wolf wrote:
007BondMI6 wrote:
Currently we also have it plugged into a UPS as well.
The last time it was up, this is the results
Primary: Band B2, PCI 466, EARFCN 901
RSRP -118dBm This is the worst it can get you really have not signal.
SNR 1 dB Super bad only thing worse is 0
RSRQ -17dB Just Bad
RSSI -86dBm Malo
Secondary: Band n71, PCI 262, NR-ARFCN 126270
RSRP -107dBmv Again so bad
SNR -2dB Malo
RSRQ -17dB Ok
This is from the desk in the house without external antennas connected. Signal hasn't improved when attaching Antennas. But also after rebooting the Gateway, it would never connect again.OK with reading like this you are lucky to even connect at all.
You will never hold a signal with reading like this I think you have posted the worst I have ever seen.
Did you say you have an external ant? If you do is it a good one? I bought a few and some are real junk like aluminum foil inside actual junk. Maybe you are pointing to the wrong tower as Cellmapper is so out of date.
You need a major improvement on those number or this will never work for you. I am just being honest as readings like that no way it's gona work.
