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?
If you think that heat is potentially an issue, a good first step may be to decrease the broadcast power. The default router setting of 3600 mW is a lot of power that you probably don't need if you are just using inside a normal-sized home. I decreased my 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz transmission powers to 25%.
I just made the change, so we’ll see if that reduces the frequency at which I must reboot.
Heat is not the problem in my case. The gateway is not hot. And I turned off the broadcasting on all SSIDs because I have it hooked up to another router by Ethernet cable, so the gateway only functions as a modem. Nevertheless, there are still multiple dropouts all day long.
jlillard wrote:
@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.
Can you tell me exactly how you got this set up? I'd love to not have to reboot our gateway several times a day just to watch a YouTube video.
Seems to be a thermal issue and needs to be fixed. Gateway reboot issue is still there. Can't work on any social platform or website.
martinjamesdell wrote:
Seems to be a thermal issue and needs to be fixed. Gateway reboot issue is still there. Can't work on any social platform or website.
still waiting for the solution ;-(
I am also having the same issue with WiFi dropping. What I have noticed is that when the secondary signal connects to the N41 or N71 bands. When my gateway is connected to the N71 band, the WiFi will stay connected for days or even weeks but when it connects to the N41 band it drops WiFi continuously. Not sure why this is significant and I don't know enough about this stuff but this is the only common thing that I have noticed. Could this have anything to do with the WiFi dropping?
I too am having the problem. My one month old T-Mobile Home Internet device is repeatedly dropping its internet connection. Rebooting solves the problem…. temporarily. No overheating issues. Consistently strong reception (4 bars), and fast download speed (initially 359Mbs or higher, now 120Mbs to 325Mbs).
There is obviously a systemic problem here that need to be resolved. I switched from Verizon, and hoped for a better experience. Clearly, T- Mobile has its issues too.
Same Same Same.
Nokia Gateway rural Little Rock. Resetting the Gateway by turning off then on anywherre from 0 one day to 5 the next. Download speeds: doing good to get 25-50. Upload speeds: 1-2 at best.
This is a scam for sure and would wish for a breach of contract lawsuit. Calling on phone for support ends up in another country with poor English skills and poor connection and does nothing when they 'reset' and 'test' everything. It is horrible. Then trying to sign up to be 'next' for a new 5G Gateway, I fill it in and the SUBMIT link is dead. What a bunch of crap this is. They actually call it high speed internet.
Now, Netflix loads to 25% and just sits there spinning and frozen and not moving past that: don’t know if that is on Netflix or TMobile Home Internet.
Hurry up Elon Musk and get the darn Starlink in this area.
Mine drops too. But it is more consistent and far cheaper than Spectrum.
